Village Gamer

Office Jerk, the latest game from Fluik Entertainment and Big Fat Simulations, is off to an incredibly successful start with more than 1.6 million downloads from the iTunes App Store in its first four days of availability. Download numbers continue to climb for the feel-good game of the year for anyone tired of dealing with brown-nosing, know-it-all coworkers, as Office Jerk quickly became the #1 free app in 23 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and placed among the top 5 free apps in 62 countries. Office Jerk is available for free in the iTunes App Store.

Office Jerk is the 10^th game from Edmonton-based Fluik Entertainment, and the latest in a string of successful collaborations with Vancouver’s Big Fat Simulations. The two companies previously teamed up to bring Airport Madness Challenge to iOS devices, a game that surpassed 750,000 downloads – albeit not nearly as fast as Office Jerk. Office Jerk is free to download for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, with in-app purchases unlocking the satisfyingly destructive ACME Pack (dynamite, pie and eggs) for $1.99, as well as the office-supply-themed Remove Ads pack (mug, stapler) for $0.99.

“We are thrilled to see the enthusiastic response to Office Jerk, and couldn’t possibly be happier with the game’s success. Obviously there are a lot of people who like to chuckhousehold objects and office supplies at people… virtually, of course,” said Victor Rubba, CEO of Fluik Entertainment. “We had high hopes for the game, and reaching the top of the App Store charts in so many countries is truly humbling; we’ll continue to support the franchise in the future, and I assure you that this is just the beginning for Office Jerk – and for Fluik, as a developer of top-quality, highly engaging gamesthat players of all ages can enjoy.”

Office Jerk Bio:

You know the guy. He works late, always gets stuff done on time and would never, ever think about calling in sick. But don’t let his do-good attitude get you down… it’s time to get even. Grab whatever you have on your desk and throw it at him when he least expects it, racking up your score with each consecutive, bone-crunching impact. Just be sure to account for the gusting winds caused by the communal office fan, or you might end up causing damage to something other than that brown-noser… And nobody wants that, right?

Molecube, the studio that brought you Binja ($0.99) and Binja Lite version (free), has released Monstruction, its latest 99 cent mobile iOS game. It emphasizes mainly on the dexterity and puzzle-solving skills of the players. To unfold the puzzles, the players must use some of their Apple devices main features such as the touch screen and tilt sensor. Adorable and original characters appear throughout each level as the player progresses through the game, giving the player additional fun and challenge.

Use physics to rotate, stack and glue together wooden puzzle pieces, tilting your device to make sure that your construction can withstand the monsters? visits. Each one of the three friendly monsters will unwittingly put the strength of your buildings to the test, whether it?s Luciano Panda serenading you with his operatic singing abilities,  Gramps trying to find his way through the forest by engaging in a cane-swinging frenzy or the brightly coloured Jacques flying around looking for snacks to satisfy his compulsive and monstrous appetite, your construction work will need to survive if you want to progress through the 70 levels of puzzles. Monstruction is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and requires iOS 3.0 or later.

Molecube Inc. is a fast-growing Canadian company based in Quebec that focuses on mobile game development. With two games featured on the App Store and two more in development, the team has already met half of its objective – four game releases in its first year of activity.

Molecube’s development team of 6 professionals works on every aspect of each game from concept through development and into marketing of the studio’s new and original intellectual properties. Determined to play a big part in the mobile entertainment global phenomenon, the company is betting on a talented team highly capable of conceptualizing and commercializing on short term originals, focusing on making truly fun games for mobile devices. In such a brand new and competitive market, Molecube relies on strong creativity, technical efficiency and effective market know-how to stand out in the crowd.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOlS1-cmYAs]

Peace Point Entertainment Group launched their latest mobile app. SuperBodies is an app that matches science and art through cutting-edge computer-generated imagery to explore athleticism of the human body. With the SuperBodies mobile experience, audiences navigate through the body to observe first-hand the effects, reactions and stressors endured by world-class athletes.

