Village Gamer

John A: Birth of a Country, a two-hour political thriller produced by Indian Grove Productions, will air on CBC Television on Monday, September 19 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT). Produced by Bernard Zukerman, directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, and written by Bruce M. Smith, the film stars Shawn Doyle as John A. Macdonald, Peter Outerbridge as George Brown, David La Haye as Georges-Étienne Cartier and Patrick McKenna as Alexander Galt.

John A: Birth of a Country lays bare the passionate, titanic struggle between Macdonald, the charismatic leader of the Conservative Party, and his opponent, the fiercely determined Brown, leader of what would become the Liberal Party and founder of Toronto’s Globe (later the Globe and Mail). Both men were fired by dramatically differing visions of this country…and a deep hatred for each other.

The time period of the film is 1856 to 1864. The English in Upper Canada (later Ontario) are pitted against the French in Lower Canada (later Quebec). It’s a dysfunctional situation and the United States eyes the chaos, coveting the idea of annexing a vulnerable land. Britain, meanwhile, has no stomach to fight for us. On this stage, lit by the threat of war and the brutality of abandonment, two men, John A. Macdonald and George Brown, each profoundly committed to his own view of the country, battle to dominate the shape of Canada’s future. Read the rest of this entry »

Go!Speed!Go! is the latest all-ages arcade racing game from independent developer JPK Games. Coming to an iPhone and iPod Touch near you, Go!Speed!Go! will be available for $0.99 on September 28th. Players will be challenged to race their car along the track to get the highest score. Pay attention to the lines – green will gain you fame, glory and points, while red will literally fire you up – into a fiery explosion.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikOypVNop9]

In order to address the current inconsistencies or conflicts between the Canada Media Fund (CMF) program Guidelines and the Terms of Trade Agreement that was reached last April by the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and private broadcasters Astral Television Networks, Bell Media Inc., Rogers Broadcasting Limited, Shaw Media Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc., the CMF has adopted changes to its Guidelines for all production programs in the Convergent Stream. Read the rest of this entry »

Mobile and integrated payment solutions developer Payfirma Corporation, a leading developer of mobile and integrated payment solutions, is proud to announce the appointment of Mr. Kalle Radage to Chief Product & Strategy Officer.

Mr. Radage has a broad background in product management, marketing, and business development, primarily focused on Internet, mobile, and emerging technology.

Prior to joining Payfirma, Mr. Radage co-founded and ran the product & strategy teams for various business units within Nokia. Prior to Nokia, Mr. Radage was Senior Product Manager at Oracle, with the objective to create new revenue streams by driving emerging technologies into Oracle’s main product lines. Read the rest of this entry »

Serebra Learning Corporation has announced that trading in its common shares will resume on the TSX Venture Exchange today,  Friday September 16th. The Company is proceeding with its previously announced business combination with Blue Drop Inc. and are in the process of finalizing the definitive agreement as well as the information circular to be provided to Serebra shareholders. A summary of the transaction is provided in the Company’s news release dated March 24, 2011.

The Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) has launched the first-ever comprehensive program to formally recognize public relations and communications management education programs in Canada. The guidelines for curriculum development, published recently, will allow educational institutions in Canada to produce highly skilled public relations practitioners that are prepared for the current and future demands of the changing workforce.

Pathways to the Profession: An Outcomes Based Approach Towards Excellence in Canadian Public Relations and Communications Management Education was developed by the CPRS National Council on Education over the past three years in co-ordination with the academic and professional public relations communities across Canada. Pathways outlines recommendations for curriculum and program design in five pathways to the profession: technical, career, management, leadership and scholar. Read the rest of this entry »

IndieCade is an annual independent games festival that is open to industry as well as the public. At this year’s event, which takes place in Culver City on October 6th through 9th, there will be five Canadian-made titles available for attendees to play.

According to the IndieCade web site, this year’s events will include a professional conference, an exclusive business pre-event called the IndieXchange, a Red Carpet Awards Ceremony, this year presented by LG Electronics, festival workshops, keynotes, and family-focused activities, meet-and-greets with game creators, free gameplay with a GameWalk and big games as well as numerous social events.

The five Canadian nominees are:

FEZ by Polytron Corp.
Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure by Untold Entertainment
superHYPERCUBE by Game Dev Collective Kokoromi
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP – Superbrothers, Capybara Games, Jim Guthrie
The Depths to Which I Sink – Bigpants

Good luck to all of you at IndieCade!

Sumthing Else Music Works, Inc. proudly presents Warhammer® 40,000®: Space Marine® – The Soundtrack featuring the original music score from Relic Entertainment’s critically acclaimed 3rd person action/shooter published by THQ Inc. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – The Soundtrack is scheduled for release on September 20th, 2011 to retail outlets through Sumthing Else Music Works, and for digital download, Amazon MP3, iTunes® and other digital music sites. Read the rest of this entry »

Gamerizon, a Montreal-based studio specialized in mobile games development and responsible for the very successful Chop Chop™ franchise on the iOS platform, announced this morning that it closed a five million dollars investment round with a prestigious syndicate led by Vanedge Capital and including iNovia Capital.

This private investment will allow Gamerizon to significantly expand its employee base with 100 new hires planned over the next 24 months and improve its product offering in both breadth and scope. Read the rest of this entry »

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) has launched its fall 2011 line-up with ground-breaking and informative programming targeted to people living with disabilities.   Airing on The Accessible Channel, also known as TACtv, two inspirational programs, Accessibility in Action and A Whole New Light, explore the latest technological options and opportunities for those with disabilities.   Both shows feature real-life stories and testimonials that show how new disability solutions that are making a difference and helping people’s lives.

“AMI is proud to announce the launch of these two illuminating programs,” says AMI President and CEO David Errington. “Both of these ground-breaking shows will connect with viewers on a very personal level supporting AMI’s aim to create, advocate, collaborate and enable accessibility to all media.” Read the rest of this entry »