Village Gamer

Digital Leisure Inc. has announced the launch of Word Searcher III. The follow up to DSiWare hits Word Searcher and Word Searcher II, designed for Nintendo’s DSiWare™ service, Word Searcher III is rated E for Everyone and is available today in North America on DSiWare for 500 Nintendo DSi Points™.

You’ll need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher 3 contains fun words from multiple categories including Astronomy, Currency and Rivers. 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. Get your thinking cap on and conquer all 100 today.

Loud Crow Interactive has released another timeless classic children’s story for iOS mobile devices. PopOut! The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is the next installment in the studio’s PopOut! series of unique interactive digital books. As with its debut title  PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is another beautiful digital rendition of a classic bedtime story is now available in the App Store.

Children can interact with this mischievous tale of a quirky squirrel as it comes to life, encouraging young readers to to pull tabs, spin wheels, and activate spring-mounted story elements. The art, music, and interactive experience were all delicately composed to honor and enliven Beatrix Potter’s original 1903 work.

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin Features:

• Touch and drag objects to make them “spring” to life or tilt to watch them slide and move
• Objects that literally PopOut! of the page to delight you and your family
• Beautiful vocal performance, music, and sound effects will immerse you in the story
• “Read to Me” mode with word highlighting to help improve reading skills
• Read it Yourself and learn individual words spoken with the tap of a finger
• Over 50 pages of authentic text and illustrations with realistic page turning interactions just like the original hardcover book

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices running iOS 3.2 or later. This App sells for $2.99 for the iPhone or iPod Touch versions or $4.99 for the iPad version.

zinc Roe Games invite you and your children to play alongside Stella and Sam and their dog Fred as they spend a night camping out in their backyard. In Backyard At Twilight, young readers can look for bugs in the tent, discover constellations among the stars and learn about shapes with the fireflies. From the makers of the award-winning Tickle Tap Apps, the Stella and Sam Interactive Adventures combine stunning animation with three elegantly-designed activities.

Stella: “The night Giant is coming Sam. I think I can hear his big footsteps coming over the meadow.”
Sam: “I can too!”

The Stella and Sam Apps are based on the television show and the bestselling picture book series by Marie-Louise Gay. Over one million copies of Stella and Sam books have been translated into fifteen languages,  and are loved by children all over the world.

Each Stella and Sam Adventure is rated 4+ and is Compatible with iPads running iOS 4.2 or later. Backyard At Twilight features beautiful fullscreen animation with support for English and French. The story includes three fun and simple games along with quick navigation by both chapter and game.

The Stella and Sam apps are produced by zinc Roe Productions Inc. with the participation of Radical Sheep, the Bell Fund and the Canada Media Fund.

Don’t miss your chance to vote for Game of the Year for the 2011 Canadian Videogame Awards.  Voting is open to the public until midnight, Friday, May 13th (note: Facebook Connect is required to vote).

The five 2011 Game of the Year finalists are:

·       Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
·       Dead Rising 2
·       FIFA 11
·       Mass Effect 2
·       Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction

There are still great seats available for the 2011 Canadian Videogame Awards – and tickets start at just $30.00.  Come out next Wednesday night and enjoy an evening with the top developers and publishers in Canada! The show will be hosted by Victor Lucas and his team from The Electric Playground, and you can even get some autographs post-show!  Internationally renowned Video Games Live will be back to provide the musical entertainment AND Nintendo will be offering attendees a special opportunity to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for Nintendo 3DS.  

Don’t miss the 2011 Canadian Games Conference – there is still time to register.  This year’s event features sessions in business, production, design, programming, social games, and iPhone games, as well as a special line-up of “Best of GDC” speakers, and offers visionary keynotes, an expo hall, and evening networking events.  The Conference takes place May 19-20th at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Just over a month ago Tiny Hippo became part of the RIM family, and the developers have announced that they are adding support for BlackBerry WebWorks 2.0.0 to their flagship product, Ripple Mobile Environment Emulator. This support includes most of the APIs in the WebWorks stack as well skinning for 3 supported BlackBerry devices (The BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Bold, and the BlackBerry PlayBook). Check out Ripple’s docs page to see the extent of the WebWorks support as well as what else is new in this release.

Decapod Studios has released a free version of its hit match 3 title Murphid for Windows Phone 7. The full version of Murphid is also available for 99 cents.

• 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 expirience for players of all ages.

If you don’t have WP7, you can always play Murphid on your Xbox 360, too – it’s available in the Games Marketplace for only 80 MS Points.

