Village Gamer

Montreal – Alliance numérique has just announced the resignation of Alain Lachapelle, Director of International Game Summit Montreal. In the official announcement, Alliance numérique CEO Peter Proulx stated that “Alain was a real force within the team. He led Summit to a new level and I want to thank him for his work and wish him the best in his future endeavors.” Alain has left the organization to pursue new professional challenges. His replacement will be announced shortly by the Alliance numérique Board of Directors.

Vancouver – Our friends at AnnexPro invite you to attend their upcoming series of events:

Nov 18 – From Art to Animation Webcast– The latest in a series, in this Autodesk webcast you’ll learn how to layout animation storyboards using Autodesk’s modeling workflow and UV layout tools. Then detail the finalized concept, and rig, animate and render your design.

Dec 5 – ZBrush Vancouver User Goup Meeting – Sponsored by Annex Pro, this is an exciting opportunity for students, hobbyists and professionals to rub elbows with fellow ZBrushers, as well as learn from some of the very best ZBrush artists around, including Pierre Bourgeot, Jeff Feligno and Chris Nichols. Attendees will also be the first to see some exciting new features that are on the way for ZBrush and take advantage of attendee-only special discounts. Live demonstrations will be followed by a mix + mingle reception! . Registration opens Nov 20

Dec 9 – Autodesk Softimage 2010 Vancouver Event – 3D Evangelist Mark Schoennagel from Autodesk will take you on a “deep dive” to unlock secrets of Softimage 2010. Learn tips and tricks, best practices and get your questions answered live. Save the date, registration opens soon

Dec 10 – Autodesk Maya 2010 Vancouver Event – Games specialist Steven Rosellle from Autodesk will demonstrate secrets of using Maya 2010 in game development. Learn tips and tricks, best practices and get your questions answered live. Save the date, registration opens soon

Calgary – Digital Alberta will be holding a networking night in Edmonton on Tuesday, November 24th with free entry, free bevvies and free food. We will also delve into the world of digital media and web video, and learn about Statusfirm – an Edmonton-based technology company – as they officially unveil their new Core Catalyst digital media communications platform. Speakers include Kieron Quigley, Statusfirm’s Chief Technology Officer, who will explain how Core Catalyst makes it easy for organizations to use web video and rich media in every facet of their daily business; and David Nedohin, Statusfirm’s EVP of Government Relations – explaining how Core Catalyst can be used within various industries, including business, government and health.

Digital Alberta will be holding their Christmas Shaker event on December 1 with event partner the Canadian Marketing Association – Calgary Chapter as the marketing world and the digital media worlds collide. Enjoy a panel presentation from some of Calgary’s top branding dogs while we wet out whistles with libations and tantalize our palettes with an amazing spread of Chef Rusty’s cuisine at Seven Restolounge. There will also be a Silent Auction to raise money for HYTES.

Victoria – VIATeC would like to remind members of the tech industry that their annual Food Bank Challenge was launched at Island Tech on November 13th where $3100 in donations was collected. Running until Dec 11, 2009, the Challenge involves more than 50 high-tech companies who will strive to see who can donate the most to needy families with all proceeds going to the Mustard Seed Food Bank. To the victors go the bragging rights!

The VIATeC Food Bank Challenge is entering its 7th year running. Each year more local technology companies are showing that they care and are committed to giving back to their local community. In order to heat up the competition there are going to be a number of awards presented at the VIATeC Christmas Party. VIATeC will be recognizing the company that donates the most food overall as well as the company that donates the most per employee.

There is still time to join the fun! If you would like to participate in the challenge, then all you need to do is nominate someone from your office to coordinate the efforts. For more information please contact Michelle Gaetz.

Vancouver – Wired Woman will be holding a network social at Moxie’s Classic Grill (800 Bute Street Vancouver) on Monday November 23rd, where you are invited to connect, network and mingle with other women working in the local technology sector.

