Village Gamer

Corel Digital Media products include the latest in photo and video editing, disc authoring and video and disc playback with the latest Blu-ray support

Ottawa – Corel Corporation today announced that key partners will exhibit its high-definition playback and authoring software at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from January 8-11, 2009 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Corel products to be demonstrated at CES include Corel® WinDVD®, Corel® LinDVD® and Corel® DVD MovieFactory®. Corel will also demonstrate its complete line of Digital Media products in private meeting rooms 6221mp and 6222mp, located in the North Hall. Current and potential OEM clients may contact Corel to schedule a meeting at corel.oem -at- corel -dot- com.

Corel at CES

The following Corel partners will exhibit Corel products at CES:

Intel (Corel WinDVD)
Central Hall, Booth 7153

Dolby (Corel WinDVD and Corel DVD MovieFactory)
Lower South 1 LVCC, Booth 20901

Phoenix Technologies (Corel LinDVD)
Central Hall, Booth 9014

Read the rest of this entry »

Title: Crash Bandicoot – Mind Over Mutant
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Publisher: Sierra – Activision
Platforms: Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2
Release Date: October 7 2008

Mind over Mutant is the latest addition to the Crash Bandicoot franchise from Vancouver’s Radical Entertainment, and the general consensus among those of us at the Village Gamer HQ who played the 360 version over the holidays is that “Crash rocks!”

The plot line for Mind Over Mutant requires Crash to save his friends and everyone else from the evil clutches of the nasty Dr. Neo Cortex and the equally warped Dr. Nitrus Brio. The squabbling and delusional duo have released a new device called the “NV” on the Bandicoot world, a mind controlling unit which bears an odd resemblance to today’s real world mobile devices. The NV has not only affected Crash’s sister CoCo and his best-friend Crunch, but also each of the Titan “clans” which also populate Crash’s world.

Mind Over Mutant is full of player achievement objectives, ranging from health and skill upgrades for Crash and his small army of Mutant Titans to missions, side-missions and treasure hunts. Skills and health can also be upgraded by collecting mojo jewels, while main mission objectives are obtained from characters in the story. Completing percentages of the game results in achievement awards, and some objectives which can only be successful through co-op play.

While the co-op areas can be accomplished with one player using two controllers, we found it far more fun to actually play co-operatively. Other achievements throughout the game include unlockable skins (or costumes) for Crash and art collections. The art collection featuring fan art must have thrilled the many young artists whose work was included, and I feel this was a very special and thoughtful way to thank Crash Bandicoot fans.

Read the rest of this entry »

Absolute to feature real-life computer recovery stories of LoJack for Laptop customers

Vancouver – Absolute(R) Software Corporation, the leading provider of firmware-based, patented, computer theft recovery, data protection and IT asset management solutions, is showcasing its home office computer security service, Computrace(R) LoJack(R) for Laptops, at MacWorld Expo and the Consumer Electronics Association’s CES 2009.

Absolute is an industry leader in anti-theft and security solutions for mobile computers. Throughout MacWorld and CES, Absolute will provide the opportunity for media and attendees to learn about Absolute’s real-life computer theft recovery stories, as well as its IT asset management, managed theft recovery and data protection technologies.

Read the rest of this entry »

Toronto – YANGAROO Inc., the industry’s leading secure digital media distribution company, is pleased to announce that it has received allowance of its United States Patent Application #10/431,854 titled “Content Distribution System and Method” from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The formal Letters Patent grant is expected to follow shortly.

The patent in the U.S. for “Content Distribution System and Method” covers a method of distributing digital content, such as music and advertising, to selected individuals over the Internet, in which the uploading content provider selects the individuals that are entitled to access the content and sets release conditions, like a time and date, and where the identities of the selected individuals are verified at login and are provided with access to the uploaded content if the release conditions are met.
Read the rest of this entry »

Unique Wireless and Powerline home connectivity solutions powered by ExtremeUSB will be showcased at Parks Associates Connections Reception, and the DS2 Booth on the CES Show Floor

Burnaby – Icron Technologies (TSX Venture: IT), leading providers of USB extension and bridging solutions, today announced that it will be demonstrating new and innovative PC to TV connectivity solutions based on its patented ExtremeUSB(R) technology at CES. Demonstrations will take place on the CES show floor at the DS2 Booth (Booth No. 26129, South Hall 2) and at the Parks Associates CES Connections Summit Reception, taking place at the Las Vegas Hilton on Friday, January 9th from 6pm-8pm.

