Village Gamer

Vancouver – A team of four students at the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Advanced Wood Processing has just released an innovative educational “video game” on the basics of CNC technology and tooling. The application allows users to explore a virtual machine shop to learn about topics related to the electrical and mechanical components of CNC machines, as well as tool design, physics, and metallurgy.

While many websites provide technical overviews of CNC technology, it is often difficult to obtain accurate and objective information, and the presentation is typically text-heavy. This video game takes a different approach by using an interactive 3D environment to teach 3D concepts such as tooling angles. The educational content is supported by pictures, graphics, videos, 2D animations, and 3D animations.

The project was developed at the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at UBC, Canada’s education and training centre for the wood products manufacturing industry. The original concept was proposed by Richard Hewitt, a recent graduate of UBC’s Wood Products Processing program, and Robert Shum, a UBC Computer Science student. The two subsequently hired and managed a team of fellow UBC students to help develop the application, as well as contributing their own animation, video-editing, and programming skills. Funding was provided through BCCampus, a BC government initiative that promotes a fusion of technology and education to create open learning opportunities for students and adult learners.

The educational game is available for Windows PCs and can be downloaded for free at:
http://www.learncnc.org

London – From the creative minds that brought you Home Sweet Home and Masters of Mystery comes a brand new adventure! Big Blue Bubble proudly announces the release of Legacy: World Adventure!

Travel the world as Emily King, an intelligent young woman with a yearning for adventure and a craving for knowledge. Help her reclaim her family legacy in an electrifying race around the globe, to win the illustrious Grand Adventurers Expedition! Legacy: World Adventure will challenge your Match 3 abilities and heighten your World Fact knowledge with exciting clues and stunning imagery!
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Vancouver – With the MLB All-Star Game right around the corner, 2K Sports today announced a free demo of The BIGS 2, which is being developed by Blue Castle Games,  is now available for download through Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and a demo on PlayStation Network will follow shortly. The demo will support two players, local only, and offer fans the exciting opportunity to experience the new Batter’s Wheelhouse, thrilling power ups, and incredible player models in a three inning game as either the American League All-Stars or National League All-Stars. Fans will also have the chance to smash home runs into building windows and neon signs in the return of the hugely popular mode, Home Run Pinball, in an all-new Las Vegas venue.

The BIGS 2, available on all major video game consoles, has been elevated to new heights this season with amazing visual effects and a variety of newly added modes including the fan requested Season and Become a Legend. With improved player animations and pick-up-and-play controls, The BIGS 2 is guaranteed to deliver an action-packed MLB videogame experience.

Scheduled to be in retail stores on July 7, 2009, The BIGS 2 will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo.

Montreal – Following its success in selected territories in Europe, selling well over 100,000 units, Euro Truck Simulator gets a new name for the North American shores; Big Rig Europe.

It’s the same great gameplay and level of quality gamers have come to expect from SCS Software, creators of Meridian4’s previous driving simulation game Bus Driver and creators of the hugely successful 18 Wheels of Steel series, with a new name and logo.

Big Rig Europe is currently available for digital download on Impulse and will be coming to Wild Tangent, Gametap and many other channels in the near future.

About Big Rig Europe

Navigate your way around a realistic depiction of Europe traveling along major trunk routes and visiting famous places based on real roads and cities. Experience the life of a long distance truck driver as you face the challenge of varying road and traffic conditions and meeting the demands of a heavy schedule.
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Montreal – Meridian4 is thrilled to announce that they have signed an agreement with independent developer 2DEngine.com to digitally distribute their challenging and addictive puzzle game Chains.

“Working with Meridian4 is an excellent opportunity to gain the right exposure for our game which would not be possible otherwise. Most conservative casual portals would not appreciate how Chains is so expressive and different from other puzzle titles.” Said Ivan Traykov, Lead Designer and Programmer at 2DEngine.com.

“We were instantly addicted to Chains the moment we played it and instead of getting no work done, we decided to sign the game so we had a legitimate reason for playing it. We also saw a great, challenging independently-developed game that needed to get exposure to a wide audience. This is one of those ‘just-one-more-level’ games that will have you playing for hours.” said Andy Sher, CEO at Meridian4.

Chains will be available in the coming weeks on most digital distribution channels. Village Gamer has reviewed this game – and recommends it for some challenging fun.

Toronto – Providential Pictures has announced the launch of Paws and Tales Games MMOG, a faith-based website for children to play, watch and learn. Paws and Tales Games aims to provide a fun, safe and educational place online for children and families.

Paws and Tales Games aims to provide a fun, safe and educational place online for children and families. The Paws and Tales Games MMOG is based on Paws and Tales The Animated Series®.

