Village Gamer

Nintendo® is giving Canadians the chance to ‘Fly Like Fox’ with the launch of the Star Fox 64™ 3D ‘Fly Like Fox’ contest. To enter the contest fans can simply fly over to the Nintendo 3DS Facebook page and click on the Star Fox 64 3D contest tab. One lucky Star Fox fan and wingman of their choice will WIN a real-life fighter-pilot experience at Air Combat USA in Fullerton, California!

Just like Fox McCloud and his team in the classic remake for Nintendo 3DS TM, the winner and a friend will experience the thrill and excitement of flying a light attack fighter in air-to-air combat. After a briefing by an Air Combat USA Pilot in the basics of Tactical Fighter Maneuvers, they will engage in multiple g-pulling dogfights, experiencing the fierce aerial combat of the game in real life! The flight experience will be recorded and they will be debriefed post flight.

Contest Details

• Open only to residents of the Canada (excluding Quebec) and the U.S. who are over the age of 14
• The contest starts on August 15, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. PT and ends on November 7, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. PT
• One winner from Canada and one winner from the United States and will each receive a grand prize trip package consisting of a “Basic Air Combat Maneuvers for 2” aerial combat lesson for the winner and their guest at Air Combat USA, a video of the flight experience, two nights’ accommodations in Fullerton, California, two round-trip airplane tickets, and $500 spending money
• Approximate Retail Value of the Trip: $5,800 CAD

The much anticipated arrival of the IKEA Catalogue landing on five million doorsteps across Canada is finally here. This year’s Catalogue, like the 60 before it, is full of smart solutions, inspiring rooms and insights into life at home. From the leading home furnishing experts in the world, comes a handbook to maximizing space at home.

The 2012 IKEA Catalogue will not only be delivered to homes across Canada, it will also be available through several digital channels. The complete Catalogue will be available on the IKEA Canada web site as of today. An IKEA catalogue iPhone  and Android application are also available today, with the addition of an iPad application in the Fall. IKEA is also introducing for the first time a Catalogue Widget that will allow bloggers and other websites to host the Catalogue (I couldn’t find a link for it, so this feature may not yet be live). Shoppers can also order a print copy of the Catalogue to be delivered via snail mail.

“No matter what size our homes are, none of us ever seem to have enough space,” says Kerri Molinaro, President, IKEA Canada. “There is no doubt that a small space requires creative thinking, but even big spaces can be challenging as our lives grow and we have more things to store.”

In the 2012 catalogue, readers will find a strong focus on the IKEA commitment to create a better life at home through:

Beautiful Design:

• Graphic patterns add interest and texture. Toss in a little style with the new EIVOR cushion (page 23, $12.99)
• Nothing says luxury like a gorgeous quality sofa. Sit back and relax in the new TIDAFORS sofa (page 25, $699)
• The new VARMLUFT paper shade (page 45, $5) is perfect for creating a light and airy feeling
• Celebrate the softer side of style with the new OPPDAL bed frame (page 170, $349/Queen with drawers). It is perfect for leaning back and reading a good book
• The shape of the ISALA series (page 71, coffee table $249) is inspired by older Swedish furniture, with modern twists like thicker legs

Smart Design:

• Building BILLY bookcases (page 27, $69.99) around a window or above a door is one way to use overlooked wall space and fit more in your room
• Double duty products that deliver more function such as the KIVIK sofa and seating series (page 57, loveseat and chaise $1179) offer built-in storage in addition to durability and good looks
• MELLTORP dining table (page 99, $39.99) goes from compact to ready-for-friends when paired next to the NORBERG wall-mounted drop-leaf table
• Combine traditional looks in a cozy workstation – HEMNES secretary with add-on unit (page 245, $275 for grey/brown) complete with built-in cable management for collecting cables and cords out of sight – that fits right in with your living room

Sustainable design:

• Innovative production techniques call for fewer resources and help reduce waste.  The materials for STUVA storage boxes (page 275, storage bench with box $119.00 each) are produced using the innovative “board on stiles” production method, making them not only faster to manufacture but also lighter in weight, resulting in fewer shipments and more savings passed along to the customer
• Speaking of savings, our new expanded LED lighting range, including our TIVED work lamp (page 347, $29.99), help reduce household energy use (LED lighting is about 85% more efficient than incandescent lighting)

Canada ended the second quarter of 2011 on a high note as one of the top 10 countries for corporate technology mergers and acquisitions, with numbers increasing from 21 deals in Q2 2010 to 30 in Q2 2011, according to Ernst & Young’s Global technology M&A update.

“Average global deal value skyrocketed to US$194 million in the second quarter of 2011, and the numbers here at home were just as strong,” says Tony Ianni, leader of corporate finance in Ernst & Young’s Transaction Advisory Services practice. “Canada saw the second-highest number of cross-border deals, behind the United States — an uptick in volume and value we’ve seen developing over the last several quarters.”

