Village Gamer

Vancouver – EA has announced the online beta version of Need For Speed Nitro – Facebook Edition. Developed by Vancouver social media studio Ayogo, this new addition to the NFS franchise features car collecting, sharing, and competing with your friends to see who will be first to win the Bronze, Silver and Gold Cups. Ayogo and EA are looking for beta testers who can provide feedback which can then be used to improve the application. All you need to do to get involved is give the Need for Speed app access to your FaceBook profile, hit the track to rack up points and then report back to the app’s FaceBook page with feedback about your game play experience.

Vancouver – Congratulations to Adrian Crook on the release of Disney Interactive’s The Princess and The Frog, a title which he helped design for Amaze Entertainment’s Wii and PC iterations. In this new title, players can experience Tiana’s exciting world set in the jazz-infused era of 1920’s New Orleans with the official video game inspired by the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures release of The Princess and the Frog, which opens everywhere on December 11th. Celebrate favourite moments from the movie and take on new challenges with Tiana, as she pursues her dreams in a fun adventure. Meet favorite characters from the film and new friends, triumph over enemies, play frog games in the bayou, create music, cook New Orleans style and so much more. Along the way, discover what it takes to make Tiana’s dreams come true! This game is also available for the Nintendo DS.

Nintendo Wii™ Key Features

* 30 replayable Wii-exclusive mini-games for 1-4 players
* Play & move to music, cook New Orleans cuisine, and try on multiple outfits with Tiana & her friends
* Collect Mardi Gras beads to trade for new dresses, fabrics, ingredients and recipes
* Explore quest hubs with drop-in/drop-out Multiplayer
* Discover five beautiful New Orleans hub locations including the French Quarter and the Bayou
* Have fun with eight playable characters and multiple NPCs

Vancouver – Thank you to everyone who came out to our first Vancouver Interactive Night Out at Yagger’s on West Pender – it was a great social evening, and we’re looking forward to the Holiday Event on December 18th. We hope you can join us in the back room at Yagger’s and share the holiday cheer. In celebration of our first event we held a business card draw for two Canadian-made game titles. (We may continue to do this at future events, as well).

Congratulations to our winners:

Dragon Age: Origins (360 version donated by Village Gamer) went to Roger Mitchell from Dropship Studios
FarCry 2 (360 version donated by Wendy Boylan from Ubi YVR) went to Stéphane Morichére-Matte from Catchy Consulting.

Los Angeles – Congratulations to all of the Canadian Studios, Projects and Artists who won awards at the recent Hollywood Music In Media Awards, which were held on November 19th at the Kodak Theatre Complex in Hollywood.

Best Original Score – Video Game: Jesper Kyd – “Assassins Creed 2” (Ubisoft)

Best Original Song – Video Game: “I Am the One” from Dragon Age: Origins (Bioware) Written by Inon Zur and Aubrey Ashburn / Performed by Aubrey Ashburn

Best Original Song – Commercial Advertisement: “2 Scoops” (Canada Credit) Written by Peter Holmes / Performed by Michelle Harding

Outstanding Music Supervision – Video Game: Simon Pressey – Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)

Best Contemporary Christian Song: This Day Is Mine (remix) – Janyse

Toronto – Still looking for that perfect holiday present? Dreamcatcher Games has the perfect gift idea: “Yoga”, the world’s first true Yoga game for Wii™. It helps you focus on your spiritual and physical well-being, balance and serenity, right in your own living room. A wonderful gift for young and old – and perfect for people who want to stay fit and healthy, and relax at the same time. Yoga practitioner Anja Rubik, one of the world’s top models, will guide you through the game, which is available now for Pre-Order.

In late November, DreamCatcher Games and JoWooD will release the first true-bred, 100% Yoga game. This unique game offers interactive Yoga training sessions in seven huge levels showing authentic Asian locations and buildings. No matter if you’re an experienced Yoga practitioner or new to this practice, Yoga for the Wii system will help you understand each Asana in detail and help you create your own individually customized training plan. An interactive Yoga Guru will support you throughout your training efforts, and famous Yoga practitioner Anja Rubik – ranked #3 in the world’s top model list – will guide you through the central parts of the game and tell you some of her personal Yoga secrets. Using the Balance Board, players also receive important feedback on how well they’re doing in Balance and Breathing exercises. (Of course, Yoga can also be played without a Wii Balance Board.)

