7th October 2010

Visimonde Opens Its Doors In Edmonton

visimondeEdmonton’s Ted Bradshaw and Scott Rusnak today announced the launch of Visimonde Inc., a new company that will design and develop virtual worlds and games for audiences worldwide.

“Visimonde will specialize in the creation of games for the purposes of engaging, entertaining, and educating our players and delivering value to our partners,” said Bradshaw, the company’s CEO and President.

The Albertan company is already in production on its first property, which is scheduled to launch in closed beta this visimonde hockeywinter. This full-featured massively multiplayer online game will offer both free and subscription-based features, as well as an innovative new “Instant Trial” that lets players experience the virtual world without the need for a time-consuming registration process.

Bradshaw and Rusnak come from both educational and children’s software and information management backgrounds. Bradshaw was the President and CEO of StudentsAchieve Software. Bradshaw oversaw the company from early stage start-up through to a successful acquisition by SRB Education. Rusnak, Visimonde Creative Director, spent 15 years as Vice President of Management Information Group in Scottsdale, Arizona and Edmonton, Canada. Rusnak has extensive international experience in development and marketing of education and social media software applications.

The company has hired Blaine Graboyes to serve as Executive Producer for its current game. Graboyes is an award-winning Media Architect and Game Designer that has worked with the likes of Dreamworks, Sony, Mattel, NFL Films, Disney, Nickelodeon, MTV and more.

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7th October 2010

Netsweeper Provides Added Security For Opera Mini

netsweeperOpera Software and Guelph’s Netsweeper, Inc., have announced today a partnership that will provide added security and Internet content filtering to operators who ship and distribute the Opera Mini browser.

With Netsweeper’s technology, Opera will be able to offer mobile operators increased ability to block phishing, fraud, viruses, trojans, malware, access to adult content or other sites, services that are deemed inappropriate, and also add in an extra level of security, especially for enterprise networks. This new solution leverages the latest caching technologies and is capable of processing interactive, user-generated Web 2.0 content that will further strengthen online user protection.

“Our operator customers have requested the ability to control and filter content for our Opera Mini browser, due to legal requirements in the countries where the operators are established,” said Christen Krogh, EVP Products at Opera Software. “This partnership with Netsweeper, which has the most advanced and scalable solution in the market today, will make Opera Mini very attractive to the world’s operators.”
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7th October 2010

Sign Up Now For GameString Adrenalin Beta

GameStringGameString is pleased to announce the Beta sign up for its free personal cloud gaming service GameString Adrenalin™.

“At GameString we asked the question ‘what if you could remotely play the PC games installed on your own computer in a browser’ – everyone told us that would be pretty cool.” said Chris Boothroyd, CEO of GameString.com. “For the cloud gaming market to really take off, we need to start with a nice easy toe-in-the water approach for game developers and publishers. What better way, than to work with what is already installed out there on PC gaming gear. Publishers don’t have to do anything different, players get to remote play a game they have already purchased and others get to watch the games being played by their friends, live.”

GameString created the specially built Adrenalin application to let gamers access the games installed on their own PC, remotely in a web browser. Adrenalin can also broadcast the remote gamers session to online video streaming services like Justin.tv for others to watch en masse. Optimized for OpenGL and DirectX, Adrenalin is designed to lets gamers play their PC games when they are away from home, invite friends to watch and even let others drive the game remotely.

“It’s like the gamers version of WebEx™ combined with Go-To-My-PC™ and ProCaster™. If you have a buddy who has just bought a killer game like StarCraft II, he can remote you in to watch and even let you try it out – but watch the smack talk, he can boot you anytime.” said Boothroyd. “If you gotta play but you are away from home, this will let you jump in and play a quick round before your boss, significant other or grandma cuffs you one.”

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7th October 2010

Transgaming To Bring Free Realms To The Mac

TransGamingTransgaming, Inc. and Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), in collaboration with TransGaming, Inc. have announced that the Toronto studio is currently working on Free Realms™ for the Macintosh® platform. Scheduled to release later this fall, Free Realms Mac® users will play together in the family-friendly online world with the over 14 million existing registered players on the PC.

“There is no denying the overwhelming player demand for Free Realms on the Mac platform, of which we plan to deliver very soon,” said John Smedley, president of SOE. “For the first time ever, SOE is developing synchronous gameplay for Mac and PC players and we are thrilled to tap into TransGaming’s Mac development expertise to bring this functionality to fruition.”

Free Realms players on the Mac platform will experience consistent controls and functionality and will be integrated on the same game servers as PC players. Mac users will also have full access to the existing Marketplace and community forums.

