Village Gamer

Vancouver – Research has shown that brain health begins to lag as early as age 25. However, the same research has shown that with regular brain fitness training, the brain can create new neural connections and pathways at any age.

In response to this research, Vancouver’s Vivity Labs has created FitBrains.com, a new online brain fitness platform that hosts fun, casual games developed by brain fitness experts, specifically designed to exercise the brain and improve the five major cognitive brain functions – memory, concentration, language, executive functions (logic and reasoning), and visual-spatial skills.
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Vancouver – A couple of months ago we told you about a new game called Raycatcher,  a title which syncs its gameplay with your MP3s.  Developed by Thinking Studios, Raycatcher allows the player to create custom playlists of his or her favorite music and play for as long or as short as you’d like. The goal of the game is to spin a colorful cluster of shapes to catch multi-colored rays. This causes the cluster to grow, evolve, and unlock 30 new evolutionary stages. Raycatcher is now available for purchase on Steam, Direct2Drive and Impulse.

Raycatcher Download Features

• Load in your own music: Raycatcher will accept .mp3 and .wav formats
• Beat detection technology: Changes gameplay to match your music in pleasant and creative ways.
• Make playlists of any length: Raycatcher is flexible and allows you to play for how ever long you want, and still feel like you’ve made progress.
• Original music by artist Noobie Noobinson: Music by a new up and coming band, some of which was created specifically for Raycatcher.
• 30 evolutionary stages: Complete with funny and enlightening descriptions. Raycatcher illustrates a cute and informative view of the kosmos.
• Range of difficulty: Easy to pick up, with 3 difficulty levels that range from easy-yet-challenging to insanely difficult.

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Montreal – Ubisoft has announced the launch of its first game created specifically for the new Nintendo DSi™: My Healthy Cooking Coach. Already a worldwide leader on Nintendo DS™, Ubisoft is one of the first independent developers to launch a game created to take advantage of the new functionality of the Nintendo DSi. My Healthy Cooking Coach is an easy-to-use, fun game for anybody who wants to eat balanced and fresh healthy meals.

With more than 240 recipes created by a culinary school and in collaboration with a renowned nutritionist, My Healthy Cooking Coach offers player tips and tricks to create healthy and delicious meals that will delight friends and family. My Healthy Cooking Coach is available on Nintendo DS™ as well as Nintendo DSi, in June 2009.

Thanks to the new functionality of the Nintendo DSi, My Healthy Cooking Coach offers enhanced content and gameplay experiences. Ten recipes will be exclusively available on the DSi version, and budding chefs can use the system’s camera to personalize users’ profiles.

In addition to My My Healthy Cooking Coach, Ubisoft will soon launch several other new games specifically created for the Nintendo DSi™.

Images Courtesy of  & Copyright to Ubisoft®

Burnaby BC – Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that tennis stars John McEnroe, Roger Federer and Serena Williams will be the North American* cover athletes for its new tennis franchise, EA SPORTS™ Grand Slam® Tennis. Eight different regional player partnerships will be announced soon. McEnroe, one of the sport’s most recognizable figures, was recently confirmed as exclusive to the game. Federer and Williams are among the biggest names in tennis and the most accomplished; having won 23 Grand Slam singles titles between them. Williams becomes the first woman to grace the cover of an EA SPORTS simulation product.

“It’s very exciting to be on the cover of EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis. This game not only shows EA’s enthusiasm for tennis but for also women’s tennis,” said Williams. “I know from experience how tough and gratifying it is to win all four Grand Slams so I hope people will enjoy the Grand Slam experience that is offered in this game.” Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver – Ion Branding + Design, a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary graphic design studio, today announced the launch of their third annual One Good Idea™ contest. Doing good for the world is any organization’s badge of honour. Through their third annual One Good Idea™ contest, Ion Branding + Design is looking for a project that positively contributes to the well-being of our world. An organization’s project could be environmentally, socially or economically focused. The submission with the most merit will receive $25,000 worth of Ion’s creative services.

