Village Gamer

A team of seven students in the Masters of Digital Media program at The Center for Digital Media have come together to create an all-new physics-based puzzle game for iPads and iPhones within an ambitious timeline of 4 months. These students have also created Digital Touch Games, a brand new Vancouver independent studio. Crash Craving is their debut title.

Crash Craving is designed with casual gamers and non-gamers in mind, making the game easy to play but difficult to master. The game features a lovable orange chameleon fittingly named Mango. Mango is in search for food and he comes across jars of flies in a… French Cafe? That’s a classy meal right there and Mango knows how to get it. If you enjoy wreaking havoc in a fancy cafe by swinging like Tarzan with a super long sticky tongue, you’ll love this game. There are 50 levels to play through which is sure to provide hours of fun for just a single dollar on the iTunes app store.

The Masters of Digital Media program is a professional degree designed to be a practical program in which students are set up to work for real industry projects with real clients as well as some high profile companies like Electronic Arts and Microsoft. On the last semester of the 20-month program, the students are given the chance to pitch their own project ideas to the directors of the school as well as industry judges in the style of Dragons’ Den to gauge the viability and profitability of what is being proposed. Making sure that they get a shot at creating a game from concept through development and production, these students endeavoured to have a marketable, polished game within a semester’s time.

Advanced digital imaging company Point Grey has announced the launch of its new Flea3 FL3-GE series of GigE Vision digital cameras, setting a new industry standard with an ultra-compact size of just 29 x 29 x 30 millimeters, making it the world’s smallest Gigabit Ethernet camera. The first available models use monochrome and color versions of the popular Sony® ICX445 CCD, a high sensitivity 1.3 megapixel 1/3-inch EXview HAD image sensor that runs at 30 FPS. The Flea3 offers superior imaging performance, unbeatable price-performance, and a host of new features, including opto-isolated GPIO for industrial triggering and strobe output, non-volatile flash memory for user data storage, and on-camera frame buffer.

“We are very excited to launch the Flea3 GigE series, which will provide customers with a unique combination of size, performance, and price,” says Vladimir Tucakov, Director of Sales and Marketing at Point Grey. Tucakov adds, “Point Grey has a history of bringing innovative and ground-breaking products to market. This drive for innovation has led to many industry firsts, including the world’s first and smallest FireWire-b cameras. With Flea3 we’re pushing technology boundaries again by providing three different interfaces—FireWire, GigE, and soon USB 3.0—in the same small, ice-cube form factor.”

Every Flea3 GigE camera is equipped with an industry-standard C-mount lens holder, removable IR cut filter (color models) / optical window (monochrome models), and a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter. Additional features include automatic control of most camera properties, such as gain, exposure, and white balance; user configuration sets for defining custom power-up settings; gamma and programmable lookup table; customizable region of interest settings; and pixel binning. The Flea3 also complies with version 1.2 of the GigE Vision specification, which allows it to be used with many third-party software packages. Included with every camera is the FlyCapture® SDK, a full software library that provides a common control interface for all Point Grey cameras under both Windows and Linux.

The Flea3 FL3-GE-13S2 (1/3-inch 1.3 MP 30 FPS), list priced at USD $765, is available to order now from Point Grey and its network of distributors. Additional GigE Vision models are planned to be released throughout 2011.

Welcome to Airways Virtual, a website that features virtual airlines for flight simulator FSX.  These include British Airways Virtual, Thai Airways Virtual, Tiger Airways Virtual, Hewa Bora Airways Virtual and many more.  If you are interested in managing a virtual airline then contact SimMiles and complete a virtual airline application form.  If you are interested in becoming a virtual airline pilot at one of these Virtual Airlines then you can click on the link that will take you to their website where you can complete a virtual airline pilot application.  Each virtual airline is independently managed and operated by the management of that specific virtual airline.

SimMiles is an airline simulation game for virtual airlines that allows real people to manage the virtual airline in an airline simulation game environment and it also allows virtual airline pilots to complete the flights for the virtual airline using Flight Simulator FSX in real time.  This way pilots also get to participate in this real time airline simulation game online in the most realistic environment.  Airways Virtual is a website that promotes virtual airlines, the airline management game genre in general and the flight simulator FSX community.