“Yoga for the Wii System” as a holiday present:

With the new Yoga game (retail price set at an affordable $39.99 USD) you not only get a great game presented by one of the world’s most successful models. She is also an experienced Yoga practitioner herself and has provided a plethora of useful hints and tips on Yoga. “Yoga” is a completely new way of gaming suitable for all the family: Soothing and strengthening the body, spirit and mind, and relief from the stress of everyday life – who could refuse such an offer in today’s fast-paced world? You won’t even have to leave your home – and explore beautiful Asian locations while learning Yoga.

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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.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd-CBIx5mcM]

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.

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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Montreal – Ubisoft has released several new videos over the past few days on two channels. To watch the latest Assassin’s Creed 2 Lineage short movies, head over to the Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed UK channel for the English versions. If you want to watch the complete movie at one go, it has been released as a 35 minute film, also on the UK channel. To recount the story thus far, assassin Giovanni Auditore is tasked with investigating the plot behind the murder of the Duke of Milan. The answers he uncovers implicate Italy’s most powerful families, and not surprisingly, the evil plot reaches all the way to the Vatican. As Giovanni draws closer to the truth, he too becomes hunted. Now he must not only unravel the threads which lead to the conspirators, he must protect his family. Speaking of family, I may have to show the short movie to my Mother, so that she can see that there is much more to the games I play than just murder, mayhem and blowing things up. I’ve been a gamer for …several… years now, and she still doesn’t “get it” so maybe Lineage will help – at least a little.

There has also been a new dev diary for Avatar the Game released. Viewers can watch and learn more about Avatar in the Na’vi Gameplay Walkthrough video with Executive Producer Patrick Naud.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RDHGSB4kbE]

Other recent video releases include an Achievements video for Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage and a new Splinter Cell: Convictions “Behind Closed Doors” dev video called Create A Hero.  If you missed Behind Closed Doors Part 1 – Redefining Splinter Cell, you can watch it here.  I may have to pick up the Splinter Cell Convictions novel to read so that I’m more up to speed when Convictions comes out on February 25 2010.  Release timing for this game is excellent – with new titles from Ubisoft and Bioware, I will have loads to do while waiting out the Olympic mayhem that will be occurring on the other side of the Port Mann Bridge during the same time period.

Vancouver – Academy of Champions takes its place on store shelves all across North America today. The inaugural title from Ubisoft Vancouver, Academy of Champions features Brazilian soccer great Pelé as the headmaster at Brightfield Academy, where teamwork and good sportsmanship are the rules of the day. We’re helping the studio celebrate with three prize packs to give away. Read on for details about how you can win.

As the story’s main character, you are given the chance to live your dream by being chosen to attend Brightside Academy, where you will work towards becoming an international soccer star. Upon acceptance to the Academy, players must use their soccer skills and follow Pelé’s teaching of friendship and respect in order to form teams and play matches in order to move forward, unlocking new skills, fields and characters. American soccer star Mia Hamm is also a student at Brightfield Academy, and she lends her skill to help the team move up in rank as the storyline progresses.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ5D45RuAJM]

Every game is better with a little competition, and Academy of Champions has a rival who doesn’t believe in following the principles of good sportsmanship; in fact, the school teaches just the opposite. Scythemore Academy is led by villain headmaster Von Trappe, who believes in doing whatever it takes to win the game – and that includes underhanded recruitment of Brightside’s players. Luckily Pelé and Mia come to the rescue and our character can continue his soccer education at Brightfield. There are 19 teams to play in Academy of Champions – including a team comprised completely of insane Rabbids. Rumour has it that this is the toughest team to beat.

