Village Gamer

Vancouver – Genius Factor Games, a digital entertainment company committed to delivering quality game experiences in five minutes or less, proudly announced today its upcoming game for iPhone and iPod touch based on the hot new web television series, “Riese.”

In a hauntingly familiar dystopian world, Riese, a seemingly random wanderer, flees across the dying lands. Hunted by a terrifying religious group, The Sect, Riese must evade their assassins to discover their true objective. Her past is shrouded in mystery as even Riese cant recall the events of the tragic night when her entire family was slaughtered and she was forced to flee. On her journey she will piece together her past and her destiny. The once peaceful kingdom Eleysia will be the battlefield of a struggle that will hold the fate of the world in balance. Riese will emerge as the sole beacon of hope.

Currently in its first season, “Riese” stars Christine Chatelain of Sanctuary acclaim and is fast becoming an online phenomenon as the story is revealed through its site and featured channels on YouTube and Koldcast TV. Drawing hundreds of thousands of views since its launch on Nov. 2, season one episodes air every other week until the end of January, culminating in a season finale, with the next season scheduled to kick off in February 2010.

“‘Riese’ represents a new, viable way to digitally distribute blockbuster-quality storytelling,” said Ted Nugent, Genius Factor president and founder. “Not only is it in line with exploring our own goals for the digital distribution of games and entertainment, but the compelling story, audio and visuals make for an excellent series that keeps you wanting more. We are incredibly excited to be working with Riese Productions!” Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver – The call for submissions to present content for lectures, roundtables and panel sessions for the 2010 Game Developers Conference® Canada (GDC Canada) is now open through midnight, Tuesday, January 5, 2010. GDC Canada serves as a nexus point for established and promising young studios to learn best practices for developing new global titles and understanding emerging digital distribution models. The second annual GDC Canada is presented by Reboot Communications and Think Services, the organizers of the industry-leading Game Developers Conference. GDC Canada 2010 will return to the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC from May 6-7, 2010.

Canada houses more than 260 videogame and digital entertainment studios and an ecosystem of more than 60 universities focused on gaming studies. With this accomplished community of national and international talent to draw from, Vancouver’s GDC Canada is the premier event for professionals to discover new insights into developing popular international titles, managing established franchises and taking advantage of thriving digital distribution models.

“GDC Canada provides the perfect opportunity for game development teams to share knowledge for developing established franchises and guidance on taking advantage of new game distribution models,” says Izora de Lillard, event director. “GDC Canada really benefits from the incredibly talented community here, and we can’t wait to see what useful and insightful content they bring with them when GDC returns to Canada in early May.”

The session formats for this year’s content include 25 and 60 minute lectures, panels, and roundtables. The GDC Canada advisory board will rate sessions based on the criteria of concept, depth, organization, credentials and takeaway. The topics for this year include:

— Business/Production
— Digital Distribution
— Game Design
— iPhone Games
— Programming
— Social and Casual Games
— Visual Arts

Victoria – VIATeC is pleased to announce the opening of the nomination period for the 2009 VIATeC 25. The VIATeC 25 is an annual listing of the largest technology companies headquartered or founded in Greater Victoria based on revenue. To be eligible for inclusion in the VIATeC 25 please check our guidelines.

Companies listed on the VIATeC 25 will be announced at the exclusive VIATeC Christmas Party on December 17 where members will gather to celebrate the end of another successful year. Results will also be published on the VIATeC website and in the media.

For more information or to submit a nomination please contact Michelle. Cut off for nomination submissions is December 14, 2009.

To RSVP for VIATeC’s Members Only Christmas party on Dec 17 at Sauce Restaurant & Lounge from 3:30 pm please email our office.

Vancouver – Pixar Canada, who launched their new web site this week, has now announced some of the job openings for their new Vancouver studio. They are currently looking to fill openings for Layout Artist, Production Manager, Manger of Finance and Manager of Information Systems. Upcoming openings include positions in their IT and Software Engineering departments. Future positions to be filled in 2010 include those who work in Modeling, Shading, Rigging, Animation, Lighting, FX, Simulation, Art, Production Staff…and an ex-Navy SEAL? At least they aren’t looking for a partridge and a pear tree…

Calgary – Digital Alberta has announced their New Year’s Evolution event with strategic innovation practitioner, international lecturer and author Alexander Manu. Held in partnership with the Canadian Marketing Association and Telefilm Canada, New Year’s Evolution will take place on January 19th at Calgary’s Theatre Junction Grand and Velvet Lounge. Tickets are $55 for DA or CMA Members and $95 for Non-Members.