With cutting-edge 3D animation and original video, the SuperBodies mobile app allows users in a game play format to peel away the human skin, revealing what truly happens on the inside when star athletes perform. Choose from gymnastics, badminton, boxing, volleyball, 100m dash and swimming. Explore how highly-tuned bodies cope with such physically shocking tribulations as a knockout punch, a blow to the ribs or fierce muscle tear. See what happens to the circulatory, skeletal, muscular, nervous and respiratory systems, each rendered with vibrant computer graphic animations that appear to probe the human bodies’ intricate mazes.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_klYDou5xo]

Showcasing summer sports in advance of the 2012 Summer Games, each athletic activity is teased apart in compelling short videos featuring the charismatic Greg Wells, Ph.D., a scientist and physiologist who works with elite athletes.  Dr. Wells is familiar to audiences as the SuperBodies TV host for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, regular contributor on CTV’s Canada AM, and medical analyst for ABC News Olympic coverage.  SuperBodies will be a staple feature during the Consortium’s coverage of London 2012.

With Dr. Wells as a guide, the hand held device acts as a camera pod that lets you fly through the body in any direction to see how an athlete’s skeleton, muscles and nerves perform as they compete in top level sports. The user navigates through the body of the world’s greatest athletes by dragging a finger or tilting the device.  Tap the screen once to view the athlete’s vital signs (heart rate, temperature and breaths per minute).  Tap twice to select a sport.

“SuperBodies makes complex physiology fascinating and easy to understand,” said Les Tomlin, CEO of Peace Point Entertainment Group, which produces the SuperBodies properties, including the Gemini Award-winning television documentary and segments for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium during its multiplatform coverage of Vancouver 2010. “From an adrenaline rush to a world record victory, we expose fascinating extremes from inside the human body, making biomedical mysteries accessible to everybody.”

The anatomically precise SuperBodies mirrors cutting edge research in the field of exercise medicine, which tests, trains and heals the human body. “SuperBodies shows people why top athletes are amazing and what makes them different from you and me,” said Dr. Wells. “Kids who see how mind-blowing we are on the inside, and who understand our human potential, may be more likely to participate in sports and take care of their health.”

Superbodies is produced with the participation of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium and the Bell Broadcast & New Media Fund and is available now in HD for the iPad, iPhone 4 and the latest gen iPod Touch for $3.99 USD as well as non-HD for older iPhone and iPod touch devices for just $1.99 USD.

Tactica Interactive, creators of the Tiga Talk Speech Therapy game have launched a contest with a 4G iPod Touch as the top prize.  The contest is open to anyone aged 15 and up (void in Quebec), and will feature 9 bi-weekly Tiga Talk prize packs on top of the Grand Prize:

Grand Prize Draw: One (1) Grand Prize draw will be made at 1 pm on Friday September 2, 2011. The Grand Prize winner will be randomly selected among the entries and the name of each winning entry will be declared the potential winner.

Bi-Weekly Prize Draws: Nine (9) Weekly Prize draws will be made every second Friday starting May 6th, 2011. Each of the Weekly Prize winners will be randomly selected among the entries and the name of each winning entry will be declared the potential winner.

All you have to do to win is talk about Tiga Talk by using the form or links on the Contest Info Page to share Tiga Talk with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr, or show them your  own Tiga Talk blog, YouTube video or other way you are spreading the good word about Tiga Talk. Please refer to the Contest Rules for full entry and prize details.

Tiga Talk, the companion game to APTN’s television show by the same name, is currently on sale for $1.99 USD in the iTunes App Store, and was developed with licensed speech and language pathologists. Tiga Talk is a fun way for children to develop speech sounds through playful voice-controlled games that can improve speech clarity, articulation, and instill confidence. The app is for parents and speech therapists working with toddlers and children with language delays, as well as any parent looking to give their child a head start in early language development.

Children learn fundamental phonetic sounds, that are the building blocks of language, as they play 23 fun voice controlled games on an imaginative adventure with Tiga and friends. Game play rewards are based entirely on participation, not accuracy, so the child is constantly getting positive feedback as long as they are trying to make sounds.

