First up, our congratulations to Bioware and Dragon Age: Origins for picking up a Swedish Games Industry award for RPG of the Year and to EA Burnaby for picking up Sports Game of the Year for FIFA 10. Also, a reminder that the Early Bird price deadline for GDC Canada is fast approaching. Take advantage of the ticket discounts and get your passes before March 31 for this May’s great event at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
There’s lots going on over at IUGO Mobile Entertainment as well. Earlier today the studio announced that several of their game titles will be released for the iPad. On the list are Cliffed, Zombie Attack Second Wave and Implode, along with their brand new game, Escape: Norm’s World. We also found out today that IUGO’s Director of Business Management, Sarah Thompson, will be one of two featured speakers at the upcoming Appy Hour, which is presented by The Social Agency. Appy Hour will be happening on March 26th at the Revel Room from 4 – 6pm. Also speaking at Appy Hour will be Jesse MacFayden, a developer over at Nitobi.
The Vancouver Twestival will be taking place at the CBC Vancouver Audience Lounge this March 25th, and tickets are now on sale. The Twestival is part of a global day of fundraising which will involve thousands of Twitter-users around the world who are gathering together to raise money for Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organization dedicated to reducing suffering and ending extreme poverty.
Your $20 Twestival ticket includes:
- Admission (donation to Concern Worldwide) – 1 Wine ticket (more available for purchase) – 1 Raffle ticket (more available for purchase) – Food (sushi & canapes) – Official souvenir YVRTwestival button – Entertainment (Rob Cottingham, live DJ, Mojave) – Socializing with Twitter friends (although that’s priceless!)
Edmonton – Bioware has announced the release dates for the next round of new DLC for Mass Effect 2. The Firewalker pack will be available beginning on March 23, and Kasumi Goto will join the crew of the Normandy on April 6. Kasumi’s DLC expansion will be titled Stolen Memories. Also coming on March 23 are new appearances for crew members Thane, Jack and Garrus. The Alternate Appearance pack will be available for 160 MS Points. The Firewalker DLC pack will include the brand new M-57 Hammerhead Hover Tank as well as five brand-new missions and locations to explore. This expansion will be free to those gamers who have the Cerberus Network option enabled. The Cerberus Network game add-on code included free to all those gamers who purchased the game new; if you bought a previously-played version, you can add the Cerberus Network option for 1200 MS Points through the XBL Marketplace. In my opinion, the Cerberus Network offers much value in return and is well worth the points if you didn’t purchase the game new.
There are also plenty of new items over in the Bioware store. Today’s new product announcement is the “Morrigan Disapproves” Dragon Age shirt. If you have a Bioware, Mass Effect or Dragon Age fan in your house, then the Bioware store is a great place to find some cool gift items from shirts and hats to lithographs and music.
The CFTPA has made the National Digital Strategy Prime Time panel videos and several PowerPoint presentations available online. To download the presentations and speeches, scroll down through the schedule list and click on the links for the presentations you would like. I think that by making these videos and presentations available to those who were unable to make the February conference is a great way to continue a national dialogue for the development of a Canadian digital strategy, and I appreciate the efforts by those at the CFTPA for taking strides to keep those of us in the digital media industry informed and talking.
I’m going to leave you on this Friday afternoon with a music video from the young English rock group Jonny Black. Now, you may ask yourself why a Canadian digital media news site is promoting an English group, and I would answer, “because the young men who make up this group are friends of ours and they deserve some extra promotion. Plus, they’re gamers, too.”
Formerly known as Mendella, Jonny Black’s band members are among those who have a dream and work hard to forge their path in the achievement of that dream. This video in particular is an endeavour by the group to have one of their songs chosen as the UK soccer team’s anthem for the 2010 World Cup. We hope that you enjoy Jonny Black’s music as much as we do, and will help their video go viral (watch it, fave it, share it) thereby playing a part in the achievement of their goals. You can read more about our involvement with Jonny Black and learn more about these young men here, here, and in our gallery, right here.
Global - Gamers are an enthusiastic bunch when it comes to the latest gaming technology, but it’s the developers that make the technology come to life. For Intel’s Level Up 2010: Intel® Visual Adrenaline Game Demo Challenge, independent developers around the world will be pushing the limits to create new experiences and breakthrough game concepts for 2010.
The competition, in its fifth year, invites professional, hobbyist and student game developers to submit their original game concepts for a chance to win prizes such as a trip to the Tokyo Game Show (for professionals and hobbyists), and a trip to the 2010 Austin Game Developer conference (for students). Other prizes include cash, the latest hardware systems, the newest software packages, and agency engagement packages to help developers market and promote their winning game.
Game developers can submit their concepts for judging in three categories:
* Best Game for a Desktop * Best Game for a Laptop * Best Game for a Netbook
Judge’s Choice Awards will also be given for Best Art Design, Best Graphics Performance, Best Sound Design, and Best Character Design.
For the first phase of the competition, developers will be asked to submit their game concept by June 22 2010. The game concept must describe an idea that will make for an incredible game. In addition to the brief description, developers are invited to include screen shots, visuals or videos of the idea — these materials will help provide context for the judges to review and see the complete vision of the game.
Finalists will be selected by July 11 and will have until August 31 to provide detailed game demo abstracts and game executables. From there, the finalist entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges made up of industry experts. The winning game demos will be announced during the Austin Game Developer’s Conference on October 5. Winning demos from Levelup 2009 are also available to play online. Oh and for those interested, Intel is hiring for its Vancouver location.