Airways Virtual features FSX Virtual Airlines that are based all over the world including countries like Canada, Singapore, United States (USA), UK (United Kingdom), Australia, Germany, France, New Zealand and Ireland.  There are many virtual airlines that you can choose from in these countries and many more.  Airways Virtual mainly features real world based virtual airlines to make the FSX Virtual Airline Management experience more realistic and fun.

It appears that there were loads of news announcements made while we were at SIGGRAPH with very sketchy wireless. The media room where we could have had a wired connection was two floors and a long walk away, but we wouldn’t have had long enough on the wired connection to catch up on everything. Here are just a few of the stories that broke during the past few days:

The Montreal International Game Summit announced its keynote speakers. The conference will open with Jason Rohrer, an independent Game Designer, and Richard Lemarchand, Lead Game Designer for Naughty Dog, on November 1st and 2nd respectively. Yves Guillemot, Co-Founder and CEO of Ubisoft, will have the honour of delivering the conference’s closing keynote.

Other featured speakers at MiGS 2011 include David Hego, Artistic Director for Rocksteady Studios, who will be presenting in the Arts & VFX Track. Alain Tascan, President & CEO at Sava Transmedia will be participating in the Business track while Lee Perry, Senior Gameplay Designer for Epic Games will be on the Design track. Over on the Technology track, attendees will find a presentation by Stefan Boberg, Technical Development Director at EA DICE, while the Production track will feature a presentation by David Anfossi, Producer – DX: HR at Eidos Montreal. A new track has been added for 2011, and Tom Salta, Music Composer known for producing scores featured in popular franchises such as R.U.S.E. and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will be the featured presenter for the brand new Audio track. Please visit the MiGS site for an up-to-date speaker list.

Ubisoft announced that PlayStation^® gamers will be able to test their assassination skills beginning on September 3rd with a multiplayer beta of the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed Revelations that will run until September 11th. PlayStation^®Plus members and Uplay members will enjoy exclusive access to the multiplayer beta on PlayStation^®3. The multiplayer beta offers access to nine characters – The Sentinel, The Vanguard, The Guardian, The Vizier, The Thespian, The Deacon, The Bombardier, The Trickster and The Champion, three maps – Knight’s Hospital, Antioch, Constantinople, and four playable modes – Wanted and Manhunt, as well as two new modes, Deathmatch and Artifact Assault. The rest of us will apparently have to wait until the game’s release on November 15th.

Bioware’s Dragon Age franchise has expanded to Google+ games. Dragon Age™ Legends, the popular dark fantasy Play4Free® RPG developed by BioWare San Francisco (formerly EA 2D) has launched, and is the only game of its kind on Google’s new real-life social project. Dragon Age Legends extends the award-winning Dragon Age franchise and reinvents it for social play on Google+. The game blends accessible and engaging tactical combat, progression and exploration in the Dragon Age universe, and is perfect for co-operative and competitive gameplay across players’ Google+ Circles and Hangouts.

Vancouver’s WordLogic Corporation, a provider of advanced predictive text software for smartphones, PCs and other devices, has announced the availability of WordLogic Intelligent Input™ technology for licensing to manufacturers and software developers. The technology is ideal for mobile app developers, search providers, and device OEMs looking for the best possible predictive text or search technology.

WordLogic Intelligent Input™ helps make text input on touchscreen smartphones, tablets, and other consumer electronics devices faster, more accurate and helpful. Devices like smartphones, tablets, automotive infotainment systems, Internet TV, and game consoles are proliferating by the billions. They enable the Internet and employ touchscreens, body motion, infrared controllers or other non-mechanical keyboards to enter text, search and control applications. WordLogic Intelligent Input™ brings next generation text input to these text-hungry devices.

Current predictive text methods, which rely upon adjacent key prediction or misspellings, are frequently so inaccurate use that people simply turn them off. Alternatives require too much of a learning curve for mass adoption. Voice input has improved, but even server-based voice recognition is frequently insufficient in environments subject to background noise, such as groups where conversation is taking place, in vehicles, and on the street.

Gorilla Nation Media Canada has announced that it will exclusively represent the online advertising sales for European news site Figaro Medias in the Canadian market.

