Last night, we narrowly avoided a catastrophe of epic proportions. Watch, and discover why developing the Winnitron is a dangerous endeavour…
Here is a promo for the upcoming WINNITRON Demo Camp at Aqua Books:
WINNITRON DemoCamp @ AquaBooks, 7:00PM November 17
What is the Winnitron 1000? Words alone cannot describe it. We could tell you that it’s a salvaged classic 80s arcade machine, retrofitted to play brand new indie games. We could mention that it’s capable of updating an ever increasing library of games by itself, over the internet – and that it was assembled by 5 young, talented and totally hot Winnipeg game developers. We could even point out that it’s a sexy blue and orange beast complete with 4/8-way switchable control sticks, a shiny new aluminum control panel, LED lighting, thumping bass and features gaming entertainment forged in the fires of a passionate game jam. But none of that would prepare you…
The only way to learn the true story of the Winnitron and experience the majesty in person, is to attend the NMM Demo Camp November 17, 7:00PM at Aqua Books. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. It will become a part of you.
ALL HAIL THE WINNITRON.
WINNITRON Game Jam Wrap-Up
The game jam ended up being a great time. We had about 22 people show up, and a lot of ridiculous games were worked on.
Devin + Calvin Reimer’s game “Robots, Robots Everywhere” is a pretty tense game about collecting batteries while trying to avoid being cornered by hoards of evil-bots. It also features music by 15 year old Liam Berry.
Liam also started adapting his game “WAVE” for the Winnitron.
Vieko Franetovic and Mike Lohaus flew in from Calgary to adapt their game “Krunch” to the Winnitron. Krunch is a game about claustrophobia; in every level a wall is closing in on you as you try to rush to the exit. Vieko and Mike recently added a 2 player mode that plays great on the Winni.
Noel Berry and Jordan Duchnycz worked on a game called “Sexy Fire Fighters 4″. I’ll leave that one up to your imagination for now…
Robin and Sandy Debreuil created a prototype called “My Big Head is Weighing Me Down”. I’m really excited to see this one finished:
I made a jam game called “TrashPilot”. It’s kind of like a fast-paced, 2 player battle version of Captain Forever – you fly around, collect junk that gives you the ability to shoot, and try to blast the other player’s junk off. It’s a pretty fun button-masher.
A lot of other games were worked on, but I didn’t have a chance to find out what all of them were about. Hopefully they’ll see the light of day sometime in the near future. 
To close out, we will leave you with this hilarious remix of some really horribly confused CTV coverage of the game jam that Kert Gartner put together:
Latest Update
We finally put the t-molding in… and it looks GREAT!
We’ve found a location for the Winnitron game jam! It’ll be held at New Media Manitoba.
A big Thank You goes out to Kert Gartner and the rest of the NMM peeps for figuring out how we could use the space.
New Media Manitoba
Location 1000 Waverley Street – Room 103
Use the back door: MAP
Dates Weekend of October 23rd
Oct 22: Friday 4:30pm – 11pm
Oct 23: Saturday 10:00am – Late
Oct 24: Sunday 10:00am – Clean Up at 11pm
You can still sign up for the jam here.
Yes, Bring!
- Laptop (conserve space)
- Good Pair of Headphones (so you can get in the zone)
- Working Workflow (engine/tools set up ‘n ready to go)
- Your Game Development Skills (code, art, design, music, etc!)
No, Do Not Bring!
- Bad Vibes
- A Huge Setup (* exceptions sometimes apply, check with us in the comments)
Not from Winnipeg?
If you’re not in Winnipeg, you can still participate online! We’ll (hopefully) be streaming the jam online, so you can check out what’s going on and send us your builds if we have time to test them.
Reminder
This jam is more about polishing up an existing idea, and testing it out on the machine. Working on brand new ideas is totally cool too, but coming in with an idea that is already up and running would be a great starting point.
Read on for the attendee list…
We’re organizing a game jam to build games for the WINNITRON!
It’ll be held on the weekend of October 23rd.
Playing the Winnitron exclusive: 4fourths, on the beta unit
Jammer List
Noel Berry
Marlon Wiebe
Liam Berry
Kert Gartner
Robin Debreuil (+family)
Vieko Franetovic
mrghosty
Tom Rab
Jordan Duchnycz
Devin Reimer
Calin Reimer
Graeme Borland
If you haven’t signed up yet, please fill out this form at the WINNITRON website.
We haven’t figured out the location yet, so stay tuned for more news about that.
