New Indie Gala Raising Funds For Political Campaign

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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New Indie Gala Raising Funds For Political Campaign


The latest Indie Gala bundle has some pretty sweet games up for grabs, but the cause du jour is a little unusual.

The new Indie Gala Mass Effect bundle is a very decent collection of quality games (although calling it a "Mass Effect bundle" is a serious stretch). For any price you care to pay, as little as a single penny, you can grab Rebuild, Kill Fun Yeah, Shadowgrounds, Zombie Driver HD and another title that will unlock next week. And if you pay more than the average price, currently sitting at a paltry $5.82, you'll also take home Gimbal, Shank 2, Mass Effect 2, the Zombie Driver HD DLC and soundtrack and a second game to be named later.

They're not exactly brand-new, high-demand games, but Shadowgrounds and Zombie Driver HD are a blast, Shank seems popular and Mass Effect 2 is obviously brilliant and not the sort of thing you see turn up very often in an indie bundle like this. Yes, it's an older game and most people with any interest in playing it have already done so by now, but if you're one of those who haven't, this is not a bad way to pick it up.

The funds raised by this Indie Gala are going to "help rebuild Vancouver's game industry." Vancouver, as you may be aware, was a hot-spot of North American game development, but has suffered a rather severe downturn over the past couple of years. Heavy cuts or outright closures have fallen upon Vancouver-based studios owned by Microsoft, Ubisoft, Activision, Rockstar, Electronic Arts and others, as they've fled the high cost of the West Coast for the cheaper environs of Ontario and Quebec.

That situation has led "gaming entrepreneur" Matt Toner [http://matt-toner.com/], formerly of the once-Vancouver-based (and now closed) EA Black Box, to run for election under the flag of the provincial NDP party on a platform of "reversing the exodus of creative and technical talent from Vancouver" and "rejuvenating the innovation-based industries in British Columbia." To assist with that noble goal, funds raised by this Indie Gala will go toward supporting his election campaign.

Money will also go to Launch Academy [http://launchacademy.ca/], a Vancouver-based "local incubator that works with digital entrepreneurs to make their first startup a success," to help fund a scholarship program for indie game developers.

Toner has no previous political experience but his campaign isn't a fringe long-shot; the NDP are widely expected to win the coming election and regardless of his platform or talent, he may very well be swept along by the tide. And while I was initially a bit iffy on the idea of using Indie Gala to raise funds for a political campaign, I suppose it's no different than THQ [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120863-Humble-THQ-Bundle-Waves-Bye-Bye-to-Indie-UPDATED] raising money through the Humble Bundle to try to keep the lights on. It does perhaps violate the "spirit" of indie bundles, if you believe in such a thing, but like any cause, if you don't believe in it, don't support it - and if you do (or if you just don't care), enjoy the deal!

Source: Indie Gala [http://www.indiegala.com/]


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1337mokro

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Dec 24, 2008
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Oh yes Mass Effect 2 the dumbening is an excellent game :D

The goal is nice and noble, if only I didn't own all these games already, maybe I'll buy it as a present for someone.
 

uncanny474

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Jan 20, 2011
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Before you buy this for someone, ME2 is the Origin edition. I'm not going to say anything degratory about Humble Bundle or the cause they're supporting, but don't even bother if you're doing it for ME2.
 

Ukomba

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Oct 14, 2010
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This seems like a really bad idea, nothing polarizes people like politics. I refuse to support this.
 

Dr.Awkward

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Mar 27, 2013
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...Yeah, I hate to say it, but I don't think Vancouver is going to get a lot of their VG workforce back to working on video games again any time soon. It's an era passed, and it would be more sensible to advise that these people move to a place where there isn't such a high cost of living so that they can start their own companies with the money saved from lower costs.

It'd also help with the disconnect problem a lot of developers seem to face - Many are just too used to the urban or suburban life to consider what people are seeking in the less populated places in the world. A sort of City Mouse-Country Mouse switcheroo, perhaps?
 

Formica Archonis

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Nov 13, 2009
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uncanny474 said:
Before you buy this for someone, ME2 is the Origin edition. I'm not going to say anything degratory about Humble Bundle or the cause they're supporting, but don't even bother if you're doing it for ME2.
It's not Humble Bundle, its Indie Gala. Same idea, different group.

(EDIT: I don't generally buy their stuff because last I checked it was all Steam stuff, and if I'm gonna buy six games and play one of them I'd rather go 100% DRM free on principle.) The Steam/Origin mix is... interesting, though.)
 

snekadid

Lord of the Salt
Mar 29, 2012
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You know what..... this is garbage. The cause is suspicious(even if the money does go towards what it says its for, you don't know how it will get spent to further the campaign), the companies they listed as being hurt are ones that I think deserved it more than most, the games offered are not exceedingly good for such a controversial topic with only shank 2 and ME2(debatable) having decent value and considering its the game the bundle is named after it and its sold for origin, why the hell isn't mass effect 2 offered with DLC?

This whole thing screams bullshit to me and I will not be supporting this at all.
 

Entitled

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Aug 27, 2012
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Ukomba said:
This seems like a really bad idea, nothing polarizes people like politics. I refuse to support this.
"Politics always takes vengeance on those who belittle it."
- Julian Mintz, in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, by Yoshiki Tanaka
 

rasputin0009

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Feb 12, 2013
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Vancouver is extremely expensive to live lately. While I support the government throwing money at art, I'm not sure how well that's going to go over with the NDP. They'll probably throw that idea on the backshelf as they push a bunch of other really stupid bills through. And moving to Quebec is actually a great idea for developers because Quebec throws a lot of money at entertainment. Because they have a silly notion that they need to show off their "culture" as different as the rest of Canada.
 

kailus13

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Mar 3, 2013
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This seems more badly done than other bundle deals. Why are there 3 different programs you need to play these games?
 

Space Jawa

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Feb 2, 2010
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So he's running his campaign on the single issue of getting getting one particular business to return to a certain area of the country?

Let's assume he manages to get elected - how exactly does he plan on carrying through on his one political objective?
 

Smooth Operator

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Oct 5, 2010
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Seems like a pretty janky setup, the bundle games will pack you with 3 DRM systems to get it all working plus an android emulator, that is just utter silliness.

Not to mention how it's now used to promote EA execs into political seats... just fuck off, however Indie Gala does have the option of distributing your money elsewhere so that is a plus.
 

weirdee

Swamp Weather Balloon Gas
Apr 11, 2011
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also, rebuild is a good game, but it's also free for anybody to play online and does not seem to feature anything new

chasing past glories, i don't know if it's going to work out for them