Village Gamer

Bartsoft Inc. has released its new iOS mobile application MapCalculator, an app that helps to measure distance from point A to point B, compose complex distance paths or simply measure an area of a soccer field. Map Calculator is very flexible. The app allows users to have the center pin as the guide to compose the path on the map by adding and subtracting anchor points. The total distance (or area, if that mode is selected) is automatically updated. Read the rest of this entry »

Mech Mice, the eagerly awaited game from Hyper Hippo Productions, has just entered open beta. Now everyone can log on to play and help test the game alongside the Hyper Hippo team prior to its full launch in Fall 2013. To celebrate the launch of open beta, Hyper Hippo has  announced the “Mech Mice Founder” program, which provides fans with the opportunity to pre-order every future Mech Mice level, unlock custom units and much more. In addition, Hyper Hippo has also promised to match all pre-order purchases by donating free “Mech Mice Founder” accounts to various children’s charities around the world. Read the rest of this entry »

3D animation and visual effects software developer Side Effects Software has announced the Houdini Engine, which allows for deep integration of Houdini technology into a wide variety of Digital Content Creation tools. Now both film and game studios can load Houdini Digital Assets into their goto applications and build a more integrated procedural pipeline that does not rely on baked-out data. Read the rest of this entry »

Cloud intranet provider Igloo Software has announced the launch of the AlbertaArtsRebuild intranet site in conjunction with Calgary Arts Development. The pro bono project is designed to bring together 37 organizations in a virtual space to assess the flood impact, facilitate connections, distribute relief funds and coordinate restoration projects across southern Alberta. Read the rest of this entry »

Producers of the Canadian Videogame Awards (CVAs) announced yesterday afternoon that the fifth edition will take place in April 2014 in Toronto. This national award show celebrates excellence in Canadian-made video games and has been held in Vancouver for the past four years. At a launch reception held today at the Drake Hotel, industry leaders, government officials, sponsors and media gathered to celebrate the announcement that the show would move east for the first time in 2014. Read the rest of this entry »

The Motion Picture Association–Canada and the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) have released a new first-of-its-kind study on the economic contribution of the film and television industry in Canada, revealing that, in one year alone, the sector supported 262,700 jobs, including 132,500 FTEs in film and television production, and generated $20.4 billion in GDP for the Canadian economy. Launched at an industry event at William F. White International in Toronto, the Economic Contribution of the Film and Television Sector in Canada (PDF) is a comprehensive study of the economic contributions of the film and television industry in Canada, commissioned by the Motion Picture Association – Canada in collaboration with Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and conducted by Nordicity. Building on research released in Profile 2012: An Economic Report on the Screen-based Production Industry in Canada, the new study captures the direct, indirect and induced economic impacts of the industry’s entire value chain in Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

LightSpeed, a Montreal-based software company using Macs, iPhones and iPads to help retailers revolutionize the in-store shopping experience, today announced Web Store 3.0. LightSpeed Web Store is a powerful tool that offers retailers a fast and intuitive way to create a user-friendly e-commerce platform that is seamlessly integrated with their POS solution. Web Store 3.0 features a new template engine that offers unlimited customization options to empower retailers to build a tailored online presence and create a compelling e-commerce experience. This is the first in a series of announcements the company is making this month to enhance the LightSpeed platform. Read the rest of this entry »

Telefilm Canada wishes to advise its clients that the Canada Feature Film Fund (CFFF) resources for low-budget French-language projects (budgets of less than $1.5 million) have been allocated for 2013-2014. The CFFF Production Program was open to low-budget French-language projects on May 3, 2013. Due to the implementation of a new faster decision-making process as part of our Program Redesign initiative, the funds assigned to this portion of our clientele were allocated sooner this year compared to previous years. However, all projects already submitted will be analyzed. Read the rest of this entry »

The Casual Games Association (CGA) has announced that it will feature the first North American Indie Prize Showcase at its Casual Connect Conference in San Francisco. The event, launched earlier this year at Casual Connect Europe and Asia events, is expected to feature new games from more than 100 indie development teams. The Indie Prize Showcase is a free program created to reward the industry’s top independent development talent with resources, relationships and recognition. For the first North American event, more than 100 games will be featured on-site at Casual Connect by the development teams who created them. Take a look at some of the games already featured – can you spot the Canadian titles? Read the rest of this entry »

I received a very poor attempt at phishing email this morning, purporting to be from Shaw. The email did not have any Shaw logos or anything remotely official about it, but I still feel compelled to warn others about the attempt, as forewarned is forearmed. I’ve included the body of the email below; should you receive any type of email such as this – which, by the way, Shaw would never send – be sure to copy the message’s headers and then forward the entire email on to the security department at Shaw (for those emails pretending to be from Shaw) via internet.abuse -at -sjrb – dot – ca. If you do not know how to get the header information, please see this resource page on the Shaw website. Read the rest of this entry »