Big-ticket deals drove the total value of global tech M&A to US$52.1 billion in Q2 2011, nearly doubling the deal value from an already strong first quarter. Global cross-border deal volume also increased 16% from Q1, while domestic deals declined by 11%. Not only that, cross-border deals showed a 32% increase over Q2 2010 numbers.

The total value of global deals with disclosed values increased by 92%, from US$27.1 billion in Q1 to US$52.1 billion in Q2 — a 69% increase from Q2 2010 (US$30.8 billion). While 61% of all disclosed value was concentrated in the top 10 deals, there was also significant deal-making strength at the opposite end of the spectrum, in deals of less than US$100 million.

This surge was powered by industry consolidation and ongoing disruptive innovation in the following areas:

• Cloud computing
• Smart mobility
• Internet and mobile video
• Smart grid and solar energy

“New waves of innovation, especially around smart mobility, cloud computing and social networking, are driving large and small deals across the globe,” says Ianni. “Not only did Q2 have the highest quarterly average since the first quarter of 2000, it also had the 20th-largest global technology deal ever by dollar value.”

Technology companies that continue to stockpile cash will have the flexibility to act when strategic M&A opportunities arise. Cash and investments held by the sector’s top 25 companies grew to US$591 billion by the end of Q2 2011 — an 18% year-over-year increase from US$499 billion at the end of Q2 2010.

“Interest in the technology sector continues to rise as information technology evolves into an increasingly valuable component of all products and services,” says Ianni. “But the question on everyone’s mind is whether deal-making will lose momentum or continue to overcome increasing divergence between buyers and sellers over valuation, geopolitical unrest and global debt issues.”

Mobilicity has introduced the industry’s first $25 unlimited talk, text and data plan, as well as steep savings on popular Android smartphones to make going back to school more affordable and enjoyable. The new student plans, available for a limited time at Mobilicity stores in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary as well as authorized dealers across Canada, underscores Mobilicity’s commitment to provide Canadians with a smarter, more affordable way to use wireless.

“With Mobilicity, Canadians can talk, text and use data like a king on a student’s budget,” said Chief Customer Officer Anthony Booth. “Students can afford to get everything they need from a mobile device and still have enough money to enjoy a rich life on campus all year long.”

Mobilicity’s Student Plan is a great deal for anyone who wants to stay connected with friends and family without breaking the bank. It offers unlimited local calling, unlimited local text and picture messaging, unlimited data, caller ID and unlimited Mobilicity-to-Mobilicity calling for only $25 a month.

For students looking for the most bang for their buck, the company launched the Ultimate Unlimited Back-to-School Plan, which includes all of its $25 Student Plan features plus unlimited North American long distance, unlimited Canada/US text and picture messaging, unlimited global text messaging, voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding and 3-way calling – all for only $40 a month.

In the spirit of sending students back to school in style, Mobilicity is also offering up to $200 off select handsets, such as high-end Android smartphones, like the Samsung Nexus S and HTC Panache. With these savings, consumers can also purchase a name-brand Android smartphone for under $100.

“Any student can look like a big shot on campus,” said Booth. “With savings of up to $200 on incredible Mobilicity smartphones, like the Samsung Nexus S and HTC Panache, buying an Android is well within reach of Canadian students.”

The Samsung Nexus S (now $349) combines the latest hardware with the fastest, most powerful version of Android to deliver a responsive and fluid experience all in a uniquely slim profile that fits comfortably in your hand. The HTC Panache (now $299) packs a host of unique features, based on the HTC Sense user interface, which allows users to customize, stream contacts’ social network updates and instantly silence the phone ringer with a quick flip.

The Motorola Spice (now $99) is a sleek Android smartphone with its sliding QWERTY keyboard and large multi-touch screen with multi-touch support allowing pinch-to-zoom and fluid flick navigation making it super easy to send messages on the fly. The Samsung G-Touch (now $99) is an outstanding messaging device and features a full touch screen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard making texts messages simple and intuitive.

Following a successful preview, The City of Calgary today announced the official launch of the new search-based calgary.ca. The website, which uses Microsoft SharePoint and Google search technology, was available for public preview from August 8 to 12. During the preview process, Calgarians were able to test the new site by typing in keywords to find relevant information. Public feedback during the preview process was exceptionally favourable with very few problems reported.

“We were incredibly impressed with the amount of feedback we received. Comments on social media indicated this was a move in the right direction for the City of Calgary” said David Watson, General Manager of Planning, Development and Assessment and Project Sponsor.