“Group Figaro is enthusiastic to join the Gorilla Nation family. We share the same vision of the digital business, which is to guarantee premium, innovative and engaging contents (video, chat session, etc.), to join our audience on all devices and platforms and to respond with care to our advertisers the same way we care about our content. The adaptability and the service quality of Gorilla Nation bring a new dynamic to the Figaro Medias offer in Canada,” says Eileen Lemuet, International Commercial Director at Figaro Medias.

“With the addition of Figaro Medias to our roster of sites, it shows our commitment and seriousness in increasing our offer in the French Canadian market, while complementing some of the new business sites we have recently added,” says Jean-Sébastien Tremblay, Director of sales, East of Canada, at GN Media Canada.

Independent Mississauga developer Sad Cat Software is pleased to announce the launch of Desert Quest game for iPhone and iPod Touch, the epic role-playing adventure that invites players to take an inspiring journey into the world full of magic and secrets. With its smooth and fluid gameplay, beautifully crafted graphics and enchanting music the title provides a deeply engaging and unforgettable gaming experience.

Players take the role of a hero whose mission is to venture through 16 various levels across the unknown and dangerous lands in order to find and save the gorgeous princess from evil spirits. They are challenged to show off their archery skills and go through intense combats against 30 kinds of creatures including eight spirit bosses. With a diverse selection of upgradable weapons and equipment users have the chance to improve the speed, agility and endurance and gain upper hand in battles. The game contains 20 spells to discover and achieve that can be learned by combining the magical gems in the pattern shown in the spell book.

“Desert Quest is our first foray into 3D games that plunges players into the magical, enchanting and beautifully crafted world full of spirits and adventure.  We hope our users will enjoy exploring it as much as we’ve enjoyed making the game,” said Sad Cat Software founder Oleg Samus.

Desert Quest presents four exotic environments in widely varying landscapes and features different mini-puzzle games that must be solved to advance further.  Outstanding 3D graphics are a great addition to a varied, rich and deep gameplay. Enchanting music and subtle sound effects create special involving atmosphere and make the whole experience even more enjoyable and captivating.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl06PK0B4bQ]

Desert Quest 1.0 is available at a special introductory price of $0.99 USD and available worldwide through the App Store in the Games category. The game is compatible for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices running iOS 3.0 or later. Desert Quest is rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence.

My sincere apologies to Good World Games – with the massive amount of SIGGRAPH 2011 emails being fired back and forth along with tasks on our to-do list, I completely missed this press release.

Good World Games was founded in Toronto last year with the goal of creating socially conscious social games. Now based in Liberty Village, we are building a movement dedicated to helping important global causes through fun and educational games offered to a wide and engaged audience.

The studio’s first game, MyConservationPark is an innovative, planet-friendly social game allowing players to nurture their own virtual wildlife preserves based on real threatened species and habitats, while directly supporting non-profit organizations such as The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Sea Shepherd and WildAid.

As the player, your mission is simple. You need to protect an endangered animal – your “hero” – from environmental and human threats while enriching the park with fauna and flora to create a sustainable habitat. Successfully conquer these challenges and balance the Eco-system and you will be rewarded with points and cash. Fail to do so and your hero and the Eco-system will suffer. When you purchase goods from the in-game store such as structures or animals, 15% of the revenue will be donated to our non-profit partners.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPNMzH31zHM]

London Ontario’s Antic Entertainment, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at Casual Connect, has released its latest title to Kongregate. According to the game’s description, Platoonz is an action RPG game in which players build an army base and manage a squad of soldiers. The player’s mission is to recruit, equip and train those soldiers to combat the evil forces of Evil. Platoonz is free to play on the Kongregate platform.

Corel has launched its Summer Appventure, featuring four, new, free apps designed to help families make the most of their summer vacations. With new apps for the iPhone®, iPad®, Mac® and PC, there’s something for everyone. Whether families are packing up the car, heading for the airport or planning holiday time closer to home, Corel’s new apps make it easy for everyone to make the most of their vacation moments.

“Summer is the perfect time to travel, explore and reconnect with the things and people we care about most. Being creative and having the ability to easily share and relive holiday moments is at the heart of Corel’s Summer Appventure,” said Prescott Lee, VP and GM, Light Apps at Corel. “With the release of our four new mobile apps, we want to give travelers a range of options to make the most of their summer adventures, offering them a collection of apps that are creative and fun and that help them make the most of their valuable time.”

