Montreal is one of the centres of video game design and development in the world, and now the people behind Concordia University’s Centre for Technoculture, Art and Design (TAG) are opening up their labs to designers wanting to create games with a difference.
“Critical Hit” is the name of a summer program the centre will oversee for the next three years. This year it runs from June 17th to August 10th and provides the time and space to create a game, outside the usual market demands.
Bart Simon, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and Director of TAG, says, “We called the program Critical Hit because we are serious about making playable games with the community.” Lynn Hughes, associate professor in the Department of Studio Arts, and co-founder of TAG says, “Concordia is already known as a leader in game studies and design, but Critical Hit has widened the space for innovation and collaboration.”
Bart Simon explained, “It’s not just about finding a cool job in the game industry and people are actually making games, and you’ll find young people making games as a form of personal expression, as much as they might want to write novels or make films, they want to’ make games. And a lot of that expression is motivated by social and political concerns, things they want to comment on in the world.”
Four teams are involved in this inaugural year. This is not a credit course; the teams will be paid a stipend. But perhaps more importantly, they will be linked to mentors in the gaming industry and the multidisciplinary connections of the university. And come September, the next big game might be emerging from “Critical Hit”
Carmel Kilkenny spoke with Bart Simon, to find out about the games the centre will oversee this summer, and to find out more about the Centre for Technoculture, Art and Design.
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