Village Gamer

Futurist and author Owen Greaves, along with special guest Rick Rake, will be presenting a Future of Business workshop at the Sandman Hotel & Suites in Abbotsford on September 26th. Cost to attend is $99.00 per person for those who register before September 23rd, and $149.00 per person thereafter. Please visit the web site for registration information.

Workshop Description:

The Future of Business Workshop is more than social media, the Internet or the world online; it’s about looking at business differently and fighting for your Businesses Survival. Together with Owen, you will see the Future Of Business and will apply that knowledge to create new ways of embracing the future in your business. A workbook will be provided to each participant in the 2 – 4 hour workshop to encourage home study and application of the concepts presented. Read the rest of this entry »

D-Link is now offering an IP Surveillance Technology Specialization through its Value in Partnership Channel Program. With the new specialization, D-Link provides channel partners with the technical background to develop and implement IP surveillance solutions, as well as resources designed to enrich the D-Link® business experience, making it seamless and rewarding. The IP Surveillance Technology Specialization is now available through D-Link’s Value in Partnership Program online partner portal. Read the rest of this entry »

The second annual ShesConnected Conference, taking place September 29 to 30, 2011 at Toronto’s Sheraton Centre, is expected to include digitally-savvy and influential Canadian women, as well as representatives from top national and international brands and agencies.

“The goal of the ShesConnected Conference is to bring digital women together with brands for networking, educational seminars and interactive forums,” says Donna Marie Antoniadis, co-founder of ShesConnected Multimedia. “The hope is that it’s a start for a long-term working relationship that benefits both the brand and the digital woman.” Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday MacLean’s published an article titled Grand Theft Tax Break, written by Jesse Brown. This article, as you can guess by the title, was a disparaging piece about the tax credits and incentives received by the video game industry in certain regions of Canada.

I am going to overlook for a moment the entire tax incentives debate, mainly because I am not a developer or studio owner and I’m not a policy wonk – there are simply too many areas of the incentives program that I don’t entirely understand, so it’s best to skirt around that issue for now and get to what really got my dander up in that article. I will also overlook the inherent problems within the industry itself, because like any other industry in this country, there are work-life balance issues that need to be dealt with, but they don’t really come fully into play here.

I have to wonder what Mr. Brown has against the game industry, or if he has any friends who work in game development. If that article had been about an ethnic group or any type of visible minority, it never would have been published containing the insults and general slurs it does. It is one thing to be angry about something the industry receives, it is another to wipe a wide brush of insult across those who work in the industry. If the article was in any way meant to be a satirical rebuttal of the New York Times article Mr. Brown uses as reference, in my opinion the author fell far short of his mark. Read the rest of this entry »

Electronic Arts Inc. today unveiled the complete music track listing for EA Sports™ FIFA 12, featuring 39 artists from 15 countries, to create the soundtrack of the season for football fans. Every year, EA’s FIFA franchise brings together an unprecedented mix of genre-spanning music gathered from around the globe to represent each country and its passion for the game.

The FIFA 12 soundtrack delivers new music from Kasabian, The Ting Tings and CSS and hot tracks by Chase & Status, TV On The Radio, Foster The People, The Strokes and Thievery Corporation. In addition, this year’s soundtrack includes such international breakthrough artists as Holland’s The Medics, Brazil’s Bloco Bleque, England’s The Vaccines, Monarchy and Graffiti6, New Zealand’s Naked & Famous, Sweden’s Little Dragon, and American indie rock bands GIVER, Grouplove and Portugal. The Man. Read the rest of this entry »

We all know incredible kids who do amazing things that go above and beyond our normal day-to-day status quo. We know those kids who think in wonderfully different ways than the rest of us. And we know those kids who see our world with their own unique perspective.

This weekend, on Saturday September 17th those brilliant kids, both young and old, will be speaking at TEDxKids@BC, a new event being held at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver. This impressive roster of speakers will share their ingenuity and “out of the box” thinking through their inspiring stories. Audience members will hear motivating presentations and will have many opportunities to meet fellow attendees. Read the rest of this entry »

Big Blue Bubble Inc. has released a sequel to their smash hit iPhone game Burn the Rope, with over 6 million downloads. Burn the Rope: WORLDS, the hot new addition to the Burn the Rope franchise is finally available for an iDevice near you.

Burn the Rope: Worlds lights up your iPhone all over again with 100 brand-new levels, four different themed worlds including Jungle, Mechanical, Fantasy and Space; and an exciting brand new mini-game called Endless Burn. Read the rest of this entry »

hyperWALLET has announced the availability of its new low-cost online merchant payment processing service for organizations and their customers with the “Direct Pay” online merchant payment option. The service provides a secure, cost-effective complement to card payments by enabling customers to pay for products using funds from their bank account, an online e-wallet, or combination of both.

“Until now, organizations experiencing high merchant processing fees had little choice when it came to lowering payment costs or offering customers additional payment acceptance methods,” states Bill Crowley, VP of Product Development at hyperWALLET Systems Inc. “By using Direct Pay, companies can gain dramatic cost-savings compared to card processors, and can offer customers a convenient way to make purchases online without maxing out their credit cards.” Read the rest of this entry »

Merging Media Productions Inc. and the Canadian Media Production Association-BC are delighted to announce the top Vancouver companies that have been selected to exhibit their innovative products and technology at the first VEDC Innovation Gallery presented during the Merging Media Conference + Masterclass on October 27th and 28th.

Exhibiting Companies:

1. Atimi Software 
2. Invoke Media 
3. Magnify Digital
4. Pug Pharm
5. OverInteractive
6. Scan2 Mobile 
7. Xomo Digital Inc.

“Merging Media is a great event that merges thought leadership with innovators, and connects them to Vancouver’s business ecosystem” observed Lee Malleau, CEO of the Vancouver Economic Development Commission, key sponsor of the Gallery. “It’s a catalyst event during an exciting time for the creative economy in Vancouver.”

The VEDC Innovation Gallery presented at the W2 Media Café on October 28th will showcase a selection of cutting edge platforms, software and technology produced by some of our city’s top innovators to introduce media producers to the latest tools in gamification, social media and multi-platform development.

In addition to the Innovation Gallery, there are 45 world class speakers presenting at Merging Media and a terrific program that is full of inspiration and ideas for attendees.

If you don’t yet have a pass for Merging Media, or know someone who would like to attend, enter the Merging Media Sweepstakes.  Until September 23rd, we will be providing two chances to win a pass to Merging Media 2011. Entering is easy, all you have to do is “Like”  Merging Media on Facebook and fill out the sweepstakes entry form. If you prefer Twitter, you can enter over there as well.

You have just two weeks left to take advantage of the Early Bird Rate and to submit your Pitch 360 cross media project. Be one of eight participants to present at M+M2011’s Masterclass and Pitch 360 sessions and have a chance to win the $10,000 BC FILM development award.

If you are interested in meeting YouTube and Google representatives along with other VIP guest delegates when you attend Merging Media 2011,  the M+M2011 International B2B Sessions will match US business delegates with local companies attending the conference on October 28th from 9 am to 5 pm at W2 Media Café, as part of the Business activities during the event.

Montreal’s Needium, a pioneer in the nascent social media lead generation space, announced today the public debut of the much anticipated next-generation of its social media customer discovery platform and managed service at the DEMO Fall 2011 conference in Santa Clara. Every minute in social media, consumers publicly express explicit (“Can anyone recommend a good sushi restaurant in New York?”) and implicit (“I’m hungry”) needs via status updates; the vast majority of these needs go unanswered.

Read the rest of this entry »