Vancouver via GDC – Coming out of last week’s exciting announcement of a publishing deal with EA Partners to bring Shank to XBLA, PSN and PC this summer, Klei Entertainment has released a new video of its upcoming 2D cinematic brawler. Showcasing new levels, new moves and new bosses coming to the game.
This video supports its showing at this year’s Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, Calif. March 11-13, 2010. As one of the 2010 Independent Game Festival (IGF) finalists (and recognized for its excellence in “Visual Art”), Shank will be on display at the IGF Pavilion during regular Expo Hall hours.
Montreal – Ubisoft has released a new game play trailer for Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands. In Forgotten Sands, the developers are using the setting to take the Prince back to the roots which were a big part of Sands of Time. Our hero will travel to his older brother Malik’s kingdom, which is under attack by the Sand Army. Those gamers who played Sands of Time will be able to make use of the Prince’s signature moves and acrobatics in The Forgotten Sands. Using the same Anvil Engine which was built for Assassin’s Creed, The Forgotten Sands will feature a rich environment with massive battle scenes. Just from watching the trailer, I know that my Prince character will be facing certain death a good amount of the time, however – The Forgotten Sands looks to me like another beautifully crafted historic time piece with lots of room to explore and details to take in.
Vancouver – Last Friday evening we attended Massive Bear Studio’s Launch Party at the Granville Room – your new website is awesome – and I see some upcoming news that looks quite exciting, as well. Massive Bear’s projects have included work on Microsoft-Big Park’s Joy Ride, 2k’s Mafia 2 and Day 21 Studios’ Sky Pirates of Neo Terra. Thank you again to Tim Lewinson for a fantastic time and the invitation to celebrate with you – all the best as you set off for a full slate of meetings and seminars at GDC!
It’s not generally our policy to cover the employment downside of game development, particularly with the way the economy has been over the past year or so and the adverse effect it has had on many Canadian studios. While we will always let you, our readers, know about new studio openings and career positions, we feel that other media outlets provide more than enough coverage about job losses and we don’t really need to add to the mix.
That said, I cannot let a recent development pass without comment. For those who have not yet heard, Kelly Zmak formally announced his departure from Radical Entertainment this past Friday. This truly saddens me, as Kelly has been (and will continue to be, I hope) an integral part of the Vancouver development community. A powerful and motivational speaker, Kelly has worked hard on various Advisory Boards and industry committees. He has many times played host and emcee, and he has given me more encouragement and inspiration than he is perhaps aware. I have the utmost respect for Kelly as a business person, teacher and perhaps most important of all, friend. Kelly leaves some big shoes (or should that be hat?) to fill for his successor at Radical, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish him well with his future projects. Read the rest of this entry »
Vancouver – Electronic Arts has announced two new partnerships involving local studios. First, EA announced that it has inked an exclusive deal with Klei Entertainment to bring the studio’s provocative new game Shank to Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PlayStation®Network and PC this summer. Featuring a unique art style inspired by graphic novels and golden age comics, Shank blends the intensity of classic 2D side-scrolling action games with a gripping and mature storyline. The cinematic brawler is a finalist for “Excellence in Visual Art” at this year’s Independent Games Festival and will be featured at the IGF Pavilion during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week.
“Our mission at EA Partners is to work with the best talent across the game industry, and we are thrilled to extend our expertise to the leading creative developers in downloadable indie games,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners. “The team at Klei Entertainment is among the best in the world at developing fun and engaging titles for digital distribution platforms, and Shank is an amazing experience.”
“As an independent development studio, we always focus on creating great, authentic experiences for players. Working with EA Partners expands our distribution and allows us to bring Shank to a much wider audience,” said Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment. “They have been a fantastic partner and their understanding of the space is incredibly exciting.”
Taking place in a stylized, modern-Western setting, Shank tells a classic betrayal story directed through a sophisticated cinematic lens, with addictive action gameplay found in classic 2D side-scrolling games.
