Tonight IGDA Toronto presented a great triple bill for the crowd assembled at the No Regrets Bar.

First up was Jason Della Rocca, the Executive Director of the IGDA. He gave a talk entitled "At Least Ten Reasons Why the Gaming Industry Doesn't Suck" that ended up being 13 or 14 by the time he was done.

Jason Della Rocca somewhere between reason #3 and #4

Della Rocca explained that this industry is so often criticized that "it's easy to get caught up in the crap" so he decided instead to explore "the awesomeness of the industry" instead. He highlighted recent exciting, positive and innovative trends. Interestingly, these trends weren't just about technology, but about business and even community.

Della Rocca said that he is pleased that we now know more about gamers than ever before. He cited companies like Valve, who gather extremely detailed metrics on their players and their experiences with Valve's games (they can track how often people die on particular levels of Half-life 2, for example). Such information will make it easier to design games that fit player needs.

Jason Della Rocca denies rumours that he's dating Nicole Kidman.

Developers in general are evolving in new, positive ways. Della Rocca praised the "Indie Spirit" that allows small, independent developers to make games and get recognized. The Darwania team was one such example. He also liked initiatives such as XNA, which allow indie developers to make something and spread it around to other gamers. Della Rocca said this is valuable because "amateurs of today will become the professionals of tomorrow."

Della Rocca also applauded a recent increase in agile game development. He said more teams are getting into the "Scrum" method of development. That is, meeting in a huddle like a rugby team often, and shifting the direction of the project as needed. As opposed to hammering out a two year development plan and stubbornly sticking to it, regardless of the changes around you.

Quality of life remains a big concern for developers, but Della Rocca has noticed some progress. He said that "happy workers make happy games" and even the "cold-blooded" business guys are starting to understand that overworking a team "towards EA Spouseland" is ultimately bad business. Not only are rested game developers who get personal time happier with their work, they are ultimately more creative, motivated and productive, according to Della Rocca.

Della Rocca is also pleased to see initiatives that have the gaming industry giving back to the community. He mentioned the Child's Play Charity, the Penny Arcade-founded charity that donates games to hospitals.

Giving to the community was what our second guest speaker was all about. Mike Fletcher is with One Laptop Per Child, a charity devoted to improving the education of children--particularly those in impoverished nations--by providing them with a simple, durable yet easy to main laptop that will give them a better chance in school.

Mike Fletcher with one laptop for one child.

You might not see the immediate connection to gaming, but Fletcher does. He explained that games can be used to teach, and noted that by providing children with laptops you not only give them an instrument that can hone their education, you give them a gaming platform. He demonstrated a few game and productivity-type applications that blur the line between learning and playing, such as software that allowed you to compose your own music, a simple RTS and a program that spoke what you typed.

If you're interested in learning more or getting involved with this program, you can visit their webpage at laptop.org or contact Mike Fletcher directly at mcfletch [at] vrplumber [dot] com.

Our third presentation of the night was by representatives of the Toronto Indie Game Development Jam (or TO Jam for short), now going on to its third year of its three day game building challenge. Rob Segal and Jim McGinley demonstrated a few of the games of previous years, and you'd be amazed with what our local talent can do with just three days, a truckload of caffeine and no sleep.

Jim McGinley argues the inherent superiority of the Toronto developer.

That three day limit seems to be one hell of a motivator. Jim noted that one team said that they talked about developing games for three years, but it was at TO Jam where they actually got it done. They ended up putting out an impressive sidescroller called "Killer Coding Ninja Monkey."

Jim and Rob had a few tips for those wishing to participate in the third challenge, which will probably take place in May. They said to be sure to bring an artist (programmer art is anything but, apparently), have a good team name (like Team Awesome-O, See Pee You, or Monkey Jello Str8 Up), avoid clone games (don't just remake an old arcade classic, give it a twist), and finally, the games that get downloaded from their website the most tend to have awesome screenshots.

Rob demonstrates a game.

After an invite to check out www.tojam.ca, Jim and Rob sagely concluded that Toronto kicks ass. Jason Della Rocca concurred.

"I gotta say, I was impressed with the turnout", Della Rocca said of the event.

"The community is smaller here in Toronto as compared to Montreal and Vancouver, but this is definitely encouraging and it's nice to see a healthy mix of professionals from some of the local studios, recognized indie developers like Jon Mak and students and amateurs that are looking for advice and a path to the industry. Having that kind of mix is important so that one can learn or be inspired by the other."

You can read Jason Della Rocca's own report on his Toronto trip at realitypanic.com.

You can also read a full interview with Jason Della Rocca here.

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