To mark the release of this exciting new mode, Z8Games will be hosting events through February 5^thin which players can earn new weapons and items, just for playing. For current players, the update will download automatically upon launching Cross Fire.

The electricity-infused alien, Xeno, has landed. Under its leadership, Mutants everywhere are now united towards the goal of conquering Earth!  To combat the alien threat, an elite squad of super Commandos armed with dual Kukri’s and a no fear attitude has risen up. Play as either Xeno or Commando in the new Hero Mode X and earn three new ribbons to show off on your profile as a symbol of your participation in Earth’s final battle! Hero Mode X debuts with two maps: the multi-level “Mansion”, and the gritty, suburban “Rooftops”.
The Hero Mode X update also includes six new weapons: a Remington 870 shotgun, an RX4 Storm assault rifle, a tiger-striped AWM sniper rifle, a camo-skinned QBZ95, and an MG3 machine gun with an alternate gold-skin variant. These weapons are available via the in-game Store and Black Market.

Cross Fire is a free online military first-person shooter for the PC platform. It includes a military ranking system, in-game friends lists, an integrated clan system, deep character customization options and social media integration via the Cross Fire website. More MAPS. More GUNS. More MODES. More HEADSHOTS. Join millions of players online today in the ultimate military FPS experience.

Firebase Industries Ltd. is hoping to raise $5,000 over two days to help support a five person, friends and family, cycling team dedicated to completing the Ride to Conquer Cancer. All funds collected by and for the team directly supports  research at the British Columbia Cancer Agency.

The 200 mile ride takes cyclists on a two day journey (June 16th and 17th of 2012) between two metropolitan video game development hotbeds: Vancouver and Seattle. Last year 2879 cyclists entered in the event and raised a record $11.1 million for cancer research

Orbitron: Revolution for Xbox 360 is priced at 240 Microsoft Points which is approximately US$3.00 and the net revenue from each copy sold is approximately US$2.00. To reach our goal of $5,000, we have to sell at least 2500 copies of the game over the two day period.

We are counting on your kind and generous support!

About Orbitron: Revolution:

Orbitron: Revolution is a classic styled 2.5d scrolling shoot em up for the Xbox 360.  The game has been

developed on the Microsoft XNA 4.0 platform using Synapse Gaming’s Sunburn 2.0 rendering engine.  Orbitron: Revolution was entered into Microsoft’s Dream Build Play 2011 competition where it took a spot with the top 20 semi finalists from more than 200 game entries.

Orbitron: Revolution features 3 game modes:

Countdown – a wave based score attack mode that has the player racing against the clock to score as many points as they are able within a three minute time limit. Players build up points by shooting enemy droids as quickly as they can to increase their multiplier. Players need to use action strategy and choose when to release their power abilities as well as target certain enemies for maximum enemy destruction.

Guardian – protect the four Sector Ports around the Orbitron ring from laser drilling attack droids. Each Sector Port has a numeric health associated with it and when three of the four Sector Ports are destroyed the Orbitron Ring explodes.

Extra Mode – survive as long as possible with a single ship against an ever increasing spawn of enemy droids.

Additional game features include:

Full Instant Replay system for use in Countdown Mode. Players may fast forward, rewind, pause, and even select five different camera positions to view and track the action.

Ship Select where the player may choose between two visually different space craft.

Xbox Live Gold Members can add and compare their scores with others using the online high scoreboards.

Orbitron: Revolution features music by Audio Antics (Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved) and sound design by Studio X Labs (Homeworld).

In Star Marine: Infinite Ammo you play as Arc, a battle hardened drifter captured by an alien race in the depths of space. You however, have other plans, and being a hardcore, highly skilled Star Marine, it is your task to take them all down in a cloud of bullets and mayhem.

Included in the download:

• 10 unique and massive bosses (one for each level)
• 7 powerful weapons
• a full set of marine upgrades
• 3 separate gameplay modes including Boss Rush & Survival Mode
• 30+ Game Centre Achievements
• 100+ in game challenges through 4 unique worlds

Featuring no less than 10 unique and massive bosses (one for each level!), 7 powerful weapons, a full set of marine upgrades, 3 separate gameplay modes including Boss Rush & Survival Mode, 30+ Game Centre Achievements, and over 100+ in game challenges through 4 unique worlds, ‘Star Marine: Infinite Ammo’ is locked and loaded full of features. As GlitchSoft’s latest and most exciting entry, Star Marine: Infinite Ammo is the first to solve Run n’ Gun for iOS touch controls!

Shuttle Scuttle is a fast-paced, retro-style shooter game with a mission. It’s the year 2285 and all is peaceful since the forming of the USSA (United Sol System Alliance). That is until Neptune station reports of unidentified spacecraft approaching. A hostile force is making its way through the sol system towards earth. Armed shuttles for asteroid destruction are the only defense crafts available. Seek out and intercept this hostile force before Earth becomes a target!

Game Features:

* 8-bit artwork reminiscent of the NES
* 14 tracks of original chiptune music
* 32 levels with 8 epic boss battles
* Astronauts to rescue
* Dozens of unique enemies
* Earn up to 3 stars on each level
* Shield and fuel power-ups
* Full screen mode
* Right and left handed keyboard controls

“The Satyr is a perfect showcase for Mission Against Terror,” said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive. “Unlike many other custom rigs, the Satyr delivers a superior functionality at an unbeatable price. We know that everyone in the M.A.T. community is going to love playing the game on such cutting-edge hardware.”

“Wicked makes fantastic games,” said Attila Soos, Co-Founder, Primordial Computers. “M.A.T. in particular is a great meat-and-potatoes MMO shooter that is near and dear to our heart. We know that our fans are going to get the ultimate M.A.T. experience on the special limited-edition Satyr. The exclusive content that Wicked has made available is also great stuff.”

How to Get Involved:

* To check out the limited-edition M.A.T. Satyr computer, go to: Primordial Computers and enter the special promotional code PC2011 for 10% off through January 15, 2012.

*  To enter into a drawing to receive exclusive M.A.T content, “like” M.A.T. or Primordial Computers on Facebook.

“The holiday events have already begun heating up the servers and players have been incredibly creative so far in our Deck The Walls Wallpaper Contest,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “We are looking forward to seeing how players approach the new weapons challenge and which arms become the most popular!”

All new seasonal Costume Bundles, accessories and weapons are here-including Naomi’s new Holiday outfits, which include a Sleigh Ride Get Up and a Santa’s Elves Outfit that might not be ideal for keeping her warm in the winter cold, but are sure to heat up the battlefield!  Players can also perform their best Santa impersonation in C.H.I.P.’s Saint Nick and Kris Kringle Costumes! Give those naughty MicroVolters a good whack and a taste of the new Candy Cane melee weapon and don’t forget about the new line of grenade launchers that also comes out today.

With the introduction of a new game setting, MicroVolters will be tested on their weapons expertise- If limited to only three weapons in your arsenal, which would you choose?  With this new game setting, players must choose wisely and learn their counter weapons!  Players will start the match with only a melee weapon and 2 weapons of choice. but will they remain a weapon loyalist or can they adapt their arsenal to stay on top?

Armed with all the new accessories, weapons, outfits and more, MicroVolters can also jump in and enjoy the ongoing Holiday events.  There is still time to sign up for the Deck the Walls Wallpaper Contest and players can stay on top of their game by participating in the 12 days of MicroVolts event.  In addition, MicroVolts will be holding a big Boxing Day sale on December 26th.

In Heroes Mode players will be able to compete in four vs. four multiplayer with classic Resident Evil characters including Leon. S Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Hunk and Ada Wong. Players will assume the role of either the good or bad guys and compete against each other in a battle for survival. But it’s not that simple. Adding a twist to the traditional TPS gameplay, players will not only need to defeat the opposing team but also zombies and B.O.W’s delivering a compelling triple threat battle.

Key Game Features

• Team based shooter set in the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe
• Triple threat battle as zombies and B.O.W’s add to the action
  • Return of favorite RE enemies, including Hunters, Tyrants and the Nemesis
  • Risk infection from the hordes of zombies, zombie dogs and lickers. Fight to survive with anti-viral sprays, your character’s special skills or help from field scientist Bertha before your character’s condition worsens, turning you into a violent zombie who will attack your own team members
• Compete with up to three friends as an Umbrella Security Service squad member in Campaign mode

• Choose from six U.S.S characters, each with their own unique skill set and roles.
• Features iconic landmarks and RE classic characters, such as Leon S. Kennedy and Hunk.
• Rewrite the history of the Raccoon City outbreak. Destroy all evidence of Umbrella’s involvement at the City Hall and discover UBCS operative Nicholai Ginovaef’s true intentions
• Explore Raccoon City, collecting evidence and intel to report back to Umbrella command

Making MicroVolts merry and bright, the upcoming Holiday Special Update will gift players with a variety of cool new holiday items including new Holiday Costume Bundles for Naomi and C.H.I.P that will have players rockin’ around the battlefield.  In addition to the Santa-size sack full of holiday accessories and weapons, MicroVolts is also hosting a 12 Days of Christmas event and a Deck the Walls wallpaper contest!  This seasonal contest will give players a glimpse at some of the all-new content coming up in the next update!

“The Holiday season is a time for fun and giving and we wanted to share that spirit with our loyal community,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “We invite new recruits and current MicroVolters alike to come check out all of the holiday fun starting this Friday!”

Coming in 2012 to MicroVolts is the exaVolt Tournament System, sponsored by The MicroVolts Team and spear-headed by MicroVolt community leader [MOD]Bacon and his team. The exaVolt Tournament will be a series of tournaments held every Saturday, featuring exclusive prizes for winners and clan rankings that will intensify the clan war system in MicroVolts. Here’s a sneak preview:

Setting the stage for the newest edition in the popular franchise, the trailer exemplifies the terrorist threat that not only poses a danger to Team Rainbow, but also to the nation. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots is due for release on the Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 and Windows PC in 2013.

Terrorism has evolved and America is under attack. Capitalizing on the sense of frustration in a nation seemingly corrupted by greedy politicians and corporate special interests, a group of US citizens-turned-radicals, the “True Patriots,” will stop at nothing to overthrow the government and financial institutions. As a leader of the elite Rainbow counter-terrorism unit, players will be the last line of defense tasked with saving the nation no matter the cost.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots revolves around an unprecedented narrative that captures the reality of modern-day terrorism and allows players to experience it from multiple perspectives. In addition to the immersive single-player storyline, the game will introduce a huge variety of new innovative co-op and multiplayer experiences that add a new dimension to squad tactics. Players will be rewarded for working as a team and mastering the game’s new features that enhance communication and strategic execution between teammates.

Those short on time that want to see Commander Jefferson at his most lethal can purchase the full suite of available upgrades for only $4.99 – 50% off the original price. Individual upgrades are also available for 99 cents each.

The update is coming soon to iOS (Download from the iOS AppStore) and the Xperia platform.

As part of MicroVolts’ new Capsule Machine feature, players can take a shot at winning exclusive parts and accessory items such as the highly coveted, but extremely rare, “Gold Rifle” or the “Musashi” (Samurai) outfit for the popular character, C.H.I.P.   With each spin, players gain Luck Points which increases their chance at winning the ultimate jackpot prize of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of Micro Points.

In addition to the Capsule Machine , MicroVolts is also launching a brand-new Weapon Upgrade System that will dramatically intensify gameplay for both casual and competitive players.  Through acquiring Energy, players can fill their Battery in order to upgrade their permanent weapons.  Everything from an improvement in the accuracy of a rifle, a faster run speed while wielding a melee weapon or  an increase in the damage radius of a grenade launcher is all possible with this new feature.

“Every time our players think we have packed as much fun and excitement into MicroVolts as possible we surprise them by giving them even more!,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “I think players can tell from this latest update that we are committed to listening to our community about the items and features they covet.  We encourage our players to continue to share their feedback because after all, this is their game.”

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 franchise has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and has been hailed as one of the best first-person shooter series of all time. The games are known for depicting high-tech counter-terrorist operations set within the Tom Clancy’s game world. With Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots, Ubisoft is building upon the success of the franchise while also taking it in a bold new direction.

“Terrorism has evolved, and so has Rainbow 6. In Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots, all the team play, tactics, and realism that fans of the series love have been coupled with an exciting new narrative direction,” said David Sears, creative director at Ubisoft. “This adds an unprecedented level of humanity that will make Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots an extremely tense and immersive experience.”

In Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots, Team Rainbow faces a new and very real threat called the “True Patriots,” a highly-trained, well-organized revolutionary group that claim the American government is irrevocably corrupted by greedy politicians and corporate special interests. The True Patriots will do whatever it takes to reclaim their country. Playing as Team Rainbow, players will face critical scenarios that will require them to make tough ethical decisions in order to stop this new breed of terrorists.

In addition to the immersive single-player storyline, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots will introduce a huge variety of new innovative co-op and multi-player experiences. Players will be rewarded for working as a team and mastering the game’s new features that enhance communication and tactical execution between teammates. Success will come from a mix of split-second decision making and working to coordinate attacks against the enemy.

Additional details on Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots can be found in an exclusive cover story in the December 2011 issue of Game Informer Magazine, available this month.

Hearing of the outbreak, the USS team is given fresh orders to destroy all evidence of Umbrella’s involvement and silence anyone that might discover the truth. The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (U.B.C.S.) are also deployed to help contain the situation. Meanwhile the US Government has quarantined the city and dispatched its own team of special operatives to determine the source of the mysterious outbreak. Caught up in the chaos are rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield.

Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Soldier (U.S.S) and battle against all the competing forces at play in Raccoon City. Choose from six characters, each one equipped with a unique skill set, including the female field scientist Four-Eyes who can manipulate the T-virus and take control of the B.O.W’s raiding the streets of Raccoon City or the weapons expert and U.S.S team captain Lupo.

Key features

• Team based shooter set in the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe
• Triple threat battle as zombies and B.O.W’s add to the action
  • Return of favorite RE enemies, including Hunters, Tyrants and the Nemesis
  • Risk infection from the hordes of zombies, zombie dogs and lickers. Fight to survive with anti-viral sprays, your character’s special skills or help from field scientist Bertha before your character’s condition worsens, turning you into a violent zombie who will attack your own team members
• Compete with up to three friends as an Umbrella Security Service squad member in Campaign mode
• Choose from six U.S.S characters, each with their own unique skill set and roles.
• Features iconic landmarks and RE classic characters, such as Leon S. Kennedy and Hunk.
• Rewrite the history of the Raccoon City outbreak. Destroy all evidence of Umbrella’s involvement at the City Hall and discover UBCS operative Nicholai Ginovaef’s true intentions
• Explore Raccoon City, collecting evidence and intel to report back to Umbrella command

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and will be available for play on the Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and PC.

A Special Edition of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will also be available featuring a copy of the Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City game, a Steelbook with exclusive art, stylized foil sleeve, Umbrella Security Service embroidered patch, Spec Ops Field Unit embroidered patch, and all 8 bonus weapons.  Note: as of this posting, the online stores are not yet showing listings for a Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Collector’s Edition – they will probably be added next week.

Developed by Vancouver’s Slant Six Games for Capcom, fans can expect a third person shooter team-based experience set in the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City where players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Service soldier (U.S.S.) in a thrilling triple-threat battle as zombies and favorite B.O.W. (bio-organic weapon) enemies from the Resident Evil series add to the challenge.

Game Backgrounder:

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City delivers a true third person team based shooter experience set within the dark and sinister Resident Evil® universe. Not only does this setting provide a rich backdrop to the action but it fosters a unique and thrilling triple-threat battle scenario for the game modes. Zombies and Bio-Organic Weapons (B.O.W’s) add to the mix as players compete against their team’s opposing squad but also tackle this third unpredictable element that could only exist in the twisted Resident Evil universe. The result is a brand new style of gameplay that breaks the conventions of traditional third person shooters.

It is September 1998 and the action focuses on the ill-fated Raccoon City and the horrific consequences of the deadly T-virus outbreak. With a cover up required, Umbrella orders an elite team into Raccoon City to destroy all evidence of its involvement. Meanwhile the US Government has quarantined the city and dispatched its own team of elite soldiers to determine the source of the mysterious outbreak. Caught up in the action are rookie police officer Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Service (U.S.S) Soldier and battle against all the competing forces at play in Raccoon City.

Choose from six characters, each one equipped with a unique skill set, including the female field scientist Four-Eyes who can manipulate the T-virus and take control of the B.O.W’s raiding the streets of Raccoon City or the weapons expert and U.S.S team captain Lupo.

Features

• Team based shooter set in the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe.
• Triple threat battle as zombies and B.O.W’s add an unpredictable twist to the action.
• Control the truth solo or with up to three friends as an Umbrella Security Service squad member in a story driven Campaign mode.
• Choose from six U.S.S. characters, each with their own unique skill set and roles.
• Return of favorite Resident Evil enemies, iconic landmarks and characters, such as Leon S. Kennedy.
• Rewrite the history of the Raccoon City outbreak. Relive the iconic crash scene from Resident Evil® 2 as Leon S. Kennedy desperately tries to escape from the clutches of the Umbrella Security Services.
• For the first time ever in Resident Evil history, your character risks infection from the hordes of zombies making their way through the city.
• Competitive online multiplayer modes provide a unique gaming experience thanks to the triple threat battle between the Umbrella Security Service, US Special Ops and threat of zombies and B.O.W’s.

In honour of All Hallow’s Eve, Z8Games is also hosting a slew of events and challenges. Are you a Ghost Mode ninja? Perhaps you’re more of a Zombie hunter or Mutant-murdering machine? Play Ghost Mode, Zombie Mode, and Mutation Mode this weekend and earn free Halloween items.

To kick off the latest update, MicroVolts will celebrate German style with their very own Oktoberfest complete with sleek new Bavarian outfits for both Knox and Naomi.  Players can raise a stein, snack on some pretzels and whack some enemies with a new melee weapon: “Feast on a Fork!”  Additionally, a new map is revealed – Hobby Shop.  Players will wreak havoc as toys convene after-hours in this large scale map with hidden passageways that are perfect for surprising unsuspecting enemies.  This new map is sure to have the shop owner scratching his head when he arrives in the morning.

“October is more than just pumpkins and costumes, it’s also time for old world celebrations and that’s just what we are offering in this unique Oktoberfest update,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “We think this is a great way to kick off the latest update and hope players get a real kick out of it too.”

“What’s better than an update to your favorite game but two updates for two awesome games at the same time, said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “Constantly creating fun and fresh new content for MicroVolts and Brawl Busters is really important to us and our players and there will be a lot more fun in store.”On Thursday, September 29th the successful cartoon style third-person action shooter MicroVolts will launch its Invasion Update which will bring a whole new type of gameplay to the already fast-paced shooter game.  Single player mode, Oktoberfest items and a huge new map are just some of the cool features that will be unveiled later this week!

Not to be outdone, the highly-anticipated funky title Brawl Busters will enter its second phase of Closed Beta testing, complete with network upgrades, new weapons and costumes and a wacky new district in which to battle.  Current beta testers will also have the option to invite their friends to play along without the need for a beta key.

“We are very happy to partner with Strategy First for a number of reasons. A highly anticipated game such as Deep Black requires a partner who can bring the game to North America retail outlets. We also are excited about the digital distribution release of Deep Black which with Strategy First’s syndication platform will enable to exceed our high expectations.” Commented Just A Game’s International Sales Manager Martin Szymanski.

“Deep Black is an exciting and innovative game which offers a Real 3-D game play experience that Gamers will be excited about. Working with Just A Game is an incredible opportunity for us to expand our franchise as the go to publisher of  high quality immersive games” Said Emanuel Wall Director of Strategy First Inc.

Space Marine also features 8 vs. 8 class-based multiplayer where players take on the role of either Space Marine or Chaos Space Marine in a battle to the death. Players can choose the balanced Tactical and Chaos Space Marine, the heavy weapons focused Devastator and Havoc or the jump pack equipped melee specialist Assault Marine and Raptor.

A free downloadable Co-operative gameplay mode called Exterminatus will also be made available to all players in early October. This mode pits a team of four Space Marine players against numerous AI controlled enemies in a fight to survive. Featuring dynamic challenges and global leaderboards, Space Marine’s co-op mode will keep players engaged for months to come.

The game includes a full progression and upgrade system tied to both multiplayer and co-op. Players will earn experience and unlock new weapons and perks which allow them to customize their loadouts to suit their play style. Progression will also unlock more options for the game’s customizer, which allows players to create a unique character to suit them, with over 1.8 Billion possibilities available at launch.

In addition to leveraging Steamworks’ Auto-Updating, Achievements, Match-Making, Leaderboards and Stats, the PC version of Warhammer^® 40,000^® Space Marine^® will support Steamworks Cloud technology.

A premium quality Collector’s Edition is available to purchase from THQ.com, featuring a 10″ Purity Seal, Art Book, Game Soundtrack, 25 foiled character cards and a premium box. The Space Marine Collector’s Edition has a SRP of $99 (console) and $79 (PC).

A demo of the game is now available to download now for the Xbox 360,Playstation 3 and Windows PC. Space Marine is available to purchase now from a variety of retailers for a SRP of $60 console and $50 PC, and is rated M for Mature.

MicroVolters will have to amp up their competitiveness in new mode, Arms Race! Players have 20 weapons to conquer and must rapidly master each weapon to defeat their opponents before they are able to upgrade their arsenal. The toy war continues in the new map, Toy Fleet, where players will quickly find out that this is no ordinary kiddie pool! From steamboats to battleships, MicroVolters will have to dodge enemy bullets without falling in the water!

In addition to the new mode and map, new weapons, Parts & Accessories have also been introduced. With summer almost over and back to school season upon us, the MicroWorld is celebrating both occasions! MicroVolters take one last strut down the beach in Naomi’s Grey Tank Top before pulling out Knox’s School Ready Hoodie to gear up for class. School yard bullies will be seeing red after being whacked by the Red Drawing Pencil!

“The MicroVolts community had a great summer and now it’s time to head back to school-but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to have fun!” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “From the new Toy Fleet map to the fast paced Arms Race mode to all the new accessories, there will be plenty for MicroVolters to enjoy well into the Fall!”

Rock Hippo invites all their Canadian fans to come and see MicroVolts on exhibition at Fan Expo in Toronto this weekend. Visitors can participate in the special promotion for in-game currency as well as come grab some cool gaming swag at Booth 1445.

Between August 25th and 28th, Rock Hippo will exhibit its two free-to-play games, MicroVolts and upcoming Brawl Busters, at Fan Expo Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Booth 1445. Players who visit the Rock Hippo booth at Fan Expo Canada will have a chance to play the new action brawler, Brawl Busters, which just recently went into Closed Beta phase. In addition, visitors can participate in the special promotion for the company’s recently released third person action shooter, MicroVolts, to receive in-game currency and pick up all kinds of gaming swag.

“Gamescom was a huge success for us. We were able to show off our games to so many of our fans and give out some great prizes. We want to congratulate the winners of our tournaments who took home some awesome Alienware gaming gear,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “We aren’t done yet. We are now looking forward to meeting the gamers at Fan Expo Canada this weekend, which is celebrating its 17th year, and we are proud to be part of such a popular convention which celebrates everything from gaming to anime and comics and more.”

Available in North America and Europe at the Deus Ex store, the Deus Ex: Human Revolution range of clothing has been designed in partnership with game developer Eidos-Montreal, ensuring the closest real-world version of the virtual items as possible.

The standout item in the Deus Ex: Human Revolution is Adam Jensen’s coat—a futuristic interpretation of a trench coat. This slick trench, adorned with signature vented holes, and structured sleeves, is inspired by Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s cyber-renaissance art direction. Just remember that you’re not actually augmented before leaving on your adventures.

“Standard logoed T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats are the norm,” said Knut Jochen Bergel, CEO, musterbrand. “musterbrand’s clothing lines are designed by top stylists, woven from the highest quality material, and cut so sharply they should come with a warning. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is already drawing praise for its unique design and playability – we’re aiming to replicate the game’s popularity with our clothing line too.”

“musterbrand has done an amazing job at not only bringing the clothing in Deus Ex: Human Revolution to life, but producing cool, wearable clothing inspired by the game,” says Jonathan Jacque-Belletete. “It’s of utmost importance to me to always retain the integrity and signature look and style of the game in everything we produce. I think Deus Ex: Human Revolution fans will be stoked at musterbrand’s offerings!”

Deus Ex: Human Revolution will be releasing in North American stores tomorrow, August 23rd for the PlayStation®3, Xbox 360®, Windows® PC, Steam® and OnLive®.

Just like Fox McCloud and his team in the classic remake for Nintendo 3DS TM, the winner and a friend will experience the thrill and excitement of flying a light attack fighter in air-to-air combat. After a briefing by an Air Combat USA Pilot in the basics of Tactical Fighter Maneuvers, they will engage in multiple g-pulling dogfights, experiencing the fierce aerial combat of the game in real life! The flight experience will be recorded and they will be debriefed post flight.

Contest Details

• Open only to residents of the Canada (excluding Quebec) and the U.S. who are over the age of 14
• The contest starts on August 15, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. PT and ends on November 7, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. PT
• One winner from Canada and one winner from the United States and will each receive a grand prize trip package consisting of a “Basic Air Combat Maneuvers for 2″ aerial combat lesson for the winner and their guest at Air Combat USA, a video of the flight experience, two nights’ accommodations in Fullerton, California, two round-trip airplane tickets, and $500 spending money
• Approximate Retail Value of the Trip: $5,800 CAD

Players who have pre-ordered the digital PC version of Space Marine through Steam will receive an exclusive early access period starting on the 18th of August, running through the weekend.  Steam will also be running a Warhammer 40,000 bundle sale at a very special rate during the same period.  Check out STEAM for more details.

The Space Marine demo features two very different areas of the game. The first pits the player against an Ork horde outside the gates of a munitions factory. Armed with six devastating weapons, including the iconic bolter and lethal chainsword, the player will get to experience Space Marine’s seamless mix of melee and ranged combat first hand as they take on the rampaging invaders. The second area gives players a taste of the exhilarating Jump Pack sequences where the game’s hero—Captain Titus—takes to the skies to rain death from above.

Space Marine ‘Honour Guard’ community members will also get the chance to play the demo early on August 22nd, 24 hours prior to the public launch. For more information on how to sign up to get the demo visit the Space Marine site and make sure you have registered with the Honour Guard.

“The online gameplay of MicroVolts and Brawl Busters make them a perfect fit for Steam, and we are thrilled to be among the first free-to-play games to launch on the platform,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “We look forward to introducing both games to the millions of Steam users so they can experience all of the fun, excitement and non-stop action our games offer with all the ease of use that Steam provides.”