If amazing soccer play isn’t enough to wet your appetite, then the incredible graphics will certainly stimulate your visual senses. The artwork in Academy of Champions is of very high quality. Rich colouring, highly detailed characters and environment are only the beginning. As players win their five-on-five matches, new scenery is unlocked and added to each of the seven fields. Players can also buy new equipment in the Academy’s store and earn new moves as the team moves up the tournament ladder.

To further enhance their skill, players can participate in mini-game skills clinics, honing their abilities for goalkeeping, shooting, passing and tackles. Check out this list of Special Moves:

Super tackle: Take the ball off your opponent’s toes in a blink of an eye with this lightning-fast slide tackle.
Helix Kick: Bamboozle the goalie with this insane corkscrew shot.
Banana Kick: Put extreme bend on the ball – the keeper won’t know which way to turn.
Chopper: A spinning tackle frenzy that will send anyone in your path flying – including your own teammates!
Unstoppable Rush: Release that pent up aggression by knocking over anyone that gets in your way as you charge towards goal.
Cat-like Grace: Glide through tackles and defense like a knife through butter.
Stealth Attack: When Sam Fisher turns on his night-vision goggles nobody can see him – ideal for getting through on goal undetected.
Eagle Strike: Altair’s assassin training helps him to launch into the air and unleash a lethal strike that will take out the keeper before it hits the back on the net.
Acrobatic Leap: Why go through the defence when you can just leap over it? The other team won’t expect that!
Plunger Shot: The Rabbid weapon of choice makes for a very potent shot at goal.
Photo Fanatic: Jade will use the flash of her camera to temporarily stun her opponents and make them lose the ball.
Perfect Dribble: Opponents will be stunned by Pele’s unbelievable ball skills rendering them unable to stop him.
Bicycle Smash: Mia Hamm’s stunning backflip bicycle kick makes her one of the best strikers around.
Speed Burst: An explosion of pace that will help you catch up to opponents.
Dodge Move: Jump over or go around players quickly with these cool and easy to use tricks.

Academy of Champions is one of the easiest games ever to learn how to play. Prior to my in-studio game play preview, I had never played a soccer game, and being a 360 player, I was apprehensive about my sparse Wii skills. The apprehension was inconsequential – the player controls are very intuitive, and the in-game tutorials help newcomers pick up the necessary skills very quickly. As an added bonus, Academy of Champions will work with or without Wii MotionPlus™, and even incorporates the Wii Balance Board. You can also play the game solo or recruit a friend to help you defeat other academies or play against you. I have no qualms about recommending Academy of Champions as a great family title – and have done so to everyone I know, including the EB Games outlet in Langley where we purchase all of our titles (where they’ve had the box on display for awhile now) .

Related Post: Read more about my introduction to Academy of Champions.

As I mentioned at the top of this article, we are celebrating Academy of Champions’ North American debut with three prize packs, courtesy of Ubisoft Vancouver. Each prize pack consists of the following:

1 copy of Academy of Champions Wii game
1 adult T-shirt
1 child’s T-shirt
1 Pelé trading card
1 Academy of Champions pin
1 set of Academy of Champions shoe laces
1 mini Academy of Champions soccer ball

…and it all comes packed in an Academy of Champions mini backpack.

To enter for a chance to win this great prize pack, simply email the answers for the following questions to contest-at-villagegamer-dot-net, along with your name and mailing address, using Academy of Champions Contest in the subject line. This contest is open to residents of Canada only. Entries will be accepted until 9:00 a.m. on Friday, November 6, 2009. Winners will be chosen from a random draw of correctly answered ballots. Winners will be announced at noon on Friday, November 6 on Village Gamer, and prize packages will be sent directly from Ubisoft Vancouver.

The contest questions:

1. Who is the Assassin on the Ubisoft team?
2. Who is the American soccer star featured in Academy of Champions?
3. Pelé played for which country’s National Soccer Team?

Once again, congratulations to the team at Ubisoft Vancouver for presenting a highly-polished, very well put together debut product – you have much to be proud of with Academy of Champions.

Toronto – Incubator Games, a group of young industry professionals, is proud to announce the launch of their new website along with 18 new screenshots for their first game, Tribes of Mexica, which was an entry in Microsoft’s 2009 Dream Build Play contest.

