Village Gamer

Toronto – The first trailer for the upcoming ten-episode web series, Ten Sundays, was released today on the series’ official website. Available in both standard and high definition, the trailer, which runs one minute and 11 seconds, previews the story of two roommates living in a basement apartment in Toronto, Canada.

The series, directed by Pavan Moondi, was initially conceived as a companion piece to help pitch Everyday Is Like A Sunday, a television concept the Toronto-based writer-director is actively marketing. “It started out as a short promotional piece to help pitch Everyday Is Like A Sunday, but as we developed the web series, it became its own animal in many ways. Ultimately, it’s something that can stand alone, and we’re very proud of,” said Mr. Moondi, who also co-wrote and edited the series.
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Toronto – Dolphin Digital Media, Inc. has launched Dolphin Secure – a family Internet solution developed in Canada that allows parents to tailor and manage their child’s experiences online. Dolphin Secure quickly and easily downloads onto any computer in the home; and, using an easy-to-use, on-screen dashboard and unique identification system, parental guidelines can be applied to each child whenever and wherever they go online.

Dolphin Secure provides a safer online environment for children. After registering on the website, each time an Internet browser or an Instant Messaging application is opened on a Dolphin Secure computer, a log-in page is triggered. Children simply enter their username and scan their fingerprint. The system identifies each child by matching their fingerprint to a unique number inside Dolphin Secure – no more passwords to share, steal, or even remember. Upon identification, each child’s personal, customizable home page within either “Dolphin Surf” or “Dolphin Surf Kids” (the Dolphin family of social networks) becomes promptly loaded. From there the child is free to explore the Internet and seek new friends within the parameters established for that specific child by their parent.

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Vancouver – A couple of months ago we told you about a new game called Raycatcher,  a title which syncs its gameplay with your MP3s.  Developed by Thinking Studios, Raycatcher allows the player to create custom playlists of his or her favorite music and play for as long or as short as you’d like. The goal of the game is to spin a colorful cluster of shapes to catch multi-colored rays. This causes the cluster to grow, evolve, and unlock 30 new evolutionary stages. Raycatcher is now available for purchase on Steam, Direct2Drive and Impulse.

Raycatcher Download Features

• Load in your own music: Raycatcher will accept .mp3 and .wav formats
• Beat detection technology: Changes gameplay to match your music in pleasant and creative ways.
• Make playlists of any length: Raycatcher is flexible and allows you to play for how ever long you want, and still feel like you’ve made progress.
• Original music by artist Noobie Noobinson: Music by a new up and coming band, some of which was created specifically for Raycatcher.
• 30 evolutionary stages: Complete with funny and enlightening descriptions. Raycatcher illustrates a cute and informative view of the kosmos.
• Range of difficulty: Easy to pick up, with 3 difficulty levels that range from easy-yet-challenging to insanely difficult.

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Vancouver – Do you know kids between the ages of 8 and 12 who like to play video games? If so, read the call for participation in the Play Together research project, part of Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology. Each participant will be compensated with a $10 gift certificate to iTunes or FutureShop. This project has already received SFU ethics approval and we are currently scheduling play sessions from now until June 2009.

Please contact the Play Together coordinator, Beth Aileen Lameman (beth[at]bethaileen[dot]com or 604-782-0051) for more information on the study.

More Information:
The Play Together research project is looking at and prototyping digital technologies that support cooperative team play for kids ages 8-12.
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Vancouver – I acquired Diamond Fever, the new iPhone/iPod Touch game by Ontario’s Howling Moon Games yesterday, and while the game play is very simple, putting the game down is not.

There are no special effects, no winnable power-ups, and the only options are to play – with the music on or off. This game is simply addictive, with the only challenges being to beat the game’s ten levels and best your own top score. Diamond Fever brings out the competitive nature of the player and as the difficulty of each level increases, the player is hard-pressed to keep those diamonds away from the crate of explosives in the middle of the screen. The game does save the last level which you successfully completed, and you are able to select any completed level as a starting point.

Game play is similar to that of the Collapse franchise, where the player must match groups of three or more game pieces to advance through the levels. While Diamond Fever is comprised of only ten levels, from level 4 onwards the challenges facing the player grow exponentially through the addition of more colours to match and the speed with which they are placed on the board. Eye-hand coordination and reaction time are put through vigorous testing as the player is required to keep all four corners of the mine cleared of diamonds. At a download price of only $0.99 from the App Store, Diamond Fever is a very affordable source of challenging entertainment, and as a fan of match 3 styles of games, I recommend it to others to try.

Toronto – JoWooD Productions and Canadian publisher DreamCatcher Games are pleased to announce they have signed Homegrown Games, a small independent Austrian developer, to develop the next chapter in the Painkiller brand. The new installment is called “Painkiller: Resurrection” and is set for release in Q4 2009.

Once more, it is up to the protagonist to find a way out of a grotesque world between heaven and hell, trapped between life and death. The development of Painkiller: Resurrection is based on the technology of the Painkiller engine, but with several improvements, including improved shadows, a higher texture resolution, moveable light sources, post processing, motion blur and ambient occlusion were implemented. In addition to these added features, the PK++ development team, lead by Steven “Blowfish” Wilkins, has set up a coop-multiplayer campaign mode.

