Village Gamer

Electronic 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.

“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 cures.”

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 Officer 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.

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 television 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 humility, 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 exploration 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.”

Vancouver’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.”

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.”

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 system 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 »

Nintendo 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.

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

Electronic 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.

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 and 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.

In the next few weeks, Dead Rising 2 players will get a chance to dress up Chuck as either an insane Psychopath, a sleek ninja, a crazy sports fanatic or a kick-ass soldier with some great new DLC Theme Packs from Capcom. The theme packs include a host of new skills, weapons as well the very best in specialty fashion tailor-made for Chuck.

Each theme pack will be available to download via the PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE to enhance your Dead Rising 2 experience. What’s more, players can even mix and match the packs they have downloaded – select the Ninja shoes, Sports Fan hat, Psycho jacket and Soldier of Fortune trousers – to get all the abilities each pack offers and create the ultimate Chuck.

Psychopath Theme Pack: Available October 12, 2010
Psycho Chuck will be a zombie’s worst nightmare as his new “insane” look will make him more difficult to kill and give him a host of gruesome weapons including chainsaws, cleavers, axes and more. Zombies won’t stand a chance!

Soldier of Fortune Theme Pack: Available October 19, 2010
With the soldier costume, you can “Rambo out” with double ammo, increased shooting accuracy, more firepower and increased headshot accuracy. Chuck will also have a new special attack when using automatic weapons, spraying zombies with a hail of bullets.

Sports Theme Pack: Available October 26, 2010
For all you sports fans out there, this pack’s for you. Chuck’s damage will increase with sports-themed weapons. The new sports weapons (golf balls, basketballs, etc.) bounce more before stopping, allowing you to hit tons of zombies in one throw. Chuck also has a new charge/tackle attack for taking zombies down in the ultimate blitz!

With the Sports Theme Pack, Chuck will also earn more from gambling, gain more health while eating and drinking (especially alcoholic drinks) and not get sick from drinking too much…

Ninja Theme Pack: Available November 2, 2010
Ninja Chuck will have a new “stealth mode” where the zombies have to be much closer to him to detect his presence. This gives Chuck the upper hand as he is harder to grab and be taken down by hoards of the undead.

Chuck’s damage is increased with sword-type weapons (broadswords, katanas, etc.) that have new special attacks. Stackable items and throwing items (nails, plates, gems, etc.) will also do more damage and Chuck’s throwing speed is increased.

There are two free information sessions being held in BC next week on the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program as well as on other Government of Canada funding programs. These sessions are free to attend, and will provide an opportunity for businesses to showcase innovation to the federal government:

·October 13: Coast Plaza Hotel, 1763 Comox St., Vancouver
·October 14: Vancouver Island Technology Park, #2201 – 4464 Markham St., Victoria

To Register for these sessions, please contact Byron Scheffler.

The agenda for the session is as follows:

Speakers – 9:00am – 10:30

·Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program – $40 million initiative which aims to help Canadian businesses by testing their innovative products and services within the Government of Canada before taking them to the marketplace.
·Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan – $245.5 million worth of activity on federal contaminated sites. This program will enable accelerated action on site assessments and continued program management.
·Information Technology Services Branch – Government of Canada initiatives, Office of the Chief Technology Officer
·Scientific Research & Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program – federal tax incentive program, administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), that encourages Canadian businesses of all sizes, and in all sectors to conduct research and development (R&D) in Canada. It is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial R&D. The SR&ED program gives claimants cash refunds and/or tax credits for their expenditures on eligible R&D work done in Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canadian Marketing Association and Marketing Magazine have unveiled the full roster of featured presenters at the annual Digital Day conference “Navigating the Digital Labyrinth” to be held November 2, 2010 in Toronto.

Considered one of the most comprehensive and leading conferences on digital in Canada, this year’s program includes many of the brightest minds in digital in the country.

“We are so excited with the calibre of talent at this year’s conference and know that it will be a rich and enlightening discussion on all things digital,” said Lisa Charters, SVP Digital, Random House of Canada and co-chair of the conference. “The digital world continues to evolve at such an unbelievable pace that this year we are focusing on content creation, mobile and SMS, community engagement, digital retail experience and social media for leading brands.”

Featured Presenters include:

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia
Joseph Jaffe, author of Flip the Funnel
Jordan Banks, Managing Director of Facebook Canada
Claude Galipeau, Executive Vice-President, Digital media, Rogers Media Inc.
Matthew Idema, Vice-President, Country Manager, Yahoo! Canada
Graham Moysey, General Manager, AOL Canada
Chris O’Neill, Country Director, Google Canada
Paul Burns, Vice-President, Digital, Canwest
Brad Ross, Director, Corporate Communications, TTC
Jennifer Evans, Founder, Chief Strategist, Sequentia Environics
Angus Frame, Vice-president, Digital, Globe and Mail
Michael Procopio, Social Media Lead, HP Software
Steve Levy, President, Canadian Market Research, Ipsos Reid
Mike Girgis, President, OneStop Media
John Roe, Director of Marketing, Sporting Life
Sean Moffit, author, Wikibrands
Ferg Devins, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Molson Coors Canada
Heather Travis, Director of Public Relations, Beef Information Centre

In addition, Ipsos Reid will be release the fifth annual Digital Marketing Pulse report, a Canada-wide survey of Canada’s top marketers and agencies and how they view digital media.

