What’s On at the Virgin Media Game Space

Virgin Media opened their “game space” (VMGS) in Shoreditch last week and there are plenty of games on show.

Each week is considered a new “show” and the shows are entirely curated. After looking at hundreds of games, David Hayward, who’s previously worked on The Leftfield Collection at Rezzed, picked a small selection for display at the VMGS. “Curation is quite new for games,” he told me. “It’s a very accessible process in that anyone can do it but at the same time it’s useful to have an understanding of how a game can communicate itself to the public. Sometimes a game is really good but it just doesn’t work in this kind of setting. It’s too byzantine, or obscure or involved or takes too much time to get used to.”

Instead, Hayward has chosen games that are easy to pick up quickly. Hacker, The Movie Hacking Simulator Game just has you bashing on a keyboard as quickly you you can. Spelunky is a rogue-like dungeon platformers that will kill even experienced players within the first few minutes. And Starwhal… you’re narwhals. Jousting. That’s just ridiculously fun with other people.

They also have events planned throughout the exhibit. As always, you’ll find them listed in our games events calendar as well, but here’s what’s happening over the next three weeks:

Week 2
The theme here is audio in gaming. Highlights include Krautscape, Eleven, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Wave Trip and Rymkapsel.

5th Sep 10:30am – 4:30pm Writing Workshop with Twine from Cara Ellison
6th Sep 10:30am – 4pm Pen and paper prototyping workshop from James Wallis
7th Sep Noon – 1pm Nate Gallardo, Audio and Games
7th Sep 1pm – 2pm Knobs and sliders: The joy of unconventional controls

Book your week two tickets here.

Week 3
This week’s offerings will highlight multiplayer and solo gamplay, or “all types of gameplay” as we in the know like to call it. Games on show include Beyond: Two Souls, Tearaway, Towerfall, Super Pole Riders, McPixel and Tengami.

10th Sep 7pm – 10:30pm Retro LAN Tournament
11th Sep 10am – 7pm Playcanvas Game Jam
12th Sep 10:30am – 4pm How to DOTA Tournament

Book your week three tickets here.

Week 4
Week 4 will host the Arcade Jam, as well as another selection of playable games.

17th Sep Noon – 1pm Q&A with Arcade Jam creators and George Buckenham
18th Sep 1pm – 2pm Q&A with Mike Bithell
19th Sep 10:30am – 4pm Unity Development Workshop
20th Sep 5pm – 7:30 Super Hexagon Tournament

Book your week four tickets here.

Tickets are free for all the events above and the space itself will be open to the public from every Tuesday to Saturday until 21st September. Drop in any time from 10am to 7pm to check out the games on show. It’s at Blackall Studios, 73 Leonard Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 4QS.

The shows are entirely curated. After looking at hundreds of games, David Hayward, who’s previously worked on The Leftfield Collection at Rezzed, picked a small selection for display at the VMGS. “Curation is quite new for games,” he told me. “It’s a very accessible process in that anyone can do it but at the same time it’s useful to have an understanding of how a game can communicate itself to the public. Sometimes a game is really good but it just doesn’t work in this kind of setting. It’s too byzantine, or obscure or involved or takes too much time to get used to.”

Instead, Hayward has chosen games that are easy to pick up quickly. Hacker, The Movie Hacking Simulator Game just has you bashing on a keyboard as quickly you you can. Spelunky is a rogue-like dungeon platformers that will kill even experienced players within the first few minutes. And Starwhal… you’re narwhals. Jousting. That’s just ridiculously fun with other people.

Oculus Rift and Super Hexagon will be available for the whole thing, with other games swapping in and out each week. Here’s a short video we made during week one:

Other games shown in the vid include Strike Suit Zero, Chromodigmatic and Stealth Inc.

Think you’ll be dropping by?

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