EA’s second announced deal today is another exclusive publishing deal, this time with Hothead Games and their newest title DeathSpank, which will be coming to Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation®Network in 2010. Developed under the vision of The Secret of Monkey Island creator and industry icon Ron Gilbert, DeathSpank blends a story filled with Gilbert’s unique humor and wit with classic and addictive action RPG gameplay. Read the rest of this entry »
Vancouver – Clicktoy Interactive is pleased to announce the release of its software “The Meadow“for the Apple Mac. The award winning interactive software for children ages 1 to 5 is now available for purchase at local Canadian Apple Stores and select US Apple stores, and online at store.Apple.com.
Colourful 3-D graphics, nature sounds and original music bring nature to life on screen where children can join Mr. and Mrs. Bunny as they visit their friends living in The Meadow. With the simple press of a key, your child can guide the animals through the beautiful meadow environment.
“Any parent can tell you that when they’re working on their computer, the little one will come along and want to sit on their lap and press buttons,” said Ken Kavanagh, developer of The Meadow and president of Clicktoy Interactive. “As every key has a function, children are free to interact with the computer without worry.”
With The Meadow, parents and children can explore this charming and peaceful place together, featuring:
* Four detailed scenes * ClickSafe locks the keyboard, prevents your child from exiting the application * Stunning graphics and immersion in a virtual nature-walk * Make up your own stories and imagine together
Available on the PC since 2008 “The Meadow” is now available for the Mac OS. Offered in over 17 languages the game sells for $24.95 and is available now for the Mac or PC. Village Gamer congratulates Ken Kavanagh and Clicktoy Interactive with this new release – and fully recommends “The Meadow” to anyone who has a toddler and/or pre-schooler in their family.
Vancouver – Vancouver Film School is pleased to present the $30,000 Women in Games Scholarship for the second straight year. This Scholarship covers the full tuition for a female aspiring game designer to attend VFS’s acclaimed one-year Game Design program, named by L.A. Times as a Top 10 school “favoured by industry recruiters”.
With International Women’s Day on March 8 highlighting the achievements of women and the need to create a more equal and rewarding future for girls, the announcement of the Women in Games scholarship is timely. In an industry traditionally dominated by men – around 90%, according to Game Developer Magazine’s 2009 Salary Survey – the scholarship was established as a concerted effort by VFS to encourage greater opportunities for females wishing to pursue Game Design as a career. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Vancouver – Yummy Interactive, Inc., developer of premiere digital distribution technologies, has partnered with Metaboli, Europe’s leader in digital distribution of PC games, to improve and enhance Metaboli’s class-leading online video game subscription services in Europe and in North America with GameTap.
“We’re very delighted to have partnered with Metaboli and to be helping them expand their subscriber base across the globe, especially with their many telecom partners in Europe and GameTap’s service in the United States. There is a strong fit between both companies regarding our culture and goals. Core to both of our company’s philosophies is creating the best experience possible for users playing games online,” says Nick Mellios, CEO of Yummy Interactive.
By integrating the Yummy Games delivery platform and associated APIs into its on demand service platform Metaboli has increased compatibility, download speeds and added more games to deliver exceptional value and ease of use for their customers such as British Telecom and France Telecom, along with their 50+ other white-label services.
Metaboli now offers support for games on 64-bit processors along with Microsoft Windows®7 compatibility. A variety of games will also support mods, patches, and custom maps adding even more value to Metaboli’s services.
“By partnering with Yummy we have been able to make a leap forward in our Games on Demand services. Because Yummy’s solution is so easy to integrate and feature-rich, we have been able to innovate for the next generation of online PC gaming, and we are now even better positioned to take advantage of the paradigm shift to downloadable game content,” said Olivier Decrock, CEO of Metaboli.
Edmonton – Bioware has updated the Dragon Age wiki with new information about Dragon Age: Awakening. Players can get more advance information about the enhancements coming when Awakening is released in two weeks for Mages and Rogues. It appears that there will also be new information coming soon for Warriors, Armour and Weapons, but those pages have not yet been added to the Wiki. In the meantime, here is the latest trailer which introduces Mhairi, one of the newest Grey Warden recruits. Read the rest of this entry »
Victoria – For far too long, PC video gamers faced an unpleasant dilemma: keep their anti-virus software active and suffer the loss of game performance, or disable their protection and risk infection by a myriad of online threats. PC gamers must be constantly aware of system resources, RAM usage, processor speed, as well as the added threat of malware and virus infection. An innovative feature makes this a lot easier.