Toronto – Ubisoft has made a contest out of announcing where their new Toronto studio will be located. Employee #1 has started posting clues on his FaceBook page with a link to this video on YouTube:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbrq6O5r4dE]

The first person to guess the address of Ubisoft Toronto’s new studio location wins a copy of Avatar The Game (from Employee #1 – you must enter via his Facebook page).

Terrace – Rusty Axe Games, a developer and publisher of downloadable game software, is proud to announce the release of Real Estate Empire 2 version 1.0!

Real Estate Empire 2 is the sequel to our popular game, Real E$tate Empire! For the real estate mogul in everybody, Real Estate Empire 2 contains over thirty different levels packed into four different scenarios.

Real Estate Empire 2 features a streamlined upgrade and renovation system that makes the game easier to pick up and play. Real Estate Empire 2 also features a new goals based system that has players leveling up through a variety of different scenarios and goals. The much requested feature of renting has been added – do you wait for good renters who won’t damage your newly renovated bungalow or do you get somebody in there to start paying the mortgage today?

Real E$tate Empire 2’s user friendly difficulty system allows players of all ages and capabilities to enjoy the game. Players will be entertained for hours while learning about real estate management at the same time!

Real Estate Empire 2 is the real estate game that teaches you how to win… at the real estate game!

Toronto – Congratulations to all of the Canada New Media Award winners who were announced last night at the nextMEDIA gala at Toronto’s Design Exhange:

• Best Company of the Year –  Cyberplex Inc. (Toronto)
• Best Brand of the Year – Doritos
• Promising New Company of the Year – Syncapse (Toronto)
• Hottest New Digital Kid on the Block –  ChickAdvisor.com (Toronto)
• Best in Mobile Marketing –  Brisk ARTwist by Addictive Mobility (Markham)
• Best Mobile Application – Air Canada iPhone App by IBM Canada
• Best Location Based Service – Poynt by Multiplied Media (Calgary)
• Best Use of Social Media – Invoke Media, creator of HootSuite (Vancouver)
• Best in Interactive Marketing – Doritos White Bag by BBDO Worldwide – Proximity Canada (Toronto)
• Best Branded Entertainment – Worldwide Short Film Festival: Short Attention Span by doug agency (Toronto)
• Best Cross-Platform Project – Waterlife Interactive by the National Film Board of Canada
• Best Online Video Portal – National Film Board of Canada: Online Screening Room
• Best Innovative Web-based Game – Junk: Battles by Antic Entertainment (London ON)
• Best Kids Interactive – Titanium Chef by mod7 (Vancouver)
• Best in Canadian Culture, Interactive – In Touch: Connecting Cloth, Culture & Art by ecentricarts (Toronto)
• Best Online Comedy Performance – Têtes à claques (Montreal)
• Best Online Artist of the Year – K-os
• Leader in Social Change – Mark & Tonya Surman
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Red Burns, who is, according to the nextMEDIA website, known as the “Grandmother” of new media and Founder of the ITP Program at the Tisch School for the Arts at NYU.

London ON – Big Blue Bubble Inc. announced today that the first Fighting Fantasy game book, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, will be available on iPhone this Christmas.

Following the successful Nintendo DS launch of the game of the same name, Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain for iPhone and iPod Touch takes a different approach bringing Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson’s legendary game book to your favorite handheld device.

Fighting Fantasy fans will love the classic story and original illustrations with a technological twist. No more dice, pencils, or bookmarks. All the special features are built in!

Features…

• Tap the on screen buttons to flip pages (No papercuts!)
• Shake to roll the dice using the accelerometer
• Inventory items selectable via touch-screen
• Game-save feature allows you to retrace your steps
• Beautifully painted illustrations

Vancouver – Karta Mobile Inc. today announced the public availability of Viira 2.0, the updated and enhanced version of its popular BlackBerry® application that brings the principles of David Allen’s Getting Things Done® (GTD®) productivity system into the hands of busy professionals, executives and entrepreneurs worldwide.