“Free Realms offers a truly unique and captivating user experience that aligns with TransGaming’s focus on bringing new massive multiplayer online games to the Mac platform,” commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming Inc. “Our strategic partnership with SOE has strengthened our leadership position in the enablement of family-friendly titles for the growing Mac community and offers Mac gamers an ever-increasing catalog of outstanding video game content.”

Free Realms is an online, interactive virtual world that offers players adventures in the form of quests, activities and minigames. From ninja fighting to demolition derby to raising pets, Free Realms allows players to be what they want to be, while offering a safe environment to connect with old and new friends. Free Realms is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up with content descriptors of Crude Humor and Fantasy Violence.

The Co-operatorsThe Co-operators insurance corporation has launched Mobile Assist, an iPhone application that enables clients to submit home and auto insurance claims using their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The free application, which can be downloaded from the App Store, provides a new option for clients to interact with their insurance company on their own terms.

After downloading the Mobile Assist, clients can input their basic home and auto insurance information into their profile so that it’s readily available should they need to submit a claim. The application will guide them through the process, prompting them to provide the necessary details. The claim will then be submitted directly through a secure transmission, along with photos taken with their device. The app also offers one-touch dialling option to speak to a Co-operators representative and submit their claim over the phone.

“Canadians are leading increasingly fast-paced lives. Whether our clients want to drop by an agent’s office, phone us or deal with us online, they should – and do – have the choice,” said Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators. “Co-operators Mobile Assist puts claims reporting in the palm of their hand.”

The application can be used by home and auto insurance clients of Co-operators General Insurance Company throughout Canada.

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7th October 2010

EA Sports Teams Up With Susan G. Komen For The Cure

EA SportsElectronic Arts Inc. has begun a special promotional partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month through specially marked EA Sports™ games during the month of October. Starting in early October, select Best Buy store locations will have available for sale EA Sports video game titles featuring the Komen Running Ribbon logo to acknowledge the $100,000 dollar donation from EA Sports.Komen for the Cure

“This year marks the third year of commitment on behalf of EA Sports in continuing to create awareness in the fight against breast cancer,” said Christopher Erb, EA Sports Senior Director of Partnership Marketing. “EA is honored to work with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to spread awareness and to give EA Sports consumers an opportunity to participate in finding the NHL 11 Komen For The Cure Covercures.”

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is now the world’s largest breast cancer organization and the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer with more than $1.5 billion invested to date.

“Over the past 30 years, significant advancements have been made in the fight against breast cancer,” said Katrina McGhee, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing FIFA 11 Komen For The Cure CoverOfficer for Komen for the Cure. “Without partners like EA Sports, Komen wouldn’t have been able to pay for half a million breast screenings for women last year. Together, we are literally saving lives.”

Best Buy, the exclusive retail partner for the EA Sports and Komen for the Cure promotion, will have the limited edition video game packages in select stores throughout the month of October. EA Sports titles marked with the Komen Running Ribbon logo will include FIFA Soccer 11, , NCAA Football 11, NHL 11 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and will be featured on Madden NFL 11 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 11 across the PlayStation 3 system, Xbox 360 and Wii™ gaming consoles.

A check of both Canadian and American Best Buy web sites did not return any results for the specially marked covers, so it would appear that the “select” locations designation does not apply to online, and will also most likely be only at Best Buy stores located in the USA.

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7th October 2010

Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science Honours Big Bang Theory Creators

The Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science (the RCI) has awarded an Honorary Membership in the RCI to Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, executive producers and co-creators of the hit Big Bang Theorytelevision series The Big Bang Theory. The RCI, founded in 1849, is Canada’s oldest scientific organization and is dedicated to promoting the public’s understanding of science primarily through public lectures, scholarships, and the Sir Sandford Fleming medal for science communication. Jim Parsons (Sheldon), Simon Helberg (Howard), and Kunal Nayyar (Raj) of The Big Bang Theory are accepting the award on their behalf following the taping of Live at etalk: The Big Bang Theory in Toronto. The special tapes this afternoon from CTV’s Queen St. HQ.

“We are honoring Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and the entire Big Bang Theory team for creating a television program that seamlessly melds science and everyday life,” said Bruce Gitelman, President, RCI. “The program exposes the public in an entertaining way to the awe and wonder of science and life in general. As the number one series in Canada today, it not only makes science accessible to the public but also entertains many practicing scientists.”

In a statement, Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady said: “Messrs. Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady do, with great Chuck Lorrehumility, accept Honorary Membership in the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science.

