I know it’s only been a short time since our last blog, but we just have so much news and cause for celebration that it’s hard not to bring you another update. I’ll try to keep this one brief, but with a two-year anniversary, GDC session updates, and an Auggie nomination… I can’t make any promises.
SoundSelf Celebrates its Second Anniversary
Today marks two truly transformational years since Andromeda Entertainment made its publishing debut with the launch of SoundSelf: A Technodelic on Steam, and we want to celebrate with you!
Not sure what a technodelic is? Check out the Technodelic Manifesto from creator, game designer, and thought leader, Robin Arnott to learn more. Plus, dive into some more details and history around this truly paradigm-altering experience with us below.
An origin story
Inspired by a group ohm on LSD–yes, really–SoundSelf is the collision of centuries-old meditation technology with the videogame trance and helped to pour Andromeda Entertainment's very foundations of purpose, culture, and mission.
The central design of SoundSelf came to game designer Robin Arnott almost fully formed just a few months after having his first "peak" experience at Burning Man in 2011. Then, in 2012, just a short time after Robin’s experience, Oculus announced the Rift and DSP programmer/game designer Evan Balster joined the team. These two events would transform SoundSelf from a small passion project to an ambitious paradigm-challenging undertaking.
Beginning official development in early 2012, SoundSelf started to take digital form slowly at the dawn of consumer VR. It wouldn’t be until after a successful Kickstarter campaign in March 2013 raised $36,766 for accelerated early development and for the construction of a Deep-Playa installation at Burning Man that year that SoundSelf would finally find its flow.
Launch to present day
Our current CEO, John Mcclellan, joined the team in 2019. Shortly after that, Andromeda Entertainment–the first publisher to super-serve the growing interest in mindfulness and wellness with transformative content and virtual entertainment experiences–was founded to bring SoundSelf to market.
This dream became a reality precisely two years ago when SoundSelf: A Technodelic, an exhilarating journey into altered states of consciousness powered by your voice, launched on Steam, Viveport, Oculus Rift, PC, and Apple.
In SoundSelf, you use your voice to explore a hypnotic world of sounds and visuals that feel like they are coming directly from your body. Emergent music harmonizes with you, as you navigate through strobing tunnels of light, impossible shapes, and deep into a meditative trance.
Measured by cognitive neuro-scientists to produce transcendent states of consciousness. SoundSelf is an elegant symmetry of image, sound and body that takes advantage of loopholes in the way you perceive to facilitate a new experience of yourself and your world.
Intrigued? Don’t forget, If you haven’t had a chance to try SoundSelf, there is no better time to check it out than now! We’re on sale for 40% off to celebrate the second anniversary on Steam, Store, and Store, until April 29. So what are you waiting for? Dim the lights, turn up the volume and let your voice guide you through an odyssey of color and sound that dissolves your mind in a bath of ecstatic sensation.
Video-on-demand sessions for GDC 2022 on the Vault
Didn’t get a chance to catch GDC 2022 virtually or in person? The GDC Vault has got you covered with all the content from this year, and previous, including video-on-demand sessions, now added for GDC 2022! If you’re unsure what to start with, I have a few recommendations.
From our good friends at Owlchemy is an excellent session on the developmental line between challenging and impossible that anyone developing for VR should check out for inspiration and laughs.
Don’t miss this fascinating and insightful postmortem on the GDCA and IGF Awards-winning game Inscryption.
If you didn’t get a chance to catch my session on extracting emotion from feedback to uncover valuable data points that you can pass on to production, it’s now live!
If you don't have a GDC Vault subscription, now's the perfect time to sign up. A 12-month individual subscription costs $599 and provides access to over 12,000 videos, audio files, and synced presentations and access to future GDC content—along with the ability to bookmark your must-see or favourite talks.
Kinemotik Studios Nominated for “Best Indie Creators” at Auggie Awards
The dancing duo behind award-winning Audio Trip has made it to the public voting stage in this year’s Auggie Awards, and they need YOU to make it to the final round! To earn enough votes to make it to the final round, judged by AR/VR industry leaders, register for an account and VOTE for them before the May 5th deadline on the Auggie Award Voting page!
The annual Auggie Awards have been the most recognized AR & VR industry awards in the world since 2010. Now in its 13th year, the Auggies continue to showcase the best of the best in augmented, virtual and mixed reality.
Winners will be presented with a prestigious Auggie Award at the Auggie Awards Ceremony, taking place this year on June 2nd at the AWE USA 2022 event in Santa Clara, California.
That counts as brief, right?
Virtually yours,
Ashley “ashleyriott” Blake
Senior Director of Marketing, Andromeda Entertainment | ashley@enterandromeda.com
Links mentioned in this blog
GDC Vault, https://gdcvault.com/. Accessed 21 April 2022.
Andromeda Entertainment, and SoundSelf: A Technodelic. SoundSelf: Official Teaser. 29 01 2020. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuvDa1Q45Qo&t.
Andromeda Entertainment, and SoundSelf: A Technodelic. SoundSelf Trailer. 23 04 2020. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQW-ctfvLPE.
Arnott, Robin. “Technodelic Manifesto - Terrence McKenna.” SoundSelf, https://www.soundself.com/technodelic-manifesto. Accessed 22 April 2022.
“AWE USA 2022 - Auggie Awards.” Augmented World Expo, https://www.awexr.com/usa-2022/auggie. Accessed 21 April 2022.
Blake, Ashley, and Antony Stevens. Community Management Summit: Was This Review Helpful? Translating Feedback into Priorities for Production. 2022. GDC Vault, https://gdcvault.com/play/1027955/Community-Management-Summit-Was-This.
“GDC 2022 Sessions Are Now on GDC Vault | GDC | Game Developers Conference.” Game Developers Conference (GDC), 14 April 2022, https://gdconf.com/news/gdc-2022-sessions-are-now-gdc-vault. Accessed 21 April 2022.
Mullins, Daniel. Independent Games Summit: Sacrifices Were Made: The 'Inscryption' Post-Mortem. 2022. GDC Vault, https://gdcvault.com/play/1027845/Independent-Games-Summit-Sacrifices-Were.
Reimer, Devin, and Andrew Eiche. The Fine Line Between Difficult and Impossible: Adventures in VR Development. 2022. GDC Vault, https://gdcvault.com/play/1028045/The-Fine-Line-Between-Difficult.
Tarrant, Jeff, and Fabiola Einhorn. “Guided Meditation VR on Quantitative EEG, Altered States, and Mood.” 2019. Andromeda Entertainment, https://www.enterandromeda.com/ss-science.