Toronto – GamerCamp v1.0 will be taking place at the Lower Ossington Theatre at 100A Ossington Avenue in Toronto. This one-day event celebrates the creativity, art, and history of video games with guest speakers, demos, and a free-play arcade filled with rare and classic games.

Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard of Metanet Software Inc. will be delivering the event’s keynote, and will be discussing the rock band approach to game development. Michael Todd will also be delivering an address and speaking about his game-a-week experiment and Broken Brothers Deluxe.

Between sessions, work from the Toronto indie community will be showcased. These include demos, early builds, and various pixel art. The event organizers have teamed up with the Replay Arcade Museum (which will open to the public soon) for the closing party, 1UP, which will feature unlimited free play of 25 classic arcade cabinets. Tickets for Gamercamp are $15 and can be purchased online and includes both dinner and the unlimited arcade free play.

Vancouver – The first Vancouver Interactive Night Out (VINO) will be held at Yagger’s (423 W. Pender Vancouver) on Friday November 27th. Come out and socialize with others who work in the interactive digital media industry at this informal networking evening. VINO’s second event will be held on Friday December 18th, also at Yagger’s.

Montreal – AutoDesk invites you to join them for 3December™ – their annual worldwide celebration of 3D computer graphics and the artists who create them. On its 11th anniversary, 3December aims to unite thousands of artists across three continents at live venues and through 3December Online. Please check the event page for details on how you can get involved either online or in person at their Montreal event.

Gormley ON – Digital Leisure has released new screenshots for their upcoming DSiWare titles Sudoku Challenge and Word Searcher. With Sudoku Challenge, players have access to over 100,000,000 unique Sudoku puzzles, never seeing the same puzzle twice in Sudoku Challenge! Get started by selecting the classic nine-by-nine Sukodu gameboard or really take up a challenge with Grand Sudoku by completing five intersecting Sudoku boards simultaneously – A first for the Nintendo DSi! With three difficulty options even the most novice player to complete a Sudoku with ease. It’s time to get your thinking cap on and see how many Sudoku puzzles you can conquer!

With Word Searcher, a sharp eye and a quick mind will be needed to complete the 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher contains fun words from multiple categories including anatomy, world cities and U.S Presidents. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle anyone will enjoy. Help improve your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills with these addicting puzzles. Keep track of, and try to beat your own play through times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play.

Toronto – Parents are discovering the iPhone is a terrific platform for preschoolers because of its simple touch interface and its play anytime, anywhere convenience. But it’s hard to find high-quality, age-appropriate apps that are engaging and rewarding. With this in mind, zinc Roe created Tickle Tap Apps, a new app series developed by child gaming experts, vetted by educational researchers and tested by kids.

Tickle Tap Apps are designed to help children ages three to five practice key skills and learn about sounds, numbers, colors, patterns and shapes. These apps help children improve concentration and motor skills via simple tap and touch controls. This tactile element is what gives the iPhone an educational advantage over TV.

“Developmental research shows the iPhone is an excellent platform for preschool learning,” says Jason Krogh, zinc Roe’s founder and director. “Children need easy-to-use apps that take advantage of the unique features of the iPhone. Tickle Tap Apps address the need for simple, attractive and entertaining educational apps for this age range.”

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Tickle Tap Apps feature four adorable characters—Jinja the cat, Harvey the dog, Robin the bird and Fins the fish—for humor and encouragement. The games, including the first three apps in the series below, inspire preschoolers to learn and laugh at the same time!

Sound Shaker is a delightful and hilarious sound-making game. Children create and play with chime, whistle, drum, barnyard animal and mystery sounds simply by tapping and tilting. Robin the bird makes a special guest appearance.

Count Caddy makes counting rewarding. Children count by ones with Jinja the cat and quickly progress to counting by twos with Robin the bird and counting by threes with Harvey the dog.

Sort Slider is a mesmerizing shape matching game. Children tilt the device to match objects with silhouettes while Harvey the dog pops up for plenty of encouragement.