Montreal – The demo for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction is available now for download to your Xbox 360. Splinter Cell: Conviction, developed by Ubisoft Montreal, opens with our hero Sam Fisher working off the grid trying to solve his daughter’s murder. We find a changed Sam back in Washington, where he must work with old friends he can no longer trust, forced to save a country he no longer serves. Left without any choice, Sam has to defeat both a vast, faceless enemy and the shadows of the past to find out what happened to his daughter – and himself. Splinter Cell: Conviction is scheduled for full release exclusively to the Xbox 360 in April, and is rated M by the ESRB.
Just a few of the key features that gamers can look forward to in this latest Sam Fisher adventure include:
* New level of action: A full arsenal of cutting-edge innovations allow you to outflank foes with the Last Known Position™ system, tag and eliminate enemies using the Mark and Execute™ feature, and much more. * Blockbuster experience: A unique storytelling style keeps you on the edge of your seat as you navigate the explosive world of a renegade agent where trust is impossible and justice requires you to go above the law. * A new level of immersion: A revolutionary new graphic direction delivers an utterly seamless gameplay experience that’ll keep you totally engrossed in the story of Sam Fisher. * Explosive Xbox LIVE play: Brand-new addictive multiplayer modes amp up the dramatic intensity like never before.
Montreal – EA Montreal has released an all-new co-op campaign map pack titled ‘Chapters of Deceit’ on Xbox Live for their award-winning title, Army of Two: The 40th Day. Available immediately on Xbox Live Marketplace (800 MS Points), the map pack will be available on April 1 on the PlayStation Network ($9.99). Army of Two: The 40th Day – Chapters of Deceit puts players back amidst the disaster in Shanghai where they will stumble upon new information that could help end the invasion by Jonah and his 40th Day Initiative army. However, they quickly learn that everyone is out for themselves and no one can be trusted. The lives of this iconic two-man private military team are at risk, forcing players to rely on each other to get out alive.
Originally released in January 2010, Army of Two: The 40th Day boasts a robust playbook of co-op moves. The game features one of the most extensive and varied weapon customization systems ever found in an action/shooter game. Players can mix and match weapon parts and execute strategic two-man tactics that create a one-of-a-kind co-op action experience. Army of Two: The 40th Day is rated “M” by the ESRB and is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the PSP.
Toronto – TransGaming, Inc. has announced that it is working with Google to develop ANGLE (Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine), an Open Source project to provide improved hardware and driver compatibility for the upcoming WebGL™ web graphics standard for systems running Windows®. The ANGLE project aims to achieve this broader compatibility by layering the OpenGL® ES 2.0 API on top of Direct3D®. The result for developers working with the WebGL standard will be a more consistent experience for their applications and a larger potential audience of users. Read the rest of this entry »
Vancouver – Mingleverse is holding a promo contest and giving away A 50-Person Mingle Room with all features, including live video, for 1-year, built to the winner’s personal specifications. The contest winner will get to spend an hour with our Mingle Room designer to discuss room design, along with a $50.00 Google Adwords credit to spend on promoting your mingles or your mingle group. This contest is open to everyone. Please visit the Mingleverse contest page for details on how to enter.
Edmonton – Bioware has officially announced the next downloadable character for Mass Effect 2 (I mentioned her yesterday in my review of ME2). Kasumi Goto is a thief. More specifically, she is an enigmatic human thief and the Illusive Man has requested that Shepard add her to his (or her, depending on the gender of your Commander Shepard) elite squad. As with all of the other squad members, Kasumi will come along with her own baggage in the way of a quest which Shepard will have to help her with in order to win her loyalty. Kasumi is tentatively scheduled to be available in early April. It is interesting to note that on the Mass Effect 2 character page, there are still two slots marked “Classified” so I think we can safely say that there is lots more to look forward to from Bioware. Like…M57 Hover Tanks…and more missions.
Longueuil – D-BOX Technologies Inc. has announced its first agreement with Walt Disney Pictures to feature its groundbreaking motion technology with the studio’s new film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, opening in theatres May 28.
“We are very proud to count Walt Disney Pictures as a supporter of our technology. Disney has a very good reputation within the industry and has demonstrated over the years much dynamism and vision. Following last year’s acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, which complements their already broad portfolio, this studio is well positioned to produce movies which will fit particularly well with our technology”, declared Claude Mc Master, President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies.
From the team that brought the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy to the big screen, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, an epic action-adventure set in the mystical lands of Persia. A rogue prince (Jake Gyllenhaal) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (Gemma Arterton) and together they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time – a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Sherlock Holmes VS. Jack The Ripper Game Overview:
A horrible series of crimes are uncovered in the East End district of London. The police have no serious leads and the heinous murders continue. Take on the role of Sherlock Holmes as you set out to find clues in the dark, gloomy streets of London searching for the macabre trail of the one known as Jack the Ripper. During this terrifying adventure, Sherlock will attempt to shed some light on the mystery that shrouds the identity and motive of the ghastly killer.
Edmonton – The City of Edmonton is opening its doors to local software developers to improve the way information is made available to residents, and banking on market competition to spur innovation, lower costs and provide greater sustainability for the way information is processed.