Both the animated series and games website are designed for children as safe entertainment with faith-based values that parents can trust. Children can choose their favourite Paws and Tales character and interact with friends online.

Capable of supporting thousands of players simultaneously, the long term goal of the website is to enable players to cooperate with each other on a large scale and interact meaningfully with others around the world.

“Safety is our first priority and we have worked to ensure that we’ve created a safe online environment for children and their families.” said Product Manager Nelson Bodnarchuk. “We offer a chat that has a predefined menu of greetings, questions and statements for users to interact with. Users aren’t able to transmit personal data to other users. Those users who engage in inappropriate behavior can be suspended or banned from the Community.” Read the rest of this entry »

Sim City – Electronic Arts Play Label, Sims Studio and Montreal’s Artificial Mind & Movement announced today that MySims Racing for the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ will be zooming into retail outlets this week. The latest title in the popular MySims franchise starts players as wannabe speedsters and after working their way up the ranks, it is time for them to burn rubber against the toughest MySims rival racers on the trickiest tracks in Speedville. The excitement never stops as the more successful the player is on the track, the more they will be able to customize their kart and trick it out with new engines and bodies. Designed specifically from the ground up for the Nintendo platforms, MySims Racing offers something for everyone who wants to live life in the fast lane.

“The MySims have had many adventures and conquered many challenges, but for the first time we find them behind the wheels of their own customized vehicles,” said Tim LeTourneau, General Manager of the MySims Franchise. “MySims Racing combines the fun and quirky MySims spirit our fans love with fast-paced action-packed arcade racing. We can’t wait for players to take this game for a spin.”
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Montreal – Newly-founded Montreal-based game developer and publisher Gamesmith Studios is the latest company to board the iPhone games train, and it’s doing so in grand fashion by releasing 8 fresh new titles simultaneously.

The company’s founders, both under the age of 30, promise that this initial launch is the first of many, hinting that they have already signed a number of partnerships which will be revealed in the future. “Publishing great Apps conceived by other developers is an intricate part of Gamesmith’s strategy. We like to think of our arrangement as a collective of small independent developers, working together to increase our exposure on Apple’s App Store, and collaborating to create great new innovative products“ says Jasson Michaud, co-founder of Gamesmith Studios. “We want the Gamesmith name to be synonym of fun, high-quality interactive products.”
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Montreal – Software publisher Strategy First Inc., and Out of the Park Productions are proud to present Bill ‘The Spaceman’ Lee Out Of The Park Baseball 10, which will be released June 9,2009.

Out Of The Park Baseball 10 is the 10th installment of the award-winning baseball management simulation game. The game will add more features to an already unparalleled feature set and improve already existing ones. With an improved artificial intelligence, which results the most realistic baseball management

Out of the Park 10

experience, Out Of The Park Baseball 10 continues the tradition of innovative management simulations.

Out Of The Park Baseball 10 includes a brand new never before seen 90 minute interview with Red Sox Hall of Fame Pitcher Bill ‘The Spaceman’ Lee. The celebrated pitcher provides his unique insight into baseball management, history, and tips on how to build a World Series caliber team.

“We are excited to bring Bill ‘The Spaceman’ Lee Out Of The Park Baseball 10 to Gamers world wide. Teaming up one of Major League baseball’s iconic pitchers Bill ‘The Spaceman’ Lee with the award winning franchise will provide Gamers with great game play, information and entertainment all in one offering.” Says Strategy First Business Development Manager Emanuel Wall.

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Burnaby – Via E3 – EA SPORTS™, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., announced today that EA SPORTS Active™ has eclipsed 600,000 units sold worldwide at retail in less than two weeks on the market. EA SPORTS Active, which hit stores on May 19^th in North America and by May 22^nd worldwide*, is a virtual fitness product developed exclusively for the Wii™ and offers the benefit of a personal trainer in a box with customizable workouts that

EA Sports Active

can be done from the comfort of home.

“We’re delighted by the overwhelming response to EA SPORTS Active,” said Peter Moore, President, EA SPORTS. “This is, by far, the most successful launch of any Wii title in EA history, and even more encouraging is that our second week sales worldwide were as strong as our first week. Not only are we off to a great start at retail, but the feedback from people who are getting off the couch, breaking a sweat and using EA SPORTS Active to support living a healthier lifestyle, is that it is changing their lives.”

Critics and consumers alike have praised EA SPORTS Active. “EA SPORTS Active finally bridges the gap between house and gym, earning it top honors as the best exercise game currently out for the Wii,” according to 1up.com. In its five star review, Green Pixels says, “EA SPORTS Active easily wins top honors in this rapidly growing genre.” Read the rest of this entry »