Tickle Tap Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch retail for $1.99 each on the iTunes App Store.

Vancouver – Today, ActiveState, the dynamic languages company, launched Firefly, a hosted project management and collaboration solution for managing commercial software development projects. As a turn-key solution, Firefly comes pre-configured with integrated source code revision control and code hosting, project management, issue and time tracking, and collaboration tools like wikis, blogs and forums. Firefly eases administrative pain that goes hand-in-hand with software development and makes it easy to share information between team members and customers.

With Firefly, software and web development teams in large enterprises and small-to-medium sized businesses can become more productive, more efficient and deliver higher quality software projects on time. Firefly simplifies project management with built-in systems to track and manage features, bugs and team tasks. Managers can set clear priorities, understand dependencies and gain visibility into project status and progress.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJq-VJHje1Y]

“Putting a project management system in place can be challenging for small development teams,” said Shane Caraveo, Firefly Product Manager. “Nearly 20% of small development teams report they do not use a solution for source code hosting, project management or collaboration according to a recent survey. Free solutions can take significant time, knowledge and effort to install and configure while commercial solutions may lock you in. As a commercial solution built on the open source Trac system, Firefly gives you the best of both worlds providing you with a reliable, easy to use solution without any contract.”

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Vancouver – Mingleverse Laboratories Inc., just six weeks after a very successful consumer launch of it’s Mingle Room service, today announced it has already hosted over 10,000 live mingles with participants from Canada, USA, Europe, and Asia and has just received a seed investment from Telefilm Canada for its upcoming uVenu project for entertainment based Mingles. Mingle Rooms are a youthful new audio/visual communications platform and an alternative to telephones that can easily connect 2 to 50 people instantly from around the world for live meet–ups using innovative 3D high quality voice within a web-based 3D visual environment.

“Telefilm is our first outside investment and is very strategic within our plan of providing the newest form of live online and mobile immersive communications to new markets like the entertainment industry where traditional services are not an option”, said Ron Stevens, Co-founder of Mingleverse. “Our uVenu program will allow a wider range of experts, radio and TV personalities, and guests to safely showcase their talent and interact live using natural voice with an internationally connected audience that is spending more of their time online. We will also go behind the scenes with a movie set service to allow movie fans to interact live with cast and crew.”

The Mingleverse uVenu project will initially provide simple web based venues that look like theatres, sports venues, and talk show studios like the “Daily Show” for up to 50 people to connect and interact live online with each other in a whole new fun and youthful way. “The focus will be on a smaller more intimate group setting that maintains the integrity of the live 3D voice communications“ said Daniel Ruscigno, Youth Marketing Coordinator for Mingleverse. “We have already generated a lot of interest from religious groups, media and sports personalities and we will have some exciting uVenues to announce in the New Year for live singing, comedy and quiz shows. “

“We are very impressed with Mingleverse’s platform and could easily see the potential of uVenu for the entertainment industry which is so important for Canada as well as for many other vertical markets” said Earl Hong Tai, Regional Director, Business Development, Western Region, Telefilm Canada. “Merging entertainment, 3D live voice and social communications technology has never been done before and this is an excellent opportunity to help the growth of the industry and to showcase this country’s talent to a worldwide audience.”

Toronto – SIRIUS Canada, the country’s leading satellite radio company, today announced the launch of the first official satellite radio app for iPhone and iPod touch users in Canada.

The SIRIUS App, available for free from Apple’s App Store, will allow subscribers with an iPhone or iPod touch to access SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s unmatched news, sports, entertainment and commercial-free music content on their device.