“The City is committed to supporting our local software development community – some of the most innovative companies in the world are based in Edmonton,” said Chris Moore, the City of Edmonton’s Chief Information Officer. “At the same time the City is being recognized internationally for working with other municipalities to establish standards so that everyone can benefit from the solutions to the challenges we all face, from wherever they might be developed.” Among the coming initiatives:
* The City of Edmonton is partnering with other municipalities, including the City of San Francisco, to agree on a common platform from which developers can create applications to send information to 311 call centres. The Open 311 effort means that an application developed for one city anywhere in the world could be used in other cities that have adopted the same platform. * In late March the City will announce an Apps4Edmonton contest, with $50,000 in prizes and winners showcased at GTEC2010 in Ottawa in October 2010. * The City of Edmonton is planning to launch an iPhone application called CityWatch, developed by local company Touchmetric. CityWatch will allow Edmontonians to report problems to 311 using an iPhone application. The message to 311 will include location information and pictures from the iPhone’s GPS and camera.
The City of Edmonton is also pursuing the development of a Code for Canada organization, which builds on similar work that is currently underway in the U.S.A. Code for Canada will help city governments become more transparent, connected and efficient by connecting the talents of innovative web developers with city departments to enable the transformative power of the web to achieve more impact with less money. Code for Canada will work with city officials and leading web development talent to identify and develop web solutions that can be shared and implemented in multiple cities.
In the last four months, the City has hosted several “Open” workshops and introduced an Open Data Catalogue, as part of its efforts to improve openness, accessibility and transparency.
“These types of efforts are also a much more effective way to develop and deliver information to residents than we might be able to undertake on our own,” added Moore. “We’re leveraging the power of the community to help our city operate more efficiently.”
Toronto – Microsoft Canada has a sweet contest going for Splinter Cell: Conviction fans. Check out the Contest Information page at GameStop (yes, this is a campaign to get gamers to pre-order SCC). The full rules for the contest, which is open to Canadians aged 18+ (or age of majority in their province of residence) only, can be found right here, but the idea is that 40 entrants will be randomly drawn from all pre-order registrants on March 18th, and those 40 entrants (along with a companion of their chosing, who must also be of majority age) will then be transported to Toronto on March 27th, where they will be hosted at a local hotel and given $100.00 in spending money. The 40 entrants and their guests will then become teams of two, and take part in a “scripted but realistic pure-skill challenge competition.”
According to the rules, each Team will travel through multiple checkpoints testing their skills against challenges inspired by the video game Xbox® Splinter Cell: Conviction®. The Team which most accurately and quickly completes all checkpoint challenges in the shortest period of time (thereby accumulating the highest number of game points) will be declared the winner. The winning Team will then stay another night in Toronto before traveling to Montreal for an overnight stay followed by a private tour of the Ubisoft offices and visit an EB Games or GameStop retail location. Please check the full rules page for more information.
Toronto – Working together with long-time collaborators Fresh TV Inc. and TELETOON Canada Inc., marblemedia has launched Stoked Interactive – to coincide with the March 4 premiere of new episodes of the series and push to the second season premiere in September 2010. With increasing interest in the program, the new site offers a tidal wave of new activities and experiences for fans around the globe. For fans of the French version of the series, teletoon.com has launched a French version of the site. Read the rest of this entry »
Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. has announced that FIFA 10 Ultimate Team, the popular game mode expansion that creates a new way of playing the award-winning EA Sports™ FIFA Soccer 10, is available now to download for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system.
The original Ultimate Team expansion mode for FIFA Soccer 09 was the most popular PDLC expansion mode ever released by EA Sports, with over 35 million gold, silver and bronze packs opened, over 50 million auctions for players and items completed, and over 10 billion in-game coins exchanged in trades as legions of soccer fans took on the challenge to put a personally crafted team up against the rest of the world.
FIFA 10 Ultimate Team is half the price of the original — 400 Microsoft points or $4.99 through PlayStation Network — and this year enables gamers to manage one or multiple squads simultaneously, and compete against other gamers in dynamically updated online tournaments. Fans will be able to experience the game mode by creating a team with a starter pack of players and play a five game free trial (FIFA Soccer 10 and an internet connection are required for play).
Featuring over 7,500 of the best soccer stars in the world to choose from, gamers can emulate the way real-world coaches and managers build the truly great soccer teams. Choose how to manage your team –- focusing on creating one formidable squad, or managing multiple squads to match dynamic requirements for tournaments and competitions. Buy, sell, trade and acquire the biggest stars to build your team. Be strategic and tactical in preparing your squads for the various in-game competitions. A completely redesigned chemistry system built around player relationships on the pitch means that managing teams and squads to their full potential is even more critical to success. Take carefully assembled squads into standard tournaments and themed competitions against the most formidable teams from around the world – and then out wit and out play them.
Rated by the ESRB as “E for Everyone”, FIFA 10 Ultimate Team is available now to purchase for 400 Microsoft points or $4.99 as a download via Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network to FIFA Soccer 10. FIFA Soccer 10 and an internet connection are required for play. Read the rest of this entry »
There is so much going on across this vast country of ours – it’s becoming a massive challenge to keep up on the digital media events while I have one eye on the Olympics and two hands on the 360 controller. It may become necessary to hook up a second TV in the living room so that I can game while watching The Games. Regardless of the controversy, warm weather, glitches, whining, protests and other Olympic foibles, I am really proud to be a Canadian (not that I wasn’t before the Olympics) – the inspiration, heart and sacrifice of our Canadian Olympic athletes is nothing short of amazing.