The new version of the already full-featured Viira adds several industry firsts, including the ability to create tasks based on incoming email messages, effortlessly prioritize tasks, and designate next actions. Viira is also the only BlackBerry GTD app to fully incorporate appointments and events in its underlying organizational system.

“Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” is a popular work-life productivity book by David Allen that shows readers how to effectively organize tasks, information and communications in an intuitive way. Since its debut in 2001, the GTD methodology has been enthusiastically embraced by millions of knowledge workers around the world.

While a multitude of web-based tools for implementing GTD have been made available over the last years, the engineering challenge of building effective and intuitive BlackBerry applications has left the principles of Getting Things Done under-represented on BlackBerry smartphones.

Viira has stepped in to fill the void. With Viira 2.0, BlackBerry owners can now conquer their inboxes by creating to-dos from the incoming email messages and immediately filing them in their appropriate place. Handling large volumes of incoming email has been a known pain point for people implementing Getting Things Done with BlackBerry devices – until now.

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This just in – Ubisoft Montreal has announced DLC expansions for Assassin’s Creed 2! Available for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the Playstation 3™ computer entertainment system, the first DLC, entitled “Battle of Forli” launches in January and the second DLC, entitled “Bonfire of the Vanities” in February.

Players must own a disc copy of Assassin’s Creed™ II on Playstation 3™ or Xbox 360™, have an Internet connection to download the additional content and a minimum of 1.0 GB of memory available for each DLC. More info on the DLC to be announced in late December. Time to start hoarding my XBL Points.

Meanwhile, Eidos Montreal is looking for a Marketing Manager for Thief 4. Here are the listed responsibilities:

* Assist the Eidos strategy team in the definition of game marketing position from a global scale point of view
* Create and implant a communication strategy adapted to each project
* Be the principal contact for the studio products, and provide client and game market related knowledge to the development teams
* Be in charge of the production and quality of all the marketing images, as well as the communication tools («screenshots», demos, artistic images and trailers)
* Setup and ensure production deadlines
* Be responsible for all the different development stages, and make sure that the marketing choices are represented in the elements constituting the game, such as the universe, the characters, the actions, etc…
* Identify the key success factors for the game, create the final positioning and compare this analysis with customer studies. Defend own marketing choices and achieve final approval
* Establish recommendations about the communicating strategy for the game (public relations, packaging, advertising, Internet, promotion) and be in charge of the creation of the principal game images (trailers, demos, «screenshots»…)
* Efficiently divide the tasks within the marketing team.

Please visit the Eidos job listing to check on the required qualifications and to apply for this position.

Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. today announced the continued record-setting sales pace for FIFA 10 as well as the development of FIFA 10 Ultimate Team, a game mode expansion and new way of playing FIFA 10, the highest rated sports game ever (according to MetaCritic) on the PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®.

Based on internal sales projections, FIFA 10 has sold through more than 4.5 million units worldwide since launch, a 26 percent increase over the same period a year ago (eight weeks in Europe and five weeks in North America). FIFA 10 also became the fastest-selling sports videogame in the world with 1.7 million units sold through at European retail in its first week after its launch on October 1, and it’s the top selling game overall in Europe in 2009.

FIFA 10 has achieved new franchise records for online play as well, averaging 3 million games played daily (based on average daily online users between Oct. 1, 2009 and November 19, 2009) and over 113 million total online games played on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 over the past two months as of November 30 2009, and will launch FIFA 10 Ultimate Team in the new year. FIFA 10 Ultimate Team is a deeper, more authentic, more dynamic version of the game mode successfully introduced last year and enables fans to customize the way they build their Ultimate Team.

Take on the challenge of building an Ultimate Team of the best football stars in the world, manage one or multiple squads simultaneously, and compete against other gamers in dynamically updated online tournaments. For the record number of football fans playing FIFA 10 online, FIFA 10 Ultimate Team provides a new challenge to put a personally crafted team up against the rest of the world.

“FIFA 10 Ultimate Team adds a lot more authenticity to a unique game that will update with new challenges and content over time,” said Producer Paul Hossack. “We now have over 7,000 players from 27 leagues available, from which gamers will craft one or multiple squads to show their mastery of the revamped, more realistic chemistry system, and compete in tournaments with exciting requirements and rewards. On top of that, we’ll release new tournaments and other updates regularly to keep the experience fresh and exciting.”