“We’re excited to launch the first official satellite radio app in Canada and give SIRIUS subscribers a new way to enjoy SIRIUS’ unbeatable content on their iPhone and iPod touch,” said Mark Redmond, President and CEO, SIRIUS Canada Inc. “With the iPhone available from multiple carriers in Canada, this is a great opportunity for device users who are not yet subscribers to sample the incredible range of sports, news, talk, entertainment and commercial-free music programming available on SIRIUS.”

iPhone and iPod Touch users in Canada who are not yet SIRIUS subscribers can sign up for a free 14-day trial of the service. Following the trial, users will be given the option to become a SIRIUS subscriber. The SIRIUS App also allows users to:

– Purchase a song heard on SIRIUS while it is being played or “Tag” favourite songs for later purchase from the iTunes Store.

– See the current channel plus what is playing on all other available channels via the “Lookaround” function.

– Quickly surf through SIRIUS programming on the fly with the flick of a finger using the innovative Multi-Touch user interface of iPhone and iPod touch.

Seattle – Amazon today announced that Kindle, Amazon’s most wished for, most gifted, and No. 1 bestselling product, is now available for shipment to customers in Canada. Kindle wirelessly downloads books, magazines and newspapers to a crisp, high-resolution 6-inch electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle utilizes the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so you never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Readers in Canada can order their Kindle today for U.S. $259, with immediate shipment available. I just checked amazon.ca and could find lots of Kindle accessories but not the Kindle itself, so it appears that it can only be ordered from the American site.

“We know that Canadians are passionate about books and reading, and we’re excited to make Kindle available to our customers there,” said Ian Freed, vice president of Kindle. “Kindle enables customers around the world including Canada to think of a book and start reading it in under 60 seconds.”

The Kindle Store offers Canadian customers over 300,000 books, including New Releases and Globe and Mail Bestsellers, which are typically U.S. $11.99 or less.

More than 90 top newspapers and magazines are also available in the Kindle Store for single purchase or subscription. Available for the first time on Kindle are Canada’s national newspapers The Globe & Mail and The National Post. Additionally, all of Canwest’s major daily newspapers will be available on Kindle coming soon. They join top papers such as Le Monde (France), The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Times (U.K.), The Daily Telegraph (U.K.) and The Washington Post.

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Montreal – Ubisoft announced today that players of Assassin’s Creed II on PlayStation® 3 and Xbox 360® will be able to use the in-game interface to connect directly to the Uplay beta.

Uplay is Ubisoft’s online destination where gamers are at the center of a connected gaming universe that will be developed around four primary services: Uplay Win, Uplay Help, Uplay Share and Uplay Shop. The Uplay Beta is only launching with Uplay Win so far.

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Uplay Win enables players to collect units based on their actions in the games and exchange them for rewards such as exclusive in-game content or goodies. Uplay Win’s Units can also be gathered cross platform: PC,360, PS3.

In Assassin’s Creed II, a real Altaïr costume and exclusive in-game content such as access to the Auditore Family Crypt are among the rewards offered through Uplay Win. For those who don’t want to redeem their units right away, they can save them to use on other games such as the upcoming Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction and many more to come. Players will also be able to access Uplay Share, Uplay Shop and Uplay Help.

Assassin’s Creed 2 is now available in stores.

Montreal – Screenlife and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are pleased to announce the North American launch of Scene It?® Bright Lights! Big Screen!™, the newest videogame in the Scene It?® family of entertainment trivia games. Developed by Montreal’s Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M), Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! is the first videogame in the Scene It? franchise available for Wii™ and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, and marks a return for the brand to Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! offers families, Hollywood stargazers, casual gamers and movie enthusiasts a lively group gaming experience with thousands of new questions about recent film releases, as well as fan favorite Hollywood hits from the last four decades. Recent hits featured in Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! include The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Hairspray, Tropic Thunder and Get Smart. Classic films featured in Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! include The Karate Kid, Fatal Attraction, The Princess Bride, Sixteen Candles, Night of the Living Dead, Enter the Dragon and Superman.

Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! has enhanced single and multi-player gameplay. Single-player mode tests player speed and knowledge, while multi-player mode allows for a spirited social gameplay experience, perfect for parties and family gatherings. Up to four teams can test their silver screen knowledge with more than 20 different puzzles and minigames across four play modes, providing new and unique ways for Scene It? competitors to engage.