MicroVolts features fast paced, third person shooter action and pits players against each other in a secret battle that has been waged and going unnoticed right in our own backyard for years.  No one knows for sure when or where the first toy declared war but rumor has it that the uprising began with four original limited edition figures, code named MicroVolts. Battle lines were drawn when Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P.-the prototypes -were soon joined by an endless number of modified versions. Now, toy figures around the world are engaged in an all-out war for valuable battery resources and supremacy of the Micro World.  All we can do now is stay out of their way and wait for a champion to be declared!  Featuring a ton of weapons, fresh character designs, and a huge list of customization features,

Game modes include Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, Zombie Mode and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept. Players can also check out the recently released Summer Recharge patch that includes a brand new map, Magic Paper Land, new weapons and hot summer items such as a Pink Polka Dot Bikini that is sure to heat up the battlefield.

Brawl Busters is an upcoming action brawler that features competitive and co-operative battle modes all in a unique third person view. With its simple and intuitive controls, this easy to pick up and play game makes team strategy a must as player’s battle against each other or team up against computer controlled enemies.

Players will find five unique character classes including the Slugger, the Firefighter, the Rocker, the Boxer and finally, the Blitzer. With its signature funky visual style, the game will offer tons of exciting maps and will also feature a huge variety of customization options including body type, gender, weapons, costumes and accessories along with the ability to upgrade weapons and costumes with new abilities. Brawl Busters will feature an intense training mode, challenge missions, leaderboards and persistent stat tracking.

MicroVolts is celebrating summer in style with a brand new map, Magic Paper Land and all-new weapons such as the Thunder Grenade Launcher and Hornet Rifle. The “Summer Recharge” patch also includes hot summer items such as a Pink Polka Dot Bikini that is sure to heat up the battlefield! For players looking for even more bonuses and special privileges can check out the new rewards available through the Battery Charge Program. Players who complete certain objectives, such as joining a clan or reaching 100 forum posts, can unlock rewards such as a 30-day Rock Hippo Costume Set or the coveted ability to cast polls and post videos in MicroVolts forums.

“MicroVolts continues to be a huge success with its player base and clans reaching new heights. Hundreds of thousands of players and over 2500 clans have already joined the MicroVolts community with thousands more players joining each day,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “We don’t want our players to experience any summer boredom, and the MicroVolts team looks forward to bringing the community even more new updates and content in the near future.”

MicroVolts is also hosting the first-ever MicroVolts Clan Tournament, “Clan Clash”, from July 15 – August 11th. Clans will battle it out for a 1st place prize of 18, 000 Rock Tokens and a 7-day Happy Pack accessory item!

MicroVolts will be at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, August 18-21st! Players are invited to meet the Rock Hippo crew, grab some neat giveaways such as an Alienware gaming mouse and participate in the on-site tournaments! MicroVolts will also be at FanExpo in Toronto, Canada, August 25-28!

MicroVolts features fast paced, third person shooter action and pits players against each other in a secret battle that has been waged and going unnoticed right in our own backyard for years. No one knows for sure when or where the first toy declared war but rumor has it that the uprising began with four original limited edition figures, code-named MicroVolts. Battle lines were drawn when Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P.-the prototypes-were soon joined by an endless number of modified versions. Now, toy figures around the world are engaged in an all-out war for valuable battery resources and supremacy of the Micro World. All we can do now is stay out of their way and wait for a champion to be declared! Featuring a ton of weapons, inventive character designs, and a huge list of customization features, MicroVolts is destined to invigorate and re-energize the Free2play space.

Game modes include Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept.

“Working with Spin Master on this has been really exciting”, says Ray Sharma, Founder and CEO of XMG Studio. “It’s a great opportunity to really expand the expectations of what people consider to be traditional mobile gaming.”

This partnership marks a major strategic alliance of these leaders in their respective industries. The concept of combining an out-of-game experience with an in-game effect and using an interactive, real world object is extremely cutting-edge. The App Blaster will revolutionize the way future first person shooter games for mobile devices are played – less button mashing, more strategic aiming. Now, with the innovative toy-making and consumer expertise of Spin Master, coupled with the mobile gaming savvy of XMG Studio, sniper-fans everywhere can have something incredible to look forward to with a far more intense game-play experience, bringing them closer than ever to the skill and precision of the real thing.

“What we have here with App Blaster is very cool and very innovative,” says Dave Colebrook, VP Marketing at Spin Master.  “Gamers haven’t yet seen this type of gaming, so we’re glad to be working with such a company as XMG to bring this to concept to life.  This is just the beginning of this kind of interactive gaming.”

In addition to some awesome updates to one my favourite game titles, Cow vs Aliens, XMG Studio has also recently two great new games in Apple’s App Store that you might be interested in checking out.

Degrassi: A story-driven game based on the hit TV series, it has already reached a #1 ranking in the App Store’s “Role Playing” category. As their first days of school unfold, players make important decisions, engage in meaningful conversations and play their way through classes, all in the ever-familiar locations of Degrassi. The player is free to forge his or her own pathway through the game, ultimately resulting in a different ending depending on which choices were made. Degrassi is the most watched drama on MuchMusic in Canada, and highly rated on TeenNick in the U.S. It’s an interactive role playing game that allows the user to build and maintain relationships with familiar characters from the popular TV series.

Louisville Slugger Homerun Challenge: There are plenty of baseball games, and even some home run derby apps, but Louisville Slugger distinguishes itself in a few ways in that it’s extremely accessible with simple, responsive swipe controls. The game has crisp hand-drawn artwork, multiple game modes, stadiums, and Louisville Slugger bats modeled after original Louisville Slugger models. (published by our partner mLamb Productions)

“Attention people of Earth! It is I, Commander P Jefferson, sending this message from the future to alert you that the galaxy is finally safe from alien scum. How did it become safe, you ask? Well, because I kicked their ugly alien butts!

On July 28, you will be able to recreate my epic battles with the forces of evil (a.k.a. anything that isn’t human) by downloading A Space Shooter for Free!, an exciting shooter that takes place in—wait for it—space! I bet you humans from the past are neither smart nor handsome enough to grasp that concept. A Space Shooter for Free! costs nothing to try and features an infinite supply of aliens to obliterate. The big ASS version, with more special weapons, more bosses and more power-ups can be unlocked in-game for only $0.99.

Within this epic and critically acclaimed game, previously available for the PSP, yours truly will yet again demonstrate how to kill aliens dead by blowing up their ships, earning loot to upgrade the USS Eradicator, and blasting even more aliens dead.”

“We are delighted to be launching M.A.T. 2.0 today,” said Sam Ho, Director of Wicked Interactive. “M.A.T. 2.0 comes with a massive amount new content and updates.  The biggest change is that the game is no longer in Open Beta status.  M.A.T. 2.0 strikes hard with its commercial release; rocking a new user interface, a new game mode, an expanded crafting system, seven maps and over a dozen weapons.”

Hybrid Invasion is a brand new game mode that is being introduced with this patch, expanding on the need to band together as team mates to survive.  Players will survive wave after wave of hybrid creatures that are a combination of AI robots, mummies and biological weapons.  If players survive long enough, they will encounter the Tyrant; a hammer-swinging monstrosity that’ll take a well trained and well armed squad to put down!

The expanded crafting system will allow players to create a variety of items out of multiple types of materials.  Before the patch, players had to collect just a robot part from AI Mode and use a Weapon Casting Machine on it to create one of several weapons.  With the new patch, players will be able to use all kinds of materials like PCB boards, diodes, metal, nylon, leather, dyes, etc to create not just weapons, but clothing and items as well.

The new Hybrid Invasion game mode will have 2 maps associated with it, while new maps are sprinkled over several game modes to spice them all up.  Ghost Mode will see the inclusion of Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport.  Mummy Mode will see Ancient Tomb as an addition, furthering the exploration of the mummy outbreak at the heart of their origins.  Other additions include Trinity Rowe which takes place near a church, Metro Airport and Xingcheng Street.

To complement all of the exciting action, players will be engaged in a healthy supply of events that can land them all-new and powerful weapons.  The Porcelain QBZ-95 is a beast and can be acquired by winning 50 games over the event period.  Speaking of beasts, the M4A1 Golden Beast can be obtained by converting 40,000 Suba Points into Gold Coins.  A total of 30 hours spent online playing M.A.T. will land players a sleek camouflaged F2000 and collecting the letters “I L-O-V-E M-A-T” will score players the illustrious Golden AK-47 which was previously the first rare weapon obtainable through the lottery wheel.

While on the subject of the lottery wheel, M.A.T. is introducing multiple wheels, all with their own sets of items and rare weapons.  There will be three different wheels accessible for Gold Coins, one for Silver Coins and the beloved “daily 200 PVP kills for one spin” event continues on with a wheel of its own.

The summer is going to be an action-packed ride in the world of M.A.T. Register on the M.A.T. home page, download the game client and start playing immediately. M.A.T. is a free online military first-person shooter for the PC platform. It includes a military ranking system, in-game friends lists, an integrated clan system, deep character customization options and social media integration via the M.A.T. website. More MAPS. More GUNS. More MODES. More HEADSHOTS. Join millions of players online today in the ultimate military FPS experience.

Burn The City features not only an amazing 45 levels of high-polished action, but also incredibly intuitive controls – touch, drag and release. Similar in style to Angry Birds™ and Worms™, this game will keep you addicted for hours, and includes explosive physics and Game Center support for the competitive players. At your aid to destroy all mankind you have your fireball attack, and by eating different colored YUMs that are gathered by destroying crates throughout the levels, you obtain 3 special attacks: the first is TNT, which turns the standard fireball into a green explosive shot! The second is “Sniper”, which gives better accuracy across far distances, and finally the third special attack is “nuke” (YES!), which unleashes a nuclear blast (oh yeah!!) when the screen is tapped! Go ahead! Download your personal copy of Burn This City, and get busy destroying humanity!

A free version of the game is already available on PC through Kongregate, and a version for the Android was released recently. The iOS version now available on the App Store is compatible with Apple iPhone®, Apple iPod touch® and Apple iPad® devices running iOS 3.0 or later. Burn the City is rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence.

“We strove to make a game that is fun to play from moment to moment but also has a driving force that makes it compelling to explore levels, collect weapons and improve your character.” said Ben Kane, founder of Going Loud Studios. “Twin-stick shooting can often be a shallow experience. The variety of enemies and levels as well as the vast arsenal of weapons available gives Lair of the Evildoer the depth to make it worth playing, worth finishing and worth playing again.”

The evil Dr. Odious has you trapped in his lair. He’s also not very fond of you. Make your escape by battling through hundreds of monsters, collecting over 25 weapons and leveling up as you go. Procedurally generated levels will keep you on your toes in this action RPG shooter, ensuring a different experience with every playthrough.

Game Features:

Procedurally generated lair:
Dr. Odious’ lair consists of 20 levels procedurally generated by pure evil, ensuring unique experiences with every playthrough. Take the fight through the laboratory, the dungeon and even the wood-panelled decor of Dr. Odious’ 70s-era office. The wood panelling may be the most evil thing in the lair.

Over 30 types of enemies:
Standing between you and the exit will be hundreds of monsters of varying levels of evil. Classic creations like skeletons and the undead are flanked by Dr. Odious’ mechanical Killbots, automated turrets and even his zombie accountants. Not one to rest on his laurels, Dr. Odious has given the walking dead a set of wheels, creating what he likes to call “Zoombies”.

Weapon affix system, featuring 25 weapon types with dozens of variations:
Your only allies in your attempt to escape the lair have names like “Boomstick”, “Tommy Gun” and “Sledgehammer”. Fortunately, each of the 25 different types of melee and ranged weapons can come equipped with a variety of properties and special attributes. Keep hunting for the best loot! The “Trusty Axe of Slaying” could give you the edge you need.

Level up your character to survive:
Everything in Lair of the Evildoer is governed by a stats system that you can customize as you progress through the game. Improve your accuracy and ability to carry ammo if you prefer ranged combat. Beef up your melee striking power and reduce the effects of knock-back if you prefer to get up close and personal.

“We have been thrilled with the official launch of MicroVolts.  We’re seeing our player base grow in leaps and bounds and getting great feedback from our MicroVolts community,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “Our players’ characters are already sporting many of the newly released items such as Naomi’s Cupcake Dress and Knox’s Skeleton Jacket and arming themselves with new weapons such as the Mimic Grenade Launcher and the DareDev Gatling Gun. MicroVolters from all over the world are continuing to wage their secret war in the new map, The Studio, and all of this is just the beginning!”

To thank the growing community for helping make the game a success in its first week, Rock Hippo Productions has released an official MicroVolts wallpaper to commemorate the successful launch.  Players can download the official wallpaper showing Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P .in action from the  MicroVolts web site.

Here are some of the things it seems MicroVolters can’t get enough of:

Clan Feature: MicroVolts’ new clan feature has boosted the competitive spirit amongst MicroVolters with over 1000 clans already created.  In the new Clan Hall, players can now create or manage their clans.  They can also request membership into coveted clans or recruit elite members to their ranks.  Players ultimately compete in-game with other clans for domination of the MicroWorld and placement on the Clan Leaderboard that will be re-launched tomorrow, Friday June 17 along with some other clan updates.

Shop: Players are enjoying the newly launched Web and In-Game Shop and all the access to exclusive items that this feature grants them. MicroVolts plans to continue to expand its payment options and availability to more countries to better support the ever-growing community.

“Free the Hippo” Tournament: Players are amped for the ”Free the Hippo: Free For All Tournament” being held on Saturday, June 18th. Prizes include up to 135K MP and a Hippo In Style costume set.

