Village Gamer

Banff – The Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) announces the new Kids & Animation series featuring top television program creators, broadcasters and executives in children’s and animation industries. The 30th edition of BANFF takes place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Canada, June 7–10, 2009.

“We developed the Kids & Animation series out of our continuing effort to create innovative festival programming together with more opportunities for building new business relationships,” commented Peter Vamos, BANFF Executive Director. “We are proud to launch this new series led by some of the best in the industry of animation and children’s television programming.” The Kids & Animation series is designed to address new programming formats along with the current trends and issues facing the youth focused and animated television industries. Sessions will run concurrently with the regularly scheduled sessions on Tuesday, June 9 and will include networking opportunities, broadcaster briefings and spotlights on key players in the industry.
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Banff – A Call For Entries has been issued for the CTV National Fellowship Programme, with an application deadline of 5pm EST, Thursday April 30th, 2009. CTV National Fellowships are intended to encourage professional development in the television industry by enabling emerging creative talent including producers, writers and directors – i.e., program makers – to attend the Banff World Television Festival. Fellowships are not intended for established professionals, nor are they intended for entry-level candidates. Applicants must have a minimum of one significant production credit.

CTV National Fellowships cover the following: full festival registration, including admission to all seminars, workshops, and on-demand screenings; all official social events; and air transportation (transportation allowance based on lowest airfare available). Accommodation and all other costs of attending the festival are the responsibility of the fellowship recipient. Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver – Norsat International Inc., announced today that it has acquired Ireland-based Bluemoon 4G Ltd. (“Bluemoon”), a provider of WiMAX solutions. Norsat will purchase a 100% stake in Bluemoon for five million (5,000,000) Norsat common shares. The all-stock transaction allows Norsat to complement its’ product portfolio with the addition of a comprehensive end-to-end turnkey WiMAX solution.

“With the acquisition of Bluemoon, we accelerate our entry into the WiMAX market and expand our geographic reach into markets in emerging countries,” said Dr. Amiee Chan. “We believe this acquisition is aligned with our strategic diversification into the commercial sector and will deliver long term growth and increase Norsat’s profitability.”
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Banff – The Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) and nextMEDIA Banff present the first Telefilm Canada TV 360 Program, established to provide cross-platform development opportunities for Canadian producers, writers & directors. TV 360 will be held during nextMEDIA Banff and the 30th edition of BANFF, which take place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Canada, in June 2009.

“TV 360 is a valuable addition to the existing training programs and fellowships at BANFF,” commented Peter Vamos, BANFF Executive Director. “We’re excited to collaborate with Telefilm Canada to create this new and original program that will foster cross-industry partnership between new media and the future of the television industry.”
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EA Sports Announces 500 Millionth Online Game Played This Week

Burnaby – EA SPORTS™, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced that 500 million online games have been played since launching its ‘09 product line last June. On average, more than 2.2 million EA SPORTS games are played online each day, which reflects an increase of more than 175 percent over last year.

“The massive migration to online gaming has transformed the video game landscape, and this week’s 500 millionth online EA SPORTS game highlights the radical shift that we’ve helped pioneer in the industry,” said Peter Moore, president of EA SPORTS. “Online gameplay allows real-time competitions with fans from around the world who speak the global language of sports. EA SPORTS is committed to providing personal access to the emotion of sports by continuing to create immersive online features, compelling new downloadable content and daily real-time stats updates.”
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Montreal – Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that its highly anticipated action adventure game Dante’s Inferno™ will be coming to the PSP® (Sony PlayStation® Portable). Based on part one of Dante Alighieri’s classic, “The Divine Comedy,” EA’s Dante’s Inferno will also take players on an epic adventure through Dante’s famously mapped nine circles of hell. Dante’s Inferno will be available simultaneously for the PSP, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system next year.

Dante’s Inferno for the PSP is being developed by EA’s award-winning EA Redwood Shores studio and Montreal’s Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M).
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