We do accept games made outside of Winnipeg! Feel free to join in on the jam online, if you can’t make it in person.
Start Now!
Ideally, we’d be finishing our Winnitron games at the jam – so that we can play them on the beast, trade feedback, and polish everything up. If you have an idea, it’d be rad to start prototyping it now.
Keep in mind that the machine will have 1 joystick and 2 buttons per player. (for 1-2 players, more info on keybindings later)
The time has come!
I’ve been working with indie developers Marlon Wiebe, Noel Berry and Jeff Lindsay on an idea hatched at the last Mini PegJam – creating a free-to-play, Winnipeg-based arcade machine dedicated to indie games! We call it:
The Winnitron will feature a WiFi card and the ability to connect to a server to download the latest featured games automatically. (no manual USB stick updating!) It uses a launcher built in Unity3D. The 1000 model will feature two player controls. (one joystick, and two buttons each)
Our new beast of a beta unit
Where Will It Be Located?
We’re really hoping to get the Winnitron installed at Red River College. It’s right in the exchange district, near a lot of other cool places to hang out. It also means a lot of students would check it out, which might be a really cool way to bring new younglings into the indie game community.
There’s also the option to tour the machine around at different events, and we’re looking into ideas for this.
What Will It Look Like?
A true retro arcade machine! We have a design in mind, and we’re either going to refurbish an old cabinet or build one from a kit. It’ll be a big, sexy beast.
We Want Your Games!
Current we have the Winnitron loaded up with games by ourselves and other indie friends, but we want to pack this thing full of made-in-Winnipeg fun. To whit, we’re gonna hold a game jam specifically themed around building games for the Winnitron!
In fact: you can start right now. If you can restrict your game to 4 directional movement, and two buttons per player, you’re already halfway there. (we’ll get the details on the specific keybindings and high score stuff later)
You can build your game in anything that will run on a decently powered Windows PC. Flash, Unity and GameMaker are all good choices.
Dates for the JAM: The Weekend of October 23rd is looking good. Please fill out our Jam Survey over at the Winnitron site to keep us up to date on how many of you can make it! (let us know alternate dates if the 23rd doesn’t work for you)
Location for the JAM: To be Announced! It depends how many people are interested.
The Belly of the Beast
Why is this a Good Thing?
The WINNITRON 1000 will help build a creative and collaborative indie game developer community in Winnipeg. Having a strong, healthy and fun community is integral to honing our skills, learning new ideas, growing new teams and hopefully: keeping people in Winnipeg by making it slightly more awesome.
Update: We Built It!
We built the WINNITRON by refurbishing and old arcade cabinet. Check it out:
Click for more pics!
Support the Cause! Spread the Word!
Tell your friends, neighbors, grandparents, estranged pets – everyone should know about the Winnitron! It’s gonna be narbacular.
WIP Credits
Logo/Cab Design/Wiring: Marlon Wiebe
Website/Idea Guy: Noel Berry
Launcher: Alec Holowka
Winnitron Web App: Jeff Lindsay
Special Thanks: Michael Legary, Chrissy Chubala
Inspiration: The TORONTRON
Here are the details for the next (mini) PegJam.
This video was shot at the last PegJam and captures the vibe of game jams pretty well!
What’s a PegJam? It’s a game jam in Winnipeg! Bring your computer and work on a project around other rad game developers. Collaborate or work alone, it’s all cool. If you’ve got cojones, you could try starting a new game and aim to finish it before the jam ends!
Indie Game: The Movie Goes to TIGJam from IndieGame: The Movie on Vimeo.
Address: 415 Morley – Kenley of NDBStudios‘ house!
Time: August 28th: Saturday morning to Sunday evening, set up Friday evening. (7-10pm ish)
Food Situation: Kenley’s place is 15 minutes from some solid restaurants, and we may make some snack runs to convenience stores. Bring your own snacks in advance if you like, but please stick to things that aren’t likely to cause a mess.
Computers: Bring laptops, if possible. Bring power bars. Bring headphones.
Tables: If you have a reasonably portable folding table, please consider bringing it along.
Sleeping: Kenley has a couple spots where people could crash, but I imagine most people will want to head home/elsewhere to sleep.
Attitude: Don’t bring any bad vibes, please!
Gifts: Since Kenley is graciously hosting all of us, it might be nice to bring some extra bucks or a roast chicken or a rare video game soundtrack or a couple phoenix downs or something.
RSVP Please post your name in the comments if you’re planning on coming! If you’re bringing a tower, or if you have any other special requests/info, let us know.