“We want to thank all the MicroVolters who participated in the open beta phase of the game and invite them, along with new players,  to experience all the new content and gameplay we have in store for this huge launch ,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “We are really stepping up the clan competitions and with the addition of a huge new map, all new weapons, costumes and more, new and returning players alike will all be treated to a great experience in the newly launched MicroVolts world.”                  

Players will be able to create their own clans and select the best members to join special teams. These teams will form the core of each clan, with reserve members fighting for those spots. This extra level of clan management will bring new strategy options to the game, especially for tournament players. More features such as comparing clan stats and clan leaderboards will be coming in the near future.

Celebrating the launch with a new map, The Studio. A huge new map with an incredible amount of levels and hiding spots, The Studio is a map that Zombie Mode enthusiasts will  especially enjoy as it gives plenty of options for evading those pesky zombies. Just don’t get too freaked out by the giant clown hanging out of the toy box.

Also released with the game’s official launch are new weapons, costumes and character set. The new Colonel Crac  costume set includes the C.H.I.P. character and allows players to outfit themselves in the style of the legendary Colonel. In addition, all characters will receive fresh new parts and accessories, available for both Micro Points and Rock Tokens.  But no character is complete without their awesome weapons.  MicroVolters will be introduced to three new ones including the Steel Hammer (melee), DareDev (Gatling Gun), and Mimic (Rocket Launcher).  Players should also be on the lookout for all new advanced versions of different weapon types!

Rock Tokens currency currency can be purchased from the MicroVolts Web Shop and will be used to purchase special customization items and extend gameplay options. Game modes include Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, Elimination, Zombie Mode, and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept.

The official release of MicroVolts will also mark the grand opening of the new online shop, where players will find exclusive weapons, parts, accessories, items and sets to help make their character truly unique. On Saturday, June 18th the “Free the Hippo” Tournament will take place, and the winners of this Free For All tournament will receive a ton of Micro Points and a Hippo-In-Style character set as prizes. Be sure to check the MicroVolts web site for tournament and in-game event updates.

With Far Cry 3, players step into the shoes of Jason Brody, a man alone at the edge of the world, stranded on a mysterious tropical island. In this savage paradise where lawlessness and violence are the only sure thing, players dictate how the story unfolds, from the battles they choose to fight to the allies or enemies they make along the way. As Jason Brody, players will slash, sneak, detonate and shoot their way across the island in a world that has lost all sense of right and wrong.

“Far Cry 3 brings something new and unexpected, while still building upon the foundations of excellence that are inherent to the Far Cry brand,” said Dan Hay, producer at Ubisoft Montréal. “Whether you’re already a fan of the Far Cry series or jumping into the franchise for the very first time, you’re going to be blown away by the gritty story and epic adventure we’re going to deliver.”

Bunny the Zombie Slayer version 1.2 now includes:

• Three different modes to play
  • Classic: how many waves of zombies can you defeat with your hardboiled hand-grenades?
  • 28 Waves Later: Put your skills to the test with even more hordes of zombies and no special eggs to bail you out.
  • Time Attack: Kill as many zombies as possible in 2 minutes—aim for the head for bonus time and high scores.
• Game Center support with leaderboards for each mode
• Native Retina Display support
• Automatic detection for device orientation

“Bunny the Zombie Slayer was a top 50 overall app in the first week it launched, and even with that success we still want to keep improving the game and make it even more fun for the players,” said Hothead Games producer Joel DeYoung. “We’ve listened to all the feedback that the game has received and are offering this update thanks to the comments and reviews from our customers.”

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

Bunny The Zombie Slayer is Rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

With the introduction of Zombie Mode even toys can become zombies as infected players take on the role of a Zombie Toy with unique abilities to hunt players with uninfected toys.  Uninfected players will have all weapons available but may not have as much ammo as they are accustomed to playing with which may leave them vulnerable to a “Zombie Toy.”

“The new Zombie mode is great because not only does it introduce zombies into gameplay, but it also forces uninfected players to strategize with new weapons and less ammo than they are used to,” said Howard He, President of Rock Hippo Productions. “As players dive into the new Zombie mode they should also keep an eye out for news of some exciting upcoming events we have this month in celebration of the addictive new mode!”

In order to fight off the hordes of toy zombies, players will have access to special Zombie Mode weapons. These will come in drop boxes randomly in the middle of a match, so players need to make sure to be the first to get to the box! There will be 4 new Zombie Mode weapons in total, each with their own unique ability.  Two of the new weapons to make their debut include the Firestorm and Blizzard; which both live up to their names!  The Firestorm lights up the competition in a blazing storm of fire, burning pesky zombies to a fine ash and zombies will freeze in fear at the chilly cold whirlwind of ice that the Blizzard dishes out!

MicroVolts features fast paced, third person shooter action and pits players against each other in a secret battle that has been waged and going unnoticed right in our own backyard for years.  No one knows for sure when or where the first toy declared war but rumor has it that the uprising began with four original limited edition figures, code named MicroVolts. Battle lines were drawn when Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P. -the prototypes A -were soon joined by an endless number of modified versions. Now, toy figures around the world are engaged in an all-out war for valuable battery resources and supremacy of the Micro World.  All we can do now is stay out of their way and wait for a champion to be declared!

With a ton of weapons, inventive character designs, and a huge list of customization features, MicroVolts is destined to invigorate and re-energize the Free2play space. Intuitive controls and a third person view make the game easy to play and fun for both newcomers and veterans of shooter games.  Game modes include the brand new Zombie Mode, Free for ALL, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept.

With the introduction of Zombie Mode, even toys can become zombies as infected players take on the role of a Zombie Toy with unique abilities to hunt players with uninfected toys.  Uninfected players will have all weapons available but may not have as much ammo as they are accustomed to playing with which may leave them vulnerable to a “Zombie Toy.”

In addition to the upcoming Zombie Mode, the MicroVolts online community hub continues to undergo updates to provide players with even more functionality.  Players now have the ability to directly compare their stats with friends and any MicroVolts player in the world!  In addition, achievements will be coming soon to the Club House along with the ability to share with friends, and competitive players can look forward to future updates taking their game to a whole new level.

“The unique style and variety of modes are some of the main components that make MicroVolts stand out from other shooters and throwing zombies into the mix makes it that much more fun,” said Howard He, President of Rock Hippo Productions. “We also know that the Club House is an important community hub for our players, so we are always striving to update it and give them features that help them interact with their fellow MicroVolts players.”

MicroVolts features fast paced, third person shooter action and pits players against each other in a secret battle that has been waged and going unnoticed right in our own backyard for years.  No one knows for sure when or where the first toy declared war but rumor has it that the uprising began with four original limited edition figures, code named MicroVolts. Battle lines were drawn when Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P.-the prototypes a-were soon joined by an endless number of modified versions. Now, toy figures around the world are engaged in an all-out war for valuable battery resources and supremacy of the Micro World.  All we can do now is stay out of their way and wait for a champion to be declared!

With a ton of weapons, inventive character designs, and a huge list of customization features, MicroVolts is destined to invigorate and re-energize the Free2play space. Intuitive controls and a third person view make the game easy to play and fun for both newcomers and veterans of shooter games.  Game modes include Free for ALL, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept.

Source Studio has released their space shooter game ProtoGalaxy on Impulse for the PC, giving you arcade action, smart puzzles, space exploration and a built-in level editor for only $9.99.  In ProtoGalaxy, up to four players can team up, configure their ship and upgrade their weapons in order to defend Earth from powerful alien invaders. Throughout the game players will brave fierce battles, solve challenging puzzles and explore the far reaches of the galaxy in order to end the attacks and rebuild a home for the survivors.

“ProtoGalaxy is an intense space themed dungeon crawler,” said Alex Brown, company founder. “The game includes a built in editor which allows players to easily create entirely new levels. Players can share their creations online and download other people’s levels for endless game play,” Brown added.

Game features:

·         Level editor to create new galaxies
·         Single and multi-player mode (up to 4 players)
·         Array of weapon choice
·         Ship customization with large selection of parts
·         Use physics to solve problems
·         Includes free DLC: Proto Defense

Game publisher and distributor G4Box Inc. has announced the results of the donation drive for victims of the disaster in Japan hosted by its popular online military shooter, Cross Fire. G4Box and Cross Fire held the month-long “Cross Fire For Japan” charity drive from March 24th to April 24th and donated 10% of all sales of the game’s Panda and Japan Name Card Items to the Red Cross Japan Disaster Relief Fund. The Cross Fire player community showed their love and support for Japan by sporting Panda items and Japan Flag Name cards in-game and collectively helped Cross Fire and G4Box to donate more than $5,000 to the Red Cross Japan Disaster Relief Fund.

“The people affected by the tragedy in Japan are still facing so many tribulations and our community really stepped up to support them and donate to the cause during their time of need,” said Jason Yang, CEO of G4Box Inc. “We are lucky to have a very loyal and caring Cross Fire community who gladly supported this very important cause.”

Cross Fire is a free online military first-person shooter for Windows PCs. Players assume the role of either a Black List or Global Risk operative and compete in various modes of play including Team Death Match, the Mutant infested Mutation Mode, attack and defend Escape Mode, and the exclusive stealth-action Ghost Mode. Cross Fire includes a military ranking system, in-game friends lists, an integrated clan system, deep character customization options and social media integration via the Cross Fire website. Cross Fire is part of the Z8Games platform of free-to-play games.

Another Toronto publisher, Game Bridger Entertainment, has revealed two more playable character classes in its upcoming Free-to-play MMORPG Brawler, Aida Arenas. In these dual gameplay trailers, the Gladiator and the Priestess, after a brief warm-up, venture into Aida’s seedy underbelly to fight some baddies and round up some treasure.

When it comes to swords, the Gladiator has no problem wielding a blade almost twice his size. The bigger the better is his motto; just remember to hold on tight with both hands.  Overall, the Gladiator is a well-rounded class that can hold his own against monsters and arena PvPers alike.

With her faithful pet Cocoli and a library of magical knowledge at her disposal, the Priestess comes equipped with a spell for just about any situation. On a story quest or in the competitive PvP arena, the Priestess is an essential part of any complete party.

Create a hero, explore dungeons, fight monsters,compete  with friends and discover hidden treasure in AIDA Arenas, the new MMORPG Brawler from GamerKraft. Combining elements of the classic beat ‘em up arcade genre with the character progression and social features of modern MMORPGs – Aida Arenas offers an action-packed game-play experience unlike any you’ve seen before.

Well this makes me feel somewhat better, even though only one Canadian company made the Top Fifty list and most of these women started their businesses years ago. They aren’t currently trying to mash a whole slew of ideas into one cohesive business unit while trying to extricate oneself from an unrelated family business.  The Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), in partnership with American Express OPEN, the small business division of American Express, has released the fourth ranking of the 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/led companies in North America. The Top 50 generated a combined $4.1 billion in 2010 revenues (mean of $82.7 million) and collectively employed 24,650 in 2010 (projected average for 2011 is 557 employees).

The lone Canadian company on this US-dominated list is SIMAC Canada, Inc., an Ontario-based company lead by President and CEO Gloria Bajkumar. SIMAC is a company that co-ordinates independent medical assessments.

“The Top 50 list includes a group of trailblazing women entrepreneurs who represent a variety of industries ranging from staffing to electronic systems providers, language services to security,” said Marsha Firestone, Ph. D., president and founder of the WPO. “We are pleased to partner with American Express OPEN to honor these powerful women and recognize their triumphs.”

In order to help the Top 50 continue to seize even more business opportunities, each of the honored business owners will be offered a Business Platinum Card⁽based on approvals) from American Express OPEN. The card will include 100,000 Membership Rewards® points, which may be used on capital investments including: the funding of employee recognition programs, business travel or the purchase of office equipment and supplies.

“Based on American Express OPEN’s ‘State of Women-Owned Businesses’ report, there are an estimated 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States, generating nearly $1.3 trillion in revenues and employing nearly 7.7 million people,” said Nancy Hood, Vice President at American Express OPEN. “We at OPEN are honored to support this elite group of women who diversify the full spectrum of industries and have become leaders within the women business community.”

All eligible companies were ranked according to a sales growth formula that combines percentage and absolute growth. From this list, the 50 Fastest were selected. To be qualified for the ranking, businesses are required to be privately held, woman-owned/led companies in the U.S. or Canada and have reached revenue of at least $500,000 by the first week of 2006 and $2 million in 2010.

More about the 2011 Top 50:

• Founded the Business: 90%
• Current CEO is actively involved in the day-to-day operations: 100%
• Average years in business: 16
• Average age: 47
• Average Number of Projected 2011 Employees: 557

All 50 companies will be honoured tonight at a special event hosted by American Express OPEN at the 2011 WPO Annual Conference taking place here in Vancouver. The awards reception will take place from 6:30PM to 9:30PM at the Fairmont Vancouver Hotel.

Since entering the licensing agreement with Games Workshop, THQ has published several highly successful titles based on the intellectual property (IP), including the Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Dawn of War^® real-time-strategy games for PC systems that have shipped 6.5 million units to date. Two fresh interpretations of the Warhammer 40,000 IP are currently in development; one by THQ Relic Entertainment: Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Space Marine^TM – a third-person shooter for the Xbox 360^® , PlayStation^®3 and PC set to release later this year – and Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Dark Millennium^TM Online, a massively multiplayer online game exploring the deep fiction and myriad races of the IP which is in development at Vigil Games in Austin, Texas.

“The complex, futuristic war-torn universe created by Games Workshop equipped THQ’s award-winning development teams with the material to create one of the most loved PC franchises – Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War,” said Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO. “Our envisioning of the Warhammer 40,000 universe will continue to grow with top quality games across all platforms, including the upcoming launches of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online.”