Game activities include piloting a boat, helicopter, hot air balloon, race car, train, submarine, and even flying a rocket ship to visit the moon. Players can pop balloons to reveal clues to guide them on their adventure as well as knock over obstacles that lay in their path, including towers of tires, ice blocks, hay bales, crates, logs or even moon rocks.

Before each game children are introduced to a new phonetic sound by game characters. They are shown a cartoon image representing the sound and are encouraged to try saying the sound aloud. The app listens to make sure they’re verbally participating and congratulates them if they are and showers them with friendly encouragement if they aren’t.

Tiga Talk’s other features include:

• Voice controlled games encourage kids to speak clearly
• Game play based on actual speech therapy sessions
• Beautifully vibrant graphics and a variety fun learning games designed to engage young children
• Entertaining cartoon characters deliver lots of positive feedback
• An exciting interactive story adventure
• Licensed speech therapists selected the apps 23 core phonetic sounds
• Audio and video hints help demonstrate the correct way to make language sounds
• A sound meter to measure voice volume levels
• Track progress and earn gold stars the more you play
• Children are able to practice specific sounds and games
• So easy to play young children can even use it by themselves

Here are just some of the benefits to be gained with Tiga Talk:

• A great way for all kids to get a head start on language development
• Kids learn to pronounce sounds more accurately including syllables, letters, and letter combinations
• Help your child improve coordination and strength of speech muscles
• Children learn through sound repetition and imitation
• Children differentiate between sounds they hear and create a broader base vocabulary
• Improve communication between the child’s brain and the body through visual and auditory aids
• Improve childhood communication with peers and adults
• Instill a sense of pride and confidence in your child

Tiga Talk is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch (2nd, 3rd and 4th gen) and iPad. It requires iOS 4.1 or later. Tiga Talk is developed with the financial support of the Bell Fund.

Decapod Studios has announced that its incredibly addictive puzzle game Murphid will be launching on Windows Phone 7 early next week for $0.99. I can vouch for the addictive quotient, as I have played…and played…and played Murphid on the Xbox 360 – you can read my review of the game here.

Just as in the Xbox 360 version of Murphid, players must use their puzzle solving skills and fast reaction to withstand attack waves of gorgeous marble hordes and bring those beasts under control in this Collapse-Match 3 styled game. Deep, yet simple core game mechanics coupled with astonishing graphics, immersive sound effects and adaptive gameplay result in intense climatic moments that modern gamers are craving. Murphid’s underlying FunQuantization™ technology has been optimized to run flawlessly on Windows Phone 7.

Time-tested, solid fun features include:

* Engaging Campaign spawning more that 70 levels of marble blasting madness.
* Three game modes for players to choose from to suit their playing style.
* More than 10 powerups to help players redefine the game field and wreak havoc in a blink of an eye.
* 8 exclusive Awards to boost the replay value further by throwing extra challenges at the player.
* Pre-filled Leaderboard to give the game nostalgic, old-school touch.
* Awe-inspiring HD visuals with full widescreen support.
* Charming sound effects to create the ambience.
*Adaptive gameplay technology for challenging and fun gaming experience for players of all ages.

Starmine, the debut title for Vancouver’s Zyx Entertainment is now available in the iTunes App Store for $1.99 USD. This colourful match 3-styled puzzle game currently features 120 levels, 3 game modes, multi-touch controls,and Retina Display support as well as  Game Centre Leaderboards & Achievements to unlock. Starmine can be played for a few seconds, a few minutes or as long as you can survive, and you can  join the Facebook community for game updates, tips and tricks.

Every puzzle has multiple solutions, and with no move restrictions, players can solve each puzzle in any way that works for them. Puzzle game veterans will appreciate the fast-paced puzzle action. Special blocks keep the game fresh while the deep scoring system, achievements and leaderboards will push you to your limits and keep you coming back for more.

System requirements:

iPhone 3G+
iPod G3+
iOS 3.2+ (4.1+ for Game Center)

New from game developer Eric Billingsley is Star-Twine, a strategy game with ambient sounds, unique visuals and a virtually infinite number of levels to play on.