Those who toil in the field of science often wait patiently for their work to be acknowledged. Einstein, for example, waited years for the Nobel committee to bestow its award for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. In light of this, your honorees harbor no resentment that it has taken the Institute decades to reach across the border and recognize Mr. Lorre for his groundbreaking fourth grade work in neurology entitled “How Smart is the Human Brain? (An Extra-Credit Project)” and Mr. Prady for his definitive Bill Pradyexploration of zoological ophthalmology in the seventh grade science fair entry, “Dissecting a Calf’s Eye.”

As members, your honorees pledge to do everything in their power to advance the interests of Canadian scientists in the global community. For example, every time someone uses a telephone, they will note: “Did you know that was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, a Canadian scientist?” They will also look on Wikipedia and find names of other Canadian scientists to talk about.

Finally, while Messrs. Lorre and Prady are baffled as to why such an august group would seek to honor them, they are truly thrilled you have done so.”

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6th October 2010

Aftercad Announces Launch of GameString to Service Cloud Game Developer Market

afterCADVancouver’s Aftercad is pleased to announce the launch of its new Cloud Gaming technology portal GameString.com to service the rapidly growing market to develop and deploy cloud based games on the web.

“Cloud Gaming may be new but already there are a number of players in the market and game developers looking for the new edge to engage people.” said Chris Boothroyd, CEO of Aftercad. “We started with the Immersion Project earlier in the year and really hit a nerve in game developers who wanted to try out cloud gaming and eventually deploy it themselves. We decided that this market is only going to get bigger as social game developers start to ramp up production values across the board and need to deliver much more into Flash and HTML5 environments.”GameString

Aftercad has recently expanded its 3D web publishing efforts to include GameString.com for game developers and Renderjam v2 for CAD and GIS 3D broadcasting and remote access. As cloud computing continues its assimilation of other verticals, developers are looking to cash in on the new cloud gaming methods being touted by services like Onlive, Otoy, Gaikai and others. Aftercad GameString delivers the technology to maximize this new cloud delivery method while giving developers the the ability to leverage the full power of Flash or HTML5 on the client’s computer or mobile device.

“Other methods out there rely on just the video stream and a plugin to bring the remote game play to the user in time to react and send those commands back again. This method is called ‘Soft PC-Over-IP’, will always be lag sensitive and function as a closed loop. the GameString technology however does a much better job by opening up the loop, allowing game developers to utilize the power at both ends of the wire thus greatly reducing the dependence on bandwidth alone.” said Boothroyd. “We are constantly being amazed by what we are seeing in these new game demos people are putting together. For example using Flash/Flex to create the entire UI and the Unity 3D engine rendering superb 3D on the server – the synthesis of those two things working in concert is stunning and will clearly be a tool in the developer’s arsenal next year. It is yet more validation of the superiority of our patent pending, Dual Rendering approach and we are looking for even more game developers to join us in the cloud.”

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6th October 2010

QuickPlay Media Releases Multi-Screen Movie Solution

QuickPlay Media Inc. has announced the availability of its Multi-Screen Movie Solution. The solution features a fully customizable storefront, an extensive catalog of new releases, a complete digital locker QuickPlay Mediasystem and seamless viewing capabilities across smartphones, PCs and other consumer electronics devices.

According to IDC, US revenues from the online rental market are forecast to reach $2 billion dollars in 2013 (IDC, U.S. Internet Video 2009-2013 Forecast and Analysis: Despite the Economy, Internet Video Keeps Growing IDC #220971, December 2009). The QuickPlay Multi-Screen Movie Solution enables mobile operators to fully capitalize on this growing market with a high-quality “fast start” download service that addresses their key business and technical requirements. Recognizing the importance of offering a truly differentiated service, the solution includes a customizable storefront, which allows mobile operators to match the look and feel of the solution to their brand. QuickPlay also offers operators the ability to have the service fully integrated with their billing system

“Entertainment preferences continue to evolve, with a growing population of consumers interested in watching hit movies on whatever device is convenient for them,” said Wayne Purboo, president and CEO, QuickPlay Media. “The Multi-Screen Movie Solution enables operators to increase customer loyalty and generate incremental revenue by providing a ‘follow me’ service that feeds the subscriber’s desire for both easy access to quality content and flexible viewing experiences.”