“Microsoft is pleased to be part of Calgary’s long term strategic vision to deliver innovation to its employees, citizens and businesses,” said Mike Tremblay, Vice President, Public Sector, Microsoft Canada. “We congratulate The City on the launch of calgary.ca and are delighted that Microsoft SharePoint 2010 was selected as the unified platform to help streamline its government services and foster collaboration between Calgary and its citizens and local businesses.”

Through a competitive bidding process, The City of Calgary hired Infusion Development to complete development work on the website. “The goal from the onset was to ensure that citizens could find information and services quickly and easily.” said, Bill Baldasti, VP Canadian Sales, Infusion. “For this, a custom feed-engine to enable smart searching was developed. On top of this, we built an extensive mapping suite, a completely optimized mobile experience, and online forms that all together will enable revolutionary new ways for the community to interact with their local government.”

The new website marks a movement towards eGovernment and a shift to providing more services and information online. “Our citizens have said this is how they want to interact with their municipal government,” said Watson. He adds, “The upgrades we’ve made to calgary.ca have built the foundation for The City to support future advances in technology and will allow us to better serve and communicate with Calgarians for years to come.”

THQ Inc. has announced that Relic Entertainment will be releasing a playable demo for the upcoming 3rd Person Action/Shooter, Warhammer® 40,000®: Space Marine® on Xbox Live®, PlayStation® Network and Windows PC. The demo is planned to launch simultaneously for the Xbox 360® and Windows PC on 23rd August and then on PlayStation®3 on 24th August.

Players who have pre-ordered the digital PC version of Space Marine through Steam will receive an exclusive early access period starting on the 18th of August, running through the weekend.  Steam will also be running a Warhammer 40,000 bundle sale at a very special rate during the same period.  Check out STEAM for more details.

The Space Marine demo features two very different areas of the game. The first pits the player against an Ork horde outside the gates of a munitions factory. Armed with six devastating weapons, including the iconic bolter and lethal chainsword, the player will get to experience Space Marine’s seamless mix of melee and ranged combat first hand as they take on the rampaging invaders. The second area gives players a taste of the exhilarating Jump Pack sequences where the game’s hero—Captain Titus—takes to the skies to rain death from above.

Space Marine ‘Honour Guard’ community members will also get the chance to play the demo early on August 22nd, 24 hours prior to the public launch. For more information on how to sign up to get the demo visit the Space Marine site and make sure you have registered with the Honour Guard.

Electronic Arts will showcase the best of interactive entertainment at this year’s gamescom in Cologne, Germany. The company’s top intellectual properties are set to delight visitors, highlighting this year’s blockbuster launches and offerings for console, mobile phones, tablets and the Web. The publisher will also be providing 350 gaming stations at the EA booth allowing more consumers than ever before to get hands-on play with each game.

Jens Uwe Intat, Senior Vice President of EA European Publishing, said, “The old model of making games every few years to coincide with new hardware launches is gone. We have a very powerful set of games for today’s consoles, and now we offer that IP to players as year-round entertainment across all of their devices and platforms. We’re looking forward to our fans’ response when they get hands-on with our line-up at the show – we think they’ll like what they see”.

Canadian-made games at the show include:

• FIFA 12: Huge space that puts players on the pitch to experience the gameplay action.
• Need for Speed™ The Run: Get behind the wheel in a race for your life from the Golden Gate to the Empire State.
• Mass Effect™ 3: Bioware’s high octane alien invasion adventure explodes in an all-out galactic war. The time has come to join the war effort and experience the industry’s most critically acclaimed RPG first-hand.
• The Secret World: Funcom producers will be showing an exciting live demo in one of many dungeons, highlighting combat, progression and boss fights.

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.

I will be writing up our own summary of our experiences at SIGGRAPH 2011 – there is much to digest and process from the week. In addition, I have over 1000 photos to go through and we have video footage to edit (thank you to all who participated in the Hot Seat Elevator Interviews). In the meantime, here is the official press release wrap from the SIGGRAPH Organization – with a few injections from our experiences.

SIGGRAPH 2011 is now over, but while it was here the conference welcomed 15,872 artists, research scientists, gaming experts and developers, filmmakers, students, and academics from 74 countries around the globe to Vancouver this week—breaking the city’s previous conference attendance records. In addition, 156 industry organizations exhibited at SIGGRAPH 2011—representing 17 countries with approximately half from outside the United States.

Content was once again king at SIGGRAPH with approximately 825 speakers participating in the conference through a variety of talks, sessions, panels, papers, presentations, and screenings. We would have liked to have seen a lot more of the panels and talks, and the one panel we really wanted to get into was standing room only right out the door, so we didn’t get to hear about opening a remote studio in Vancouver.