Battles unfold on three-dimensional maps where you, a small point of light, must build structures to extract energy from the threads that make up the world. Energy can be spent on new structures, each with their own unique abilities. The enemy AI builds while you build and reacts to your play-style. This results in challenging battles that require strategic insight and quick thinking.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBXQSuScwk]

As a small point of light, you travel along a sprawling three-dimensional map, building new structures as you fly around each level. The game emphasizes positioning and timing rather than micro-management, and there are many options open to you at all times. Your objective is to destroy the enemy’s structures before they destroy yours.

Features:

• Unlimited number of procedurally generated levels
• Skirmish mode with multiple difficulties
• Online 1 vs 1 multiplayer and LAN play
• Fully 3D maps where attacks can come from any angle
• Ambient electronic soundtrack and abstract visuals which create an atmospheric, relaxing experience
• Simple RTS gameplay that emphasizes positioning and timing rather than micro-management

There is a demo version available, and if you like Star-Twine, you can purchase the full version on Star-Twine.net, Desura or GamersGate.com.

System Requirements:

• Operating System: Windows XP/Vista/7
• Processor: 1.5GHz CPU
• Memory – 256MB available RAM
• Hard Disk – 200MB available disk space (Additional 200MB for .NET Framework 3.5 if it is not already installed)
• Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible card with Shader Model 2.0 Support and 256MB VRAM (NVidia GeForce 7600 / ATI Radeon x1600 or better recommended)

Important Play-off Note: The Twitter hashtag for Series Two Canucks vs Predators is #nashclash and don’t forget to follow the Canucks on Twitter for the latest play-off updates: @VanCanucks because now, we are all Canucks. Even you Easterners. Note: I am truly sorry that the Habs have not advanced to Round Two – I really was hoping to see them oust Boston.

Edmonton-based Visimonde Inc. and The National Hockey League have announced the official launch of Rinksters – a new hockey-themed virtual world aimed at fans ages 6-12.  Rinksters is an online community for kids that promotes a healthy lifestyle, social well-being, and a lifelong pursuit of fun.  Through free and subscription-based features, kids who visit Rinksters.com can safely and securely play hockey-themed games, collect virtual currency, chat with friends, customize their own avatar and more.

Not only are more children using the internet, but they spending more time online and gaming:

• The number of internet users in the U.S. ages 11 and under will climb from 20.2 million in 2011 to 25.7 million by 2015 (eMarketer, Jan. 2011)
• Children globally are spending more time online, averaging more than 1.6 hours per day and 11.4 hours per week, which is up 10 percent from 2009 (Norton Online Family Report, June 2010)
• 8 out of the ten top websites used among children aged 2-11 are gaming sites (eMarketer, Jan. 2011)

Partnering with Visimonde to develop a safe, compelling and fun virtual world experience enables the NHL to capture its share of the marketplace while cultivating the next generation of hockey fans.

“The explosion of virtual games and Internet usage among kids has created a significant opportunity for the NHL to create new relationships with a younger generation of hockey fans.” said Perry Cooper, the NHL’s senior vice president of digital media.  “Rinskters will provide these new fans with an unprecedented, fun way to connect with the game and its players, safely and securely.”

marblemedia has launched Storm, the newest browser game for its hit YTV show Splatalot. Head on over to the Splatalot site and test your luck in dodging the obstacles as you battle your way to the castle. The bonus is that unlike the show’s competitors, you get to stay safe and dry. If you haven’t yet watched Splatalot, you really should check it out. YTV and Danone has also paired up to give kids a chance to be a contestant on the show – details are on the Splatalot Winalot page.

Those of you who are still celebrating in the euphoric cloud of last night’s Canuck win over the Blackhawks may not be aware that scheduling service Tungle has been acquired by Research In Motion. In a statement on the company’s blog this morning, Tungle CEO Marc Gingras stated that “We’re really excited about this. We know there isn’t an industry more exciting than the smartphone and tablet markets, and RIM is a dominant player in this space. As of today, the entire team is joining the ranks of RIM. It’s playoff season and the Tungle team is focusing on putting the puck in the net for you, our customers. You have kept us on our toes, given us great ideas and most importantly, have been great supporters. For that, we thank you. Our objective is to keep innovation at the forefront – to be rebels in our own way. Think, Create, Innovate.”