Newly introduced to the PC security world, the so-called “Game Mode” gives users the ability to tweak their anti-virus activity, and thereby conserve power for gaming.
ParetoLogic Anti-Virus PLUS added the feature with a recent program update, and users of the software can now select the unique Game Mode from the software settings page. Norman Eldridge, Technical Product Manager at ParetoLogic, explained that “a Game Mode should be a perfect balance between safety and performance – we think we’ve got that here.”
In modern gaming, visual graphics have grown incredibly, requiring more advanced memory cards and processors. Gamers are forced to squeeze their systems for every ounce of power. ”Anti-virus database updates, scheduled scans, and active protection can really be a drain on system resources,” said Mr. Eldridge. “The new Game Mode allows users to switch to a log-only state, where the program will avoid processor-intensive tasks.”
Gamers, and all PC users, can download ParetoLogic Anti-Virus PLUS from the ParetoLogic homepage. All editions of the anti-virus software are equipped with Game Mode capability.
Vancouver – Word is out that Pug Pharm’sSnoget is now in open beta. The social networking game puts a new twist on finding and making friends on a global scale – and is dubbed by its creators as a “Web 3.0 Social Discovery Engine.”
Players register for a free Snoget account, and then spend time collecting items and connecting with people who have like interests. For those who want to expand and fully experience all that Snoget has to offer, Snoget will soon include a selection of premium features and abilities that are available for purchase for those who are interested in an enhanced experience. The first 20,000 participants who sign up during this phase of the open beta will receive 20 exclusive board collection slots that will remain free even after the open beta has concluded. Read the rest of this entry »
Toronto – Incubator Games has released new concept art for their upcoming puzzle-RPG Tribes of Mexica. In a unique effort geared towards public involvement, the studio has unveiled artwork which could represent a possible stylistic direction for the game. Incubator Games encourages site visitors to cast their vote on the styles and possibly influence future visual developments for Tribes of Mexica.
Montreal – An all-new campaign map pack called ‘Chapters of Deceit’ for the third-person co-op shooter Army Of Two™: The 40th Day has been announced by EA Montreal. Available for download on Xbox LIVE™ and the PlayStation®Network on April 1, 2010 for $9.99 or 800 Xbox LIVE points, players will return to war-torn Shanghai where they will encounter more destruction, more devastation and enemies determined to bring the city to the brink of ruin.
Army Of Two: The 40th Day – Chapters of Deceit features two all-new co-op campaign maps. In the new chapters, players stumble upon information that could lead to ending the invasion by Jonah and his 40th Day Initiative army. However, they quickly learn that everyone is out for themselves and to trust no one but their partner. Army Of Two: The 40th Day is rated “M” by the ESRB.
Vancouver – Relic Entertainment has released a developer profile for the Sorcerer, a Chaos multiplayer hero. According to the profile, the Sorcerer is a follower of Tzeentch, the Dark God known as the Changer of Ways. These psykers are unlike those of most other factions. The Sorcerer wields death and destruction with all the fireworks and power you’d imagine from a servant of the Dark Gods. His powers can break enemy formations, his shrines fire bolts of energy that damage enemy units, and they can hide friendly units from enemy sight if Heretics are worshipping at the shrine. The Sorcerer’s tricks and abilities are many – you can check them out on the Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising dev blog.
Vancouver – DigiBC has just released details for a full day seminar whose topic is Social Networking in Transmedia Hollywood: A Strategic Master Class. The seminar will take place from 9am – 5pm on March 18th at The Emily Carr Motion Capture & Visualization Studio. Featuring Los Angeles-based Social Media Specialists Mr. Darcy Jouan, Ms. Shira Lazar, Mr. Gregory Markel and Peter Huh, this session will focus on discussions and audience feedback on Transmedia trends and challenges faced by Traditional Media producers using social media techniques to cross over into the Interactive Online space. Tickets for this event are $40.00 for DigiBC members and $60.00 for non-members. Space for this seminar is limited, so early registration is recommended. Read the rest of this entry »
Burlington – Available now on Xbox LIVE Indie Games, Curling 2010 brings the sport of curling to a new (less-old) generation. The first release from newcomer dadoo Games hopes to blow the dust off the often mocked sport by demonstrating the strategy and skill required to curl.
