Village Gamer

– Vancouver – Fantasea Line announces the addition of a new housing specifically designed for the Nikon Coolpix S610 and S610c digital cameras. The FS-610 housing is fully functional providing photographers with access to all camera functions. Fantasea’s new housing design and improved construction, together with a depth rating to 60 meters/200 feet, makes the FS-610 ideal for outdoor and underwater photographers. The Fantasea FS-610 housing has a double O-ring seal on all controls, anti-glare hood over LCD screen, and built-in diffuser. The FS-610 also features a 46mm port ring thread for easy attachment of accessory lenses and filters.

Additional controls and features include:

Shutter Release
Power Switch
Exposure Compensation
Flash Mode
Self Timer
Macro
Playback
Menu
Mode
Delete
OK Button

The FS-610, like all Fantasea Housings comes with an optional Accessory System which enables photographers to further enhance their imaging capability.

Underwater photographers can dive or snorkel and capture all the excitement of this fascinating world, while outdoor photographers also have the option of capturing the action of such activities as white water and paddle sports, sailing and boating, surfing, fishing, hunting, backpacking and camping. The FS-610 protects the Coolpix camera from water, sand, dust, and other damaging elements.

Flood Insurance:

As with all other Fantasea Camera Housings, in the event of accidental water leakage, the Coolpix camera inside is insured. This attractive additional protection is exclusive only to Fantasea Housings and provides the ultimate peace of mind for photographers, who want to be sure their cameras are adequately and safely protected during use in these rugged environments.

Toronto – henderson bas, Canada’s most awarded interactive agency, today announced they had four winning campaigns the Applied Arts Magazine Awards.

Applied Arts is Canada’s premier magazine of visual communications. Their magazines are known for their gorgeous imagery, strong opinions, timely information and essential industry insight to their readership of senior creative professionals in graphic design, interactive design, advertising, photography and illustration. The four winning entries will be highlighted in the new interactive section of the March 2009 edition of Applied Arts Magazine.

The winning projects include:
· Hbc – Olympics
· Joe Fresh Style – Web site
· Discovery Club 1080
· Capital One – Lose the Rate

“Applied Arts Magazine is truly a showcase of some of the finest work on the globe so it’s nice to see us do so well at these awards,” said Dawna Henderson, President and CEO of henderson bas. “Each of these projects are so deserving because they are a winning combination of kickass strategy and exquisite creative.”

Vancouver – Tritone has released the newest version of CourseWatch, Tritone’s course management system. A significant upgrade to the current product line, CourseWatch 2.0 was created in conjunction with the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Computer Science.

Tritone Music Education Systems, located in Vancouver, British Columbia is an innovator and developer of online music education services, applications and technology software. Tritone is a pioneer in e-learning music education solutions for public schools and distance education.

Garnett MacMullin , President of Tritone: “CW 2.0 (CourseWatch 2.0) reaches another milestone for Tritone in improving online music education. CourseWatch is tailored for online delivery and hosting interactive multimedia educational content. The system returns an immediate response to the student and tracks all learning activities for the teachers. Tightly integrated with the Javatrax keyboard interface, CourseWatch retains the student’s activities as part of the reporting system for immediate review or playback”.
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Oakville – T-Shirt Monster, Canada’s leader in online clothing customization, announces a one-stop shopping solution that makes shopping fun, fast and easy for the entire family! Now through December 25th , all customized clothing orders are shipped in a special Christmas themed gift-mailer and come complete with a Christmas card shoppers can personalize.

No Malls, no line-ups, no wrapping, no need to even go outside! With the click of a button, shoppers enter the T-Shirt Monster Design Lab where they can create one-of-a-kind clothing within minutes. Users can upload artwork and photographs from the comfort of their home, or use ready-made clip art, font and text tools. Once the user is happy with their design they can choose to have it printed on over 150 different T-Shirt styles and colors, including hooded sweatshirts, baby clothing and brand names like American Apparel.
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Vancouver – Black Box, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio announced today that Skate 2, the sequel to the genre-defining original game will hit retailers in North America on January 21st, 2009 and worldwide on January 23rd, 2009 – making it one of the first must-have games of 2009. Players that can’t wait until January can indulge their irrepressible Skate craving even sooner, with the Graphics Creator, a web-based customization tool launching next month on www.skate.ea.com. For those in North America anxious to shred the streets in blaring style can pre-order now for an exclusive code to unlock the Throwback Pack, a special upgrade pack that includes retro clothing, accessories and gestures.