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Vancouver – Anomaly is fusion of an art workshop and party to be held at District 319 in Vancouver on Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 6pm until midnight. This will be the first event of its kind featuring the best local artists and showcase live art demonstrations, keynote speakers, and a lounge party throughout the night. Presented by CG Movement, the purpose of the event is to bring 2D/3D artists together and provide a platform for inspiration and creativity.

Tickets for Anomaly are now on sale, available on the event’s website. Ticket price includes all presentations, a one year membership to CG Movement, event shirt, door prize raffles, snacks and after-party.

Ticket Prices:

Regular: $90.00 each
Groups of 5 or more: $85.00 each
Student: $75.00 (name of school and Student ID number required)

Anomaly is sponsored by: Mindseeker – Mitts Creative – Offload Studios – Zbrush – Annex|Pro

Featured Speakers:

Marco Menco – 3D Artist, Image Engine
Daryl Mandryk – Senior Concept Artist, Propaganda Games
Jeff Simpson – Concept Artist, Big Sandwich Games
Steven Chen – Artist, Blizzard Entertainment
Jesse Turner – Artist, Threewave Software
David Tran – Lead Character Artist, Smoking Gun Interactive
Peter Zoppi – 3D Character Artist
Julianna Kolakis – 3D Modeler and Concept Artist – Image Engine

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Vancouver – 2K Sports announced today that MLB® All-Star first baseman, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, will be featured as the cover athlete and spokesman for this season’s highly anticipated arcade-style baseball video game, The BIGS™ 2, which is currently under development at Vancouver’s Blue Castle Games.

After breaking the MLB record for youngest player (23) to hit 50 home runs in a season, formerly held by Hall of Famer Willie Mays, Fielder has quickly become one of the most powerful and spectacular home run hitters in Major League Baseball® today.

“I’ve been playing baseball video games for as long as I can remember. All of my idols have appeared on a video game cover, and now to have that same opportunity is truly an unbelievable feeling,” said Fielder. “I can’t wait to see myself in The BIGS 2. I’ll be the guy crushing mammoth home runs into the stands.”

Drafted as the 7th overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002 out of Eau Gallie High School, Fielder broke out in an MVP-caliber season, in which he was chosen by fans as the starting first baseman for the National League in the 2007 All-Star Game. That season, he won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding Player in the National League as voted on by the players, along with the Hank Aaron Award, given to the top offensive performer in each league as voted on by the fans. Fielder, who also currently owns the Milwaukee Brewers’ franchise record for home runs (50) and extra base hits (87) in a single-season, led his team to an exhilarating Wild Card berth in 2008 and its first playoff appearance in 26 years.

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Montreal – Ubisoft has announced the launch of its first game created specifically for the new Nintendo DSi™: My Healthy Cooking Coach. Already a worldwide leader on Nintendo DS™, Ubisoft is one of the first independent developers to launch a game created to take advantage of the new functionality of the Nintendo DSi. My Healthy Cooking Coach is an easy-to-use, fun game for anybody who wants to eat balanced and fresh healthy meals.

With more than 240 recipes created by a culinary school and in collaboration with a renowned nutritionist, My Healthy Cooking Coach offers player tips and tricks to create healthy and delicious meals that will delight friends and family. My Healthy Cooking Coach is available on Nintendo DS™ as well as Nintendo DSi, in June 2009.

Thanks to the new functionality of the Nintendo DSi, My Healthy Cooking Coach offers enhanced content and gameplay experiences. Ten recipes will be exclusively available on the DSi version, and budding chefs can use the system’s camera to personalize users’ profiles.

In addition to My My Healthy Cooking Coach, Ubisoft will soon launch several other new games specifically created for the Nintendo DSi™.

Images Courtesy of  & Copyright to Ubisoft®

The BioWare Doctors to Discuss the “Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming’s New Frontier” at Inaugural GDC Canada

Vancouver – Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, general manager and CEO of BioWare and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder and vice president, Entertainment and Miscellaneous, of BioWare will give a keynote address at the inaugural Game Developers Conference® Canada (GDC Canada). The keynote, entitled “Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming’s New Frontier,” will take place on the morning of May 13, 2009. BioWare is an award-winning development studio with locations in Edmonton and Montreal, Canada, and Austin, Texas, known for critical and commercial hit games such as Baldur’s Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Mass Effect™ and many others that place storyline and emotion at the forefront. The Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications will bring GDC Canada to the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre May 12-13, 2009.

BioWare was founded in 1995 by Zeschuk and Muzyka and acquired by Electronic Arts in 2008, where both founders are now vice presidents. BioWare’s games include the Baldur’s Gate series, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™, Mass Effect and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Among the many highly-anticipated BioWare titles are the fantasy epic Dragon Age™: Origins as well as Mass Effect™ 2, the sequel to the 2007 Game of the Year, and Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) title. In addition to their work at BioWare and Electronic Arts, Zeschuk and Muzyka serve as directors and co-chairmen of CodeBaby Corp., a software company developing a next generation interface for digital media and the Internet.

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