Sunday 20 December 2015

Our First Week down at The Arcade

It's been a week now, and we've started working down at the Arcade to see what it's like.

So far, it's been pretty amazing.  We had a good couple of days where we were all there and already some fantastic discussions have come out of it!

Just having other people to work next to made a huge difference to me personally as well.  I felt like I got a ton of work done even in that short time.

We had some concerns about the fact that the area is open to the public, but so far there have been no issues with regards to noise or disruptions.





Spirits are generally high, I think everyone is really excited about the potential of the area.

Aside from the shared area, the museum is also keen to figure out how they can interface with us.  I spoke to a few of the key staff, and we'll be looking at doing demo days and mini events to fit in with their tours and programmes.  It's a win-win situation really - their visitors get to see fresh, unique games and we get first hand reactions to our work!



Although it's early days, we've already had some great chats to some of the game dev schools.  This will be a great chance to engage with students for some collaborative opportunities.

Facility-wise, the indie area is mostly sorted.  Currently we have:
  • Toilets
  • A kitchen area
  • Wifi (Limited at this stage, but being sorted out)
  • Power
Access cards will be sorted in the coming weeks for the core members of The Arcade.


We will be ready to start straight away in the new year.  A few of us will be in there on Jan 4th, so if you're keen to join or visit us, get in touch!

We currently have The Arcade Facebook Group - feel free to drop by.

Friday 11 December 2015

The Arcade Auckland - a shared space for indies and much, much more!

One of the objectives of the NZGDA this year has been to look for a shared work space where we indies can work together.  Shared work spaces have always been proven to be largely helpful for growth especially in smaller companies.

During our search, we happened to come across MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) who were coincidentally setting up an innovation hub called the Idea Collective.

What amazed me, was that the area that they had planned went beyond a simple shared work space.  MOTAT intended to really reinvent themselves, and were pulling out all the stops to create an exciting new part of the museum.  As such, they were open to collaborating together to run events, have ongoing exhibitions, and much more.

I was there in the early days while they were refurbishing one of their warehouse areas, and even then the potential of the space absolutely blew my mind.



Over the next few weeks however, the place went through an astounding rate of change.

The next time I went in, they had already put together the shared work space, an exhibition area, presentation room and a geodesic dome for the Pop-Up Arcade.







One week later, they had an opening night and the placed had transformed again into something even more remarkable!


















The Pop Up Arcade was mostly done, and kids and adults were already loving it!


















The shared work space had been fleshed out a lot further too, with proper desks and other facilities:


We still have a few more formalities to sort out, but we are so close. MOTAT are so keen to have us there that they have also printed up that the NZGDA is in residence already on the outside of the work space!

We're super excited about the place. I personally think that this could be an amazing milestone for the indie movement in New Zealand. It has the potential to be an amazing focal point for all of our efforts and could indeed raise the bar collectively for the community.

Over and above a shared working area, the events and exhibition area is something beyond our wildest dreams, especially since we will be leveraging MOTAT's existing brand. It will be a shared benefit however, as we will help them to reinvent their image as a cutting edge and exciting museum!

I can't wait to get started - we're very close now!

Stay tuned - I'll be sharing more info as we progress, and if you're interested in participating in the shared space, let me know!