Tribes of Mexica is an action-puzzle title deeply steeped in Aztec mythology. The game’s core mechanics center on rotating concentric rings to match coloured units, powering up spells, and timing attacks and defensive maneuvers. An adventure element ties the battles together, allowing the player to explore exotic locales in ancient Mesoamerica while building up a magical arsenal. Currently in development for the Xbox 360, Incubator Games has plans to port Tribes of Mexica over to the PC/Mac/Linux platforms, and is investigating other platforms as well.

Samsung Electronics, a leader in consumer electronics and information technology, and Handmark®, a world-leading creator and distributor of mobile applications and services, today announced the launch of a new Global Venture Fund to invest in companies and/or individuals with innovative, market-changing game ideas for next generation Samsung mobile phones. Companies and/or individuals selected will receive up to $250,000 each to fund the development of winning ideas.

The fund will be managed by Handmark out of its Kansas City and London offices in partnership with Samsung Electronics. The companies are searching for games that best showcase Samsung mobile phones and the advanced features they offer. Both current and new content ideas are encouraged, taking timing and cost into consideration.

“We know there’s a wealth of great ideas out there waiting to be discovered,” said Chris Barnett, senior vice president of Global Sales and Strategic Partnerships for Handmark. “This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone, including big brands, mobile developers or any individual with a unique, creative idea to make it a reality.”

“Samsung recognizes the importance of content and applications for today’s mobile phone users,” said Ho Soo Lee, executive vice president for Samsung Electronics’ Media Solution Center. “We are pleased to broaden our partnership with Handmark to help lead the Global Venture Fund, using their expertise to support us capturing great ideas and raise the standard of mobile innovation.”

In addition to funding those selected, Handmark will also provide assistance with development, testing and certification, as well as distribution of the application through the Samsung Application Store. Deadline for applications is November 20, 2009 at 5 PM CT.

Game peripheral company SteelSeries has announced a new distributorship deal with Best Buy Canada. A solid supporter of competitive gaming events in Canada including our own Digital Storm LAN, SteelSeries also purchased Canadian game keyboard maker ZBoard in 2008.
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Burnaby – EA Canada has announced that according to internal EA data, the Need for Speed™ franchise has surpassed 100 million units sold life to date. The newest release, Need for Speed SHIFT, pushes the franchise over the 100M mark, making it the best-selling racing brand in the gaming world. Need for Speed has become a driving force for innovation in the racing genre. Known for delivering unparalleled white-knuckle racing, creative customization and street style, the Need for Speed series has generated over $2.7B in life-to-date sales and has become a powerful pop culture phenomenon.

“Few videogame franchises ever reach the 100M units mark, so this is a huge honor. We have millions of fans to thank for driving us to this milestone,” said Frank Gibeau, president, EA Games Label. “With the launch of Need for Speed SHIFT and the upcoming release of Need for Speed NITRO, we hope to continue to deliver the most entertaining, action-packed racing experiences.”

Since the release of Need for Speed in 1994, the franchise has…

*Launched 15 blockbuster titles across more than 14 platforms
*Released in 22 languages in over 60 countries
*Players have raced over 279 billion miles of roads & race tracks
*Generated over 17 trillion user-generated vehicle customizations
*Featured actors, models & musicians including: Brooke Burke (Wild On), Christina Milian (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past), Emmanuelle Vaugier (Two and a Half Men), Josie Maran (Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and actress), Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III), Kanye West, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Prodigy
*Debuted exclusive remix from Snoop Dogg of The Door’s classic song Riders on the Storm
*Sold more games than all new passenger cars sales in the U.S since 1994 (93.8 Million according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics)

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Burnaby – With 1.7 million copies sold through at European retail in the first week, FIFA 10 is the fastest selling sports game ever and EA’s biggest European launch in history, and now EA Sports is happy to inform players that EA Sports FIFA Earth beta is now live. FIFA Earth is the premier online destination for sharing all the latest FIFA 10 news, stats, rankings, and more.