“It was both an inspirational and incredibly fulfilling week,” said Peter Braccio, SIGGRAPH 2011 Conference Chair from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. “Vancouver was an awesome home for SIGGRAPH and people are leaving with a renewed sense of passion and motivation both in their professional and personal lives. Vancouver delivered on its reputation as a world-class city.”

New to SIGGRAPH this year was the SIGGRAPH Symposium: The Business Think Tank, which was held on Sunday. The objective of the event was to help shape the future direction of the computer graphics industry. A sold out event, we kept hearing comments during the week about what a great event the Think Tank was. We were busy setting up our booth, so were unable to get over to the East Building to check it out.

The conference keynote was presented by science fiction author, blogger and activist Cory Doctorow. As he has done at other events around the globe, Mr. Doctorow presented his views on the state of copyright laws in the digital age, which are vastly different from our own. As we watched the presentation, we found ourselves in disagreement with many of Mr. Doctorow’s statements and conjectures. This was somewhat disappointing, as we feel it could potentially undo much of the excellent work that has been done thus far on copyright reform in Canada. In our opinion, SIGGRAPH could have had a keynote presentation that spoke more to the growth and successes Canada is experiencing in the technology and digital media industry sectors instead of an opinionated keynote that was not entirely accurate.

The SIGGRAPH 2011 Computer Animation Festival presented the world’s most innovative, accomplished, and amazing creators of digital gaming, film, and video. A total of 77 films were shown during the Festival. In addition to film screenings, the Festival included interactive sessions and exclusive learning opportunities to gain industry secrets and advice from some of the most successful professionals in the field.

SIGGRAPH 2011 Computer Animation Festival award winners include:

• Best in Show Award: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
  Directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, Moonbot Studios
• Jury Award: Paths of Hate
  Directed by Damian Nenow, Platige Image
• Best Student Project Prize: Flamingo Pride
  Directed by Tomer Eshed, The Konrad Wolf Potsdam-Babelsberg Film and Television University

Technical Papers, the premier global forum for presenting groundbreaking research from today’s leading experts. The SIGGRAPH 2011 Technical Papers program featured 82 Technical Papers, selected among 432 submissions. In addition to core topics of modeling, animation, rendering, imaging, and human-computer interaction, the Technical Papers program encouraged submissions from areas related to computer graphics, including: computer games, design, vision, scientific and information visualization, audio, and robotics.

SIGGRAPH 2011 Art Gallery: Tracing Home explored issues related to the concept of home in the networked age. From more than 300 submissions, the Art Gallery jury selected 16 pieces to be featured, including 2D images, audio, video, and data-driven and mixed-media installations. All pieces explored “home” as both a conceptual category and a physical reality, often blurring the boundaries between the two.

Game On Audio has taken the first steps towards launching its newest offering: studios capable
of simultaneously recording the highest quality audio while also capturing the full-body and facial performances of video game actors. Game On Audio has tapped Organic Motion’s new “OpenStage” markerless motion capture mo-cap technology, which is making its debut at Siggraph 2011, purchasing three systems.

Organic Motion’s new markerless, suitless mo-cap system delivers many innovative features including multiple actor tracking, fundamental prop tracking, larger scanning space, increased accuracy, as well as eliminating the need for a backdrop. Construction on these precedent-setting studios begins mid-September 2011 in Game On’s Venice facility and is due to be completed January 15th 2012, while the Montreal facility installation will begin in July 2012 and finalized by October 2012. The performance studios will be exact duplicates of each other to maintain quality control in all aspects of the performance capture. Internationally renowned architectural firm, Boto Design will handle the design and construction for the new studios.

The installation of Organic Motion’s “OpenStage” will enable Game On Audio to provide clients in both the gaming industry, and the entertainment industry as a whole, with the ability to simultaneously capture the performances of actors vocally and physically. Standard motion capture stages aren’t outfitted and equipped to capture high-quality sound, which leads to costly dubbing sessions where actors have to add voices to the physical action. With Game On’s new “Performance Studios,” which are fitted to Game On’s company-wide audio specifications, this has been consolidated into a one-step process.

“We’ve seen how costly it can be for clients forced to capture their actors’ motion imagery and voicework separately,” said Sam Girardin, CEO and Founder of Game On Audio. “Organic Motion’s new system allows for actors to immerse themselves in the scene and not worry about the confinements and restrictions that the traditional motion capture process entails. This is a completely different approach that makes sense on many levels, for us and for our clients. We’re proud to be the first company to design studios specifically for this purpose.”

Game On has already been working with facial motion capture, having provided the service on Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and many yet to be announced AAA titles. With offices in Montreal and Los Angeles, Game On Audio is a recognized leader in voice recording, casting, direction, facial motion capture, game mixing and audio post-production for the global video game industry. In addition, through a network of partner studios in New York, Paris, Toronto and Vancouver, the company provides clients with access to the most diverse pool of talent in the industry.