Teaming up with Vivid Sydney for the first panel discussion in their Cultivating Creativity in Australia series, local non-profit group On The Floor are shining a light on the often overlooked world of Australian video games.
Following on from their sell out forum on Sydney’s Lockout Laws late last year, the event is being held tonight at the Eternity Playhouse at 39 Burton St Darlinghurst at 6:30pm. So with little time to spare, we caught up with the organisers to pick their brains about the state of the industry today as well as to get their list of 5 Amazing Video Games You Didn’t Know Were Australian.
Bringing together the top voices in the industry and government, including Senator Scott Ludlam, to debate, discuss and strategise for building the future of Australia’s video game industry, the discussion will also touch on issues like brain drain, government support, artistic recognition and social stigma of video games in Australia today.
“With the closure of almost every big triple-A studio in Australia, the video game industry is dominated now by small, independent companies,” On The Floor’s Arca Bayburt told us of the dire, yet not hopeless state of the industry.
“Despite the lack of blockbuster producing studios, it’s still an exciting time for the video game industry in Australia, with developments in technology and platforms allowing indie developers to flourish, and reach new audiences.”
Still for a nation that “lavishes” funding and support elitist and niche art-forms like opera and classical music (looking at you George Brandis), we have a long way to go until the electronic arts are given the same support their visual and performative counterparts take for granted.
“Public perception is slowly shifting, but the arts and culture sphere still seems exclusionary,” Bayburt explained.
Still some questions remained unanswered, such as “why with endless possibilities for the arts, tech and our economy, is our interactive entertainment sector lagging?”
Why indeed? Especially when you look at all the great titles to come out of sun-burnt backwater.
Don’t believe us? Think video games are the realm of the Japanese and Silicon Valley? Well just have a look over the following list of great home grown games and get ready to eat those words.
BioShock
Bioshock is a first-person shooter developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games), the now defunct 2K Australia and published by 2K Games.
The game’s creative lead, Ken Levine, has said that Bioshock drew from the ideas of Objectivism popularised by Ayn Rand and was also influenced by George Orwell’s work. The game is considered by most to be a spiritual successor to the System Shock series, which many of Irrational’s team, including Levine had worked on previously.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut was a co-production between Eidos Montreal and Australian developer, Straight Right. Eidos Montreal deemed this version of the game the “ultimate edition”. Changes include improved boss battles, better AI, and updated graphics.
L.A. Noire
Developed by the now defunct Australian developer, Team Bondi. L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective game that incorporates puzzle, action, and adventure elements. The game is set in Los Angeles in 1947 and the player must solve cases by investigating crime scenes for clues, interrogating suspects and following leads. The success of each case will determine how much of each of the case’s story is revealed.
This was the final game made by Team Bondi before it eventually closed its doors in 2011.
Push Me Pull You
Push Me Pull You was developed by Melbourne-based indie developer, House House. The game’s creators have said that the game is about “friendship and wrestling”.
The aim of the game is to maneuver a sausage-like body (with heads at both ends) to gain control of a ball whilst defending it from the other player. You can shrink or grow your body and must co-operate with your teammate in order to win. The game has two and four player modes as well as a secret option to swap the human heads for those of dogs (of course it does).
Crossy Road
Described as an “endless Frogger” (eat your heart out Costanza), Crossy Road was developed by an Australian indie developer, Hipster Whale. The name and concept of the game is a play on the old anti-joke, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
The game is critically acclaimed and has been nominated for and won a slew of awards, including Apple’s Design Award 2015 and was a finalist for the Australian Game Developer Awards.
Tickets are on sale now, with more information available here and full details below.
On The Floor x Vivid – Cultivating Creativity In Australia: Video Games
Tuesday 7th June
Eternity Playhouse, Sydney
Tickets: Moshtix
