Village Gamer

ViXS Systems Inc. will be demonstrating the latest in the connected home digital media processing and networking technologies to cable operators  at the CableLabs Summer Conference in Keystone Aug 8 – 10.

“ViXS’ smart processors put us firmly at the center of the latest trends in set top boxes,” said Sally Daub, President and CEO of ViXS Systems. “We look forward to demonstrating how our leading-edge technology enables a large portfolio of new advanced networked media devices, including: media gateways, advanced set top boxes, and streaming media and connectivity solutions.”

Transcoding, media processing and home networking are critical to the networked digital media revolution. At the CableLabs Summer Conference, ViXS will showcase its latest solutions to leading cable MSOs. The following demonstrations will be shown in ViXS’ private demo room:

• XCode® 5195 with integrated MoCA: Headless Gateway Transcoder, revolutionizing digital home entertainment and enabling true content mobility by transcoding and streaming content on up to four high definition (HD) sources to multiple devices within the home
• XCode® 4210: Advanced Set-top Box, Blu-ray and Smart TV module System on Chip ( SOC) featuring a high level of concurrency including dual HD transcoding, dual HD display, advanced networking, full HD resolution 3D TV and 3D graphics
• Over-the-top (OTT) and content mobility solutions to address seamless connectivity to iPADs, tablets and other connected media devices

Wacom is currently running its Summer of Sharing contest for non-professional photographers and artists who use either the Intuos or Bamboo tablets. This contest is open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec) and the United States who are over the age of 18.

To define “non-professional”, Wacom’s rules states that “entry must be enthusiast work only (no professional artwork). An enthusiast is defined as someone who enjoys their digital imagery, art and photos, but who does not make their living from the craft.

The contest is open for submissions until August 31st, with voting to start on September 1st. When you submit your artwork, you will need to tell Wacom a bit about how you created it using your Wacom Intuos or Bamboo pen tablet. The contest is open to all genres and personal styles: illustrations, caricatures, digital painting, anime, created with your favorite software.

As an added twist – this is a contest, after all –  you’ll have the chance to earn some serious cash, software, and gear. A Wacom panel of judges will hand-pick a select number of entrants to participate in our Fall 2011 program to showcase pen tablet techniques. This is a totally eclectic process, and entrants will be chosen at the full discretion of the Wacom panel, based on submissions and your answers to questions about how you use your tablet.

If you are going to SIGGRAPH 2011, you can visit Wacom on the expo floor in Booth 825.

Independent Mississauga developer Sad Cat Software is pleased to announce the launch of Desert Quest game for iPhone and iPod Touch, the epic role-playing adventure that invites players to take an inspiring journey into the world full of magic and secrets. With its smooth and fluid gameplay, beautifully crafted graphics and enchanting music the title provides a deeply engaging and unforgettable gaming experience.

Players take the role of a hero whose mission is to venture through 16 various levels across the unknown and dangerous lands in order to find and save the gorgeous princess from evil spirits. They are challenged to show off their archery skills and go through intense combats against 30 kinds of creatures including eight spirit bosses. With a diverse selection of upgradable weapons and equipment users have the chance to improve the speed, agility and endurance and gain upper hand in battles. The game contains 20 spells to discover and achieve that can be learned by combining the magical gems in the pattern shown in the spell book.

“Desert Quest is our first foray into 3D games that plunges players into the magical, enchanting and beautifully crafted world full of spirits and adventure.  We hope our users will enjoy exploring it as much as we’ve enjoyed making the game,” said Sad Cat Software founder Oleg Samus.

Desert Quest presents four exotic environments in widely varying landscapes and features different mini-puzzle games that must be solved to advance further.  Outstanding 3D graphics are a great addition to a varied, rich and deep gameplay. Enchanting music and subtle sound effects create special involving atmosphere and make the whole experience even more enjoyable and captivating.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl06PK0B4bQ]

Desert Quest 1.0 is available at a special introductory price of $0.99 USD and available worldwide through the App Store in the Games category. The game is compatible for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices running iOS 3.0 or later. Desert Quest is rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence.

PwC has released the 2011 Big Table of Film and Video Incentives that are available across Canada. Use them to your development benefit. The following information is from the PwC site.