• Beep Beep: Convert your iPad into the perfect digital coloring book for a no-mess, creative distraction while you’re on the road or flying through the air. Rather than zoning out with a DVD, kids can explore their creativity and create vibrant, fridge or Facebook-ready masterpieces with an array of colors and sample images to choose from. Corel Beep Beep for iPad (iOS 3.2 or higher) is available as a free English app.

• Slingshot™: Capture those once in a lifetime moments on your iPhone and automatically share them in real-time with customized groups of family and friends, or send them straight to a selected Facebook album. All of your photos are automatically backed up to a private Facebook photo album so you’ll always have peace of mind. Corel Slingshot for iPhone (3G, 3GS, 4 and iPod touch 4^th generation users running iOS 4.3.3 or higher) is available as a free English app

• Postcard: Forget crowded tourist shops and searching for postage stamps. With Corel® Postcard, it’s easy to create and send personalized postcards using your iPhone. Snap that perfect moment, add your greeting, and automatically send your printed postcard anywhere in the world for just $0.99 (USD). There’s no faster, easier or more personal way to say “Wish you were here!” Corel Postcard for iPhone (3G, 3GS, 4 and iPod touch 4^th generation users running iOS 4 or higher) is available as a free English app in selected Apple App Stores worldwide. The sender’s credit card will be charged USD $0.99 per card to anywhere in the world (includes printing, postage, and handling). Postcard also runs on the iPad (iOS 3.2 or higher).

• QuickSort: Quickly sort your top holiday photos and select your favourites with this free app. With QuickSort, it’s faster than ever to reduce the hundreds, if not thousands, of digital images you captured on the road and isolate your very best shots. Using QuickSort for Mac or Windows, you can rapidly sort your photos into “good” and “best” folders with the tap of a keystroke. Not only will QuickSort save you valuable time, you may even free up some hard drive space!

Travelers can join the Corel Summer Appventure and share favourite vacation photos, videos, and holiday anecdotes. From memorable landmarks, to funny encounters, to beautiful landscapes, Corel wants to hear your stories. You can also follow the Corel Summer Appventure action by connecting with them on Facebook and following along on Twitter using the hashtag #corelappventure for your chance to win prizes such as Corel photo editing or video editing software.

Freelance Games‘ second title, Trailer Park King, is now available for download through Xbox Live Indie Games for 80 MS Points. Trailer Park King is a departure from the Sci-Fi Universe of Starchon, Freelance Games’ previous title, into the Redneck Trailer Park.  So you’re probably wondering, just who is the Trailer Park King? Well, he is a gamer, a bootlegger, a photographer and a connoisseur of the Ladies. Basically, the Trailer Park King is one “purty” cultured dude.

Trailer Park King features a number of unique and interesting cast members. The role of the sexy Canadian Babe is being played by Celine.  Celine is actually part of the Freelance Games marketing department.  With just a few minor alterations and a tattoo,  provided by yours truly (with some help from our artist), Celine has been transformed into a shop keeper from Montreal.

In a nutshell, Trailer Park King is a fun adventure that tells a unique story in an interesting way.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNb-awmbYmI]

Vancouver independent developer Daniel Truong has launched his Xbox puzzler Pixel Blocked! on XBLIG for 80 MS Points. We saw this game demonstrated at a Full Indie event earlier this year, and it looked like a game that would keep puzzle fans scratching their heads and solving puzzles for quite some time.

Pixel Blocked! comes with 180 unique and challenging puzzles, all designed to put any gamer’s spatial logic, speed, and critical thinking skills through the gauntlet. According to the game’s site, the object of this simple and addictive puzzle game is to fill in the missing blocks in an outlined image by shooting blocks against an initial foundation. Players will advance through hundreds of increasingly difficult levels by learning to plan ahead and working with special game pieces such as Magnetic and Crumble Blocks.

Pixel Blocked! Features:

• 8-bit inspired puzzle shapes
• 180 increasingly difficult puzzles plus 6 mind imploding bonus puzzles
• 3 difficulty levels – Apprentice, Artisan and Master
• Music by Podington Bear
• 80MSP retail price (approximately 1US dollar)

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHzTO5sSPtE]