Vancouver – Registration for Democamp Vancouver 10: Geo Edition is now open. Attend this event on March 4th and hear from Matt Galligan, cofounder of Boulder, CO-based SimpleGeo. Learn about SimpleGeo’s challenges to develop an infrastructure to power the geo layer of your app so you don’t have to build it all from scratch. This event is free to attend, but pre-registration is required.
Also coming up in Vancouver is CloudCamp, a free unconference taking place at Discovery Park on March 13th. With the rapid change occurring in the industry, we need a place where we can meet to share our experiences, challenges and solutions. At CloudCamp, you are encouraged to share your thoughts in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate
Victoria – VIATeC invites you to join them on March 2 for an interactive seminar focused on your getting your business ready for the market. Featuring speaker Dave Thomas (Rocket Builders, Canadian Financing Forum), the seminar will cover many topics, such as marketing research, technology adoption models, “whole” solution offerings, product positioning, and pricing. Review what it means to be a technology entrepreneur and help you develop a business opportunity statement that can be used to take your idea or business to the next level. Tickets for this seminar, which is part of the New Ventures BC Seminar Series, are $10.00.
Toronto – The online space is dynamic, fast-paced and viral. Canadians are finally being given the opportunity to have their digital footprint measured and their social status quantified, with the help of a first-of-its-kind Doritos challenge – Doritos® Viralocity .
Launched on February 14, the Doritos® Viralocity Contest is a nation-wide initiative that asks Canadians to name the newest Doritos unidentified flavour, create a 60 second online video about what that flavour inspires in them and make it go viral. The person with the highest Doritos Viralocity score is eligible to win $100,000 cash and an additional $150,000 should they achieve Maximum Doritos Viralocity. Online stardom is the name of this game.
The winning entry will be determined by the final Doritos Viralocity score as based on the entrant’s ability and effort to make their entry go as viral as possible. A custom-designed algorithm, as verified by 10th Power Technologies Corp., will calculate each entry’s Doritos Viralocity score as of 11:59:59pm ET each night during the contest. The measurement algorithm is a way of calculating how viral a video has become by pulling and compiling data from internal and external sources like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and AddThis.
Another unique twist about this year’s Doritos program is the prizing structure. Instead of just one winner, the top 344 entries (as measured by their Doritos Viralocity score) will be eligible to win prizes of varying amounts of cash that correspond to their ranking.
“At Doritos, we’re constantly looking for bigger and better, a new and exciting way to break ground, that puts the consumer in control,” says Tony Matta, Vice President of Marketing at Frito Lay Canada. “This contest is an opportunity for Canadians to tap into the viral nature of videos, use their creativity and create a digital footprint that will give them the chance to walk away with some serious cash. The Doritos brand was built by the consumer, so we’ve decided to hand over our brand yet again and let the consumer keep calling the shots with the Doritos® Viralocity Contest.”
Ryan Coopersmith was last year’s winner of the 2009 phenomenon, Become the Doritos® Guru Contest, and is living proof that Doritos changed his life and encouraged his filmmaking dreams, while also bringing them to life.
Edmonton – A Smartphone as an x-ray machine? “There’s an app for that.” This phrase is starting to become as commonplace as saying “hello” when answering the phone. According to Gartner Research, Smartphone consumers are estimated to spend more than $6 billion and download over 4.5 billion mobile applications this year. With the mounting popularity of this phenomenon, AppBoy launched an easy-to-use, revolutionary social network that aims at connecting mobile app developers and users.
“AppBoy was developed to help developers get their apps discovered and to help users navigate through the thousands of available apps to find the ones they like,” says Thorren Koopmans, Director of Operations for AppBoy.
With more than 100,000 apps on the market, it’s difficult for app entrepreneurs to stand out. AppBoy gives app developers of multiple platforms (Android, iPhone, Palm and Blackberry) an opportunity to easily showcase their work and market their creations to mobile app lovers. Through personal developer profile pages created on the site, developers can share their ideas and even create their own app store. Apps sold through the social network also earn the developer a share of the profits.
AppBoy also has a lot to offer for those who aren’t building their own apps. Any user with ideas that are useful, smart or just plain entertaining can submit them to the website. Visitors to the social network have the ability to vote and comment on submissions. If the ideas generate enough votes, AppBoy rewards the user $250 and creates the app.
“We already have a great value proposition for both developers and end users, but we’re just getting started. There are big updates coming that are going to make AppBoy that much better.” Read the rest of this entry »
Banff – Motivated by the great success of the 2009 Banff World Television Awards, The Banff World Television Festival (June 13 – 16 2010) is proud to announce a new competition for the 2010 season that aims to honour those with the talent and motivation to create a series pilot.
The inaugural Banff International Pilots Competition aims to recognize the talent and creativity it takes to conceptualize and create a pilot, be it online or on television. The competition accepts submissions from both “virgin” producers who have never had a show or program broadcast in any way, as well as “veteran” producers with least one show broadcast on cable, satellite or the Internet, or with a show in full production.
The Banff World Television Festival is also proud to be hosting two amazing opportunities to participate in training programs focused on the creative side of television. The Canwest Showrunners Program and The Canwest Global Writers Program allow creative minds looking to expand their experience in the television industry the opportunity to meet and train with some of the biggest names in TV during their time at Banff.
TheCanwest Showrunner Training Program helps to position seasoned series writers for the role of showrunner by inviting successful applicants with their own series to pitch to attend the Banff World Television Festival on a full access pass. At BANFF, they will have the opportunity to attend master classes, pitch Canadian and US broadcast executives and will be part of individual sessions with renowned showrunners attending BANFF.
