Village Gamer

Transgaming Studios has launched a contest for its upcoming title Garage Inc., with a copy of the game and wall poster as prizes. There are three ways to enter: create a piece of fan art, answer a trivia question about the Angelo, the game’s main character, or get your friends on FaceBook to like the game’s page and post a message that they are helping you to win. The trivia question has already been won, but you can still enter the fan art and “Like” segments of the contest. Fan art submissions will be accepted until noon ET on Monday. Please see the Garage Inc. page on Facebook for complete details.

The Canadian Games Conference has put out a call for submissions for its 2011 conference, taking place in Vancouver next May 19 & 20th. Submissions will be accepted until midnight on January 25, 2011, with invited speakers being notified by March 10, 2011. Session formats this year will include 25 and 60 minute lectures, panels and roundtables. The Advisory Board will be selecting submissions based on depth of content, relevance and interest, speaker credentials, and takeaway value. The intellectual property rights of those submitting papers for review will be respected throughout the process.

2011 Conference Topics:

• • New Business Models
  • Rapid Game Development
  • Box vs. Bits – Alternative Distribution Models
  • Game Design Stories
  • Social Games
  • Games on the Go
  • Content Creation
  • Programming
  • Student Stories

The Canadian Games Conference has also released information for its 2011 Sponsorship Levels (PDF), with packages ranging in price from $1 000.00 for a quarter page ad in the conference programme or conference bag insert up to $30 000.00 for Title Sponsor (one only). There are many options available for sponsorship, including sessions, coffee breaks, receptions, lanyards, pens and more. Exhibition booths start at $3 500.00 for a 10′ x 10′ booth (includes 5 conference passes), and B2B meeting rooms start at $7 000.00. Each category of sponsorship includes many benefits, the least of which is of course, supporting the Canadian Games Conference and helping the event to become an annual success.

By now most of you know who the big winners were at last night’s Canadian New Media Awards, but I am going to list them here anyway, and add my congratulations to the mix.

Best Branded Entertainment: The Weak Shop DDB Canada/Tribal Vancouver
Best Cross-Platform Project: The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games – Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium – CTV Inc.
Best in Canadian Culture Interactive: Redress Remix – Stitch Media
Best Kids Interactive: The M.I. High Game: The Grand Mistress Mystery – Xenophile Media
Best Mobile Application: 2010 Guide – Official Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Mobile Spectator Guide – Xomo Digital Inc.
Best Online Advertising: Tourism Montreal – Montreal buzz – Sid Lee
Best Online Portal: Urbania.ca – TOXA
Best Online Programme, Series or Film: GDP – Measuring the human side of the Canadian economic crisis – National Film Board of Canada
Best Use of Social Media: Doritos Viralocity – Proximity Canada
Best Web-Based Game: One Ocean Interactive – Tactica Interactive, Merit Motion Pictures,and Complex Games
Community Campaign of the Year: The NFB Test Tube with David Suzuki – National Film Board of Canada
Digital Media Technology of the Year: HootSuite – HootSuite Media, Inc
Developer of the Year: Kris McLaughlin
Digital Media Woman of the Year: Nadia G (aka Nadia Giosia)
Executive of the Year: Alon Marcovici
Interactive Designer of the Year: Myron Campbell
Producer of the Year: Philippe Lamarre
Special Achievement Award: Adam Froman
Online Artist of the Year: Down With Webster
Promising New Company of the Year: Polar Mobile
Company of the Year: Syncapse Corp.

In other awards, BC Business has named their picks for the Top 100 BC Companies of 2010, with Strangeloop Networks (Digital Tech & Tech Services and Small Business categories) and 6S Marketing (Professional Services & Communications category) being named in the Top 10 overall. Other Digital Tech & Tech Services winners were: Contigo Systems Inc., Work at Play Media Labs Ltd., Mobidia Technology Inc. and Incognito Software Inc.

Vancouver-based Mingleverse, an award winning next generation 3D telecommunications technology and service for consumers on broadband mobile networks announced today that it has raised $1.4 million in seed financing from Yaletown Venture Partners, angel investors and company co-founder/CEO Ron Stevens.

“We are extremely pleased to have Yaletown Venture Partners join us as the first institutional investor in Mingleverse,” said Stevens. “It’s difficult for Canadian startups to access early-stage financing these days, but at Mingleverse we’ve been very fortunate to draw the attention of this top-tier Canadian VC and to tap into their experience and networks.”

The proceeds of this financing will allow Mingleverse to expand the marketing programs for its mobile offering and move forward with integration into social networking platforms to help meet the needs of cellular carriers.

“Our investment recognizes Mingleverse’s potential to move the “state of the art” for internet and mobile communications beyond mere person-to-person video calling,” said Mike Satterfield, Partner with Yaletown. “The technology is compelling, and the range of applications for Mingleverse seems limited only by the imagination of its growing community of enthusiastic users.”

The Mingleverse live social communication service, now with users in 196 countries, enhances the way people use social networking. Mingling allows natural conversation in 3D high def voice while sharing media (pictures, TV or YouTube) with anyone in your network. The virtual room can be displayed in either 2D or 3D, decorated to suit the individual, admission-based, or ad-enabled to derive revenue. Users can mingle around the room, and watch the same content on one big screen like in their living room, office, or sports bar.

Mingleverse is working with cellular carriers and handset makers to deliver an approved Live Social Network service they can customize and offer to their subscribers. Carriers will offer new service models around media sharing, advertising, and multi-person voice during a mingle call. New revenue can also be derived from virtual goods, room decoration, and live Mingle event ticketing. Currently, the Mingleverse application is quick to install in your browser and allows 2 to 50 participants to be on a live 3D voice call while viewing the same content, which is a big improvement over the normal limitation of just a one-to-one video call.

Amazon.com, along with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, is pleased to announce the fourth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the international competition (including Canada) seeking the next popular novel. The competition will once again award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance.

The Breakthrough Novel Award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. If you’re an author with an unpublished or previously self-published novel waiting to be discovered, visit CreateSpace to sign up for regular contest updates. Open submissions for manuscripts will begin on January 24, 2011 and run through February 6, 2011. See the official contest rules for more information on how to enter.