Village Gamer

Apply now for this great opportunity through the Canadian Media Production Association:

The Digital Media Production Program offers participants the opportunity to gain work experience in the film, television and interactive media production industry. Funded by the Government of Canada’s Career Focus Program, the Digital Media Production Program emphasizes administration, management and technical skills in today’s rapidly changing knowledge economy in the digital world.

Deadline: November 29, 2010
Spots Available: 40
Duration of Placement: 24 weeks
Intern Stipend: $14,000 (minimum);
$10,000 from the Program and minimum $4,000 from mentor
Age: 15 – 30. Must be post-secondary graduate.

Intern Eligibility

*Open to Canadian citizens or permanent residents legally entitled to work in Canada
*Must be between the ages of 15 and 30 (inclusive) at time of application
*Must be unemployed or under-employed at the time of application
*Must be a post-secondary graduate
*Must be out of school
*Must not be receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits
*Must NOT have previously participated in a program sponsored by the federal government’s Youth Employment Strategy
*Cannot be an employee, family member, or current CFTPA participant of the mentor company with whom he/she is submitting a joint application
*Applicants should note that the intern MUST become an employee of the mentor company for the duration of the placement.

Mentor Eligibility

*An eligible member of the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) at the time of application. Eligible companies must be CMPA members and fall under one of the following CMPA categories: general member, service producer, interactive media, broadcaster affiliate or publicly traded
*The mentor company will be responsible for providing career assistance, feedback, guidance during, and debriefing following the completion of the placement
*The mentor company must contribute a minimum of $4,000 toward the participant stipend
*A mentor applicant cannot be an employer, family member, or current CFTPA mentor of the participant whom he/she is submitting a joint application
*Applicants should note that the intern MUST become an employee of the mentor company for the duration of the placement.

Join over a million fans and play EA SPORTS FIFA 11 Ultimate Team, a free game mode download for FIFA 11 on the PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360™ (FIFA 11 & internet connection required for online play. Restrictions and conditions apply) this November 3rd. Take on the challenge of building a squad of the world’s best football stars by earning, buying, selling and trading players with other Ultimate Team gamers around the world. Create and manage multiple squads putting together the best players with the highest chemistry and then take them into competition in online and solo single-player tournaments, all dynamically updated each week.

FIFA 11 Ultimate Team delivers a number of major changes as requested by gamers. Pit your ultimate team directly against your friends’ best squads in Play-A-Friend online matches—the No. 1 requested new feature. Build your dream team and match them against your friends’ best teams whenever you want by sending them an invite directly, making it easy to prove who has the best ultimate team.

FIFA 11 Ultimate Team now lives beyond the console. Access your Ultimate Team campaign from the web through an enhanced Ultimate Team web app which links your experience on your console. Access full trading and auctions, manage squads and the chemistry of your line-ups, show-off your best squad and rare in-form players to friends, and search for coveted players in the auctions ready for when you get back to your console.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvFbqY6BhdE]

Build your ultimate football club the way real-world coaches and managers build the truly great football teams. Choose how to manage your team—focus on creating one formidable squad, or manage multiple squads to match dynamic requirements for tournaments and competitions. Be strategic and tactical in preparing your squads for the various in-game competitions. A deep, strategic chemistry system built around player relationships on the pitch, means that managing teams and squads to their full potential is critical to success.

Key Features

* Play-A-Friend: compete head-to-head in online play with your friends, the #1 requested feature from FIFA 10 Ultimate Team gamers. Build your dream team and challenge others to do better.
* Ultimate Team Web App: Now Ultimate Team lives beyond your console with online web connectivity. Access your Ultimate Team, manage squads and your chemistry of your line-ups, show-off your best squad and rare in-form players to friends. Search for, buy and sell players and other items in the auctions ready for when you get back to your console—all from the web.
* Ultimate Team Generations: Now you can also access your players from FIFA 10 Ultimate Team and mix them with your existing FIFA 11 Ultimate Team on the web. Put together teams featuring all your players to show off your legacy to other gamers.
* Build Your Ultimate Team: Build your FIFA 11 Ultimate Team squad from a database of more than 8,000 players and all 30 leagues – including the addition of the MLS and Russian Premier League and the superstars from those leagues for the first time. Buy, trade and acquire star players item packs. FIFA 11 Ultimate Team makes acquiring players easier than ever with an intuitive store and item trading and auction system. Auctions also include the ability to track bids, and a comprehensive item search feature.
* Authentic Team Management: FIFA 11 Ultimate Team advanced team management feature delivers an authentic football gameplay experience. Choose the right squads for the right competitions as you seek the perfect balance of players on the pitch. With a chemistry system that takes into account nuances of real player preferences, teammates interact with each other as they would in real life, making your manager role all the more crucial.
* Competitive Tournaments: Enter one of 23 dynamic solo and multiplayer tournaments plus participate in new updated tournaments weekly to test your club-building skills. Every time you go back to your console, there’s a brand-new challenge.