Curling 2010 features multiple game play modes, from traditional matches to target competitions to a fully featured practice mode. Most importantly, the game features a guided tutorial and detailed explanations of the rules of curling to give those new to the sport a fighting chance. Online play against up to three other players over Xbox LIVE allows curlers to compete for worldwide bragging rights. Competitive computer opponents come in three levels of difficulty to make learning to curl enjoyable for all ages. Download the free trial from the XBox marketplace today, or purchase the full game for only 240 MS points!
Montreal – EA Mobile™ has announced that it has signed an agreement with THQ Wireless, a division of THQ Inc., and independent software studio Team17 Software, which grants EA Mobile the worldwide publishing rights to the existing mobile Worms™ catalogue and the license to develop future Worms games on mobile phones. As part of the deal, the first new title in development at EA’s Romania studio is WORMS, which is now available to download for mobile phones around the world.
The classic turn-based comedy war game returns to mobile with a bang. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the original experience is being updated for 2010 with all the favourite weapons and outlandish fun of the series. WORMS also includes a host of new features such as weapons, modes, levels and enhanced graphics to keep players worming their way back for more explosive fun.
Effective immediately, the catalogue of existing games licensed to EA Mobile also includes Worms 2008, Worms 2007, Worms Forts 3D, Worms Crazy Golf and Worms 2. Team 17 retains the rights to existing and future iPhone/iPod touch versions of the Worms franchise.
London – Big Blue Bubble Inc. has officially launched Thumpies, a truly original beat matching game for iPhone/iPod Touch. Special version designed for iPad will be available on the launch date. WiiWare™ and PC versions will follow up shortly.
Thumpies is a unique rhythm based music game for players of all ages. The best way to describe Thumpies is a rhythm game crossed with juggling. Players tap the screen to match the beat of bouncing Thumpies, creating layers of a song. If the player taps the targets in time, their Thump-o-Meter slowly rises, but if the player misses or taps out of time, the meter falls. Unlike typical rhythm based games, Thumpies uses a mechanic of bouncing in time instead of just a series of notes.
The quirky art design of Thumpies is accompanied by a unique musical score composed by award winning composer and industry veteran David Kerr. The music was crafted with game play in mind, giving the player a harmonizing experience. Players also have the chance to unlock progressively bizarre Thumpies characters by collecting different colored butterflies. But be warned, hungry Thumpies might just eat them up before you get a chance to catch them!
Beware Internet Users! The Thumpies are on the loose and have taken over their own Facebook page! They want to invite all humanoids to a very special Live Chat . . . do you dare converse with the Thumpies? Thumpies is a game that will keep people of all ages hooked with its addictive, quirky and stylistic gameplay.
Vancouver via GDC – Coming out of last week’s exciting announcement of a publishing deal with EA Partners to bring Shank to XBLA, PSN and PC this summer, Klei Entertainment has released a new video of its upcoming 2D cinematic brawler. Showcasing new levels, new moves and new bosses coming to the game.
Montreal – Ubisoft has released a new game play trailer for Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands. In Forgotten Sands, the developers are using the setting to take the Prince back to the roots which were a big part of Sands of Time. Our hero will travel to his older brother Malik’s kingdom, which is under attack by the Sand Army. Those gamers who played Sands of Time will be able to make use of the Prince’s signature moves and acrobatics in The Forgotten Sands. Using the same Anvil Engine which was built for Assassin’s Creed, The Forgotten Sands will feature a rich environment with massive battle scenes. Just from watching the trailer, I know that my Prince character will be facing certain death a good amount of the time, however – The Forgotten Sands looks to me like another beautifully crafted historic time piece with lots of room to explore and details to take in.
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