Icron’s Interactive PC to TV connectivity solutions demonstrate the ability for home users to interactively access all PC content and applications, including real-time Internet content, on TVs throughout the home. The solutions combine HD quality PC video along with full USB functionality, including mouse, keyboard, flash drive, webcam, and other USB peripherals, and extends them over standard 802.11n Wireless or Powerline networking technologies, enabling a true PC experience on the TV.
Read the rest of this entry »

Storage Appliance Corp.’s Latest Breakthrough Turns Any External Hard Drive from Any Manufacturer into an Effortless, Clickfree Backup Solution, Eliminating the Risk of Losing Precious Photos, Videos, Music and Data Forever

Richmond Hill, ON – Storage Appliance Corp., the company whose portable backup systems made the otherwise laborious task of backing up computer data manually a thing of the past – today announced another breakthrough with the launch of its Clickfree Transformer Cable. The new Transformer USB cable instantly turns any competitor’s external hard drive into a Clickfree automatic backup device, completely eliminating the hassle and confusion of installing and configuring backup software. Like all Clickfree products, there is no software to install or configure, it is truly automatic – right out of the box.

“The Clickfree name has become synonymous with effort-free computer backup. Regardless of what the competition claims, our new Clickfree Transformer Cable is the only way to make a regular external hard drive easy to use, requiring no software or configuration, and immediately backing up everything that matters from your computer’s hard drive,” says Storage Appliance Corp. CEO, Bryan McLeod. “The Transformer Cable works with any manufacturer’s USB external hard drive to deliver automatic, no-click backing up. Finally, you can stop avoiding backup because it was too much trouble!”

Read the rest of this entry »

Format: Wii (also available for Nintendo DS, Mobile, PS2, PS3, PC, X360)
Release Date: November 11, 2008
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Treyarch
Official Website: http://www.callofduty.com
ESRB Rating: M – Mature 17+

Introduction

Call of Duty (COD): World at War (WAW) is a very intense, brutal and addicting game that can be played with two players or with friends and strangers via Wi-Fi connection. Although the game is rated M for Mature, WAW does a very good job of not exaggerating the blood, violence, and language; however, I would recommend waiting for the kids to go to bed before playing this one.

Beginning

Picking up the campaign section of the game (if you haven’t played the other COD games) was very simple. The game gives you hints as you go along on how to master the skills needed for the mission you are playing. I used the Wii zapper for this game, which did make it much easier to aim and shoot. The down side of the zapper was it made it harder to quickly throw back grenades and to drop mounted weapons in order to run away from grenades. I took off the zapper for a period of time, and found myself doing much worse – I decided to stick with the zapper for this one.

Read the rest of this entry »

Official Website: Puzzlegeddon
Format: PC
Developer: Pieces Interactive
Publisher: Pieces Interactive
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: E – Everyone

Puzzlegeddon features an inventive mix of puzzle, action and strategy. Select your island of choice and puzzle for resources to defend yourself and to defeat opponents throughout the many galaxies, game modes and challenges which await you in Puzzlegeddon.

When I was asked to review this game I had never heard of it or even seen any screenshots; I wasn’t sure what to expect. So when I read how the game functions, I was quite impressed. The main goal of the game is to defeat your opponents by solving a puzzle of different colors. As you solve the puzzle you will earn different resources to use against your opponents and decrease their health. Along with those resources that do damage to your opponent, there are also resources you can collect to protect yourself.

Read the rest of this entry »

In less than one year, the browser-based parody RPG Forumwarz has attracted more than 100,000 users. Supported primarily by user donations, it is one of the first browser-based games to successfully use a “shareware model” to sustain itself.

Toronto – Forumwarz, a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet, recently confirmed that it has surpassed the 100,000 sign-up mark since its public launch in February, 2008.

The game, which has been described by Wired News as “an offensive but deadly funny approach to lampooning the poor grammar, childish humor and bad manners of the web’s underbelly,” managed to attract a surprisingly large niche mostly through reputation, word-of-blog and favorable reviews from such sites as Gawker, The Onion A.V. Club, Digital Journal and Gamasutra.

Forumwarz skewers both internet culture and traditional MMORPG tropes by combining the two in an off-color and sometimes deliberately offensive mash-up. Players can choose classes such as Troll, Hacker, Emo Kid, Camgirl or Noob, while using a World of Warcraft-like attack bar to derail or “pwn” various internet forums.

Read the rest of this entry »