Village Gamer

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’s Snoget 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 »

Redmond – Nintendo of America has issued a surge of new information today about what consumers can expect from the company in the coming months.

* The new Nintendo DSi XL™ hand-held system launches March 28 at a suggested retail price of $189.99 (USD). The screens of the Nintendo DSi XL are 93 percent larger than those of the Nintendo DS™ Lite model, providing a more vivid and engaging play experience, and with the screens of the Nintendo DSi XL also feature a wider viewing angle, friends and family members join in the fun too. Nintendo DSi XL will also come with a larger pen-like stylus that allows for a more comfortable grip and enhanced ease of use when playing games that use the Nintendo DS touch screen.

The new system launches in both Burgundy and Bronze colours, and comes loaded with pre-installed premium software Brain Age™ Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math and Photo Clock, as well as two free applications: the Nintendo DSi Browser and Flipnote Studio™.

America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking and WarioWare™: D.I.Y. will also launch for the Nintendo DS family of products on March 28, providing consumers with new content that can be enjoyed on any Nintendo DS system. Games like these demonstrate the enhanced experience available with the Nintendo DSi XL.

* Super Mario Galaxy™ 2, the sequel to the smash-hit galaxy-hopping original game, launches May 23 for the Wii™ console. The game includes the amazing gravity-defying, physics-based exploration from the first game, but is loaded with entirely new galaxies and features to challenge and delight players. On some stages, Mario™ can pair up with his dinosaur buddy Yoshi™ and use his tongue to grab items and spit them back at enemies. Players can also have fun with new items such as a drill that lets our hero tunnel through solid rock. Read the rest of this entry »

Toronto – Spongelab Interactive has earned its third major international award – first prize in the Interactive Media category from the Journal of Science and National Science Foundation’s 2009 Visualization Challenge. This is the second consecutive year which has seen Spongelab Interactive named as the winner.

Spongelab Interactive’s Genomics Digital Lab (GDL) is an integrated on-line learning environment where users experience the world of biology through discovery-based learning. GDL (version 4) is currently being used in over 50 countries around the world, illustrating a demand for new technology-based and game-based teaching tools. Spongelab continues to promote the use of immersive learning technologies to school boards and districts across Canada to increase funding commitments for the use of leading-edge interactive digital learning tools in their secondary schools and in the mean time plans to continue to keep costs minimal for individual users and classrooms. “At the high school level, one of our biggest problems across North America is that enrollment in science & math is tanking, especially among girls,” said Dr. Jeremy Friedberg, one of the founders of Spongelab Interactive. “Well-designed educational games are an amazing way to reconnect with students in an engaging and relevant way.”

GDL, was developed as the first part in a series of modular, curriculum-aligned games and interactive simulations covering an array of topics in biology. To meet the needs of students, teachers, and schools, GDL is designed to be fully accessible online from home or school through a web browser, with no downloads, or installation, and provides teachers with class management tools and integrated real-time assessment. Built around a custom learning environment, GDL employs rich, high-quality- 3D graphics designed to captivate and immerse users in the biology they’re studying.

Encompassing varying levels of difficulty, one of the many games engages students in a discovery process to ‘save’ a dying plant by identifying the correct air, light and soil conditions. GDL is built around discovery-based and self-directed learning where users are highly engaged and learn by ‘doing’ and by “playing the biology.” For example, students can choose to feed their plant water, salt water, vinegar, or soda to discover the impact on their plant: will it flourish or shrivel?

In other games, students use their imagination to come up with an “artificial leaf” or they can learn about how plants are the source of our food, fuel and everything in-between. ‘Transcription Hero’ allows students’ to take on the role of an enzyme to transcribe DNA.

Montreal – Twelve months ago, Montreal mom Michelle Skamene was unhappy about the fact that her two boys, then aged 8 and 9, spent very little time reading. Video games and computers were too much competition for their books. She and her husband, Emmanuel Greciet, decided to put a system in place whereby their kids had to earn TV or game console time by reading: 1 minute TV time for every minute of reading. An IT consultant working in field of website design, Mrs. Skamene set up a program for them to log their reading and TV time to help everyone keep track.

When friends asked if they could use it for their own children, Mrs. Skamene expanded the website to allow parents to set up their own rewards for their kids, and included a number of mini-games and features that the children could activate by reading and reading alone. The kids loved it, and it worked! They are no longer the reluctant readers they once were. “The thing is to get them started. We just needed that little extra motivation to get the ball rolling, and turning their TV time into a reward was the key. Once they made reading a regular part of their routine, and found books they liked, the incentives, really, were no longer necessary.” says Mrs. Skamene, who also created a page to help kids choose the right books. Read the rest of this entry »