Village Gamer

Longueuil’s D-BOX Technologies Inc. has reached an agreement with Sony Pictures Releasing Corporation to feature D-BOX’s immersive MFX with Resident Evil: Afterlife in selected theatres on September 10. Thus far, the Cineplex Odeon Queensway in Etobicoke is the only Canadian theatre equipped with D-Box’s motion technology.

“The consistent support of movie studio giants like Sony speaks volumes about industry and consumer confidence in our immersive motion technology,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “This is our second collaboration and we are pleased to add an exciting, action-packed sci-fi thriller to our growing catalogue of D-BOX Motion Code™supported films.”

Nintendo is dropping the suggested retail price of its Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™ video game systems. Effective Sept. 12, the new suggested retail price of the Nintendo DSi system will be $149.99 USD, while the new suggested retail price for the Nintendo DSi XL system will be $169.99 USD. The Nintendo DS™ Lite model will remain at a suggested retail price of $129.99 USD.

“We know shoppers want to get the maximum value out of every dollar they spend,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Our new Nintendo DSi prices make it easier than ever for consumers to access the tremendous variety of games, applications and social tools on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL systems.”

Video Games Live has announced several Canadian performance dates for 2011, beginning with Victoria’s Royal Theatre on April 12th followed immediately by two nights at Vancouver’s Centre for the Performing Arts on April 13th and 14th. Video Games Live will then move across the Rockies to perform in Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall on April 17th and the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton on April 18th.

Moving across the prairies, VGL will perform at TCU Place in Saskatoon on April 20th and Conexus Arts Centre in Regina on April 23rd. Winnipeg will have a matinee and evening performance at the Burton Cummings Theatre on April 23rd before the show moves on to Ontario for four performances. Thunder Bay’s Community Arts Centre will be the first stop on April 25th, then it’s on to Centre in the Square for April 27th in Kitchener. April 28th will see VGL at the Place Theatre in Hamilton and then the Civic Centre Theatre in Ottawa on April 29th. The show will close out April at Montreal’s Place Des Arts on April 30th before returning to Toronto to perform at Massey Hall on May 2nd. VGL’s final announced show will be on May 3rd at K-Rock Centre in Kingston. Visit VGL’s site to sign up for VGL’s newsletter to get the latest news and advance ticket sale notices as well as to volunteer at the pre-show events in each city.

Yahoo! and Canadian real estate search site Zoocasa have partnered for the launch of a new application that enables Canadians to access Zoocasa’s online real estate search service directly from their Yahoo.ca homepage.  The new app will enable visitors to search for a new home, research local neighbourhoods and receive updates about properties that fit their personal profile, all through the Zoocasa.com application on their Yahoo.ca homepage. Combining real-time listing information and mapping technology, Zoocasa.com allows users to personalize their search experience and discover community, demographic and lifestyle information to help them choose the right home.

“Our vision is for Yahoo.ca to be the best guide for Canadians for both their online and offline worlds,” said Laurie Maw, director, Business Development for Yahoo! Canada. “The Zoocasa application is an important addition to Yahoo! Canada’s current line-up of online apps that includes everything from Flickr and Facebook, to links to our Sports and Finance channels.”

Zoocasa offers a variety of real estate search options to Canadians, including searches by region, city, price range, number of bedrooms/bathrooms and property type. Users can also enhance their decision making process by learning about their city and area of choice using online guides and maps.

“We are excited to work with Yahoo! Canada to launch a Zoocasa.com app that gives Canadians another great way to streamline their house-hunting efforts,” said Butch Langlois, president of Zoocasa. “From Vancouver and Edmonton, to Toronto and Montreal, Canadians can find detailed, real-time information about the regions, cities, neighbourhoods and houses they are interested in.”

Zoocasa is a portfolio company of the Rogers Ventures Group, a new source of funding for technology start-ups and a support mechanism for Canada’s innovation ecosystem.

SpinTop Games, Popcap Games’ Vancouver studio, has released Mystery P.I.™ Stolen in San Francisco, a new “hidden object” puzzle game set in the Golden Gate City. Stolen in San Francisco is the latest addition to the immensely popular, award-winning Mystery P.I. series, which has been downloaded more than 100 million times since the series began in 2007.

Mystery P.I. Stolen in San Francisco challenges players to solve the biggest theft in San Francisco history by exploring dozens of locations for hidden “clues.” Mystery P.I. Stolen in San Francisco carries a retail price of US$19.99, and a free trial of the deluxe version is available now for download. The game will also be available on other leading game portals, including Gamehouse, MSN Gaming Zone, Pogo and Yahoo! Games, later this quarter.

“Since San Francisco is sometimes affectionately dubbed the Golden City, we thought it was the perfect setting for a gold heist. Glittering and gritty locations alike make this seek-and-find mystery a fun adventure for the whole family,” states Duncan Magee, co-director and co-founder of SpinTop. “We focused our efforts on creating the best visual locations ever to keep our millions of Mystery P.I. fans happy. We’ve always kept our artistic standards high, and I think we’ve exceeded them with Stolen in San Francisco!”

In Mystery P.I. Stolen in San Francisco, $250 Million in solid gold has been stolen from an armored car. The gold’s owner has hired you, the world famous Mystery P.I., to find and return the gold before the trail goes cold. Seek and find over 2100 hidden objects in 25 amazing San Francisco-centered scenes to track down the stolen gold! Locations include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Haight-Ashbury, Fisherman’s Wharf and many more.

Mystery P.I. Stolen in San Francisco features three enthralling ways to play: In ‘Find the Stolen Gold’ mode you must find clues that will lead you to the gold. Collect all the Keys & Peace Symbols to unlock two bonus game modes: Unlimited Seek & Find and a Match-3 bonus game. Go for a ‘Perfect Investigation’ and speed bonuses to maximize your points to become a Master P.I.!

Key features of Mystery P.I. Stolen in San Francisco include:

– More than 2100 cleverly hidden objects to find.
– 25 stunning San Francisco locations to explore and investigate.
– 3 fun game modes: ‘Find the Stolen Gold’ plus two Unlimited game modes
– 7 unique mini-games: Match-3, Word Search, Circle Rotation, Spot-the-Differences and Jigsaw, plus a unique final puzzle.
– Locate the secret Keys and Peace Symbols to unlock two Unlimited game modes.

Canadian publisher Meridian4 is excited to announce the release and availability of the first official add-on to Arma 2 – Operation Arrowhead in the form of DLC named Arma 2 – British Armed Forces. The downloadable content is now available on their site for $9.99.

“We are really excited to work with Bohemia Interactive to bring this new content to gamers,” said Steve Milburn, Marketing Director, of Meridian4. “With new playable content and new weapons, vehicles and units, Arma 2 : British Armed Forces is a great addition to the Arma 2 family.”

“The ongoing enthusiasm and incredible passion of our community continues to inspire and encourage us” said Marek Spanel, Bohemia’s CEO, “to that end, we’re excited to invite them back to Takistan for another slice of tactical action. This downloadable content is both an answer to their wishes and evidence of our commitment to providing quality post release support and content to the already huge Armaversum.”

Less than two months after Operation Arrowhead successfully routed the Takistani military regime, NATO coalition forces face a large-scale outbreak of guerilla insurgency. A mechanized force of British troops are about to deploy and embark upon a large-scale counter-insurgency campaign, which will define the future of the coalition presence in Takistan: Operation “Crimson Lance”. Read the rest of this entry »