3rd October 2008

Sanuk Games opens Canadian studio led by Ali Kojori

Sanuk GamesBangkok/VancouverSanuk Games, a leading independent game studio in Southeast Asia, announced today the opening of a new studio in Vancouver. Ali Kojori, a seasoned game executive and entrepreneur, is appointed as managing director.

Ali started his career in the entertainment industry in 1994 as an FX/Character Animator/Lead Animator with Morning Glory Images and with Mainframe Entertainment on various television shows. In 1999, Ali moved into the video game industry at Electronic Arts, starting out in research and development on the upcoming PS2 and Xbox game consoles, and switching shortly thereafter to Technical Art Director role for a number of AAA titles including Def Jam: Vendetta (AKI), NBA Street, SSX, SSX Tricky, Triple Play Baseball 2001 and Fight Night 2004 (NuFX Chicago). He also served as Animation Director on FIFA 2003.

In April of 2004, Ali founded NextGen Entertainment, a new game production company. NextGen secured a contract with their first client Ubisoft to complete their Racing/Combat title 187 Ride or Die on which he served as Producer. In June 2005, Ali was assigned as a Senior Producer on a PS2, XBOX, PC title Heroes of Pacific, Published by UbiSoft / CodeMasters and Developed by IR Gurus Interactive in Australia. The game was released in October 2005.
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2nd October 2008

On The Way To The Web

On The Way To The Web: The Secret History of the Internet and its Founders
Michael A. Banks
2008

On The Way To The Web is one book which I highly recommend to anyone who wants a definitive history on the internet. The amount of research and time which was obviously spent on compiling and organizing the short but colourful history of this wonder known as the Web is very worthy of recognition.

For those of us who remember the coming of the internet, On The Way To The Web is a journey back in time, revisiting many events, products and ideas which seemed so futuristic and impossible twenty years ago which have now become common place or fallen by the wayside. I personally had forgotten all about ventures such as GameLine – the innovative download service for Atari 2600 games and game updates. While I’m sure that many of today’s gamers think that XBLA, Wii Shop and PlayStation Network were all 21st century inventions, GameLine was here first. Reading about GameLine again, I have to wonder where our games industry would be today if Atari hadn’t experienced the downslide it did right at the time of GameLine’s launch.
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1st October 2008

New Animated Series Debuts

Vancouver – Animation Brewery Productions is proud to announce the debut of Gross National Product!, a series of animated political satires featuring the talents of the legendary comedy duo Double Exposure. These hilarious animated shorts will poke fun at current events with the celebrated wit of Double Exposure’s Bob Robertson and Linda Cullen.

The first episode, which takes aim at the federal election’s upcoming Leaders’ Debate, debuts today online at the official GNP site. Episodes will also be posted on Animation Brewery.

Double Exposure Brings Two Decades of Comedy Experience

Multi-talented comedians Bob Robertson and Linda Cullen began working together as Double Exposure on CBC Radio 21 years ago, then toured their shows across the country throughout the 1990s, and eventually found a home on television on both CBC TV and CTV. The award-winning Vancouver duo will write the scripts and perform the voices for Gross National Product!

You can also keep up to date and find some behind-the-scenes info at the GNP Blog

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1st October 2008

Penny Arcade Episode 2 Reaches Gold

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Oct. 1, 2008 – Hothead Games is pleased to announce that the anxiously-awaited Episode Two in its well-received Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness game series has reached Gold Master status for the Windows®, Mac® and Linux® versions. In recognition of this momentous milestone, Hothead has further announced that Episode Two will be priced at $14.95 for download this fall via the Greenhouse digital distribution service and other popular digital distribution systems or 1200 Microsoft points on Xbox LIVE® Arcade. The PLAYSTATION®Network version of Episode Two is also expected for release shortly thereafter with similar pricing.

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28th September 2008

Belief & Betrayal Review

Format: PC
Publisher: Lighthouse Interactive – North America, UK, Benelux, Scandinavia
Publisher: dtp entertainment AG
Developer: Artematica
Genre: Conspiracy Adventure
SRP: $19.99
ESRB Rating: Mature

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OS: Windows® 2000 / XP / Vista™
CPU: 1 GHz Intel® Pentium® processor or AMD® Athlon™ processor
RAM: 512 MB (1 GB recommended for Windows® Vista™)
Video: 64 MB DirectX® 9.0c compatible or better video card
PC CD-ROM: 4x (or PC DVD-ROM drive)
Sound: DirectX® 9.0c compatible sound card
Available Hard Disk Space: 2 GB
DirectX®: 9.0c
Other: Mouse, Keyboard and Speakers

Belief & Betrayal is a point and click third person adventure puzzle game. While outside of my usual gaming comfort zone, I was intrigued by the premise of the title. As anyone who knows me is aware, I am a research addict, and historic mysteries are one of my favourite research topics.

