Alec Holowka
Encyclopedia
Alec Holowka is a Canadian independent game developer, co-founder of an independent game company Bit Blot, and Infinite Ammo where he works as lead programmer, musician and game designer. He collaborated with Derek Yu
to create the award-winning game Aquaria
and freeware
game I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator
.
Holowka acted as sound engineer on the 2006 freeware title I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator as a response to American lawyer Jack Thompson's A Modest Video Game Proposal
. Holowka met Derek Yu in the comments section of popular technology website Slashdot
in a post regarding Jack Thompson's proposal and along with Chris Hanson and Phil Jones formed satire company Thompsonsoft for the once off release.
After its release Holowka introduced Yu to a project he had been working on independently, Yu was interested in the project and the two officially formed developer Bit Blot the week before the Independent Games Festival
deadline. The project was released on 7 December 2007 under the title Aquaria and was the recipient of the Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally grand prize for best game in March 2007.
open letter, "A Modest Video Game Proposal
." It is a "retro" style arcade game, which parodies various famous games, game companies, and game developers. The main protagonist of the game is Osaki Kim, who blames the video game industry for the death of his child. The player takes the role of the Osaki Kim as he shoots his way up to the E3 Media and Business Summit, killing game developers along the way.
is their first commercial game and the winner of the Independent Games Festival's
2007 Seumas McNally
Grand Prize.
. Holowka acted as musician and programmer. The project was created as a response to an incident occurring following Kokoromi's Gamma 256 party following the Montreal International Game Summit in Montreal, Canada.
Derek Yu
Derek Yu is an independent game developer, game artist, and blogger.While he may be best known for his early work on freeware titles such as Eternal Daughter, Yu continues to make games...
to create the award-winning game Aquaria
Aquaria (video game)
Aquaria is a 2D sidescrolling action-adventure computer game designed by Alec Holowka and Derek Yu, who together form the independent game company Bit Blot, which developed and originally published the game. After more than two years of development, the game was released in 2007 for Windows...
and freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
game I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator
I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator
I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator is a video game which was released as a free download by a group of people proclaiming themselves to be "3 alcoholics and a foreign exchange student" calling themselves "Thompsonsoft"...
.
Background
Alec Holowka was introduced to programming at the age of eight when his father purchased him a book Basic Fun. Eventually he began working with a free ware group called Zaphire Productions. Since then he worked for a number of failed start ups, including one in Winnipeg, Canada working on a PC multi-player fantasy action title and a combat racer in Vancouver, Canada for the Xbox 360.Holowka acted as sound engineer on the 2006 freeware title I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator as a response to American lawyer Jack Thompson's A Modest Video Game Proposal
A Modest Video Game Proposal
A Modest Video Game Proposal is the title of an open letter sent by activist/former attorney Jack Thompson to members of the press and to Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein on October 10, 2005...
. Holowka met Derek Yu in the comments section of popular technology website Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
in a post regarding Jack Thompson's proposal and along with Chris Hanson and Phil Jones formed satire company Thompsonsoft for the once off release.
After its release Holowka introduced Yu to a project he had been working on independently, Yu was interested in the project and the two officially formed developer Bit Blot the week before the Independent Games Festival
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
deadline. The project was released on 7 December 2007 under the title Aquaria and was the recipient of the Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally grand prize for best game in March 2007.
Current projects
- Marian with Infinite Ammo
- Apple Inc. iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
game with Mark Johns and another with Phil Fish - AloneAloneAlone usually refers to the condition of solitudeAlone may also refer to:-Albums:*Alone , a 1957 album by Judy Garland*Alone , a 1973 album by Chet Atkins...
with Frederico Machuca
I'm O.K.
I'm O.K. is a side-scrolling satirical platform shoot-em-up, which was created by Derek Yu (art), Alec Holowka (sound), and Chris Hanson (code) as a response to Jack Thompson'sJack Thompson (attorney)
John Bruce "Jack" Thompson is an American activist and disbarred attorney, based in Coral Gables, Florida. Thompson is known for his role as an anti-video-game activist, particularly against violence and sex in video games....
open letter, "A Modest Video Game Proposal
A Modest Video Game Proposal
A Modest Video Game Proposal is the title of an open letter sent by activist/former attorney Jack Thompson to members of the press and to Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein on October 10, 2005...
." It is a "retro" style arcade game, which parodies various famous games, game companies, and game developers. The main protagonist of the game is Osaki Kim, who blames the video game industry for the death of his child. The player takes the role of the Osaki Kim as he shoots his way up to the E3 Media and Business Summit, killing game developers along the way.
Aquaria
Aquaria is an action adventure game, based heavily on exploration. It is an epic story about adventures of Naija, an amnesiac underwater creature, who is in search of information about her family and her past. She explores many ancient ruins of Aquaria, an underwater world created by a mysterious creator. Created by Derek Yu and Alec Holowka, AquariaAquaria (video game)
Aquaria is a 2D sidescrolling action-adventure computer game designed by Alec Holowka and Derek Yu, who together form the independent game company Bit Blot, which developed and originally published the game. After more than two years of development, the game was released in 2007 for Windows...
is their first commercial game and the winner of the Independent Games Festival's
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
2007 Seumas McNally
Seumas McNally
Computer game programmer Seumas McNally , was the founder, president and lead programmer of independent game development company, Longbow Digital Arts...
Grand Prize.
Owl Country
In early 2008, Holowka along with a group of other independent developers during the Game Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco, California created a project with most of the work being done at their hotel, the Holiday InnHoliday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
. Holowka acted as musician and programmer. The project was created as a response to an incident occurring following Kokoromi's Gamma 256 party following the Montreal International Game Summit in Montreal, Canada.
Paper Moon
On 15 August 2008 Holowka, along with newly formed developer Infinite Ammo, created Paper Moon, a game that was picked along with another five games to be showcased at the 2008 GAMMA event.Everyone Loves Active 2
Holowka wrote the music for Kyle Pulver’s freeware game, Everyone Loves Active 2.Verge
Holowka teamed up with Pulver again for Verge, providing the game's music. Verge is a short side scrolling platformer focused on life and death. It was created for and won The Independent Gaming Source's Commonplace Book Competition. An extended version of the game is currently in development.External links
- Bit Blot
- Infinite Ammo
- Alec Holowka at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...