Roaring Penguin Software Inc. has announced the availability of CanIt Archiver, an e-mail archiving and e-mail business continuity software program for small business.  CanIt Archiver automatically archives e-mail and makes it available from anywhere via a web-based user interface, making it an ideal tool for e-mail business continuity.  In the event that your e-mail server disappears, it is comforting to know that you will be able to read your e-mail.

CanIt Archiver allows you to search based upon the date range, message subject, sender, recipients, message body, attachment filename and many more advanced criteria.  It also allows you to perform nested searches to narrow down your search criteria.  Also, CanIt Archiver can find “related messages” which finds all messages referred to by a given message.  This allows you to easily follow the thread of a conversation.  Best of all, CanIt Archiver allows end users to search their own archives, saving system administrators time and effort in tracking down old e-mails.

CanIt Archiver allows you to specify how long mail should be retained, thereby tailoring your e-mail retention policy to match your organization’s policies or regulatory requirements such as the Freedom of Information Act, HIPAA, SOX, etc.

CanIt Archiver is integrated with:

* CanIt-PRO, an anti-spam software solution suitable for small and medium business.
* CanIt-Domain-PRO, spam filtering software for MSPs to host anti-spam for their customers.
* Hosted CanIt, a fully outsourced, hosted anti-spam service.

Meetup: Vancouver Social Game Devs at Calabash this April 28th from 6 – 9pm. Sign up on the Meetup page.
Edmonton Game Pub: April 27th in the Bioware Theatre from 6 – 9pm. Sign up on the event page or on Facebook.
Speaker Session: Wired Woman Presents A Blueprint for Implementing a Successful Mentorship Program, 6pm at the Vancouver YWCA Royal Bank Room on April 27th.
Deadline: IGDA Scholarship Applications for E3 – get them in by April 29th.
Attention Canadian Students: If you would like to take part in the Impact Apprentice 2011 challenge, now is the time to start your plan of attack. Submissions open on May 11th.

Coming Soon: VI Technologies has announced that the company will be releasing VI Racing 964 3.3 Turbo: AI First Drive on April 30th.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT3EuqtmX5Q]

Digital Leisure Inc. has launched Word Searcher Deluxe exclusively on WiiWare for 500 Nintendo Points. In this follow up to last years ‘Word Searcher’, gamers will need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher Deluxe contains fun words from multiple categories including palindromes, pirates and painting. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle anyone will enjoy.

Word Searcher Deluxe will help improve your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills with its addictive puzzles. Keep track of your progress and try to beat your own play through times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play. Get your thinking cap on and conquer all 100 today, or take on the whole family and your friends with the full cooperative and competitive multi-player modes. You will also be able to download and enjoy additional puzzles via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play

Toronto’s Mobile Game Studio will be releasing Web Swinger, the studio’s newest arcade game  in just a few weeks’ time. This new fun packed game will put you in the role of a tiny creature who despite his size, is determined to rule world, reaching incredible heights while defeating enemies in a life and death battle for barn supremacy. Arcade-styled Web Swinger will take you into the world of insects, casting you as a spider and pitting you against numerous insect enemies as you battle against time in your quest to the bottom of the barn.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvBvVUKfYNs]

Click on the down or up arrow to move the spider down or up the web and drag your finger on the screen to swing the spider. Web Swinger features 20 different levels of unbelievable fun, but it is up to you to make your mark and defeat your enemies. You will lose the game if your spider loses all of its lives or is crushed by time.  Stay tuned for the official release of Web Swinger in the Apple Store.

Parksville’s Pixton has been selected as an Official Honoree in the Youth category of the 15th Annual Webby Awards, one of the Internet’s most respected symbol of success.  This year’s Webby Awards received 10,000 entries from 60 countries and 50 U.S. states. The Official Honoree distinction is awarded to the top 10 percent of all work entered. Fellow Honorees in the Youth category include such powerhouses as Disney, Lego, Teen.com, and Nickelodeon.