A note to BC developers from Justin Kozuch and the Pixel to Product research project: As we (and I don’t mean me! Come on Canada – this is YOUR digital legacy too!) continue to drive towards our goal of releasing our first survey designed to measure the size and scope of the Canadian digital media ecosystem, we’ve been exposed to many different communities within the digital media space. Our most recent trip to Alberta was a great success; we met with community leaders and passionate digital media professionals who expressed a great interest in our research study and echoed our sentiments where it concerns the publication of freely available market data for the CANADIAN digital media industry. The data and insights we’ll be sharing at the conclusion of this study will allow us to truly understand the size and scope of the Canadian digital media ecosystem.

With this in mind, we are looking westward to arrange meetings to speak to digital media professionals from marketing to mobile application development and everything in between. We’ll be heading to Vancouver from November 1st to November 5th, and we’re looking to connect with you!

We’re looking to speak at a number of events, and have confirmed our attendance at the upcoming DemoCamp Vancouver 12 on Wednesday, November 3rd, from 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM at The Lounge at Caprice (965 Granville Street).

To support our outreach initiatives, Mesh Prize winner and project visionary Justin Kozuch is interested in connecting with digital media and marketing professionals in the Vancouver digital media sector. Justin will be looking to build up an on-the-ground support team of influential and engaged industry professionals interested in helping us promote and support our research study and subsequent findings in Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia. These events and connections will help us gain an understanding of who the local industry players are, build an ongoing relationship with them and leverage their skills in assisting with the research and study promotion activities.

Please tweet, email, Facebook, string-and-can anyone you know in the Vancouver area who fit this bill, and please ask them if they are interested in joining us at DemoCamp on November 3rd or connecting with Justin for coffee.

Electronic Arts Inc. and Vancouver independent development studios Klei Entertainment and Hothead Games have announced that the acclaimed 2D action games, Shank and DeathSpank, are now available for download for $14.99 each via Steam.

With its blend of classic side-scrolling action gameplay and stylized animation set, Shank was one of last summer’s most anticipated downloadable games, garnering a “10/10” from Electronic Gaming Monthly, a grade of “A” on 1UP, and a “4.5/5” on Joystiq. PC gamers will now be able to slash into Shank’s bloody story of revenge.

Rated M for Mature, Shank tells a classic story of gangland betrayal through a violent, pulp-fiction lens. Gamers play as Shank, getting their hands bloody as they uncover the secrets of Shank’s past and the reasons he is hell-bent on revenge. With a deep and intuitive combat system, players unleash a tremendous number of creative combinations as they take down waves of enemies standing in their path. Shank also features a special co-operative campaign, designed to be played with a friend locally, which tells the backstory of the revenge plot. This prequel mission allows players to play as Shank or his partner-in-crime, Falcone, with deadly double-team moves and gameplay that encourages teamwork.

Meanwhile, the T for Teen, critically acclaimed and fiendishly funny action RPG DeathSpank, will continue his search for Justice on computers around the world. Developed under the direction of industry veteran Ron Gilbert, DeathSpank combines unique humor and wit with fast, addictive, action-RPG gameplay. Recently awarded IGN’s Editor’s Choice for the PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®, DeathSpank will take PC players on an epic adventure through crazy quests in a vast world filled with vibrant, eccentric and hilarious characters.

“We are thrilled to finally bring the crazy world of DeathSpank to the PC,” said Vlad Ceraldi, Director of Game Development at Hothead Games. “PC is the perfect home for DeathSpank. It’s charming, witty and whimsical and at its core, DeathSpank offers an extremely fun and compelling experience.”

Players who download the game will be placed in the boots of the mighty DeathSpank, “Dispenser of Justice,” “Vanquisher of Evil” and “Hero to the Downtrodden” and will embark on his lifelong journey to search for and find a mysterious artifact known only as “The Artifact.” Along his journey, DeathSpank will rescue orphans, defeat a local tyrant, help an aging adventurer and dive headfirst into an even deeper mystery. The game’s accessibility makes for a fun, addictive experience where players will find themselves fulfilling crazy quests, collecting massive amounts of loot and engaging in tons of hilarious dialogue. DeathSpank also features local co-operative gameplay, allowing friends to jump in and out of this adventure on the same computer as DeathSpank’s trusty, magical sidekick, Sparkles the Wizard.