Gamers can play alongside the witty Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! game host and choose from 12 new game avatars based on classic Hollywood genre-inspired icons such as Horror Queen, Desperado, Starlet, Leading Man or Swashbuckler. Players can take the ultimate insider challenge at the end of each round with the Star System minigame to extend their lead or close the gap during competitive matches.

Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! is compatible with multiple controllers including standard console controllers, BUZZ!™ Buzzers and Microsoft’s Big Button controllers. Wii gamers can use the Wii Remote™ to buzz-in and “scratch off” puzzles to reveal hidden images.

Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! is rated “T” for Teen (Drug Reference, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Mild Violence, Sexual Themes) and is available for the suggested retail price of $39.99

Burnaby – People around the world have experienced the revolution in interactive fitness with EA SPORTS Active™ Personal Trainer, the critically acclaimed and effective circuit style exercise program that gives you the benefit of a personal trainer in a box. Today, EA SPORTS™, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., announced that EA SPORTS Active™ More Workouts is now available in North American retail stores and will be available worldwide on November 20^th, 2009. Developed exclusively for the Wii™ by EA Canada, EA SPORTS Active More Workouts is the highly anticipated second installment in the EA SPORTS Active franchise, an innovative line of interactive fitness products that offer personalized, customizable workouts. Developed in collaboration with fitness experts, including Bob Greene – renowned exercise physiologist, author and Oprah’s personal trainer – the EA SPORTS Active franchise provides an effective, inexpensive way to burn calories, get fit and have fun from the comfort of home.

EA SPORTS Active More Workouts will keep users motivated, and their hearts pumping, with new challenges and variety. It features over 35 new exercises and activities that create unlimited combinations of customizable exercise routines targeting upper and lower body, as well as cardio. New to the EA SPORTS Active franchise will be an emphasis on abdominal exercises including Curl Ups and Crunch and Punches, as well as a Warm Up/Cool Down feature. An all-new presentation will bring users to the tropics and will immerse them in warm weather activities like waterskiing and paddle surfing.

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Surrey – KrabbitSoft is pleased to announce that KrabbitWorld Origins is now available on Direct2Drive for both Windows and Mac for $14.95. KrabbitSoft has burst out of the gate at full speed, garnering kudos from journalists, gamers and even lawyers. The Davis LLP blog says that “Indie developer Krabbitsoft has done what some thought was impossible, developing and releasing an exciting, graphics-laden Action/RPG based on their own IP.”

Furious hack n’ slash combines with customizable Krabbits and choice to play in Story Mode or Battle Modes including Arcade, Versus, Team and Survival. Six playable Krabbits can be leveled up to 99 in sandbox or linear gameplay style. No grind and loot aplenty, characters level quickly in Story Mode, gaining XP with every action. Building your Krabbit doesn’t stop at level 99. Continue building powers to 999. Character building includes gaining XP, building stats, and changing appearance any time. 3D drag n’ drop inventory and paper doll windows are featured along with account share bins, colour cloning bins, dye vendor, click map to travel and Ruby Slippers of ‘return to Adobe’.

KrabbitWorld Origins is a creative game focused on colour. Players are encouraged to experiment with dying their Krabbits to their heart’s content. Choose from 8 Realms of Origin colour palettes to design a Krabbit influenced by Darkness or Light, Death or Dreams, Solar or Contrivance, Beast or Archetypical KrabbitWorld. Transfer your Krabbits from an earlier version to a newer version or from laptop to desktop PC. Re-install a new version over an older one and still retain your already leveled Krabbits.