Roaring Penguin Software Inc. has announced the release of CanIt 8.0.5. which adds several major improvements to the CanIt Archiver software. Several major new features were added including:

• CanIt-Archiver keeps an audit trail of searches and message accesses. Administrators and end-users can see the audit trail. (End-users can only see audit trails relating to their own archive.)
• CanIt-Archiver has a hook for archiving internal email that normally would not be seen by CanIt.
• CanIt-Archiver stores only one copy of duplicate messages received on a given day for a given realm.

CanIt Archiver, “The Uninteruptible E-mail Supply”, is a highly configurable e-mail archiving solution focused on e-mail continuity. CanIt Archiver ensures that e-mail is accessible in the event of a mail server outage and queues e-mail to make sure that it is delivered when mail service is restored.

CanIt 8.0.5 is available as:

* 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.

Scott is a retired volunteer firefighter and my grandfather, father and two uncles were volunteer firefighters, so we are both very happy to see that construction has officially begun on a permanent, national memorial to pay tribute to Canada’s fallen firefighters, thanks to an investment by the Government of Canada. The announcement was made today by Pierre Poilievre, Member of Parliament (Nepean-Carleton), on behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, as part of an official sod-turning ceremony alongside the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

“No job is more important than protecting the lives of Canadians and their families,” said Minister Moore. “This memorial will be a permanent reminder of the sacrifices firefighters across Canada make to keep us safe.”

“Our gratitude to those who put their lives on the line to make Canada safer is often difficult to express,” said Mr. Poilievre. “This memorial will serve to remind all Canadians of the men and women who put their lives at risk for their communities.”

The Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation is building the monument in the Lebreton Flats area of the National Capital Region, near the Canadian War Museum. This monument, the only official memorial to Canada’s firefighters, will be located at the exact location where the Great Fire of 1900 was finally brought under control after destroying 1400 buildings and killing seven people in Ottawa, and destroying 1300 buildings in Gatineau.

The Government of Canada announced funding of $2,529,800 for the construction of this monument in 2009. This funding is being providing through the Commemorate Canada component of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Celebration and Commemoration Program. This component provides financial support to initiatives of national significance that commemorate various aspects of Canadian history.

Hothead Games has launched their second iOS title Chromanoids in the App Store. This arcade shoot ’em up puts you in charge of a last line of defense space fleet, tasked with saving Earth from the unforgiving enemy Chromanoid ships.

Chromanoids is a classic arcade-style space shooter, but with a colorful twist: players can only damage the oncoming ships with blasts of color that match that of the enemy. Mix and swap colors in the reservoir to make the perfect match and destroy the Chromanoid attackers.

Players have the choice to use in game Power Ups, such as Nukes, Fastshot and Instakill Blitz Bombs to progress through wave after wave of challenging space battles.

To keep you entertained throughout the missile launches and explosions the game story that accompanies Chromanoids is a space fuelled adventure inspired by anime and centered around themes of squad defection, peer respect and an out of this world love triangle.

“Ensign Cyan reporting for duty Sir! Sensors detect shielded Chromanoids coming our way!”

Chromanoids features:

*         Special power up items to obtain during play to help you on your mission
*         Game Center support with leaderboards for each game mode and local high scores
*         Five different modes of gameplay:

*    Story Mode: You’re the last line of defense against the Chromanoids; your success affects the outcome.
*    Armada Mode: Be challenged with more and faster attackers.
*    Ultradrive Mode: The attacking ships speed up with each new wave, and your accuracy will affect the speed of your color missiles.
*    Depleted Mode: Blast power is diminished as you hit the enemies, but gain bonus points for targeting the ships with smaller and smaller shots.
*    Red-Shift Mode: Blast away!  Just shoot the enemies down, without having to change colors.

[youtube:http://youtu.be/Y1bEIGfjh9Y]

You can try the Chromanoids free version (in-app purchase will unlock the full game) or purchase the full version for 99 cents USD. This game is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

Rock Hippo Productions Ltd. has announced its upcoming online multiplayer action game, Brawl Busters.
Co-published with Weezor and developed by Korean studio SkeinGlobe, Brawl Busters (formerly known as Project Plan B), is a fast-paced, free-to-play third-person action game that promises competitive fun at its funkiest.  Players can take a sneak peek at the game and register for a spot in the exclusive upcoming closed beta on the game’s web site.