“The impressive translation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the tabletop to the video game space by THQ certainly highlights the potential of our most successful intellectual property in the right hands,” said Mark Wells, Games Workshop CEO. “We know that the depth of the storylines, characters and imagery of the Warhammer 40,000 universe positions the IP to excel across many media platforms – and extending our agreement with THQ will help ensure that Warhammer 40,000 maintains a strong and growing presence in the video game space.”

The Vancouver studio has also released a slew of new screenshots for Space Marine. Head on over to the official Facebook Fan Page to check them all out. The intense 3rd person action shooter RPG Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine chapter takes place in the brutal, science fiction setting of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe. In the 41st Millennium, humanity faces extinction at the hands of horrific aliens and demonic hordes. Only one force can offer salvation: the superhuman Space Marines. Who will come out the victor as the Imperial Forces battle against feral Orks and the powers of Chaos? Will UltraMarine Captain Titus be able to hold back the Renegade Militia, Tainted Psykers and Bloodletter Daemons? The fate of the Universe will be in the hands of gamers this summer when Space Marine launches on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC this August.

Since the launch of the first title 15 years ago the Resident Evil® series has enjoyed phenomenal success, selling over 45 million units worldwide to date. This latest offering will take the series in a completely new direction and offer a style of gameplay yet to be seen from the franchise.

Resident Evil Outbreak Zone

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City delivers a true third person team based shooter experience set within the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe and a reinterpretation of the events depicted in Resident Evil® 2 and Resident Evil® 3. The setting of the Resident Evil universe not only provides a rich backdrop to the action but delivers a unique and thrilling triple threat battle. Zombies and Bio-Organic Weapons (B.O.W’s) add to the mix as players not only compete against an opposing squad but also tackle this third unpredictable element, creating a brand new style of gameplay and breaking the conventions of traditional team based shooters.

It is September 1998 and the action centers once more on the ill-fated Raccoon City and the horrific consequences of the deadly T-virus outbreak from the Umbrella facility. With a cover up required, Umbrella orders an elite team into Raccoon City to destroy all evidence of the outbreak and eliminate any survivors. Hearing of this plan, the US Government dispatches its own special forces to uncover any evidence that exposes the cause of the viral infection and Umbrella’s actions. Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Services soldier (U.S.S.), competing alone or in four player co-op in a battle against all the competing forces at play in Raccoon City.

Expect the return of original Resident Evil enemies, iconic landmarks such as the Raccoon City Police Department and fan favorite characters, including Leon S. Kennedy, who as a rookie police officer in Raccoon City is on your hit list to eliminate. Players will experience a retelling of classic moments from past titles Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 and watch the events unfolding from the menacing perspective of the Umbrella Security Service, giving fans the chance to rewrite the history of the Raccoon City outbreak.

In addition, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will deliver a number of competitive online multiplayer modes. Each one of these will provide a unique gaming experience thanks to the three way combat between the Umbrella Security Service, US Special Ops and threat of zombies and B.O.W’s that could only exist in the deadly and twisted Resident Evil Universe.

Purchasers of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, scheduled for release in the coming months, will get an extra taste of horror thanks to the addition of a playable demo of Resident Evil Revelations. Set on board an ocean liner, the demo lets players take control of one of the full game’s characters, Jill Valentine, as she explores the ship’s dark interior, killing any mysterious creatures that emerge from the shadows. A brand new title built from the ground up for the Nintendo 3DS, further details on Resident Evil Revelations will be revealed at this year’s E3. The Resident Evil game series is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

So we are starting our weekend with a non-confidence vote in Parliament, which means we technically have no government and are headed for a Federal election. This also means that all of the Federal parties will be stepping up their campaigns of nastiness. As I said on Twitter earlier – please, please, please stop with the finger pointing. Instead of telling us why every other party is evil, tell Canadians truthfully why your party is awesome, be prepared to back it up with quantifiable proof, and let’s move on. Enough with the playground bully tactics, okay? Act like the intellectual adults you’re supposed to be and take the responsibility you are asking voters to give you more seriously.

The bonus is that it’s Friday, and that means tomorrow is Nintendo 3DS Launch event day, so if you’re in Toronto or Vancouver, you can get some hands-on time with the 3DS before the midnight sales events at Future Shop. Vancouver’s pre-launch event will be taking place from 6pm until midnight at TD Square (corner of Granville & Georgia streets) and then moving over to the Robson & Granville Future Shop for the midnight opening.

The Toronto pre-launch event will be taking place at Yonge-Dundas Square also from 6pm until midnight, with the midnight sales launch at the Future Shop located at 325 Yonge Street. In support of Earth Hour between 8:30pm-9:30pm, Nintendo Canada will turn off the lights and not draw any electrical power at its dedicated event space. Follow Nintendo on Twitter.

Last evening was the second iteration of the Women In Games Vancouver Martini Night, and while there weren’t as many ladies as at the first event, there was still a good turnout and new connections were made amongst those who attended. Last evening’s Chun Li Martini, created by our awesome Rogue bartender, also appeared to be a big hit; I was driving, so didn’t try it. Martini Night, which for now is supposed to be a ladies only social event, is intended to give women who work in the creative industry a place to network and talk about issues in the industry that are important to them. We hope you will come out for the next Martini Night in April – details to be announced. Follow Women In Games Vancouver on Twitter.

The Canadian Games Conference organizers would like you all to know that tickets are now on sale for both the conference and the Canadian Video Game Awards, and they’ve announced the first round of confirmed speakers. Follow the Canadian Games Conference and Canadian Video Games on Twitter.

The Canadian Games Conference is a two-day conference/exhibition that brings together some of the industry’s top innovators, businesses and talent responsible for the explosive growth of the gaming industry, providing a platform to share knowledge and develop industry partnerships. The Conference, which takes place at the Vancouver Convention Centre on May 19th and 20th will be preceded by the Canadian Video Game awards on May 18th, at the Centre for Performing Arts. The Awards will be hosted by Electric Playground’s Victor Lucas and will featuring a live performance by Video Games Live.  As an added bonus, tickets start at just $30 for CGC pass holders, $37 for ESAC and CIAIC members, or $45 for the general public. Tickets for the Awards show can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  Public voting for Game of the Year will start April 15th on the CVA website. Follow Electric Playground, Victor Lucas and Video Games Live on Twitter

Announcing the first round of confirmed sessions:

• Musing About Cloud – Denis Dyak, Silicon Knights
• How FIFA Stumbled on a New Business Model – Paul Hossack, EA
• How MMOs Really Work – Simon Ludgate, Soulrift and Craig Morrison, Funcom
• On-Line Everywhere – Cyrus Greenall, Ubisoft Vancouver
• The Design Evolution of HOARD – Tyler Sigman, Big Sandwich Games
• Use Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Studio – Matt Tanner, Snowed in Studios
• So You Want to be a Game Programmer? – Karl Schmidt, THQ
• Microsoft KINECT Showcase
• How to Self Fund Development – RBC and Export Development Canada
• Cross Platform iOS Development – Wolfgang Hamann, Koolhaus Games
• DO Sweat the Small Stuff – Kris Piotrowski, Capybara Games

Follow Export Development Canada, RBC, EA, Funcom, Ubisoft Vancouver, Big Sandwich Games, Snowed In Studios, THQ, and Capybara Games on Twitter.

The news that everyone (especially The Cavechild) has been waiting for and that you all probably already know is that THQ and Relic Entertainment announced late yesterday that Triple A title Space Marine finally has a release date – or, release month, anyway.  Set in the rich Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop®, Space Marine is a single-player 3rd person campaign-styled action-shooter. This latest entry into the Warhammer 40 000 franchise will not only feature the brutal and feral Orks, but also the dark and sinister forces of Chaos.

Space Marine puts players into the role of one of humanity’s elite soldiers, as they battle to protect an Imperial Forge World from a millions-strong Ork invasion. But this isn’t all that faces Captain Titus of the Ultramarines. When Titus makes planet-fall, he soon realizes that the forces of Chaos are lurking in the shadows pulling the strings for their own nefarious purposes.

The addition of Chaos forces adds more variety to the Space Marine single-player campaign by complementing the animalistic and horde-like Orks with a much more powerful and strategic enemy. While Titus can dispatch dozens of Orks alone, the Chaos Space Marines are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with him, especially with the support of Renegade Militia, Tainted Psykers and Bloodletter Daemons, among other units. Space Marine is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. Follow Relic and SpaceMarine on Twitter.

Dev studio Tiny Hippos has been acquired by Research In Motion. A press release on the Tiny Hippo states that the studio is  “extremely excited about our future at RIM and continuing to grow and support Ripple. This is a great step towards our goal of providing a cross-platform mobile application development and testing tool to developers worldwide.  Specifically, we will be working to bring BlackBerry support to the Ripple product.

We also want to reassure all new and existing users that we expect that the Ripple product will continue to be offered for download and the team will continue to develop features, provide support, and help grow the mobile application developer community. We would like to extend a special thank you to all of you that have supported and believed in us.” Follow Tiny Hippos and RIM on Twitter.

Toon Boom Animation Inc. has released the first of its first line up of fun mobile apps for the iOS App Store. Toon Boom has launched Flip Boom Lite for the iPhone and iPod, a fun app that lets your fingertips doodle, scribble or draw fun animations. Flip Boom Lite is already available for the iPad and has received rave reviews. Both apps are free in the App Store and let you discover the fun of animation creation. The company will be releasing more features for their apps in future updates.

“Toon Boom’s fun applications lend themselves perfectly for the iPod, iPhone and iPad. You can discover how easy creating animation can be while having coffee or waiting for a meeting,” said Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Toon Boom Animation. Follow Toon Boom on Twitter.

Rock Hippo Productions Ltd is pleased to announce that after only two weeks in the open beta phase, the MicroVolts player population has soared and continues growing rapidly every day.  To celebrate its success, MicroVolts will host a number of events where players will have the opportunity to win fantastic prizes including an iPad 2.  The events start tomorrow March 26 and will continue through April 11!

To thank the active and growing community, MicroVolts will host the MicroVolts iPad 2 contest where they will be giving away two custom MicroVolts iPad 2′s.  Players who rack up 10 hours of play in one week will automatically be entered into the drawing.  The first event will take place between March 28 through April 4, and the second iPad 2 drawing for 10 hours of play will take place between April  4-11. Additionally, this weekend between March 26th and 27th, MicroVolts will give out 2,000 bonus experience points for everyone who plays at least three hours! 

MicroVolts features fast paced, third person shooter action and pits players against each other in a secret battle that has been waged and going unnoticed right in our own backyard for years.  No one knows for sure when or where the first toy declared war but rumor has it that the uprising began with four original limited edition figures, code named MicroVolts. Battle lines were drawn when Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P.-the prototypes a-were soon joined by an endless number of modified versions. Now, toy figures around the world are engaged in an all-out war for valuable battery resources and supremacy of the Micro World.  All we can do now is stay out of their way and wait for a champion to be declared!

With a ton of weapons, inventive character designs, and a huge list of customization features, MicroVolts is destined to invigorate and re-energize the Free2play space. Intuitive controls and a third person view make the game easy to play and fun for both newcomers and veterans of shooter games.  Game modes include Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept. Follow Microvolts on Twitter.

Family Channel is giving viewers a sneak preview of Canadian live-action tween show Debra! on the evening of April 22nd. Produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment, Debra! follows Debra Delong, an effervescent teen with a unique style and outlook on the world who is determined to start her own business. Debra’s best friend Preston is sometimes reluctant to become embroiled in Debra’s ambitious schemes but always manages to stick by her side. Debra! was created by Andrew Nicolls and Darrel Vickers (Jimmy Neutron, Fairly OddParents, Back to the Barnyard) and marks Cookie Jar Entertainment’s first live-action series for Family Channel. Follow Family Channel on Twitter.

Absolute® Software Corporation has announced that the company will be presenting at the Government Security Conference & Expo (GovSec) on next-generation solutions for endpoint security and management of mobile devices in Washington, DC on March 31.

Geoff Glave, senior product manager at Absolute, will discuss the growing challenges facing IT in managing and securing the endpoint. He will focus on the need for a layered approach to security, which is now, more than ever, essential to an environment that consists of multiple devices across multiple platforms.

“The mobile landscape is changing dramatically for IT organizations and they need to be prepared more than ever to mitigate the risks posed by mobile data,” states Rob Chase, chief operating officer at Absolute Software. “Absolute is uniquely positioned with cross platform and device support, persistence, and emergency response services. Our solutions provide organizations with actionable intelligence to effectively secure and manage their endpoints and the valuable data on them.” Follow Absolute on Twitter.

The season finale of the TELETOON original series Total Drama World Tour premieres on Sunday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and TELETOON is keeping everyone in suspense – even the contestants. This season’s winner will be decided by the fans through an online vote beginning Sunday, March 27, with the winning contestant revealed during the final episode on Sunday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Before the winner is revealed, TELETOON will pay tribute to the three remaining contestants, Alejandro, Cody and Heather, with special episodes in the weeks leading up to the finale. One tribute episode will air on each of the first three Sundays in April at 8 p.m. ET/PT taking a look back at each of the finalists’ journeys from the beginning of this season all the way to the finale. On Sunday, April 24, the finale will air as part of a special four-episode marathon beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT with the three most recent episodes followed by the season finale at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

When viewers visit the Teletoon site to fill out their ballots for the winner beginning Sunday, March 27, they can also enter a contest for the chance to be animated into their very own Total Drama character and conduct an interview with animated host Chris MacLean.