Tickets for the November 2, 2010, conference are $499 and can be purchased online. The conference will be held from 8:30a.m. – 5:30 p.m. at the Allstream Centre, 105 Princes Blvd. in Toronto, Ontario.

Race to the Finish, the new online companion game to the hit YTV reality series In Real Life is now live and ready to play. For the first time, young fans from across Canada are encouraged to support their favourite In Real Life on-air challenger by accumulating virtual points for them through game play. The two on-air challengers with the most points have the chance to compete in a bonus webisode finale for a brand new prize. Award-winning digital producer Secret Location created Race to the Finish, a show which has 18 new Canadian youths aged 12-14 from 15 different Canadian cities, race across North America to compete in heart-pounding, real world challenges. From high-tech espionage and video gaming to lobster fishing, these kids are vying to win the amazing ultimate prize: college tuition money and an all-expense paid family vacation. In Real Life season two premiered last evening at 7 p.m. on YTV.

Vancouver’s SillySoft has released Castle Vox, a computer strategy board game where Diplomacy meets Chess meets Axis & Allies. Victory in the game is accomplished by capturing all of the castles in a variety of historical, geometric, geographic, and fantasy settings. Unlike most strategy games, Castle Vox is not turned-based. All players plan their moves simultaneously, which allows for a much faster game time for those can’t wait to hold dominion over the world. For those who are more patient, there is the “one-turn-a-day” mode.

Players are able to use the built-in map editor to create their own maps, which can then be shared with others, and programmers are welcome to add to the game’s AI with SillySoft’s SDK. Castle Vox has a free demo so that interested players can try it before purchasing ($19.99), and includes the following features:

* Fast world domination.
* Plan attacks simultaneously.
* Collaborate with teammates.
* Maps from many eras and mythologies.
* Giant maps with many players.
* Map editor included.
* Hard AI will push your brain in single-player matches.
* Online multi-player modes: relaxed and speed variants.
* Easy to learn, hard to master.
* Available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

Castle Vox has been chosen as one of the 32 finalists (and the only Canadian-made game) at this year’s IndieCade Festival, which takes place in Culver City, California this coming weekend.

The next BCTIA TechForum Voices of Experience takes place on October 14th at the Coal Harbour Hotel, and will feature Mr. Anthony von Mandl, Chairman & CEO of the Mark Anthony Group of companies and Proprietor of Mission Hill Family Estate winery.

Anthony von Mandl’s dream was to produce world calibre wines at Mission Hill Family Estate in the Okanagan Valley. The wine industry is extremely capital intensive and when no-one could be found to finance the vision he set about to build the Mark Anthony Group, a company which today is a multi-hundred million dollar private corporation based in Vancouver, BC.

This is his very private story and one he does not usually share in public; however being so passionate about building a stronger economic environment in BC and Canada for future generations he has agreed to so on this occasion.

Today seems to be the day for telecom acquisitions and partnerships. Rogers Communications Inc. announced earlier today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Atria Networks LP, owner and operator of one of Ontario’s largest fibre-optic networks for cash consideration of $425 million, subject to certain adjustments. Atria Networks is privately owned by Birch Hill Equity Partners.

The purchase of Atria Networks, based in Kitchener, Ontario, augments the Rogers Business Solutions offering by enhancing its ability to deliver on-net data centric services within and adjacent to the company’s cable footprint. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval. Rogers expects the transaction to close prior to the end of its first quarter, 2011.

Atria’s unique and scalable network includes 5,600 fibre route kilometers and over 3,800 on-net buildings in high-growth territories including Ottawa, Cornwall, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Richmond Hill, Markham, Hamilton, Barrie, Orillia, Peterborough and Vaughan. Atria serves a diverse customer base of over 1,100 customers spanning the public sector, enterprise and carrier providers.

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has completed a private placement by issuing 3,947,368 common shares to Le Fonds d’investissement REA II Natcan Inc. at a price of $0.38 per share, for gross proceeds to D-BOX of $1,500,000. The private placement was conducted on a “non-brokered” basis.

“We are very pleased that Le Fonds d’investissement REA II Natcan Inc., a specialized institutional investor, participated in our private placement”, said Claude Mc Master, President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX. Its decision to invest and increase its existing equity position in D-BOX, is a sign of its confidence in our growth strategy. At the same time, the proceeds from the private placement will help D-BOX carry out its business plan.” Mr. Mc Master continued.

D-BOX will use the proceeds from the private placement to accelerate the deployment of its motion systems for commercial theatre application and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

As a result of the private placement, there are 128,584,936 common shares of D-BOX issued and outstanding. Under applicable securities legislation and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the securities issued in the private placement are subject to a four-month hold period expiring on February 6, 2011.