TheWriters Apprentice Program offers emerging Canadian writers with the opportunity to gain significant experience by completing a four-week internship in the story department of a prime-time series and will also be invited to attend the Banff World Television Festival on a full access pass.
Application deadline for Showunners is March 10, 2010 and March 15th, 2010 for Writers Apprentice. There is an Early Bird submission fee now in effect for the International Pilots Competition – it’s only $75.00 to enter until March 1, 2010. Final deadline for the Pilots Competition is March 15, 2010.
Nelson – The Kootenay Association for Science & Technology is bringing industry Guru Rochelle Grayson to the Kootenays! Join us to learn about news trends and tips to ensure you are making money from your product. This event will be designed to support technology and innovation companies in the monetization of software/applications as well as a presentation on turning new trends into opportunities. The event keynote Rochelle Grayson will be presenting on proven methods to monetize innovations – in short how to ensure companies make money on their products in today’s market. Also speaking at the event will be Rik Logtenberg, owner of Yellowseed, a Nelson-based web development and consulting company, with 10 employees and offices in Canada and India. Rik will be speaking about ways to use social media as a tool to improve marketing and sales.
This KAST Tech Village Connect event will be held at the New Grand Hotel in Nelson, BC on February 11th from 11:30 a.m. – 6:30p.m. Tickets are $20.00 per person and include speakers, workshops, lunch, appetizers , cash bar and networking.
KAST is also hosting a free webinar featuring Dave Thomas and Geoffrey Hansen of Rocket Builders. They will cover topic areas such as:
Better market planing = more revenue
* Entering the market with a new, innovative product or service? *Are you able to explain your product or service so that the buyer understands what you have & why it is special? *Do you have a well defined pricing model for your customers? *Have you selected a promising target market?
Gain perspective on these questions and more:
* key criteria for understanding your market opportunity *methods for market research *methods for determining pricing *key elements of a positioning statement *techniques for market research on a shoestring
This webinar will be held on February 9, 2010 from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Pre-registration is required. Please see the KAST event page for further information about the event and how to register.
Halifax – Innovacorp today announced the first and second place award winners in the provincial I-3 Technology Start-Up Competition, an innovative competition to identify and support high potential Nova Scotia knowledge-based businesses.
“The start-up businesses chosen as first and second place award winners are excellent examples of the types of high potential Nova Scotia companies that have the opportunity to compete globally,” said Dan MacDonald, president and CEO of Innovacorp.“The I-3 finalists are all targeting high growth industry sectors, including clean technology, life sciences, information technology, and advanced manufacturing.”
The first and second place zone winners each receive $100,000 and $40,000 respectively in a combination of cash and in-kind business building services from professional services firms located in their zones to be used for the further development of their start-up ventures. The first place winners will move on to the provincial round happening February 9, to compete for a $100,000 seed investment from Innovacorp.
The first and second place award winners in each zone are:
Zone 1 (Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough counties)
1st Place – LST Energy – Jim Trussler, Gus Swanson and Philip Landry – Pictou – has developed an innovative patented technology that will enable efficient burning of grass and hay biomass pellets. While grass and hay biomass is plentiful and renewable, until this innovation it has been impractical to use as a fuel because it caused furnace and stove maintenance issues that required continuous intervention. LST Energy will first target commercial heating applications.
2nd Place – X-Flux Environmental Technologies – David Risk – Antigonish – has developed an innovative system for real-time monitoring of carbon dioxide emissions from underground carbon capture and storage facilities. The patented technology enables a network of ground level CO2 monitoring probes, network management and validation of carbon storage for public safety and containment integrity. X-Flux is positioned to enter the global market and will begin pilot installations in 2010.
Zone 2 (Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne and Yarmouth counties)
1st Place – Xona Games – Matthew and Jason Doucette – Yarmouth – is an independent game development studio targeting Xbox 360 and PC gaming platforms. The company concentrates on intensifying retro-style games and has already gained international recognition, placing 7th in the world and 2nd in Canada in Microsoft’s 2009 Dream Build Play competition. Xona’s game Decimation X is the number one rated Xbox LIVE Indie Game in Japan.
Lévis – 3D scanning corporation Creaform has acquired Montréal-based InSpeck, a leader in manufacturing and marketing 3D scanning systems specialized in human-body scanning. InSpeck products are used in the industries of movie special effects, medical imagery, research, 3D crystal engraving and computer games.3D scanning of the human body, whose products include animation, special effects, medical imagery, research and electronic games. InSpeck’s current clients include Sony Computer Entertainment America, Electronic Arts, Warner Brothers and Gentle Giant Studios.
“This acquisition consolidates our position as leader in 3D scanning, as well as our position in the medical, multimedia and entertainment, and 3D imagery sectors,” says Mr. Charles Mony, President of Creaform, whose products, services and advanced training programs are intended for companies from the automotive, aerospace, consumer products, education, heritage preservation & architecture, manufacturing, medical care and multimedia industries, among others.
“By uniting their forces, our 2 companies keep expertise that is very coveted all over the world right here in Québec,” says Mr. Li Song, CEO for InSpeck. “Further, the complementary technologies of our teams will help us cover more applications and better serve the needs of the clients.”