“We’re incredibly honored that Pixton has been selected. It reinforces Pixton as one of the best websites for youth, and that wouldn’t be possible without our active, vibrant community”, says Clive Goodinson, Creator and Founder of Pixton Comics.

Pixton pushes the limits of creativity on the web by giving anyone the power to create comics, full of original characters with life-like expression and movement. Every element of a comic is controlled with an intuitive click-and-drag motion. Comics can be shared in print as well as across the social web, in browsers, mobile devices, tablets, and interactive whiteboards.

“Kids today want not only to get inside their favorite characters’ worlds, they want to actively shape those worlds, in an online social environment,” says Clive, “Pixton is that place. Kids can carve out their own niche while being part of a shared world of digital stories and comic conversations.”

Already available in 9 languages, the website is continually growing as Pixton expands its reach to homes, schools, and businesses around the world.

Vancouver based interactive digital agency Appnovation Technologies has become an official systems integration partner with San Francisco based Strobe Inc., a company founded by SproutCore creator Charles Jolley, enables the delivery of cross platform mobile solutions using HTML5 and SproutCore technologies.

Appnovation’s expertise lies in designing, building and deploying content rich web and mobile applications using open source technology platforms such as Drupal and Alfresco. By adding SproutCore and Strobe technologies to their services arsenal, Appnovation will now be able to blend the robust content and document management capabilities of Alfresco and Drupal with ability to deploy applications across multiple mobile platforms. Appnovation is already working with Strobe to bring the value of this partnership to market and continue to drive open source solutions for its customers.

Vircom, an award-winning e-mail messaging security software company in Montreal has released directQuarantine™, an Outlook add-on module for its modusGate™ email security software that provides end-user control of quarantine emails directly from Outlook. Vircom’s directQuarantine software is compatible with modusGate 4.7 or 5.0, runs on Windows platforms (2003/2008/2008R2 for the server and XP/Vista/7 for the client) and is available to order today.

directQuarantine provides a Spam folder in Outlook that allows end-users to search for quarantined emails in real-time using the Outlook search toolbar or the blazingly fast native Windows search – no more waiting for nightly quarantine reports, logging in to a Web portal, or depending upon IT to check for and release blocked emails. The directQuarantine folder contains all emails caught and filtered by modusGate and any false positives can be quickly and easily released directly from the Outlook toolbar. Any attachments, viruses, phishing links and all other electronic threats remain safely on the modusGate server and are not downloaded to Outlook, ensuring the highest level of security.

Toronto’s AVIX Technologies, Inc. has announced that its its proposed wholly owned subsidiary, Florida-based Actus Interactive Software, LLC has developed a suite of cutting edge graphical multi-touch capable interactive kiosk and active digital signage products that are intended for broad market and vertical appeal.

Divided between active digital signage and interactive kiosks, these solutions feature self service content management in an easy to use, dynamic way, deploying to countless end point devices in a real time or scheduled manner. ACTUS’ kiosk and digital signage owners can also dynamically brand or “skin” end point devices uniquely or in groups.

Cornelia Volino, President of AVIX stated that, “As the Company moves closer to completing the acquisition of ACTUS, our focus is shifting towards integrating vertical and horizontal industry segments and those that will be capable of supporting the development efforts of ACTUS, which include multi-touch capability and gesture based technologies built on the NUI.”

This suite of kiosk and interactive digital signage products has the potential to significantly affect competition in the kiosk and interactive digital signage spaces across multiple vertical industries. ACTUS kiosk solutions are multi-touch (and eventually gesture) capable based on the latest advances in Natural User Interface (NUI) providing for high levels of usability beyond what is normally seen in today’s web based kiosk software. ACTUS kiosk and digital signage solutions deploy to multiple form factors on multiple platforms including large HD screens, computers, slates, and mobile devices and all leverage a common web & cloud capable back end architecture.