New Features This Week:
• Brutal Moves
• Built-in Patcher
• Elemental Bracers & Weapons Packs

There are still a few tickets left for Wednesday evening’s SIGGRAPH Vancouver presentation of Bringing Dragon Age to Life. BioWare’s Lead Animator Clove Roy and Lead Character Artist Shane Hawco discuss the challenges faced in creating digital actors for BioWare’s newest award-winning role-playing epic Dragon Age: Origins. This presentation will provide an in-depth look in how to tell a huge complex story through an interactive narrative complete with hundreds of emotionally engaging digital actors. I am so not missing this session – and tonight I am playing through the Final Onslaught and taking on the Archdemon for the first time. Soon all of you will be able to find out my thoughts on the entire game. If you missed my first 48-ish hours in Dragon Age, you can catch up here.

Montreal – As Day One of MIGS gets underway, all reports thus far say the seminars have been fantastic – along with the weather. Eidos Montreal kicked off their MIGS week with a very successful open house event which saw over 500 guests come through the studio – and get a few glimpses at Deus Ex 3 and Thief 4 goings-on. I’m feeling just a touch of envy here.

Also in Montreal, Bug-Tracker has announced that Wolfgang Klingel is its new General Sales Manager for Europe. This move closely follows Bug-Tracker’s expansion strategy into Asia and Europe and its ever increasing focus on those critical markets.

With over 15 years’ experience in the video game industry, Wolfgang Klingel will be responsible for extending the company’s foothold in the European video game market as well as strengthening its exposure to the publishers and developers in this area. Klingel’s duties will involve collaborating and developing synergies between the North American and Asian studios in order to improve communication throughout the whole group and thus enhancing overall customer satisfaction. Klingel’s past experience includes Director of Development at Vivendi Games’ Coktel Studio and Vice-President Europe of Enzyme Testing Labs, another major quality assurance and localization company, and helped contribute to its successful development.

“Wolfgang will greatly help reinforce and grow our presence in the market we started out in 10 years ago” declared Antoine Carre, founder and CEO. “He will bring together and integrate key components of Bug-Tracker’s worldwide studios, in order to shape, lead and create new market opportunities. Adding an accomplished European video game business veteran such as Wolfgang to our team demonstrates our commitment to continuously fortify our leadership role in the QA and localization industry.”

Calgary via Digital Alberta – Alberta’s minister of culture says the province’s film industry will finally be getting its own state-of-the-art film studio after reaching an “agreement in principle” with the owners of the Canada Olympic Park site to purchase land for a new facility.  The studio, which is estimated to cost $26 million not including the purchase of the land, will be built on four hectares to be purchased from WinSport Canada, which operates Canada Olympic Park. Blackett says he hopes to start building in the spring, but stressed that negotiations between WinSport, Calgary Economic Development and the Government of Alberta were still ongoing.

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via New Media BC – Vancouver is hosting its first iPhone Forum, a one-day event on Nov. 24 at the downtown campus of the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). The Forum, sponsored by Bell, is a joint initiative between CBC/Radio-Canada, New Media BC and BCIT.

“Bell is pleased to take a leading role in bringing the iPhone Forum to Vancouver following the launch of our new network earlier this month,” said Rick Jones, Director, Business Sales Western Region for Bell Mobility. “Bell’s new high-speed wireless network is the fastest and largest in Canada, bringing the benefits of mobile broadband access to some 20,000 cities and towns across the country.”

The day kicks off with a keynote address by iPhone creator Apple Inc., followed by speakers from Canada and the US, sharing their experience and best practices for doing business in a market where people are always connected.

“Mobile computing is coming to the masses with smartphones like the iPhone, which is fundamentally changing how people interact with media,” said CBC’s General Manager Digital Programming & Business Development, Steve Billinger. “We’re bringing business leaders, legal professionals, engineers and designers together to learn and share as much as we can about this rapidly changing new world.”

This is a must attend event for professionals of all stripes to gain the knowledge and insight required for strategic advancement. The Forum offers two tracks of discussion: Technical sessions for those that want a deeper understanding of how to design and develop for the Apple Touch Platform; and Business sessions that focus on leveraging the Platform’s market potential.

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