Powered by QuickPlay’s OpenVideo Platform™, the fully managed Multi-Screen Movie Solution delivers cutting-edge features that effectively address consumer needs and key business and technical requirements. Noteworthy features include:

Complete Storefront Capabilities: The solution enables service providers to present subscribers with a catalog of premium movie content for rental or purchase in a feature rich storefront. The storefront has been designed to ensure that service providers retain ownership and control of the user experience with customization options that enable them to control all branding, navigation and merchandising options. Read the rest of this entry »

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6th October 2010

Wii Party Across The Country

Nintendo CanadaNintendo Canada says Wii Party™ and spreads the fun this month, with Wii Party Mobiles visiting a variety of retail store fronts and family events during the month of October in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec! Kids, teens, adults and seniors are invited to check out the Wii Party Mobile with its see-through walls and flat screen televisions where they can grab a Wii remote and play the latest party game from Nintendo.

Wii Party Mobile

Visit the “On Tour” page for schedule updates.

 

BRITISH COLUMBIA

October 9th (11am-5pm) – Future Shop, #102 – 5300 No.3 Road, Richmond
October 10th (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, 1135 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam
October 16th (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, #700 – 5300 No. 3 Road, Richmond
October 23rd & October 24th (930am-400pm) – The Pumpkin Patch at Richmond Country Farms, 12900 Steveston HWY, Richmond
October 30th (11am-5pm) – Future Shop, #2140-2929 Barnet HWY, Coquitlam

ONTARIO

October 9th (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, 50 Ashtonbee Road, Scarborough
October 10th (11am-5pm) – Future Shop, #2 – 5900 Mavis Road, Mississauga
October 16th (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, 167 Queen Street North, Etobicoke
October 17th (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, #1 – 6075 Mavis Road, Mississauga
October 23rd & October 24th (930am-430pm) – Boo at the Zoo at Toronto Zoo, 361A Old Finch Avenue, Toronto
October 23rd (11am-5pm) – Best buy, 695 Wilson Avenue, North York
October 30th (11am-5pm) – Future Shop, 2975 Argentia Road, Mississauga
October 31st (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, #1 – 6075 Mavis Road, Mississauga

QUEBEC

October 9th (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, 8871 De L’Acadie Boulevard, Montreal
October 10th (11am-5pm) – Future Shop, 6321 Trans Canada, Pointe Claire
October 16th (11am-5pm) – Future Shop, 7400 Boul des Roseraies, Anjou
October 17th (11am-5pm) – Best Buy, 7200 Des Roseraies Boulevard, Anjou
October 23rd & October 24th (11am-7pm) – Fright Fest at La Ronde, 22 Chemin Macdonald, Ile Sainte-Hélène, Montreal
October 30th (11am-5pm) – Toys R Us, 655 Boul des Promenades, Saint-Bruno

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6th October 2010

Deathspank and Shank Together on Steam

EAElectronic Arts Inc. and Hothead Games® announced today that the critically acclaimed action role-playing game (RPG), DeathSpank™, will be available on PC for $14.99 on October 26. Starting today, gamers will receive a 10% discount when they pre-order DeathSpank on PC via Steam, Valve Corporation’s delivery and management platform. Additionally, gamers can pre-order the Shank and ‘Spank Bundle on Steam, which pairs DeathSpank with Klei Entertainment’s Shank™, and receive 15% off of the entire bundle. Shank will also be available on Steam this October 26th.Death Spank

Developed under the direction of industry veteran Ron Gilbert, DeathSpank combines unique humor and wit with fast, addictive action-RPG gameplay. Recently awarded IGN’s Editor’s Choice for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, DeathSpank takes players on an epic adventure through crazy quests in a vast world filled with vibrant, eccentric and hilarious characters. Currently available on PlayStation® Network and Xbox LIVE® Arcade, DeathSpank will also be released on Mac OSX; availability to be announced.

Bringing the game to PC and Mac was a direct response to the repeated requests by our fans and we are thrilled that DeathSpank has become so popular and such a phenomenon, ensuring that we can fulfill those requests,” said Vlad Ceraldi, Director of Game Development at Hothead Games. “The humor, story and core gameplay elements in DeathSpank were all inspired by some of our favorite PC games.”

Players who download the game will be placed in the boots of the mighty DeathSpank, “Dispenser of Justice,” “Vanquisher of Evil” and “Hero to the Downtrodden” and will embark on his lifelong journey to search for shankand find a mysterious artifact known only as “The Artifact.” Along his journey, DeathSpank will rescue orphans, defeat a local tyrant, help an aging adventurer and dive headfirst into an even deeper mystery. The game’s accessibility makes for a fun, addictive experience where players will find themselves solving crazy puzzles, collecting massive amounts of loot and engaging in tons of hilarious dialogue. DeathSpank also features local co-operative gameplay, allowing friends to jump in and out of this adventure on the same computer as DeathSpank’s trusty, magical sidekick, Sparkles the Wizard.

DeathSpank is rated “T” for teen and Shank is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB.

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