Total Drama World Tour brings an international twist and musical spin to the popular Total Drama animated franchise. This season continued the series’ hilarious tradition of parodying reality shows by bringing back some of the fan-favourite past contestants and a few exciting new faces. The crew’s latest chance at fame and fortune saw them fly all over the world for a chance at another million-dollar grand prize while facing the kind of scary, embarrassing and even disgusting challenges that Total Drama fans have come to expect. Total Drama World Tour is created and produced by Toronto’s Fresh TV Inc. Follow Teletoon on Twitter.

Released: Homefront from THQ is in stores today. The PC version of this game was developed in Canada by Digital Extremes, a small detail glaringly overlooked in many of the press releases sent out by THQ, including today’s launch releases.

Meetup: Vancouver Social Games will be holding a Meetup on March 23rd at The Revel Room.

Released: Endloop Systems has launched their latest title on the iTunes App Store. Chicken Balls HD for the iPad is currently on sale, so take this opportunity to join the fray as the bravest chicken this side of New Mexico. It’s the summer of 1947, you’ve just come back from the Great War and had hoped to hang up your flight cap for good. When a UFO crash lands just outside the nearby town of Roswell you knew you’d have to take to the skies – one more time. Chicken Balls is a puzzle game that makes use of both slingshot and pachinko-styled physics to help you save the planet.

Updated: Shaw Media’s Video On Demand app for the iPhone and iPod Touch lets you search through new releases, coming soon, comedies, dramas, thrillers, classics, TV series and more. Read a short description of your selection, hit order and turn on your TV to enjoy the show. New features in this update include:

• Let your friends know what you’re watching through Facebook, Twitter or Email.
• See which movies are Coming Soon to Shaw Video On Demand.
• Choose to be notified when selected Coming Soon movies are released (IOS 4.0+).
• User interface improvements to make finding content easier and faster.
• Auto-suggest in Search.
• View your order History.
• Indication of TV episodes that you’ve already watched.
• Foreign language filtering.
• Auto-loading of more items in lists.

Now if they could just add an “OMG I forgot to set the PVR” feature to this app…

Today’s trailer feature is for Prototype 2, currently in development at Vancouver’s Radical Entertainment.

Nothing like a bird’s eye view of the big city.

Apply Now: Could your Canadian tech company be one of the nation’s Fast 50? Here’s the application and here’s the categories:

• Technology Fast 50^TM ranking - Recognizing the 50 fastest growing tech companies with the highest percentage revenue growth over five years.
• Companies-to-Watch award - Honouring younger, promising Canadian tech companies that are in business for less than 5 years.
• Technology Green 15^TM award - recognizes Canada’s leading GreenTech companies, including any technology that promotes a more efficient use and re-use of the earth’s resources in industrial production and consumption.
• Technology Fast 50^TM Leadership award - Their ability to create a distinct competitive advantage in a high-growth market allows them to dominate their sector and quickly join the ranks of other Canadian global leaders.  Chosen by Deloitte and its sponsors from the applicants to the Technology Fast 50^TM ranking, these companies are the elite members of the Canadian technology industry

Apply Before May 20th: The CBC Prime Time Television Program is tailored to address the individual’s creative & craft needs as well as the industry’s ever changing marketplace & business practices. Our residents gain a solid understanding of the importance of collaborative work and how to successfully marry creative inspiration with industry savoir-faire.

The curriculum of the CBC Prime Time Television Program takes the following approaches:

* Training on an individual, discipline specific and story department level.
* Individual mentorship, constant self analysis and critical feedback are central to developing a writer’s creative & professional integrity
* Strong business/career management skills are critical to their success and our priority is to arm our writers with confidence in their skills, an expanded network of peers, strong TV spec scripts and a viable original series package to shop.

The Canadian eLearning Enterprise Alliance (CeLEA) has introduced the first survey in what the Alliance hopes will become a regular series of surveys of the elearning landscape in Canada. This initial survey is intended to gather general information from a broad cross section of industry participants. CeLEA is particularly interested in the commercial elearning sector and in future surveys we will address specific issues, challenges and opportunities within that part of the eLearning industry.

If you or your company falls within this demographic, the Alliance would greatly appreciate a few moments of your time to respond to the survey. Responses will be collected over the coming few weeks, after which the results will be analyzed and a summary presented through the CeLEA web site.

The 8th edition of the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) will be held at the Hilton Bonaventure of Montreal this November 1st and 2nd. The MIGS team is seeking local and international game industry experts interested in presenting at MIGS and therefore contributing to the quality of the event. All session proposals must fall within one of the following five tracks: Arts & VFX, Business, Design, Production and Technology. Interested professionals can apply via the MIGS website before April 4th.

“Montreal Shines” is the new slogan for the 8th edition of the event. “This theme is full of meaning. It reminds people that Canada, thanks in part to Montreal, is now the third worldwide game development cluster. It also reflects the bubbling created by this gathering of industry professionals at MIGS, as well as its radiance on the global scene”, says Marie Claude Bernard, director of the event.

Last year, the MIGS welcomed more than 80 speakers from all over the world. “The 2010 edition was truly successful, thanks in great part to its substantial schedule. We’re aiming at no less than surpassing that success by offering an even richer one this year!”, proudly announces Ms Bernard.

Entries for the .CA Impact Awards are approaching the 500 mark. The Canadian Internet Registry Authority (CIRA) encourages other impactful websites to enter and compete for the chance of winning $5,000 and national recognition.

“The overwhelming number of entries has surpassed all of our expectations here at CIRA,” says CIRA’s president and CEO, Byron Holland. “This is proof that Canadians truly live in a society that values the importance of .CA websites.”

The .CA Impact Awards are designed to recognize youth, educators, not-for-profit organizations, small businesses, technology developers and web designers for their innovation, the quality of their work, and the impact of their .CA websites and applications.

There are only two weeks remaining to enter your website and have a chance at winning $5,000 and the recognition of being the most impactful .CA website in your category.

There are four broad categories for entries:

• Small Business – celebrating a company whose website or application has helped a business contribute to its community, foster sales or create jobs.
• eLearning – recognizing youth and educators who use their .CA website to share knowledge and promote education.
• Not-for-Profit – distinguishing an NGO or association whose website or application is making a difference in the lives of members, donors, or the public.
• Web Technology and Design – recognizing individuals and organizations for innovation and impact in enhancing the speed, reliability, practicality and/or security of the Internet for all users.

Entries for the awards will be received until 11:59 p.m. (PT) March 25, 2011. Judging takes place in April 2011 and the inaugural awards will be presented at the mesh Conference in Toronto on May 24, 2011, all expenses paid for the four winners.

Mood Media Corporation has  entered the Chinese market as part of its long-term global growth strategy. China’s booming retail sector represents a major opportunity for Mood Media to further deploy its in-store media solutions in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

Lorne Abony, CEO and Chairman for Mood Media Corporation stated that “China presents a fantastic opportunity for our global expansion plans. While in-store media is mature and well understood in most territories around the world, it is still considered a new segment in China. This is changing quickly as Chinese retailers are starting to understand the substantial sales uplift a managed media service generates. We also know the timing is perfect for Mood Media to activate its expansion growth plan as aggressive measures are being undertaken by the Chinese government to enforce copyright protection and to legalize how media is reproduced and broadcast.”

Mood Media currently provides music services in China to Western brands such as Polo, Puma, Coach, Costa coffee and Hilton hotel group. The company is currently in discussions with many potential new Chinese partners. A key element of the initiative is to deepen its network of industry and government relationships that are required for navigating China’s complex regulatory environment.

Mood Media plans to become a key player in China’s vast and growing retail sector. In the first two months of this year China’s retail sales rose 15.8 percent year on year to 2.9018 trillion yuan (441.67 billion U.S. dollars), according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

The US Court action between Vancouver’s Destiny Media Technologies, Inc. and Toronto’s Yangaroo has concluded. Yangaroo had filed a complaint for patent infringement against Destiny on May 5 2009, claiming that Destiny’s Play MPE® secure distribution system infringed on their US patent number 7,529,712, issued the same day.

On June 7, 2010, the Honorable William C. Griesbach ruled in Destiny’s favor, directing the Clerk to dismiss Yangaroo’s claim in its entirety. Yangaroo appealed this decision, and on March 10^th, 2011 three circuit judges heard oral arguments in Washington DC and on March 14^th, affirmed the original decision, dismissing the lawsuit in its entirety. Destiny Media noted that it will be filing a motion for costs.

Fight Night Champion features new gameplay innovation that delivers the rawness and brutality of the most realistic boxing simulation ever created. The title is packed with a deep menu of new modes and features, including: the all-new cinematic, narrative-driven Champion Mode; more than 50 licensed boxers including Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao; Full Spectrum Punch Control; the deepest career mode yet, Online Gyms, and much more.

“The EA Sports Fight Night franchise has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation in sports videogames, from ushering in the new console generation in 2006 with Fight Night Round 3, to Fight Night Round 4 which introduced real world physics to the franchise two years ago,” said Dale Jackson, General Manager, Fighting, EA Sports. “Fight Night Champion advances the critically-acclaimed series with genre-defining new gameplay innovation, a deep feature set and an all new type of experience for the EA Sports gamer.”

Champion Mode brings cinematic storytelling to the Fight Night franchise and is the first such story mode in EA Sports history. Written by Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Will Rokos, Champion Mode allows players to step into the shoes of up-and-coming middleweight prospect, Andre Bishop, as he discovers that the road to becoming a champion in professional boxing is one that is filled with corruption, personal struggle and more than just what happens between the ropes.

Fight Night Champion also introduces a host of gameplay improvements. The refined punching system, dubbed “Full Spectrum Punch Control”, brings the most accessible and responsive controls ever to a Fight Night title. A new anaerobic stamina system tracks individual muscle groups separately, punishing a player’s over-dependence on a single punch and encourages combination punching and diligent stamina management. In addition, improved visuals, multiple control schemes, realistic damage, boxer-specific animations and multiple stun states round out the key gameplay improvements players will experience in Fight Night Champion.

Paramount Digital Entertainment, Electronic Arts Inc. and Behaviour Interactive would like to remind you that Rango The Videogame, rated E by the ESRB, is now available worldwide for the PlayStation®3, Xbox 360®, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™. This action-adventure game is inspired by the forthcoming Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies animated feature film, Rango in theaters on March 4th . Set in the gritty, Wild West town of Dirt and filled with wily and whimsical characters, Rango The Videogame invites players to continue on Rango’s wild journey with all new tall tales, brimming with intense action and outlandish scenarios inspired by the movie.

“Rango’s fondness for telling tall tales allowed us to push the limits in creating new adventures for players of all ages to enjoy,” said Thomas Lesinski, President of Paramount Digital Entertainment. “We worked closely with the Rango filmmaking team on a unique game storyline and integrating stunning visuals from the film to create a game that delivers a great variety of game play that has already impressed the critics.”

Rango The Videogame lets players explore a wide variety of environments featured within and beyond the film and challenges them to achieve near-impossible feats as they work to uncover a plot that threatens the entire population of Dirt. Along the way, players will encounter Zombie rodents, Alien spaceships and even an 8-bit shootout inside an arcade machine. This family-friendly title captures the spirit and humor of the movie, with an extended storyline that goes beyond the vivid world of Dirt. Some of the features include:

Rango’s All New Tall Tales – Play as the quick-thinking chameleon Rango, the best Sheriff the town of Dirt has ever known, and explore a variety of new missions and environments that expand beyond those seen in the film.
Ride Roadrunners and Desert Bats – Speed through the desert atop these unconventional chariots as players engage in extraordinary acrobatic gunplay and more.
Interact with the Dirtonians – From a group of mariachi birds that provide color commentary to a gang of wild rabbits, the townsfolk of Dirt will provide no shortage of fun and entertainment.
Wild West Action and Adventure – Face hordes of hostile zombie rodents as you show the town who’s boss in good, old-fashioned shootouts where fists are flyin’ and spurs are shinin.’

I just realized that I forgot to check on which studios UK-based PocketGamer named to the top 10 and top 20 sections of its Top 50 last week, and upon checking see that GameLoft and EA Mobile were listed at number 1 and number 10 respectively. While neither developer/publisher produces 100% Canadian product, they do have a large number of mobile games developed in Canada, and both have major dev houses in Quebec, so congratulations to both of them. PocketGamer has also revealed the winners of its 2011 Awards, and again Canadian-made products were honoured.

Best iPhone Freemium Game: Lil’ Pirates (Capcom Mobile) – developed by IUGO Mobile Entertainment
Best Developer: GameLoft – in both iPhone-iPod Touch and Mobile categories
Best Publisher: EA Mobile – in iPhone-iPod Touch and iPad categories
Best Developer: Hemisphere Games in iPad Category
Best Action/Arcade Game: Mirror’s Edge for iPad (EA Mobile)
Best Sports/Driving Game: Madden NFL 11 for iPad (EA Mobile)

QuickPlay Media has unveiled Pocket Cinema™ – a service that offers consumers the ability to download, rent and watch popular movies on their video-enabled mobile device. Initially, the service is available exclusively for BlackBerry® TorchTM 9800 smartphone customers in the UK. Over time, QuickPlay plans to extend the service to additional mobile platforms and geographical markets. Customers who purchase a BlackBerry Torch from UK retailer Phones4U in March 2011 will receive a voucher for a complimentary movie download from the service.