The Graphics Creator is a web-based application that ups the ante in self-expression. With this tool, gamers have the freedom to create custom graphics for their in-game hats, decks and shirts, infusing their skateboarding experience with an unrivaled level of individuality. The Throwback Pack features a variety of retro stylings including, tie-dye t-shirts, Skate or Die apparel, Robot and ‘Window Shade’ sunglasses, gestures circa the hippie-age and much more!

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Vancouver – mod7, a visual communications and interaction design agency specializing in interactive media, web design and motion graphics have won four awards in the 2008 Applied Arts Interactive Awards:

* Business-to-Business: Shift Control for Shift Control Media
* Self-Promotion: Shift Control for Shift Control Media
* Entertainment, Arts & Tourism: Jetstream Online for Discovery Channel
* Education/Reference: BCDF Calcium Calculator for the BC Dairy Foundation

Emily Carr University’s Granville Island Campus will be participating in National Portfolio Day on Saturday, December 6 from noon until 4pm. National Portfolio Days help promote the artistic development of young artists by bringing together experienced representatives to review work and offer feedback. While this free event does not require pre-registration, it is recommended that students arrive early with their portfolios. Portfolio Day is open to the general public, however informational sessions and tours of the campus will not be taking place on this day.

The National Portfolio Day Association (NPDA) was created in 1978, solely for the organization and planning of National Portfolio Days. The Association consists of representatives from regionally accredited colleges and universities, which are members of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The NPDA is the only organization of its kind, and its membership represents the highest standard of visual arts education available in the United States and Canada.

Please see the National Portfolio Day’s event information page for full details.

Six Canadian companies and organizations were recently recognized at the 3rd Annual Society for New Communications Research Symposium & Awards Gala held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 14, 2008.

The Society’s prestigious awards program honors individuals, corporations, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and media outlets that are pioneering the use of social media, ICT, mobile media, online communities, virtual worlds, and collaborative technologies in the areas of business, media, journalism and professional communications, entertainment, education, social initiatives, government and politics. This year the Society’s Fellows reviewed nearly 100 case study submissions.

Awards were granted in six divisions: Corporate, Government, Media, Nonprofit/NGO, Academic, and Technology Innovation, and in seven categories: Behind the Firewall; Blogger Relations; Collaboration and Co-creation; External Communications and Communities; New Media Creation; Mobile Media and Online Reputation Management.In addition to the top award winners in each division and category, Commendations of Merit and Commendations of Excellence were presented to more than 35 other organizations that submitted case studies in the awards program. The Canadian winners are:
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Rusty Axe Games, a developer and publisher of downloadable game software located in Terrace, BC, is proud to announce the release of Big$hot! Big$hot is an exciting new financial strategy game about buying and developing business properties from the team that brought you Real E$tate Empire.

In Big$hot you play the role of an entrepreneur whose job is to build a portfolio of properties that can be leveraged into a business empire.

Big$hot is easy to learn how to play with a complete tutorial system, context sensitive help and an online Q&A system that can be launched from within the game.

What to hold, what to fix, what to package up and deal off – it’s all about risk and reward as you try to build your property monopolies and acquire strategic businesses that will help you build and promote your burgeoning business empire.

Game Features:

Build monopolies to reduce costs and increase profits.
Drive down repair and improvement costs by picking up construction companies.
Reduce advertising costs by owning media companies.
Control a realty business to fast track sales of your own businesses.

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Today Ubisoft announced it will release exciting new downloadable content (DLC) for Far Cry® 2, which was developed by Ubisoft Montreal. The Fortune’s Pack DLC will bring new vehicles and new weapons to both the single-player game and the multiplayer game, giving gamers even more diverse means of destruction. Be the silent stalker armed with your silent shotgun or jump on your new quad and blast through the dunes of Africa. The Fortune’s Pack DLC for Far Cry 2 will be available for download from Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and from PlayStation®Network.

The Fortune’s Pack DLC for Far Cry 2 includes:

Single-Player Mode

Three brand-new weapons
– Silenced shotgun
– Sawed-off shotgun
– Crossbow

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