Through FIFA Earth players can get closer than ever before to the real life data that drives the EA Sports FIFA 10 community. From tracking the number of FIFA 10 games being played online to the number of wins, losses and draws of individual clubs or countries, FIFA Earth enables you to keep a finger on the pulse of everything happening within the EA Sports FIFA community. If your club is starting to slide down the league standing, FIFA Earth alerts you, enabling you to take control into your own hands to win more games and increase your overall winning-percentage. FIFA Earth enables users to connect to FIFA 10 fans from all over the world, collecting EA Sports FIFA tweets and football thoughts as they occur, in real-time.

And all this is just the beginning. Just as football keeps growing and growing, FIFA Earth will evolve along with it to become a platform of infinite possibilities. You decide how big football can get!

Vancouver – Ubisoft has released the latest trailer for the Ubi Vancouver developed Academy of Champions, which will hit store shelves on November 3rd. This long-awaited sports title for the Wii features the likeness of soccer great Pele, challenging mini-games, and some well-known Ubisoft characters.

The premise behind Academy of Champions is that you are a young soccer star – or you want to be, and you manage to gain a spot at Pele’s Brightfield Academy. From the official game synopsis, “Teamwork, Friendship and Respect are the key values that Headmaster Pelé shares. That said, competition at Brightfield is high, and the hero must form a team to stay in school and follow his goal to become a pro.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGW67kDKtl8]

Our hero’s potential is obvious, and this has not been missed by the beady eyes of Von Trappe, the headmaster of the rival Scythemore Academy, an institution that instills in its students the ideal of winning at all costs, even if this involves overt aggression or cheating. Von Trappe puts a plan into action to bring our talented hero to Scythemore, but Pelé is wise to his trickery, ultimately outwits him and saves our hero from the hardship of spending more than one term at Von Trappe’s brutal Academy.”

I had the opportunity to play Academy of Champions recently, and I will freely admit that prior to playing the game, I was very dubious. I am not a fan of the sports game genre, nor am I as proficient with the Wii as I am with the 360. Luckily I had my own personal game tutor as well as the in-game tutorials to learn how to play the game. It didn’t take me very long to get a handle on the controls and game play, and I was actually having fun playing a sports game.

As you work your way through the Academy’s storyline, you are presented with mini-challenges such as goalkeeping, shooting, passing and tackles – or you can master Brazilian Freestyle juggling with the Wii Balance Board™. Academy of Champions will also work with either the standard Wii nunchuk controller or with Wii Motion. As you increase your soccer pitch prowess, your skill level improves and you are able to purchase equipment upgrades.

You can also unlock new characters for your team – my favourite team build was comprised of Rayman, Altair, Sam Fisher, the Prince of Persia and Jade – who all appear as youngsters. Rumour has it that the toughest team to beat on the soccer pitch is the Rabbids. While every character in the game has a special power-up move, the Ubisoft characters bring their own brand of special talents to the game. Special moves on the Brightfield Academy team are gained by co-operative team play – passing the ball to other members of your team is a fast way to fill the power bar. Players can then shake the Wii mote to execute the special moves – some players use their skill for offense, while others use theirs for defense.

While Pele is headmaster of the Academy, his number one assistant in teaching his young charges the benefits of good sportsmanship and fairplay is none other than American soccer star Mia Hamm. Mia is the current all-time leading scorer, male or female, in international soccer history and at age 15 was the youngest player ever to be named to the US National Team. As positive role models for young people in real life, both Pele and Mia were natural choices to be the leaders of Brightfield Academy.

There are many different teams to play against with your chosen teammates, and with the multi-player game mode you can either play with friends or against them. The artwork presented in both background and character development is very high quality – it is obvious that a great deal of attention went into the game’s environment and visual appeal. Scoring goals in the game doesn’t just get you closing to winning the match, it helps you build each arena’s backdrop. The audio work in Academy of Champions is also top notch – the more I played the game, the more it became apparent that the Ubisoft Vancouver team had put together a very high-quality, family-friendly game which has lasting appeal. They certainly won me over with Academy of Champions, and this is one title which will be seeing some game play at Village Gamer.

Congratulations to everyone at Ubisoft Vancouver for such a positive, high quality debut title!