Beginning today, BlackBerry Torch users will have access to a catalogue of hundreds of films by simply downloading Pocket Cinema on BlackBerry App World™. Users will then be able to access the movies on their BlackBerry® smartphone. Once downloaded over Wi-Fi®, the film is cached on the device and available for an unlimited number of views for 48 hours. Users don’t need a mobile signal or network connection in order to view films they have downloaded.

Tech Data Canada has introduced the StreamOne^SM Software License Selector, a new application only available on techdata.ca. The Software License Selector is the first in a series of exclusive e-business services the company is building on its new StreamOne software platform, which improves how the channel sells and distributes software by making it more efficient and less complex.

The StreamOne Software License Selector significantly surpasses contemporary software license tools in breadth and ease-of-use. In four simple steps, the StreamOne Software License Selector guides resellers through the entire software-purchasing process, sifting through hundreds of thousands of software SKUs and each vendors’ complex licensing rules to identify the right software part number, the most accurate pricing and the correct license type.

The StreamOne Software License Selector establishes the industry’s most accurate and efficient software license distribution channel, reducing the cycle time from quote to license from days to minutes. For resellers, it lowers licensing processing costs, instantly provides accurate pricing and makes it easy to attach software to all hardware sales. For vendors, it provides the opportunity to increase their channel partners as more resellers will now be able to sell software using the Software License Selector.

The StreamOne Software License Selector automates tasks like SKU selection and order qualification for 27 major software vendors—representing more than 99 percent of the software licenses purchased through Tech Data. The StreamOne Software License Selector aims to quickly solidify Tech Data’s position as the premier software license distributor for the world’s leading software companies. Additionally, the StreamOne Software License Selector will help Tech Data strengthen software sales, especially among small and medium businesses.

Software vendors supported by the StreamOne Software License Selector include: Absolute Software, Acronis, Adobe, Autodesk, BitDefender, Computer Associates, Check Point, Corel, Diskeeper, Double-Take, Filemaker, Ipswitch, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Parallels, Red Hat, Sage Act!, SAP, SCO, SolarWinds, Symantec, Trend Micro, Vasco, VMware.

Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.), a free-to-play shooter published by Toronto’s Wicked Interactive, has teamed with GamerSaloon.com, the world’s largest player-to-player videogame tournament network, for cash prizes. To get things started right, GamerSaloon.com is hosting a special kickoff competition.

“We are very excited to be working with Wicked Interactive. Mission Against Terror is an excellent addition to our competitive roster,” said Justin Becker, Director of Affiliated Partnerships, GamerSaloon.com. “Whereas other pay and free-to-play titles claim to be perfectly balanced for robust, satisfying competitive gameplay, M.A.T. delivers, thanks to the significant investment that was made in developing the title along with the constant user-generated improvements and enhancements.”

“We are thrilled to be part of this opportunity,” said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive. “GamerSaloon.com is a gamer community unlike any other. Rather than just talking big, games on GamerSaloon.com back up their talk with cold, hard cash.”

How to Get Started:

1. Download M.A.T. from GamerSaloon.com (www.gamersaloon.com) to be entered into a sweepstakes to win $50 Bonus Cash
2. Spend your Bonus Cash however you see fit on tournaments, generating winnings and what-have you.
3. Invite your friends to join you for the chance to win. (4- and 8-man competitions available)

Special Kickoff Competition Prizes:

1st Place: $100 + headset
2nd Place: $25 + headset
3rd Place: headset

Contest: Enflick, Inc. is holding a logo re-design contest for the PingChat logo.
Contest: Best Buy Canada and HP Canada have teamed up to revitalize someone’s home office
Contest: SteelSeries is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a huge giveaway.

Giveaway: The iPad HD version of Garage Inc from TransGaming Studios is free until February 28th. Get it now.

Pre-Order: Mac Gamers can pre-order Dragon Age 2 and The Sims Medieval from GameTree Mac. Release dates are March 8th for Dragon Age 2 and March 22nd for The Sims Medieval.

Appointment: Michael MacMillan has been appointed to the Fuse Powered Board of Directors. In his role on the company’s board, MacMillan will be responsible for working closely with Fuse Powered’s senior management team in solidifying and executing the company’s strategic direction.

Taking Over The World: Electric Playground is now available for American users of Hulu. Congratulations to everyone at the EP studio!

New Release: IUGO’s first music game Pricklees is now available on the App Store. It’s free so go download now! More characters and tracks may be unlocked for $1.99 USD.

“We see room for creativity and innovation in the music genre,” states IUGO’s VP of BD Sarah Thomson “What companies like Tapulous have done is incredible. They have proven their formula to be successful time and time again. But we feel there is so much opportunity to create a unique game mechanic and appeal to an even broader market. We wanted to combine the brilliance of music-based games such as the Tap Tap series with the cuteness and personality of broad appeal titles such as Angry Birds.”

Cinematic Intro: A preview of the opening moments from Dawn of War II: Retribution by Relic Entertainment is now live on YouTube. This latest chapter in the Warhammer 40 000 saga will be on store shelves on March 1st

A special pre-launch event for Retribution was just announced on the Dawn of War community forums. A four hour game play special with members of Relic’s game test team facing off against members of the community. The fun begins at 2pm PST on Sunday, February 27th.

Yummy Interactive Inc. has announced a partnership agreement with BattleFront.com, worldwide publisher of wargaming and strategy combat video games. BattleFront.com has selected Yummy Interactive’s GameShield to securely manage licensing and activation of downloadable and mail order game products at its game portal.

“Delivering our games in an unobtrusive, simple download and mail order experience to our community members is paramount to us. With GameShield, we will be able to securely extend our digital products to new channels and also be able to offer game bundles and extra downloadable content, such as add-ons and expansion packs, with a smooth user interface for end users,” said Martin van Balkom, President of BattleFront.com.

“By selecting our complete DRM solution for their PC and Mac game downloads and mail order products, Battlefront.com can further expand their online distribution channel and storefront, confident they can support their partners and optimize digital sales with our flexible license management tools,” said Chris Hennebery, VP Software Distribution at Yummy Interactive. “The premium DRM technology that GameShield provides not only protects content but enables new and secured ways of bringing gamers downloadable games and post-sale content.”

Launch Trailer: Rango The Video Game, developed by Behaviour, will be released next week for  the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Here is the newest game trailer.

Source Studio has released Proto Defense – free downloadable content (DLC) for their space shooter game ProtoGalaxy, on Steam for the PC. The downloadable content delivers a brand new level of play for ProtoGalaxy, enabling players to experience the game’s enhanced editor powers and map-building features.

The DLC will be downloaded automatically for anyone who owns ProtoGalaxy, and to celebrate the DLC launch, ProtoGalaxy is available for 50% off until March 2.  Proto Defense is a completely different genre than the previous levels. The original release of the game consisted of action and adventure levels, where the players were constantly on the offense. The new downloadable content consists of  a tower defense-style level, where players must strategically defend themselves against incoming attacks.

“We’re showcasing a brand new level of game play in ProtoGalaxy that gamers have yet to experience,” said Alex Brown, CEO and founder of Source Studio. “We have been gathering valuable feedback since we released ProtoGalaxy last October, and with the new level added, the game takes on a different dimension of play,” Brown added.

Proto Defense contains the following:

• New level with tower defense tactics
• Pick from a big selection of turrets.
• Reposition your turrets at any time to deal extra damage.
• Take down huge bosses.
• Compete in leaderboards for the highest score.
• Tackle 8 new challenging achievements.
• Built using the ProtoGalaxy Editor.

In ProtoGalaxy, up to four players can team up, configure their ship and upgrade their weapons in order to defend earth from powerful alien invaders. Throughout the game, players brave fierce battles, solve challenging puzzles, and explore the far reaches of the galaxy in order to end the attacks and rebuild a home for the survivors.

Game features:

• Level editor
• Single and multi-player mode (up to 4 players)
• Array of weapon choice
• Ship customization with large selection of parts
• Use physics to solve problems
• Save progress online and play from anywhere

Source Studio will be attending the Games Developers Conference and will showcasing  ProtoGalaxy, along with the DLC at the Newfoundland and Labrador booth (booth #1924).

The third Game Prototype Challenge ended earlier this week with a total of ten game submissions centering around the theme of Loneliness and Dimensions. There are some very cool ideas in this last round, and considering that they were all done as side projects between February 14th and February 21st just makes them even better. The Challenge just keeps growing with every iteration, and I am looking forward to seeing comes out in the next one in March.

The final installment of the Ask Dr. Mike video series has been released by Hothead Games. Check out the in-studio rivalry between Producer Joel DeYoung and Lead Designer Pete Low as Joel tries to trump Pete’s new high score in the upcoming platformer Swarm.

Watch the gameplay carefully and listen closely to the commentary for some inside secrets on game-play and high scoring tactics. See how the sacrificing of squishy blue guys will lead you to multiplier supremacy and achievement completion.

Post-secondary students these days have so many cool new specialty areas to study, sometimes I wish I could go back to school full-time. Yes, I liked school. Except for Math. And Science. History, Law and English – those were my favourites. There weren’t really any courses leading towards any specific type of creative career when I was in high school, not counting the classes for performing arts or traditional trades like welding and wood-working.

A new graduate studies programme has been introduced at Waterloo University’s Stratford Campus. The Master of Digital Innovation (MDI) is a one year project-based interdisciplinary degree programme. Students will work through the programme as they would if they were working for an employer, in teams, working on core projects. Throughout the process of completing these projects, students will consult with faculty and industry partners, gaining hands-on experience in many areas, including Team Building, Design Thinking and Business Modelling as well as Marketing Strategy and Critical Cultural Analysis. That last one sounds like it involves Math.

This new full-time program, which will be offered for the first time in Fall 2011 pending final Ontario Council on Graduate Studies approval, will take place over three consecutive terms: Fall, Winter and Spring.

The Fall Session will focus on Working in Teams, Principles of Marketing in a Globalized World, Digital Media Solutions Design and New Perspectives on Media History and Analysis.  During the Winter Session, students will continue Working in Teams as they look at Digital Media Solutions: Project Management, Media Innovation and Impact as well as Understanding the Consumer Universe. The Spring session focuses entirely on Projects.

Longbow Games has launched the latest game in their Hegemony series of historical RTS wargames. Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece expands upon last year’s PAX 10 finalist Hegemony: Philip of Macedon, adding two new campaigns and an all new diplomacy system plus an open sandbox mode with 26 playable factions and significant gameplay upgrades and refinements. The game is available online from Longbow, priced at $29.99 for the complete version or $9.99 as an upgrade from the original game.

“After spending the last year building a community and talking to fans about what they liked best in the first Hegemony, we’re really excited to show off all that we’ve added for Hegemony Gold,” said Jim McNally, President and Lead Designer of Longbow Games. “Not only do the new features significantly expand the range and depth of the tactics in Hegemony but the new campaigns and sandbox mode exponentially increase the amount of gameplay available.”

Conquer the ancient Greek world in Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece, a real-time strategy wargame that expands and refines the award-winning Hegemony: Philip of Macedon with brand new content and features. Experience the full range of warfare from reconnaissance and raids to field battles and mountain blockades as you campaign across a continuous satellite-accurate map of ancient Greece. Siege and starve your enemy by cutting their supply lines or burning their crops, all the while building and protecting your own supply network to support your growing kingdom. Play as Macedonia, Athens, or Sparta in the three historical campaigns, or choose one of the 26 factions in the epic sandbox mode and forge your own empire. With a dynamic new diplomacy system and greatly expanded tactics, Hegemony Gold sets the new standard for ancient warfare.

IUGO Mobile Entertainment has released a trailer for its latest announced title, Pricklees, which has been submitted to Apple for approval. Jump, duck and roll to the beat with the Pricklees in this new music game that features 3 adorable characters you wish you could cuddle, if they weren’t covered in prickles.

There are 3 levels of difficulty in the game: easy, medium and hard for tons of replayability, with more unlockable content through IAP. Dead easy controls and intuitive UI in dynamic 2D/3D environments allow for unique rhythm-based gameplay with 7 Fresh Electronic tracks and more songs coming in future updates.

TVO is pleased to announce the launch of its new digital Public Archive, a free online resource that unlocks four decades of made-at-TVO educational programming that stands the test of time. The centerpiece of TVO’s 40th anniversary celebrations, TVO’s Public Archive is full of rare moments in television history including:

* popular Saturday Night at the Movies host Elwy Yost’s conversations with film legends of the 70s and 80s;
* insights from some of the greatest minds in science and technology like Richard Dawkins, John Polanyi, Carl Sagan and Steve Wozniak;
* interviews with political leaders including every Ontario Premier since John Robarts;
* rare moments with Canadian icons like Mordecai Richler, Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence and John Candy;
* and Canadian heroes like Jane Jacobs, June Callwood and Roberta Bondar.

TVO’s Public Archive is a valuable resource for researchers, filmmakers, writers, bloggers and anyone who wants to learn more about the cultural history that has made Ontario what it is today, and features beloved TVO programs that have defined TVO over the years. It launches with over 375 programs and segments that would take more than five days to watch.

The site includes episodes of Polka Dot Door, Today’s Special, Prisoners of Gravity, Imprint, Realities, Studio 2, the interviews portion of Saturday Night at the Movies, The Education of Mike McManus, Between the Lines and more. It also includes the new “Think Again” podcast series where programs are re-cut and re-mixed, examining important issues and placing them in context of the world today. New content that can be searched by program title, year, guest, subject or playlist will be added to the Public Archive regularly.

The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) today launched a major international TV, print and online campaign to showcase Ontario’s thriving cultural media sector. The campaign encourages consumers and investors to “be part of it” by buying Ontario’s award-winning cultural media products and investing in the province’s dynamic companies.

