Village Gamer

SteelSeries, the high quality gaming gear company from Denmark has become a second-time sponsor of Digital Storm LAN. Those who competed at Digital Storm 2006 will remember that SteelSeries sponsored the WCG Counter Strike tournament, providing prizes for the top three teams. Casper Mejlholm, Marketing Manager for SteelSeries says that the company is very pleased to be working with the Digital Storm team again, and this year the number of prize packages will be very substantial. The prize packages will be announced in the very near future. Other sponsors to date include Shaw Cablesystems, Blade Radio, RedBeard, Argus Cameras, VisionTek, VS Gaming Arena and gameXplore. Digital Storm takes place this August 1, 2 and 3rd at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Vancouver and is a fund raiser for KillaNet’s digital media centre for youth. If you are interested in becoming a Digital Storm supporter and sponsor, please contact the event organizers through the Digital Storm website.

Today was the last chance for Rock Band hopefuls to enter the Tom Lee Music 2008 Vancouver Rock Band Spring Championship. Sponsored in part by Fender Guitars, Yamaha Drums, PlayStation and Sony Style, the competition began on March 22 and next week (May 17th) it comes down to the final ten.

Richard Howland, the Market Development & Community Relations Manager for Tom Lee said that the contest has been going very well, and that several of the bands have shown a great deal of creativity. There has even been a group who traveled all the way down from Squamish, BC to compete. The prizes for this competition include a real Fender guitar, Yamaha drums, Tom Lee gift cards, games from Electronic Arts and more. Our thanks to the guys from RockStar who let us know about this event!

Article and photo by Tami Quiring

We managed to catch a few rounds of two contests currently running in the Vancouver area. First we stopped at the Canadian Tire store in Newton to watch the Rock 101 “Rush The Van to Rush The Stage for RUSH” Guitar Hero contest. Rock 101 has been parking the venerable rock van in various locations around the Lower Mainland recently and auditioning Guitar Hero hopefuls, trying to find the one with magical fingers who will win the right to compete in the Guitar Hero Rockin’ Rush Showdown May 29th on the Bro Show.

Competitors such as 38 year old Rob G. are hoping to win seats on a sidestage for the RUSH concert, meet the band, or win a complete RUSH CD collection. All contestants win a copy of the Rock 101 Twisted Tunes CD. Today was the first time he’d ever played Guitar Hero, and he managed to score a very respectable 37, 000 on easy mode for Rush’s YYZ. Good luck to all of the Guitar Heroes out there!

Photos and Article by Tami Quiring

Bright and early on Saturday, May 10th gamers will be able to get their first look at how game play will look in the highly anticipated Gears of War 2 for Xbox 360. The in-game video trailer will be available for download on Xbox Live and after an introductory message from Epic Games’ Design Director Cliff Bleszinski, the trailer captures the essence of the bigger, better and more badass gameplay in “Gears of War 2.” Featuring the first in-game look at chainsaw duels, large scale fire fights with Locust Horde and stunning new visuals, the action-packed video is sure to please fans around the world. Gears of War 2 is slated for release this November.

Title Sponsor: Electronic Arts

Vancouver International Game Summit 2008

The agenda is now finalized and this is one Game Summit you don’t want to miss!

The Vancouver International Game Summit and its Advisory Board are pleased to announce that this year’s closing keynote event will feature the key leaders behind the 2007 Game of the Year: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

“Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – The Business and Game Design behind the 2007 Game of the Year” – “Tabitha Hayes of Activision, and Infinity Ward’s Vince Zampella will discuss the success of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and how business, brands and exceptional game design come together for a blockbuster hit of the year.”

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Review By: Tami Quiring

Okay now that I have beat Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords from Infinite, here are my thoughts on it.

The controls work well – it’s about 99% stylus controlled. The music is annoying – but it’s one of the few games I can play without the sound turned on, so that’s good.

For a DS game, the map is quite large with lots of cities to get quests from and to lay siege to. The more cities you “own” the faster you can easily get a lot of money, as the residents have to pay a tithe each month. Of course they can also stage a rebellion so you have to go back and siege the city again. Battles are waged against opponents following the Bejeweled model – drop down gems which increase your mana when you match three, four or five sets. You can also get wildcards, which multiply the mana you gain. You attack your opponents by matching skulls. Some skulls have higher power and do more damage. You can also use spells to heal, protect and do damage.

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Review Written By: Tami Quiring

Videogame Marketing and PR – Volume 1: Playing to Win
Author – Scott Steinberg
June 2007

I bought this book quite some time ago, and I’m regretting not getting to it sooner. Having read a previous title by Scott Steinberg, I should have known better. Videogame Marketing and PR is packed with literally decades of knowledge and experience. Mr. Steinberg not only imparts freely with chapter after chapter of methods and ideas which he has practiced in his own career, he has presented a collection of brief articles from many of the key people in the videogame industry. From these men and women come gems of wisdom, because they have literally been there and done that. While there are many books sitting on shelves in many stores which can tell you all about how to market, none of them carry the unique situations which sets the videogame industry apart from other retail markets.

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Review By: Tami Quiring

Fantasy Clip Art: Everything You Need to Create Your Own Professional-Looking Fantasy Artwork
Author: Kevin Crossley
June 2007

I found this book quite by accident while browsing away an afternoon in Chapters Book Store, and as I have a latent desire to learn how to draw creatures, I bought it. The volume is accompanied by a CD containing hundreds of fantasy clip art pieces. All images are simple outlines in PSD layered format and compatible with Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe PhotoShop Elements and Corel Paint Shop Pro.

The author spends the first part of the book giving a brief look back at human imagination and the need to express ourselves, going back through time to the advent of cave paintings. He follows this with a quick introduction to the file contents of the compact disc and plants the seeds in the reader’s mind as to how the image files he has provided can let your imagination roam free in the world of fantasy art.

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Grab your steering wheel and put your foot on the gas! Nintendo has come a long way with Mario Kart which first appeared on the SNES in 1992. Mario Kart Wii brings the classic Mario Kart games and gives them a huge facelift with a gigantic array of new game-play features. One of the biggest features Nintendo has incorporated into Mario Kart Wii is the ability to compete with other players globally, regionally, or with your Wii Friends via internet connection. While Nintendo has brought a great deal of new features you will still feel at ease with the very similar game-play as previous versions.

The first hour I was playing, I felt very at home with it. I was rapidly getting used to the steering wheel which my Wii-mote fit right into. With this, I can actually guide my go-kart along the race track! Just using this steering wheel you all ready feel like you’re having fun. Of course, those of us who have played all the previous versions of Mario Kart will immediately want to jump right into the race track that we all know from previous games. Nintendo was gracious enough to include some previous popular tracks in this latest version. How cool is that?! Alongside the old tracks are new tracks that are catered around other Nintendo games and previous Mario games. (e.g. Super Mario Sunshine.)

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