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Montreal – Today Ubisoft announced that Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ video game is in development and is scheduled to be released May 2010 for consoles and handhelds. This new installment in the critically-acclaimed franchise marks the return to the Prince of Persia® Sands of Time storyline. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ will feature many of the fan-favorite elements from the original series as well as new gameplay innovations that gamers have come to expect from the Prince of Persia brand. Tune in to Spike TV’s “Video Game Awards 2009” on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 8 p.m. EST for the exclusive world premiere of the Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ trailer.

Gormley – Digital Leisure has announced that two of their latest titles are now available in North America. Copter Crisis, a chopper sim which puts you in the pilot’s seat is available in the WiiWare Store for 500 Wii Points. As a member of the elite Helicopter Rescue Squad, you’ll be assigned to respond to any type of emergency anywhere at any time. You’ll have to complete various missions with the latest in helicopter rescue technology. When you’re ready, you’ll be tasked with executing rescue missions all around the Black Rock Canyon. Your Wii Remote controller becomes the control stick as you guide your copter along the canyons while avoiding rocks, severe weather and even anti-aircraft fire. Rescue lost hikers, deliver supplies to remote areas, assist on scientific missions and even blast your way into underground cavern systems. Complete all of your objectives and rise through the ranks to take on the toughest rescues and unlock 10 bonus missions. Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play allows you to enhance your flight experience with 10 additional copters, which can give you access to unlimited missiles, larger fuel tanks, cargo holds and even mid-air loops.

Sudoku Challenge!, designed exclusively for the Nintendo DSi™ Shop can be downloaded for for 500 Nintendo DSi Points™. With over 100,000,000 unique Sudoku puzzles, you’ll never see 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!

Vancouver – NGRAIN, a leading provider of interactive 3D equipment simulation solutions for maintenance training and support whose head office is in Vancouver, has announced that the company is opening an office in Richmond, Virginia. The NGRAIN Virginia office will provide direct support to the company’s local and East Coast customers, which include the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security armed services.

“Military organizations are increasingly turning to simulation technology as a way of cost-effectively delivering enhanced maintenance training and support programs. This has resulted in the dramatic growth of our business,” said Paul Lindahl, CEO, NGRAIN. “With the rapid adoption of NGRAIN’s cost-saving Virtual Task Trainer solution and NGRAIN Producer software, the time is right to open a Virginia office. We are looking forward to becoming a larger part of the Washington, DC and Virginia modeling and simulation community.”

Over the past year the United States Coast Guard (USCG), United States Marine Corps, US Army, and US Air Force have continued their commitment to training transformation by selecting NGRAIN® Virtual Task Trainer and NGRAIN® Producer software to provide personnel with enhanced learning and improved maintenance support. In use across the armed services, the NGRAIN Virtual Task Trainer is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software-based solution that leverages 3D simulation to deliver installation, maintenance, repair and — most recently– medical training.

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The CaveChild and I have been playing Assassin’s Creed 2 almost non-stop since release day, and in my opinion, this is truly the best IP sequel title I have yet to play. Yes, it trumps Modern Warfare 2 in my game selection. We both appreciate the incredible amount of historical research and accuracy that went into Assassin’s Creed – right down to the speeches delivered by the heralds. I am probably one of the few people who actually pays attention to the entire ambience of a game’s environment and utterances of the NPCs. Mike covers much of the game play in the accompanying review video, but there are a few areas I wanted to touch on as well, so we decided to do a joint game review. He has completed the game, whereas I am about 80% complete on the storyline.

While there are small parts of Assassin’s Creed (both iterations) that are less than my favourite things to do in the game, they are inconsequential to the overall player experience. I have never been a fan of the race events, although I found the “collect the flag” races in AC1 easier than the gateway races in AC2, this is simply because the flags were easier for me to see on rooftops than the swirling white light effects used in AC2. I could make more use of Eagle Vision during these races, but that seems to add to my mild vertigo reactions to the speed and heights experienced in Assassin’s Creed 2. There have been a few times when I’ve experienced that “roller coaster feeling” throughout the game.