At its core, sustainability is an expression of the desire to find balance and harmony among the competing social, economic and environmental drivers of culture. It’s about trying to fashion a better society. While most would agree that we all want to make a difference, we would probably also agree that we feel overwhelmed about how to make it real. Our One Good Idea™ contest endeavors to remind people that even small steps can contribute to massive change. One Good Idea™ is all it takes.
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Toronto – DreamCatcher Games and JoWooD Productions, leading publishers of interactive entertainment software worldwide, are pleased to announce that Yoga for Wii™ is under development and set to be released October 2009.  Fans of yoga and those interested in improving their overall fitness and well-being will be able to practice Yoga from the comfort of their own home.

Utilizing the Wii Balance Board™ and following step-by-step instructions from a variety of in game Yoga Gurus, players will be guided through a variety of popular Yoga exercises. Players will be able to monitor their progress with a dynamic tracking system and set up a schedule to follow.  The yoga guru, acting as your own personal trainer, will make suggestions to you based on your progress and computations taken from the Balance Board.  The Wii Remote™ and Balance Board will be used for many poses to determine the player’s balance and any movements or shifts in weight by the player will be detected and recorded once the pose is complete.

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Developer – Big Fish Games
Publisher – Big Fish Games
Released – November 26 2008
Rating: E – T
Game Score: 10/10
Official Website

In this sequel to Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst, players again take on the role of a Master Detective trying to unravel the evil mysteries which inhabit the old Ravenhearst Manor. Picking up where Ravenhearst left off, the story revolves around the fate of yet more ghosts who are still trapped in the eerie mansion.

The tone for Return to Ravenhearst is set right from the opening frames of the game. A moody and haunting soundtrack, complete with timely sound effects lets the gamer know that this chapter in the franchise is not going to be a pleasant jaunt through the park. The game’s environmental artists have developed an atmosphere that exudes creepiness – everything from the artfully created lighting to triggered animations immerses the player into the mood of the story.

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Kelowna BC – Following its phenomenal success with millions of children and parents around the globe, the virtual world of Club Penguin has opened its igloo doors to the francophone community.

The new French language version of Club Penguin is supported by francophone staff in Europe and Canada who understand the unique cultural references of the French audience and can provide timely and responsive moderation and customer support.

“As a Canadian-based company, we’re particularly excited to be able to offer French-speaking children and families in this country the same opportunity to explore the fun and creativity of Club Penguin in their own language that so many other kids around the world already enjoy,” says Lane Merrifield, one of Club Penguin’s founders and executive vice president of Disney Online Studios.

Club Penguin, which launched in English in 2005, is one of the largest and fastest-growing virtual worlds for children where they can explore, play games and interact with friends. The virtual world enhances the Walt Disney Company’s legacy of rich and immersive entertainment that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

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Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that a new downloadable game mode called FIFA 09 Ultimate Team is available now to download to the award-winning EA SPORTS™ FIFA Soccer 09 on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system.

FIFA 09 Ultimate Team challenges gamers to collect the most talented players in the world, develop them into a dream team and then compete online. Feel the exhilaration as you take your carefully assembled squad into matches and tournaments online against the most formidably talented teams ever assembled—and out play them. Here is the ultimate test of your skills as a player and manager.

Collect bronze, silver and gold virtual cards, including Player, Staff, Contract, Formations, and Tactics, to create a fantasy team. Strategically collect and manage players and different types of cards, and then set the match strategy to win. Carefully select or trade for the right Manager, then choose the best Tactics and Formations that forge the team chemistry necessary to take your club to the top.

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Canadian game studio strives for something different

Toronto – Untold Entertainment Inc., a Canadian game studio specializing in online casual games for kids, happily announces the development of Kahoots. Kahoots is a challenging game of nonsensical crime and silly intrigue, modelled entirely from plasticine.

The game is set in Londonton, a fictional and foolish vision of London, England. Drawing its inspiration from British board games like Cluedo (AKA “Clue”), and absurdly humorous series like Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The League of Gentlemen, Kahoots immerses the player in sepia-tinged Edwardian (fake) England at the height of a crime wave. As Spotland Pond’s newest detective, the player must track down cabals of criminals, all in pursuit of the evil mastermind behind their reign of (mostly harmless) terror.

A Very Hands-On Approach

Kahoots is being modeled from top to bottom in plasticine. Every character, set and prop is lovingly (and squishingly) hand-crafted by the team at Untold Entertainment. The world of Londonton is being brought to life through careful photography and digital image manipulation, resulting in a seamless (but smudgy) game experience. The creators hope that the game’s clay graphics will set it Read the rest of this entry »