Creaform has developed and sells the Handyscan 3D™ line of scanners. These state-of-the-art self-positioning handheld 3D laser scanners are known for the high accuracy of the 3D scanning data they generate, their true portability, and their ease of use. Creaform also manufactures and sells the HandyPROBE™, the 100% portable, wireless CMM, a probing system designed for inspection applications.
Vancouver – IUGO Mobile Entertainment presents its mega iPhone hit Zombie Attack! Bad Blood for the BlackBerry. ZA!BB is an addictive 3D tower defense game with a scary twist, and it is now available for purchase on Mobihand for $3.99.
Your mission: Play as a survivor of the ultimate Zombie Apocalypse, strategically place weapons turrets to protect your shack and stay alive.
Features:
Different zombie types to slay 4 weapon types for a variety of zombie killing techniques Survivor machete: hack and slash the undead when needed Stylized 3D graphics Local leaderboards Intuitive controls, elegant UI Pick up and play for 2 minutes or 2 hours
Global – Student animation festival VisionFest is now accepting animation, game and other interactive art submissions from high school, undergraduate and graduate students from around the world for this year’s festival, which will take place in Indianopolis, Indiana this coming October 22 – 24. Students are permitted to submit work which was completed no earlier than January 1, 2007. All entries must be postmarked on or before July 28, 2010.
Toronto – Which Canadian city is your favourite? Hasbro is launching a nation wide vote to find our nation’s 22 favourite cities that will be included on the new Monopoly Canada game board!
The voting began last night at midnight ET, with Monopoly fans casting their ballots for their favourite Canadian cities to help create a new Monopoly Canada game board. Sixty-five great Canadian cities have been pre-selected for the top 20 city vote and Canadians are invited to cast their ballots for 3 of these great cities each day of the vote, which will be open until February 7, 2010. The city that receives the most votes will be placed on the highest rent property traditionally held by Boardwalk.
The 20 cities that receive the most votes will be part of Monopoly history as the first cities selected to be on the Canadian game board through a consumer vote. However, two spaces on the board will be reserved for cities that are nominated through a wild card vote, which means any city in Canada can be nominated for these property spaces. Once the top 20 city vote is complete, the top 10 nominated wild card cities will also be put to a vote and the wild card winners will occupy the low-rent property spaces traditionally held by Mediterranean Avenue and Baltic Avenue. The wild card vote will take place from February 8, 2010 until February 21, 2010.
“Monopoly is the world’s most popular branded board game and it transcends cultural barriers,” said Michelle Sinclair, Brand Manager for Monopoly. “More than 750 million people have played the game since it was first introduced 75 years ago and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down.”
“The final result of the Monopoly Canada Edition will be surprising and only time will tell how the vote will turn out. We hope that fans will vote early and often for their favourite Canadian city” added Michelle.
The 65 cities pre-selected for the nation-wide vote are:
Vancouver – A reminder to developers that today is the final day for entering Inspirado Games design Competition Sunshine. Competition Sunshine is an opportunity for the Game Development community to give a voice to individuals passionate about video game design, through a fun and worthwhile game design competition. To enter, participants must make a donation to the Child’s Play Charity of $20 (USD) or more (100% of entry fees go to charity) and conform to the design criteria. Finalists will be judged by a panel of experienced game design professionals – with winners receiving prizes and, of course, bragging rights.
This competition is intended to give individuals in the gaming community an opportunity to showcase their talent. A profile will be written about the winner (with their permission) and published online for all to see. Please note that all Intellectual Property Rights (copyright) of the submitted design concept will remain the sole property of the entrant – and who knows – entrants may get their game developed!
Everyone at Village Gamer would like to extend their congratulations to the dev teams at Ubisoft Montreal, EA Canada and Bioware for their wins at last night’s Spike Video Game Awards. Assassin’s Creed 2 was chosen as the Best Action Adventure Game for 2009, while NHL 10 was chosen as the Best Team Sports Game for 2009, and Dragon Age: Origins won two categories – Best PC Game of the Year and Best RPG of the Year. We kept our fingers crossed for Assassin’s Creed 2 in the Game of the Year category, but Uncharted 2 stole it away.
Speaking of awards (on a much smaller scale), I’d like to remind everyone to get those nominations in for our Readers’ Choice Canadian Video Game Awards. Nominations close on December 31st – you don’t need to sign up to nominate and there are no nomination fees, but don’t assume that someone else has already nominated your favourite titles, studios and characters.
This Friday is the Holiday Gathering event for Vancouver Interactive Night Out. We invite you to join us for some holiday fun and socializing in the back room at Yagger’s (433 West Pender Street Vancouver) starting at 6:30pm. You can RSVP on either Facebook or LinkedIn. We have a little special something planned and we need an estimate on numbers, so please let us know if you’ll be attending.
Vancouver – A whole new audience of gamers will be able to unwrap Braid soon! Hothead Games proudly announced today that Jonathan Blow’s beloved indie title will arrive in the European PlayStation®Network on Dec. 17 for only €9.99, offering current and soon-to-be PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system owners a little extra holiday cheer this season.
Players will explore the human condition and manipulate time with our hero Tim in the lush, painterly world of Braid. An Independent Games Festival winner, this puzzle-platformer takes you from a house in the city on a journey through a series of worlds to solve puzzles and rescue the princess. In each world, you have a different power to affect the way time behaves, including the ability to rewind, create parallel realities and utilize time dilation to overcome the many obstacles in your path. There is no filler in this game; every puzzle shows you something new and interesting about the game world.