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

My favourite part of game play in Assassin’s Creed 1 were the missions and stealth tactics – and I was well pleased to see this not only continued but built upon in Assassin’s Creed 2. The new assassin abilities and weapons which have been given to Ezio added so much depth to his forays into a corrupt and dark Renaissance Italy, that I keep being disappointed when I run out of Assassin Contracts to fulfill for Lorenzo. For some reason, I find the combat skills in Assassin’s Creed 2 easier to use than when I played through Assassin’s Creed 1, but I’m not really sure why, considering that they are pretty well the same buttons. At times I do get frustrated with movement control, because it seems that Ezio is not wanting to do as he’s told, he’d rather move in a different direction or grab onto something I didn’t want him to, but all is overcome with perseverance – in my opinion it’s better to have to work at something and practice to get it right than for it to be too easy.

Speaking of practicing and levels of difficulty, the many puzzles in Assassin’s Creed 2 range from easy to OMG am I ever going to solve this one or beat the timer. It took a fair bit of work to earn those Assassin’s seals to gain Altair’s armour – but it was quite satisfying when I did it, and now Ezio gets to honour Altair by wearing his armour and brandishing his sword.

One of the new features in Assassin’s Creed 2 which I really like is ownership of the villa. I enjoyed restoring the town, collecting weaponry, artwork and armour. I only wish that there had been more to do with the villa and town, because I had all of the town’s upgrades completed by the time I had finished the Tuscany map. I also like the addition of the merchants – the doctor is a very welcome NPC and the ability to easily replenish my stocks of poison, medicine, throwing knives, bullets and smoke bombs. I really, really like the smoke bombs. I like being able to swim as well – and I think that the canals of Venice are now a little shallower due to all of the dead guards I’ve sent to their depths. Being able to dive into the water has also save me from countless guard attacks, and also that one time when I couldn’t see if there was a wagon of hay to leap into from the top of a church tower – so I dove into the water instead. Definitely like the non-drowning death improvement – now I just need to work on not falling to my desynchronization from great heights while climbing things.

Two of the challenges that I really had fun with were the wild carriage ride and flying on da Vinci’s wings. I only killed Leonardo once on the wild chase through the mountains, and really it’s not my fault that he leaned too far over and tipped the carriage over. My speed and cornering abilities had absolutely nothing to do with it. Flying was a challenge on a whole different level. It only took me a few attempts to get the hang of it and make it to the palace on time. Sort of.

Instead of collecting area or faction specific flags as in Assassin’s Creed 2, players now collect the six seals of the Assassin’s Tombs to gain Altair’s armour, the Codex Pages to gain knowledge and weapons in partnership with Leonardo da Vinci,  and the feathers which Ezio’s younger brother Petruccio treasured. Ezio must also find glyph symbols hidden around the towns in order to find out more information about the mysterious Subject 16, and taken piece by piece the video clips really don’t make much sense – until you get the big picture. The puzzles attached to the glyphs and Subject 16 are incredibly imaginative, and some of them have taken a lot of hit and miss guessing to solve. No matter their difficulty, though – each one has something of historic value to teach, which I do appreciate.

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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

Vancouver – WaveFront is holding an Introduction to Nokia platforms and OVI Services seminar session on December 9 at the 2010 Commerce Centre from 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM. This seminar is free, but with limited seating it is recommended that you register as soon as possible.

Attend this interactive seminar to receive an end-to-end overview of Nokia platforms and OVI services. Nokia and its OVI Services offer the largest global reach for application developers with more than one billion people in over 150 countries placing their trust in Nokia devices and services each and every day. Developers will learn about the latest Nokia OVI business opportunities and receive practical advice on how to develop and port your mobile application on Nokia platform and publish it to the OVI Store, an easy way to distribute and monetize your applications and content to Nokia users all over the world.

This is a must attend for wireless, new media and content application developers with an opportunity to network with business and technical specialists from Nokia and local developer peers. You have an opportunity to set up a one-on-one engagement meeting with Nokia business and technical specialists after the seminar at Wavefront’s office from 12-5pm, so please also let us know if you would like to set-up a meeting when you register.

Toronto – Game Publisher G4BOX Inc., has launched an exciting new update and a store-wide sale for its free military FPS, Cross Fire. The update includes a new Search and Destroy map, three new weapons, limited time Thanksgiving-themed items, and a major anti-hack update.

Just in time for the  American Thanksgiving weekend, Cross Fire and G4BOX have released an exciting new free update! The patch, which is available now, features the all-new Search and Destroy map, “Downtown”, a sprawling urban environment in which players must race to defend or destroy key strategic positions throughout the city. The update also includes three new weapons: the classic Winchester Rifle, a Thompson SMG and an M16 Scope-Camo. Each of these weapons are available via Black Market GP crates, purchased for free with Cross Fire in-game currency. Finally, in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, players will find a Turkey helmet and Turkey backpack available through the Z8Games Item Mall. These two limited-time items will be sold separately or as part of a bundle at a special price. All of these updates come in addition to a major upgrade to Cross Fire’s anti-hack protection.

