KKRM @ BNL MTL

May 1st, 2009 by moboid

Kokoromi is teaming up with the TAG (Technoculture, Art, and Games) research group at the Montreal Biennale art show, which opens tonight!  Stay tuned to this space (and our Facebook group) for more details in the days to come.

Up first:   your exclusive chance to play our red/blue stereoscopic headtracking cube fitting game from the retro-future: superHYPERCUBE

superHYPERCUBE

This is the first public showing of sHC since its debut at GAMMA 3D, and we’re psyched to help inagurate TAG’S Porous Lab. Musical tracks for your enjoyment will be provided by Montreal’s oblivionboy.

The vernissage is free, and the gallery open late tonight - from 6:30pm to 11.  Porous Lab is on the 2nd floor of the Ecole Bourget, just above Laika 2.0 — where you can grab a drink.

Come see some art, have a beer, chill on our couches, and enjoy some stereoscopic headtracking goodness.

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gamma3d postmort

December 18th, 2008 by moboid

When Kokoromi announced gamma3d, we honestly didn’t know whether our design challenge, anaglyphic stereoscopy (which is - binocular display using superimposed red and cyan images), could actually be integral to a game.   We issued the challenge to ourselves and other creators to explore whether the technique could produce truly original gameplay - interactions not possible to achieve in any other manner.

The Depths To Which I SinkBased on the submitted games, our answer could be “yes, but extremely rarely, and only with carefully controlled and limited visuals.”   Namely, of the games we received, only The Depths To Which I Sink was impossible to play without the anaglyphic red-cyan glasses.   Depths strips away all other depth-of-scene cues, like scale, horizon, and parallax, and disguises the anaglyphic color palette in simple non-representational graphics.  In other words, if you don’t wear the 3D glasses, the rectangular game world of Depths is completely flat.

But stereoscopic design techniques are deeply dependent on the specific hardware and software used to deliver the illusion, which means each is unlikely to become widespread.  The gameplay innovation of each would be limited to that particular interface, and even then, there doesn’t seem to be much that can’t also be done by other means.  Other stereoscopic technologies that feature more discreet perceptive separation between the two “eyes” might offer a few unique opportunities, which we hope to see when that technology becomes more accessible to experimenters.

In general, stereoscopy seems primarily a way to interest and immerse players visually and sensorially, rather than create any revolutions in gameplay.   But we invite you to prove us wrong on that one.  In the meantime, it’s definitely a way to get a room full of our favorite people to put on wicked cool cardboard glasses.

gamma3d players

Photo:  Simon Law - Some rights reserved.

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THANKS FOR A GREAT NIGHT, EVERYONE!

November 22nd, 2008 by moboid

HERE ARE THE GAMES.

gamma3d

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Yesterday’s world of stereoscopy, TONIGHT!

November 19th, 2008 by moboid

GAMMA 3D IS TONIGHT!  ONE NIGHT ONLY!
So, see you at the SAT!  

1195 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal

Starts at 9pm, Costs $5.  (Unless you have a MIGS badge, in which case it starts at 7 and is FREE.)

Meanwhile, have an exclusive look at Kokoromi/Polytron’s gamma 3d entry, super HYPERCUBE, featured on brand-new boingboing games site, offworld.

boingboing offworld

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Montreal notices kokoromi exists

November 15th, 2008 by moboid

gamma3d got a nice (big) pre-event write-up in a local weekly, the Montreal Mirror.   We’re more excited about this than you might expect, because in the three years of our existence (!!), we’ve garnered a lot more international media coverage than local, even though our original mission was to promote games as art in Montreal.  So!  Looks like those tides are finally turning.

Check it out.   And see you there.

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Día de los vivos

November 1st, 2008 by moboid

Today, November 1st, 2008, Kokoromi has battled maddening ViaRail internet connections, poorly soft-boiled duck eggs, and the siren call of LittleBigPlanet, to emerge scathed, yet bearing our selection of red/blue stereoscopic games!

GAMMA 2008 :: gamma3d

AltiToad - Tim Winsky and Johanna Arcand
BlottoBrace - Antony Blackett, Corie Geerders, and James Everett
The Depths To Which I Sink - Jim McGinley
Fireflies - Lee Byron and Joannie Wu
Paper Moon - Infinite Ammo (Alec Holowka, Christopher Lobay, Ian Holowka, Katie De Sousa) with Adam Saltsman
super HYPERCUBE - Kokoromi/Polytron

These games shall be offered for your playing pleasure on November 19th, 2008.  That’s 7pm at the SAT if you’re a lucky MIGS-goer, and 9pm for the rest o’ ye!   See you in 18 days!

And happy birthday Phil!

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October 15th, 2008 by moboid

SUBMIT TO US.

TODAY.

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Reminder: Gamma Deadline Is Tonight!

October 15th, 2008 by fish

Don’t forget! The submission deadline for gamma3D is tonight, October 15th, midnight, pacific time.

Entries have already started pouring in, and let me tell you it’s pretty exciting. Everybody’s been keeping their cards so close to their vests! well VESTS NO MORE.

Still no Virtual Boy hack.

The selected games will be announced on November 1st.

(by the way, if anybody has a spare stand for a virtual boy they could bring to the party, ill bring my legless virtual boy and we can leave it at the bar to play a little Red Alarm in between drinks)

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gamma 3d submission process

September 28th, 2008 by moboid

So, did you make, or are you making, a game submission for GAMMA 3D?   Here’s how to get it to us.

  1. Create a readme with all the game info: title, credits, controls, synopsis (short).
  2. Upload your game and the readme to an FTP server or file sharing site of your choosing.
  3. Password it if you want to.
  4. Send us the download info at the submission address:  gamma3d <at> kokoromi <dot> org

Remember, deadline is October 15th, midnight pacific time.   But no need to wait!   Send yours today.

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Announcing GAMMA 3D

August 15th, 2008 by fish

gamma3d

Kokoromi is proud to finally unveil the theme of our third annual GAMMA event: STEREOSCOPY!

Announcing GAMMA 3D! (get it? 1, 256, 3D…), an international showcase of independently made stereoscopic games. Gamma 3D is an exploration of the impact stereoscopy can have on gameplay, in the cheapest, most lo-fi and DIY way we could think of: red/blue 3D! Anaglyphic red/blue stereoscopy, to be precise. Presented in collaboration with the Society for Arts and Technology, and the Montreal International Game Summit, the event will be held on November 19th, At the SAT, in Montreal.

Developers around the world have until October 15th to submit their games. Kokoromi will announce the chosen games on November 1st.

And as with every GAMMA event, this one culminates in a great big art show game party with everybody wearing 3D glasses.

Our official base of operation will once again be hosted over at TIGSource. Questions will be answered, and hopefully, technology and ideas shared.

Check out the gam3a page for all the details, rules and technical guidelines.

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