Key Features:
• Non-traditional platforming: You can never die and never lose, but challenge is always present and focused on solving puzzles, rather than forcing you to play and replay tricky jumps.
• Puzzle-rich environment. Travel through a series of worlds, searching for puzzle pieces and solving puzzles by manipulating time: rewinding, creating parallel universes and setting up pockets of dilated time. The game play is always fresh and new and the puzzles inspire new ways of thinking.
• Aesthetic design: A painterly art style and lush, organic soundtrack complement the unique game play.
• Nonlinear story: A nonlinear fiction links the various worlds and provides real-world metaphors for your time manipulations; act out these themes at your own pace, exploring playful “what if” universes.
• Forgiving game play: The game doesn’t force you to solve puzzles in order to proceed. If you can’t figure something out, just play onward and return to that puzzle later.
Winnipeg – Complex Games Inc. is proud to announce their first self-published game for the iPhone and iTouch. Skipping Stones is currently in production and will be soon be available for sale on the iTunes store. Slated for a mid-December 2009 release date, Skipping Stones is a casual recreational game that you can play on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
“Skipping Stones is going to make a splash on the iPhone”, said Noah Decter-Jackson Co-founder and Project Director at Complex Games, “the game combines relaxing gameplay mechanics that simulate actually skipping stones across the water in several beautiful settings. Skipping Stones will instantly appeal because of its lush environments and enjoyable music. Players can just relax or challenge themselves and their friends to make the longest skip!”
Walk down to the beach and toss your cares away with the simple motion controls, or compete against other players online to make the most skips. Skipping Stones offers the gamer several beautiful landscapes, three different challenge modes and the ability to compete online against other players via Open Feint.
Guelph – Independent game developer Stir Fry Games is proud to announce the Windows version of SFG Soccer is now available online. SFG Soccer is the arcade-style indoor soccer game whose short game times, easy-to-learn controls, and fast-paced gameplay have made it a smash hit on the Xbox Live Indie Games platform. In it’s first month on Xbox Live, the game has already been featured in the Top Rated, Top Downloads, and the Top IGN.com Picks lists. SFG Soccer is currently one of the top-rated games on the service, with a 4-star rating in the United States, and an astounding 4 1/2 star rating in the United Kingdom.
The game has an extensive multi-season 64-team career mode, complete with a custom team & player editors, playoffs and an RPG-style skill improvement system. The Windows version also includes new features requested by fans including individual player stats, higher difficulty settings, league leaders, and the ability to edit and share your league easily using external programs such as Microsoft Excel.
Vancouver – A team of Art Institute Vancouver students have published their latest game on the web. Light Switch Studios is proud to announce their single player PC 2D side-scrolling platform title Fotagogos, which will officially release on December 15th. Gamers will play through the game as Phil, a young miner who is sent out by his family to gather the light crystals they need to survive. As Phil gathers the light crystals using his special light-switching helmet, he used one of three colours to help him defeat the enemies and find his way through the dark caverns. Phil can use the powers of Red, Green or Blue light to speed through dangerous territory while Green light will help Phil leap to high ledges. Making use of the Blue light will help Phil defy gravity and float to a safe landing. Fotagogos is a tool-based game which the team built from the ground up, and they have included level editing tools for players to mod and expand their game experience.
Vancouver – Swim Recruiting has posted the following career position for a Technical Lead in PHP Games at a Vancouver development studio:
• High level technical direction and low level coding participation
• Entrepreneurial, growing, and action-packed environment
• Lead a talented and experienced development team
Do you have strong leadership skills combined with expert knowledge of the LAMP stack and software development best practices at both the architectural and code level?
A Vancouver ‘home grown’ organization based in funky Gastown is on the lookout for an experienced and knowledgeable Technical Lead to direct and lead a professional, fun, and dynamic software team. This team will develop and enhance new and existing games for social network platforms such as Facebook and iPhone applications.
Working closely with the Studio Producer and Creative Director, you will be charged with establishing high level technical direction and supervision as well as ‘rolling up the sleeves’ and developing code. You will lead and motivate the team to release up to 8 multiple titles on various platforms per year. As well as excellent communication and documentation skills, you must have expert LAMP stack skills and knowledge combined with the ability to direct, lead and motivate a small group of open-source developers. You will also be highly competent at setting up and establishing development policies, frameworks, and best practices to ensure a fast paced, action packed, rapid prototyping, iterative model in a social and collaborative team orientated environment.
In order to be considered for this role you must be able to demonstrate the following:
• Expert proficiency (7+ years) in all areas of LAMP development at the architecture and code level
• Flash/flex development skills and solid Unix based tools and system administration skills
• Experience setting up and establishing software development frameworks, policies, and best practices
• Be a natural leader and manager with the skills and track record to motivate and grow the development team
• Passion for a wide variety of Gaming technologies and methodologies
• Graduation from a four year college or university, a degree from a recognized design school, or two to four years of related experience and training.
This is a fantastic opportunity to lead a modern, fast paced, innovative, fun and dynamic development team working on some of the latest games and applications with bleeding-edge open source technologies – apply by sending your resume to Brian Thompson at Swim Recruiting.