The storyline opens with our main character, journalist Jonathan Danter preparing for a trip to Florida, where he will be interviewing Cardinal Gregorio, a seemingly questionable representative of the Vatican. While preparing for the trip, Jonathan receives a disturbing call from Scotland Yard. The caller, an Inspector Twining, tells Jonathan that his uncle has been murdered and that he is afraid Jonathan’s life may be in danger. Jonathan argues with the officer, stating that his uncle had died ten years previous, but the Inspector insists that Jonathan come immediately to London. Almost as soon as he arrives in England our young hero is thrust into the secret world of ancient societies and intrigue.

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26th September 2008

Autodesk Pro Entertainment Seminar This Fall

Autodesk M&E Events are presenting their Dream, Dare Deliver seminar on November 4th at the ScotiaBank Theatre on Burrard Street. Register for this event and learn all about the versatility of the Autodesk family of creative design products. The first portion of the seminar will cover 3ds Max, Mudbox and MotionBuilder. The second portion of the seminar will cover Toxik, MotionBuilder and Maya. Following the seminars, there will be an informational session regarding product subscriptions and then a question and answer period. A product raffle and reception will round out the afternoon.

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26th September 2008

New Partnership Creates Opportunity For BC’s Digital Media Community

Press Release: Vancouver, BC – On a day when Canada’s new media community is celebrating its inaugural National Digital Media Day, New Media BC (NMBC), the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), Bell and Wavefront today announced a new partnership that will create opportunities for British Columbia’s (BC’s) digital media companies to play a key role in the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad’s suite of digital programs, known as CODE (Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition).

“New Media BC is delighted to be a key member of this partnership, which represents a great opportunity for BC digital media companies to showcase their outstanding creativity and talent and to be part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad,” said Kenton Low, president, New Media BC.

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25th September 2008

New Media BC Welcomes 2008 Board of Directors

New Media BC’s members celebrated the first Canadian National Digital Media Day by holding their 10th Annual Annual General Meeting at Radical Entertainment’s Terminal Avenue studio.

Radical President Kelly Zmak Welcomes NMBC members

After a welcome greeting from Radical President Kelly Zmak, New Media BC President Kenton Low opened the AGM with a quick recap of 2007’s events and milestones, along with a look into the future plans and how New Media BC will move our west coast digital media forward. With a growing membership base, a good financial position, an expanding list of programmes and a higher level of political awareness, the future does indeed look bright for the New Media BC Association.

Brief reports were filed in regards to Opportunity Alert, Mobile Muse and The Fusion Forum. NMBC members also received a progress report on the Board’s lobbying efforts with the Provincial and Federal Governments in hopes of improving the economic outlook for the digital media industry in British Columbia. Of course the most exciting announcement of the night was the fact that Vancouver will be home to GDC Canada, which will take place during Vancouver Digital Week in May of 2009.

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25th September 2008

New Media BC Announces Vancouver Digital Week 2009

Press Release – VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – New Media BC announced today new partnerships and enhanced programming for the second annual Vancouver Digital Week to run May 11-15, 2009 on Granville Island in Vancouver.

Vancouver Digital Week 2009 includes the following events:

• Vancouver International Digital Festival (VIDFEST)
• Game Developers Conference Canada (GDC Canada)
• Convergence 2009 Digital Marketing & Communications Forum
• The International Partnering Forum
• New Media BC’s Digital Media Awards Show and Gala

Vancouver Digital Week is an immersive week of innovative programming and partnership opportunities for the digital media industry that features top minds and deal makers from around the globe. Participants gain access to international business match-making, ‘big picture’ conference sessions on the latest trends and markets in digital media, high-level seminars for creators, designers, and producers, and vibrant networking parties.

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22nd September 2008

Dawn of War 2 Cinematic Trailer Debuts

Australia’s Plastic Wax has unveiled their collaboration with leading Vancouver developer Relic to produce the first Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II trailer, which recently debuted. The trailer can be seen now on the official Dawn of War II web site.

“It was our mission to make sure gamers’ first impressions of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II was flawless,” said Owen Hurley, Director of Animations and Cinematics with Relic. “To give fans a taste of where Relic’s latest masterpiece is going, both in terms of action and visuals, we needed an extended cinematic that brought frenzied battles to life unlike anything that has ever been seen before. Plastic Wax delivered big time.”

Trailer Screenshot

Trailer Screenshot

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is set in the far distant future. The 41st millennium is a dark, forbidding place, ravaged by thousands of years of conflict. Across this gothic universe huge armies struggle for victory in a battle to the death. Visualizing action on this scale for two and half minutes required a depth of skill and resources rarely found at traditional animation houses.

“Bringing the amazing Warhammer 40,000 universe from Games Workshop to life was a huge honor for our studio,” said Nathan Maddams, Creative Director, Plastic Wax. “This project gave us a unique opportunity to partner with the talented folks at Relic to give gamers the first peek at what will be the premiere RTS game of the year.”

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