Filmed Entertainment

Canadian film and television productions now account for about $5 billion in annual revenue and employ more than 117,000 people (Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office – CAVCO, 2010). The Canadian industry continues to grow with the support of federal, provincial and territorial governments, which encourage investment by domestic and foreign producers through incentives that help offset the cost of productions in Canadian locations. The big table is your guide to these incentives.

PwC’s Global entertainment and media outlook forecasts that global spending on filmed entertainment will reach $113.1 billion in 2015. North America will continue to be the largest region, and will grow at 5.2% (compounded annually) from $39.0 billion in 2010 to $50.3 billion in 2015.

The Entertainment and Media practice at PwC provides solutions to critical issues facing the Canadian film industry. We welcome the opportunity to put our industry expertise and resources to work for you. Please contact us to find out more.

View the  Big Table of Film and Video Incentives in Canada — August 2011 (PDF 426kb)

Digital Media and Animation — Gaming

Canadian businesses in the digital media and animation sector have tremendous opportunities for growth as markets continue to emerge and expand. Global console games, the largest category, with revenues of $28.1 billion in 2010, will expand at a 4.4% compound annual rate to $34.8 billion in 2015.

The online market will benefit from increased penetration of broadband households combined with growing digital distribution of content. The increasing popularity of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), with their subscription fees and micro-transactions, is also aiding the expansion of the market. Casual games and social network games are important components as well. In addition, smartphones and tablets—such as the iPad® —with improved graphic capabilities, will raise the bar for the quality of wireless games and drive demand. At the same time, new application stores will increase the number of gamers willing to purchase games. Burgeoning 3G/4G networks will enable wireless games to approach the quality of console games.

To meet this demand, digital media and animation companies can take advantage of credits and incentives from two broad categories. First, several provinces offer refundable interactive digital media tax credits, based on eligible labour expenditures and eligible marketing and distribution expenses claimed by qualifying corporations with respect to interactive digital media products. The other, generous tax incentives under Canada’s scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) program, reward companies advancing science or technology in the gaming industry.

View the Big Table of Digital Media and Animation Incentives in Canada — August 2011 ( PDF 324 KB)

My sincere apologies to Good World Games – with the massive amount of SIGGRAPH 2011 emails being fired back and forth along with tasks on our to-do list, I completely missed this press release.

Good World Games was founded in Toronto last year with the goal of creating socially conscious social games. Now based in Liberty Village, we are building a movement dedicated to helping important global causes through fun and educational games offered to a wide and engaged audience.

The studio’s first game, MyConservationPark is an innovative, planet-friendly social game allowing players to nurture their own virtual wildlife preserves based on real threatened species and habitats, while directly supporting non-profit organizations such as The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Sea Shepherd and WildAid.

As the player, your mission is simple. You need to protect an endangered animal – your “hero” – from environmental and human threats while enriching the park with fauna and flora to create a sustainable habitat. Successfully conquer these challenges and balance the Eco-system and you will be rewarded with points and cash. Fail to do so and your hero and the Eco-system will suffer. When you purchase goods from the in-game store such as structures or animals, 15% of the revenue will be donated to our non-profit partners.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPNMzH31zHM]

Within ten months of launching its service in Canada, Netflix has surpassed one million members. The milestone was in July, when Amanda Bell James, from Flin Flon, Manitoba joined Netflix and won a lifetime membership to the world’s leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows.

“We’re thrilled that Canadians have embraced Netflix so rapidly, and are we’re equally proud to have welcomed one million members in such a short period,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO and co-founder. “Our focus remains on building up the breadth and range of movies and TV shows to watch instantly, as well as constantly improving the experience, and we look forward to welcoming many more new members.”

For $7.99 a month, Canadians can instantly watch unlimited movies & TV episodes streaming from Netflix, whenever and as often they want. Having an extensive library of thousands of movies and TV episodes ensures that Netflix members have a wide range of choices to watch instantly.

“I’m excited to be the millionth Canadian member,” said Amanda Bell James. “Netflix is something I enjoy with my family and I look forward to continue watching our favorite movies and TV shows via Netflix in the future.”

Members can instantly watch movies and TV shows from Netflix via the Internet on a number of devices from computers to game consoles to smart phones and Internet connected televisions. The experience allows members to pause, fast forward and rewind their selection on any of their devices. Movies and TV shows are shown without ads or trailers.