The six-week television campaign, showcasing more than 80 Ontario companies and world-renowned cultural exports, features a soundtrack by indie band Metric, which won the 2010 Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. The campaign was created by Toronto ad agency Brandworks International Inc. and will be supported by print and online ads in a variety of Canadian, U.S. and U.K. publications, along with an interactive website.

Ontario’s entire creative cluster includes: book and magazine publishing, film and television, interactive digital media, music, performing arts, radio, advertising, architecture and design. Together, they contribute more than $ 12.2 billion to the provincial GDP and employ more than 300,000 people.

Ubisoft is going on tour with its Kinect titles, but it seems BC is not on the list, at least not yet. One would think that BC would be on the list considering that Ubisoft has a development studio in Vancouver. The only confirmed locations thus far are for Halifax, when they will be visiting the Halifax Discovery Centre on February 25th and 26th before moving on to the Wal-Mart at Halifax Shopping Centre on February 27th. All other provinces are listed as “Coming Soon” with BC and all three territories not appearing on the schedule at all.

Frima Studio has earned two of the five nominations given out for the Best PS3/PSP Mini Game by Sony Computer Entertainment of America for its 2011 PlayStation®Network Gamers’ Choice Awards. Frima’s latest effort, the aptly named A Space Shooter for Two Bucks!, has recently crossed the 100,000 downloads mark, and Young Thor is one of the most critically-acclaimed Minis in history.

Voting will be open for one week until Tuesday, March 1st, with PSN users across North America choosing their favorite game in each of the four categories by downloading a free XMB theme corresponding to that game, voting for one game in each category. When the voting is over, the winning game from each of the four categories will go on sale for 30% off at the PlayStation Store and 50% off to PlayStation Plus subscribers.

Nexon America has kicked off the second round of the Nexon iNitiative, a million dollar program designed with the intent to seek out the most promising independent video game projects and provide funding to support the next generation of game developers from around the world. Open for submissions until April 30th, the Nexon iNitiative will award game developers a share of $1 million in development funds for projects that align with Nexon’s focus on community building and long-term user engagement.

The first Nexon iNitiative was launched in March 2010, which saw Canadian developer Antic Entertainment and Polish developer one2tribe chosen from a pool of more than 100 candidates in 2010. Each of the studios earned a share of more than $1 million in development funding. Both companies are currently creating online game projects that will be co-developed and published through Nexon’s global distribution network, which currently services 30 games in more than 71 countries.

Through the Nexon iNitiative, Nexon is looking for potential games that have wide-ranging audience appeal and which encourage community and social interaction. Flash, client-based games or ports from other platforms are all welcome submissions. Games with strong online and multi platform elements will get serious consideration, as will game concepts that align with Nexon’s goals.

Rogers Media (RMI) today announced the appointment of Jason Tafler to the newly created position, Chief Digital Officer.  A veteran of the U.S. and Canadian digital sector, Tafler comes to Rogers from PointRoll, a leading provider of innovative digital marketing solutions and technology based in Pennsylvania.

Tafler will be responsible for strategic and operational leadership for the Digital division of Rogers Media with accountability for financial and operational targets.  Rogers Digital Media is responsible for over 250 Rogers Digital products including brand websites, mobile products and client microsites as well as pure digital plays such as Sweetspot.ca,  BRANCHEZ -VOUS!, PoolExpert and Canadian Parents.  The range of partnerships and acquisitions brings Rogers Digital Media over 16 million unique viewers per month and reaches 65% of Canadians online.  As well, Rogers Digital Media provides ad solutions and content for Rogers Communications and ad representation for foreign clients.

Tafler grew up in Toronto and has spent most of the past decade of his career in the U.S. building, advising and investing in entrepreneurial growth-oriented companies in the media, advertising and technology industries.  He joined PointRoll in 2005 and became CEO in 2008.  Prior to PointRoll, he worked in a boutique investment bank in New York and with Zoomer Media and First Marathon Securities in Canada.

Ball of Steel is a marble tilt-maze with a twist: in addition to navigating twisting passages, players must guide their ball through high-tech teleporters and avoid burning pillars of scorching flame to clear each table. Players may choose their challenge levels and warp or skip to any of the 20 boards.

Ball of Steel was built in Unity 3D during two weeks of intensive full-time development. It was developed as an entrant to the Unity Game Contest currently underway at Kongregate.com, and represents the second in a series of free-to-play efforts from Dark Acre. You can check out more information on Dark Acre’s first title on the project’s web page.

In the category of receiving the news a day late (honest, I just got this today), Frima Studio apparently celebrated Valentine’s Day by unveiling a host of new updates for Pocket God with Episode III – The Birds! This third episode follows in the footsteps of the recent Episode II: Clash of the Frightened for the social game, which is currently in an open beta and growing rapidly with more than 175,000 monthly active users on Facebook.

The new updates for The Birds include:

* The Return of the Dodo! – While it may have gone extinct hundreds of years ago for being too passive and peaceful, this reincarnation of the Dodo could not be farther from its ancestors – keep an eye out as it will terrorize your island, making short work of your fish and pygmies!
* New “Dodo Down” Item – Usually there’s a limit on how often you can sacrifice your friends, but with the new Dodo Down power, feel free to resuscitate them and bring them back to life…only to kill them again!
* More Customization – Make Pocket God your own! Players now have the ability to name their individual pygmies so there’s no need to have to settle for the pre-assigned monikers…name them after your enemies and get extra satisfaction from their sacrifice!
* Fat Cupid! – It’s gorgeous, lovely, and quite Rubenesque – it’s Fat Cupid and it needs to be stopped! Band together with your Facebook friends to take down the ultimate evil god.
* Valentine’s Treats – Take a break from drowning your Facebook friends and get into the spirit of Valentine’s Day…send them chocolate treats to let them know that each time you sacrifice them, it’s a gesture of love.

Since its debut on the world’s most popular social network in December of 2010, the Facebook version of Pocket God has grown exponentially and is quickly approaching a quarter of a million active users in less than two months. More than 20 million hapless and helpless pygmies have been sacrificed over that time, and one million of those are friends on Facebook sacrificing other friends in a host of brutal ways, including electrocution, drowning, shark attack, tornado, volcanic lava and much more! The lucky user who sacrificed the one millionth friend, Jessy Rivas of France, received 350 Pocket Change, the in-game currency for Pocket God!

With the city quaking in fear and no help in sight and a rumoured release date of March 23rd*, who ya gonna call? Atari, one of the world’s most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, is once again answering the call for gamers everywhere by delivering the first ever Ghostbusters digital title, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. In conjunction with Sony Pictures Consumer Products and developed by Behaviour, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will be available on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360®, PlayStation®Network, and Windows PC Download at Atari.com.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is a four player, ghost-busting adventure that will take players on a brand new paranormal experience. Players will suit up with their proton packs and assume the role of a rookie hired by the Ghostbusters to save New York City from a disaster of ghoulish proportions.

The action-packed gameplay progresses as players complete jobs as fearless rookies who explore a series of haunted environments that must be cleared of any ectoplasmic threats. The gripping adventure rages on as players encounter gigantic bosses that require a concentrated effort to defeat using a medley of highly destructive weapons including the Proton Stream, Plasma Inductor, and the Fermion Shock. Rookie Ghostbusters will face the dangers of the eerie world alone or with a ghostbusting team of friends both locally or online through the game’s multiplayer capability.

* Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime has yet to appear on the Xbox Marketplace or on the Atari store, so the release date as of yet has not been confirmed. Perhaps someone in the know could let me know?

Edmonton’s Fluik Entertainment has announced that Gunner Galaxies, the sequel to top-downloaded game Gunner will is scheduled for release this March, and will pack new galaxies, new gameplay, fun new unlocks and ship upgrades into this latest chapter. Gunner Galaxies is an asteroid-blasting classic arcade action game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Fluik’s previous game releases include the aforementioned Gunner, Bubble Rainbow (which are free in the iTunes store and now residing on my iPod Touch), the also free Tic Tac Draw and Airport Madness Challenge, Airport Madness Mobile, Will It Fly, and CoolSpell, which all have both free and paid versions.

Toronto publisher DreamCatcher Games and parent company JoWooD Entertainment have confirmed the release date for the official Painkiller Standalone Add-On “Redemption“ as February 25th 2011 – although there is no official page on the DreamCatcher site yet for Redemption, the game will continue the epic Painkiller conflict between good and evil.

The kingdom of heaven is threatened by a ruthless army from hell. Two champions, Daniel and Belial, who we already know as the two previous heroes of the series, combine their forces and join the never-ending battle between good and evil.

“It demands quite a bit of skill to confront the countless hordes of monsters – to vanquish them you can equip some really crazy weapons“, says Markus Reutner, International Product Marketing Manager at JoWooD. “We also have the right soundtrack for the fast-paced action because the atmosphere is particularly important when countless monsters attack you without mercy. An insiders’ tip for Painkiller friends as well as for new fans!“

Features:

· 7-10 hours playtime
· Transform yourself into a demon once you’ve collected enough souls!
· Use the occult powers of tarot cards
· More than 6,000 enemies and up to 1,000 monsters on all of the 6 new maps
· Easy to use map editor for your very own Painkiller experience
· Adrenaline pumping soundtrack

Another Toronto-based publisher, Game Bridger Entertainment, has unveiled the latest game to come to their free-to-play gaming platform, GamerKraft. Aida Arenas, developed by Korean developer GalaxyGate, is an “MMORPG Brawler” set in the raucous world of Aida – a land where adventuring, treasure-hunting, and good ol’ fashioned rough-housing are the primary pastimes.

“We are excited to announce Aida Arenas’ arrival on the GamerKraft platform in the first quarter of 2011,” said Matthew Denomme, Marketing Manager for Game Bridger Entertainment, “the game’s charming cartoon graphics and whimsical game world, plus its accessible controls and gameplay mechanics, are sure to appeal to a wide range of both hardcore and casual gamers.”

Create a hero, explore dungeons, fight monsters, compete with friends, and discover hidden treasure in AIDA Arenas, the new MMORPG Brawler from GamerKraft, where you can Combine elements of the classic beat ‘em up arcade genre with the character progression and social features of modern MMORPGs.

And of course I would be totally remiss if I did not even mention the big Triple A game news of the day, which is the announcement that Felicia Day has written a new web series based on Bioware’s Dragon Age series. The six part Dragon Age: Redemption series will star Ms. Day as elven assassin Tallis. In an article on USA Today, (no, I was not one of the lucky ones who were sent a press release about the web series, I found out about it via Twitter) the story will revolve around Tallis’ personal quest to capture a renegade magician and the companions she enlists into her fellowship along the way.

Today’s PlayStation®Network update will include the long-awaited demo for HOARD™, Big Sandwich Games’ critically acclaimed action strategy game about dragons and their treasure. The full game is already available for purchase on the system.

“HOARD™ is at its strongest with a controller in hand,” says Tyler Sigman, the game’s designer. “We know that the addictive gameplay really sells itself when players get a chance to try it. We also know that a lot of consumers still don’t know HOARD™ exists, so we’re glad to finally make the demo available and remove that obstacle to new people trying the game!”

The demo will allow gamers to sample their fire-breathing, gold-collecting skills on several maps and game modes, including a 2-player local (“couch”) co-operative level. The full game includes 4 game modes, over 35 maps, leaderboards, trophies, and any combination of local and online multiplayer making HOARD™ one of only a few great options for 4-person couch-party style play.

HOARD™’s innovative gameplay and design focus on rock-solid short-session experiences earned it a “Best Quick Fix” award and “Best Competitive Multiplayer” nomination in IGN’s Best of 2010 Awards.

The full version of HOARD™ is for sale now on the PlayStation®Network for $14.99, and includes dozens of hours of gameplay and over 100 unique badges to be earned. HOARD™-themed avatars and wallpapers are also available.

Building on Burn the Rope’s phenomenal success in the App Store, Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is pleased to announce its upcoming major update to the top-selling iOS game. Praised by critics and gamers alike, Burn the Rope will be better than ever with new bug types, fast-paced bonus rounds, a new world of 16 never-before-seen-levels and beautiful Retina display support! We have also created a new “Burn the Rope Lite” version for those of you who prefer the try before you buy approach.

Since Burn the Rope’s release it has topped the charts in over fifty countries as the #1 puzzle app, dethroning such best-sellers as Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope to sit at the #2 spot in the US App Store, right behind Angry Birds. Burn the Rope has caught fire with the iOS gaming audience, and with this upcoming feature-packed update Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is fanning the flames of success!

· Stunning Retina display support
· Piles of new Puzzles in a Whole new World
· Burn faster with new Flame Acceleration
· Brand new bug types: Firebug, Electric Bug, and Water Bug
· All-new Bug-Blasting Bonus Rounds
· Lights Out! Mode – light the way as you burn
· Completely redesigned levels

Wicked Interactive and Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.) has added some its usual mischief to celebration of Valentine’s Day. On the heels of a sweeter-than-sweet Marriage Contest, this new Valentine’s Mission puts the blood-and-guts back into the holiday with a competition that pits rival lovers against one another in a fight to the death with more twists than you can count.

“We wouldn’t be M.A.T. without this sort of thing,” said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive, publisher of Mission Against Terror. “Would you expect anything less? We know that all the single guys and gals out there are going to love what we’ve cooked up.”

Sign Up for Valentine’s Mission:

· Choose your beloved
· Fight your way through the field of competitors in the boxing ring
· If you make it to the other side, present your beloved with a ring to show your love.
· If you fail, the next contract is on you.