Vancouver – Blue Castle Games has the following career positions open for local candidates:
Rendering Software Engineer
Senior Technical Artist
Senior or Franchise Project Manager
Producer
Environment Artist (Contract & Full Time) – DEAD RISING 2 (new listing)
Contract Compliance/Online/Gameplay QA Tester (6 months) – DEAD RISING 2
Lead Level Designer
Online Software Engineer
Victoria – Most people are careful to shred their financial documents and keep a careful hold on their personal paperwork, but what about online and on their PCs? With the ever-present threat of spyware and identity theft, ensuring that personal details remain safe should be a top priority for all computer users. The latest version of ParetoLogic’s Privacy Controls software aims to make this task easier, and a lot more thorough.
Every action taken on a PC is recorded. Downloaded programs, visited websites, opened files, entered passwords and even instant messages are locked deep in a computer’s memory. A clever hacker who infiltrates a computer may copy online banking information for illegal transactions, steal personal data for identity theft, hijack email accounts for spamming, or snoop on the user’s private life.
Norman Eldridge, Technical Product Manager at ParetoLogic, said that “even with security software protecting against malware, people need to consider other methods that their personal data may be compromised: selling their used PC, having their computer stolen, or even being spied on by people who share their system.”
The latest web browsers have responded to this threat with new privacy options and ‘stealth’ modes. Internet Explorer 8’s InPrivate mode, for example, stores only the cookies and temporarily internet files required to browse normally, and then deletes these files automatically. However, Mr. Eldridge explained that this is not enough. “To fully erase your private details and history, you need to overwrite the data. Otherwise it is recoverable.” Privacy Control’s shred functionality does just that, overwriting browsing history, application history, and user-selected files. This permanently destroys the data, which cannot be restored, even with highly developed data recovery tools.
The most recent version of Privacy Controls upgrades these shred features, enhancing the scanning process to clean personal information from the latest programs. The expansion also adds support for the new 32-bit Windows 7 operating system. “A new operating system does not necessarily provide new security for personal information. If anything, the latest OS has more ways for your data to be recorded,” said Mr. Eldridge. Along with support for Windows 7 32-bit, Privacy Controls also supports Windows Vista and XP.
Montreal - In the spirit of the season, LogoBee proudly announces its fourth annual Logo Design Makeover. Any charity or non-profit organization may enter the contest, and submissions must be received by January 1, 2010.
LogoBee holds the Logo Design Makeover annually as a way of giving back to the community. By reducing overhead costs such as logo design and branding, these organizations can focus funds on the important services they offer. Having a previous logo or brand development is not necessary to enter. Depending on each winning group’s preferences, the LogoBee designers can refine an existing logo, or they can start from scratch. Each winning participant receives custom logo design from logobee.com, as well as professional stationery design complete with letterhead, envelope, and business cards. Contest submission is free.
LogoBee held its first Logo Design Makeover contest in 2005, welcoming any charities and non-profit organizations to enter. LogoBee adds two grand prizes to the contest, among other changes this year. The grand prize winners will receive a BundleBee package from Logobee.com for the deeply discounted price of $500. The package, normally priced at $1199, includes professional logo design, stationery design, and website design. In addition, LogoBee will randomly select 10 entries to receive a Golden package, which includes custom logo design with tailor-made stationery design included. Each Golden package will be offered for the nominal rate of $100, originally priced at $425.
Donating professional design services to charities and non-profit organizations is one important way that LogoBee feels it is important to give back to the community. LogoBee will announce the winners January 8, 2010, and notify the winners via email.
There’s lots going on over at IUGO Mobile Entertainment as well. Earlier today the studio announced that several of their game titles will be released for the iPad. On the list are 
Cliffed, Zombie Attack Second Wave and Implode, along with their brand new game, Escape: Norm’s World. We also found out today that IUGO’s Director of Business Management, Sarah Thompson, will be one of two featured speakers at the upcoming Appy Hour, which is presented by The Social Agency. Appy Hour will be happening on March 26th at the Revel Room from 4 – 6pm. Also speaking at Appy Hour will be Jesse MacFayden, a developer over at Nitobi.
The Vancouver Twestival will be taking place at the CBC Vancouver Audience Lounge this March 25th, and tickets are now on sale. The Twestival is part of a global day of fundraising which will involve thousands of Twitter-users around the world who are gathering together to raise money for Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organization dedicated to reducing suffering and ending extreme poverty.
Edmonton – Bioware has announced the release dates for the next round of new DLC for Mass Effect 2. The Firewalker pack will be available beginning on March 23, and 
Kasumi Goto will join the crew of the Normandy on April 6. Kasumi’s DLC expansion will be titled Stolen Memories. Also coming on March 23 are new appearances for crew members Thane, Jack and Garrus. The Alternate Appearance pack will be available for 160 MS Points. The Firewalker DLC pack will include the brand new M-57 Hammerhead Hover Tank as well as five brand-new missions and locations to explore. This expansion will be free to those gamers who have the Cerberus Network option enabled. The Cerberus Network game add-on code included free to all those gamers who purchased the game new; if you bought a previously-played version, you can add the Cerberus Network option for 1200 MS Points through the XBL 
Marketplace. In my opinion, the Cerberus Network offers much value in return and is well worth the points if you didn’t purchase the game new.
The CFTPA has made the National Digital Strategy Prime Time panel videos and several PowerPoint presentations available online. To download the presentations and speeches, scroll down through the schedule list and click on the links for the presentations you would like. I think that by making these videos and presentations available to those who were unable to make the February conference is a great way to continue a national dialogue for the 
development of a Canadian digital strategy, and I appreciate the efforts by those at the CFTPA for taking strides to keep those of us in the digital media industry informed and talking.
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