Brawl Busters is a dynamic new action brawler that features competitive and co-operative battle modes all in a unique third person view.  With its simple and intuitive controls, this easy to pick up and play game makes team strategy a must as player’s battle against each other or team up against computer controlled enemies.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy3bCFZW3VA]

“Brawl Busters is packed with non-stop action and features an offbeat style that is like no other game on the market today,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “The game is truly unique in both its distinct look and its innovative gameplay, and it has been building an excited and loyal group of followers who can’t wait to get their hands on the game. We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with both Weezor and SkeinGlobe as we head towards the game’s launch.”

Players will find five unique character classes including the Slugger, the Firefighter, the Rocker, the Boxer and finally, the Blitzer.  With its signature funky visual style, the game will offer seven exciting maps and will also feature a huge variety of customization options including body type, gender, weapons, costumes and accessories along with the ability to upgrade weapons and costumes with new abilities. Brawl Busters will feature an intense Training Mode, Challenge Missions, leader boards and persistent stat tracking.

“Brawl Busters was developed for a Western audience from its very inception and with Rock Hippo’s well established publishing background in North America and Europe, we expect yet another great success story,” said Seul Ki Lee, CEO of SkeinGlobe. “SkeinGlobe’s mission is to deliver the absolute best online gaming experience to players across the globe. We’d like to thank all the patient fans of project ‘Plan B’ as we take the game to its next phase with the upcoming release of Brawl Busters.  We will work very closely with Rock Hippo to let players experience our vision for this game as soon as possible.”

By now you’ve probably already heard that Electronic Arts Inc. has announced that EA Sports™ FIFA Soccer 12, currently in development at EA Sports in Burnaby, will deliver the most authentic, innovative and feature-rich 3D soccer experience on Nintendo 3DS™ when the game launches this fall. FIFA Soccer 12 on Nintendo 3DS will feature over 500 officially licensed clubs, new touch screen controls that will change the game play experience, and the first-ever 3D Street Soccer. With eight different game modes, it is the largest feature set ever developed by EA Sports for a hand-held soccer game.

Take to the pitch with superstars like Real Madrid’s Kaká and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, and become a true marksman using all-new optional touch screen controls. Enjoy precision shooting by picking a spot precisely from the player’s viewpoint using the lower touch screen and then finessing a shot with pinpoint accuracy. Utilize touch screen controls on set pieces to draw a shot that curves the ball around, or even power it over the wall for the match-winning goal that lifts your club to victory.

“We challenged our development team to develop innovative features that would maximize the FIFA experience on 3DS. They delivered intuitive new touch screen controls and a curved pitch in our Street mode that truly brings the 3D elements to life,” said Matt Prior, Producer for FIFA Soccer 12 on Nintendo 3DS. “When you combine these features and many other innovations with all the authentic players and kits for the upcoming season, we are confident that this will be the best soccer game available on Nintendo 3DS.”

Whether fans choose to take to the pitch as a real-world superstar or re-create themselves in the first-ever 3D Street Soccer mode, the environment will come alive through an innovative curved pitch and unique lower camera view that maximizes 3D planes, enabling gamers to experience the depth of the field and player movement with full 3D effects. Featuring players wearing the latest street gear, the stage will be set for epic 5 versus 5 matches in exotic street locales and indoor environments that are true to the spirit of street soccer. Plus, in Be A Pro, fans will be able to take their created player on a journey from the streets to ultimately compete for their favourite club and national side and become the next soccer legend.

FIFA Soccer 12 on Nintendo 3DS will feature fully authentic 11 versus 11 gameplay, head-to-head online matches using Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, Tournament Mode with over 50 real-world competitions, a full in-depth Career Mode that enables gamers to play or manage their way to glory, 3D Street Soccer, Be A Pro and a Training Mode. It also features eight different camera angles to choose from for the perfect view of the pitch.

FIFA Soccer 12 has not yet been rated by the ESRB, and will be available in stores world-wide this fall.

Toronto game developer Alexander Shapovalov has announced the release of iPhone game Aliens Attack Deluxe. Available now for 99 cents USD, the game is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Rated 4+, Aliens Attack Deluxe requires iOS 3.0 or later.

Aliens Attack Deluxe has a simple concept and game play is easy to understand. Aliens have arrived and attacking Earth is their prime objective. The user must protect the planet using laser cannons. The game resembles 1980’s Missile Command game, but with better graphics and a variation on actual game play. To shoot down the aliens, players tap the screen to fire the cannon and knock the invaders out of the sky and earn money for your defensive efforts.