Also, in the tradition of Black Friday, and as a special thank you to the ever-expanding Cross Fire community, all Cross Fire items in the Z8Games online item mall are on sale at 20% off. The sale will begin November 27th 2009 at 5PM EST and will end on November 29th 2009 at 11:59PM EST.

Cross Fire is a free online military first-person shooter for Windows PCs supporting Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Players assume the role of either a Black List or Global Risk operative and compete in various modes of play including Free-for-All, Team Death Match and the exclusive stealth-action ghost mode. Cross Fire includes a military ranking system, in-game friends lists, an integrated clan system, and deep character customization options. Cross Fire is part of the Z8Games platform of free-to-play games.

Toronto – Mike Efford Motion Design celebrates 15 years of creating 3D animation for some of the country’s most successful marketing campaigns. This animation studio has created 3D magic for marketers since 1994, and now predicts vigorous growth in the utilization of computer animation to bring advertiser’s visions to life.

Mike Efford, a 19 year veteran of Toronto’s advertising and graphic design industry, felt that in the future, 3D animated graphics would become a key marketing medium for everyone from retailers to manufacturers to health organizations and more.

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Toronto –  G4BOX Inc. has some exciting American Thanksgiving promotions for its popular free to play action-MMORPG, Metin2.  “It’s that time of year again when we want to say a special thank you to our Metin2 community,” said Howard He, Chief Executive Officer of G4BOX, “We wish everyone a very special and happy Thanksgiving and hope they enjoy the special events and promotions we have in store for them.”

Here’s a preview of what’s in store for Metin2’s American Thanksgiving celebrations:

Part 1: 50% Bonus Experience
Event Duration: November 27th~December 4th, 2009 Players can level up and buy the gear they need faster with 50% bonus experience. The Metin2 special bonus events will take place on November 27th, and last for one week. Metin2 players who are online during the event week will receive 50% EXP. Don’t miss this chance!

Part 2: The Special Thanksgiving Package Promotion Period: November 26th ~December 10th, 2009 A new Thanksgiving Package will be added to the Metin2 item shop. The package includes three of the most popular in-game items priced at 35% off on the regular price! Players should hurry to stock up on the favorite items since it is a limited time offer!

The Thanksgiving Package Includes:

. Enchant Change Scroll 3+1 Package
. Enchant Scroll 3+1 Package
. Hermit’s Advice

Toronto – Ever wonder what you would call your alter ego? Liberty Mobile Inc has released a unique iPhone app called The Name Game which is available in 3 different editions: Stage Name Edition, Rock Star Edition, and Gangsta Name Edition. Each version of the app is simple & fun. All you have to do is answer 3 outrageous questions to generate your very own personalized Rock Star, Gangsta, or Stage name.

Spin the wheel to reveal your own super cool & unique name, or “Mix it up” by shaking your iTouch/iPhone to generate random names. Each edition has over 100 funny & original names for plenty of laughs. So, if you’re looking to be the life of the party or just want to break the ice – this app is for you!
Each application can be downloaded for $0.99 now from the iTunes app store.

Winnipeg – The new Scrapbook MAX 2.0 School Bundle is the first digital scrapbooking software package designed specifically for school use, both in and out of the classroom. Developed in consultation with professional educators, the Scrapbook MAX 2.0 School Bundle includes the award-winning Scrapbook MAX 2.0 digital scrapbooking software (compatible with Windows 7, Vista and XP), plus a collection of digital scrapbooking kits and templates created specifically for school-themed scrapbooking projects. The collection gives parents a creative way to scrapbook their children’s school years, and offers students an edge in school assignments.

Scrapbook MAX gives students the freedom to combine digital photos and text with creative templates and scrapbooking embellishments, all in a visual drag-and-drop environment. The software offers a variety of publishing options, allowing students to share their pages in high-quality print and digital formats. With 125 school-themed template pages and over 1000 embellishments, parents and children can choose from a variety of styles and themes to create beautiful school memory books and enhance everyday school assignments.

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