For the wee folk in your house, Wrinkled Pants Software, Ltd. has released it’s debut title, My Word! Reader – Are Bees Smart, or What? for iPads with iOS 3.2 or later. Available now for $4.99 USD, My Word! Reader – Are Bees Smart, or What? is a ground breaking app for the iPad based on sound educational and literacy theory that is designed to improve literacy skills in underachieving students.

This app will be an essential tool for literacy learning for education and home markets. Simple to use, but sophisticated in design, it incorporates word analysis, phonics, writing skills, word recognition, comprehension and spelling in a series of dynamic, engaging, and delightful “word games” that are rooted in the easy-to-read, but sophisticated story, Are Bees Smart, or What?

“My Word! Reader provides a resource for teachers to use with underachieving students, thus allowing them more time for other demanding instructional tasks,” said Dr. Selma Wassermann, CEO of Wrinkled Pants.

The application is designed to be self-instructional – giving the student control over the learning process. The “Bees” story features an interactive experience on the iPad with 6 learning games designed to engage the reader and develop basic literacy skills and comprehension.  Wrinkled Pants Software intends to release more titles in the My Word! Reader series on an ongoing basis.

Renegade Citizen has released Infinity Control, a game that casts players as new recruits for the Federation of International Space Marines. You begin your career on Earth, where you learn the basics of game play, managing incoming craft while avoiding collisions with orbiting satellites. Once you’ve mastered these skills, you will move on to help scientific researchers maneuver craft around the dense asteroids of Saturn. The random spawning of black holes adds even more challenge to your flying skills as you move up the career ladder through 40 ranks – from young recruit to skilled veteran.

Infinity Control is comprised of 3 incredible worlds built in high resolution retina graphics accompanied by a dynamic orchestral score. The game also features a stats screen along with full Openfient and GameCenter integration with Leaderboards and Achievements. Infinity Control is available now on iTunes for 99 cents USD and is rated 4+. It is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad running iOS 3.0 or later.

A team of four Game Design students at Vancouver Film School have released the school’s first iPad game to be available on iTunes. Faine’s Melody was developed by Sharai Grant, Steven Martin, Christopher Ellington and Michel McBride-Charpentier as a way to experience the game mechanics and overcome the challenges they presented as the team worked towards their goal. The result was a fun and unique puzzle adventure that makes imaginative use of all of the touch controls available for iPad interaction. This initial release is a presentation build and is free to download. Faine’s Melody is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPads running iOS 3.2 or later. Watch the trailer for a close up look at the innovative game play of Faine’s Melody.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3HZxulBuFc]

Hothead Games has announced a batch of updates to the popular 99 cent iOS zombie-defense game Bunny the Zombie Slayer. Released today, this update offers expanded game play and in-game improvements for additional hours of zombie killing fun.

Bunny the Zombie Slayer version 1.2 now includes:

• Three different modes to play
  • Classic: how many waves of zombies can you defeat with your hardboiled hand-grenades?
  • 28 Waves Later: Put your skills to the test with even more hordes of zombies and no special eggs to bail you out.
  • Time Attack: Kill as many zombies as possible in 2 minutes—aim for the head for bonus time and high scores.
• Game Center support with leaderboards for each mode
• Native Retina Display support
• Automatic detection for device orientation

“Bunny the Zombie Slayer was a top 50 overall app in the first week it launched, and even with that success we still want to keep improving the game and make it even more fun for the players,” said Hothead Games producer Joel DeYoung. “We’ve listened to all the feedback that the game has received and are offering this update thanks to the comments and reviews from our customers.”

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

Bunny The Zombie Slayer is Rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

A group of university students in BC have developed and released a colourful and challenging math game for mobile iOS. BeanNcounters by Think At The Park offers 8 levels of difficulty ranging from Grade 1 to PhD, a Daily Challenge and a Leader Board for the mathematically gifted, which I am not. The estimated time to get through each level is around the 1 or 2 minute mark, but they do admit that the more difficult puzzles could take longer. BeanNcounters is available now for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad for $1.99 USD. It requires iOS 3.0 or later and is rated 4+. There will also be a version for Android, but a release date has not yet been announced.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hM60wP-q5g]

The development group also has two fundraising activities tied to the game. For every game purchased, they will donate 10 cents to Water.org, a charity ensuring sanitation and fresh drinking water for developing countries. The other contest is directed at various university clubs. For a one year period, each club has a special purchase code that they can give to fellow students, family and friends. Those people then enter the code when they buy the game, and this code translates into 50 cents for the club whose code is used. The contest seems easy to understand, but not easy to explain, so here’s the video explanation directly from the developers:

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