Village Gamer

Winnipeg – Indigo Rose Software has launched Setup Factory 8.2 with full support for Microsoft Windows 7. Software developers can now build a single software installer program that works just as well on the latest Windows operating systems (Windows 7, Server 2008, Vista) as it does on legacy systems like Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP. This makes Setup Factory 8.2 a unique solution for software developers who require the widest compatibility for their setup programs.

An easy-to-use Project Wizard helps programmers create ready-to-build software installation projects in minutes. They can simply drag and drop files and folders onto the project window and they’re ready to build. Setup Factory outputs a compact, single-file setup.exe that is ideal for distribution via Internet download, CD/DVD-ROM, USB memory keys and corporate networks.

“Indigo Rose is excited to launch this new version of Setup Factory,” said Colin Adams, President at Indigo Rose Software Design Corporation. “Making Setup Factory compatible with Microsoft Windows 7 ensures that our customers can deploy their software development projects on the widest variety of Windows operating systems possible. It’s just one more reason that over 20,000 companies worldwide rely on Indigo Rose’s software development tools to help deliver their digital products.”

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Montreal – Ubisoft has released several new videos over the past few days on two channels. To watch the latest Assassin’s Creed 2 Lineage short movies, head over to the Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed UK channel for the English versions. If you want to watch the complete movie at one go, it has been released as a 35 minute film, also on the UK channel. To recount the story thus far, assassin Giovanni Auditore is tasked with investigating the plot behind the murder of the Duke of Milan. The answers he uncovers implicate Italy’s most powerful families, and not surprisingly, the evil plot reaches all the way to the Vatican. As Giovanni draws closer to the truth, he too becomes hunted. Now he must not only unravel the threads which lead to the conspirators, he must protect his family. Speaking of family, I may have to show the short movie to my Mother, so that she can see that there is much more to the games I play than just murder, mayhem and blowing things up. I’ve been a gamer for …several… years now, and she still doesn’t “get it” so maybe Lineage will help – at least a little.

There has also been a new dev diary for Avatar the Game released. Viewers can watch and learn more about Avatar in the Na’vi Gameplay Walkthrough video with Executive Producer Patrick Naud.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RDHGSB4kbE]

Other recent video releases include an Achievements video for Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage and a new Splinter Cell: Convictions “Behind Closed Doors” dev video called Create A Hero.  If you missed Behind Closed Doors Part 1 – Redefining Splinter Cell, you can watch it here.  I may have to pick up the Splinter Cell Convictions novel to read so that I’m more up to speed when Convictions comes out on February 25 2010.  Release timing for this game is excellent – with new titles from Ubisoft and Bioware, I will have loads to do while waiting out the Olympic mayhem that will be occurring on the other side of the Port Mann Bridge during the same time period.

London ON – Big Blue Bubble Inc. is pleased to announce that their smash hit Home Sweet Home has arrived at Apple’s App Store! Home Sweet Home will give you the chance to unleash your hidden talents as an Interior Designer. You choose the furniture, patterns, and colors to create a masterpiece that will blow your client away.

Picture the scene. You move into a new house and you have visions of how you want every room, except for one. Sure, there are some items you know you need in that room but, other than that, it’s a blank canvas. Who do you call? How about the ‘Home Sweet Home’ team? Learn about your clients to ensure you are designing the perfect room for their tastes. Next, choose the furniture, choose the colors and patterns and place items around the room until the design is perfect. Then direct your build team of workers to assemble it all in front of your eyes! With simple controls, a fun graphical style, and an easy to use interface, Home Sweet Home allows you to nurture your creative side.

Remember – a house is not a home until its ‘Home Sweet Home’!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnETDjKp8G4]

“The sort of title that you just know is destined for great things, and makes you proud to be a casual gamer. An original, eye-catching blend of puzzle-solving and real-time strategy mechanics based on an innovative concept – 4.5 stars” – Gamezebo.com

“Home Sweet Home is an original game to make your life, crazier, funnier, and brighter. The game features an attractive idea and combines different game styles.” – GameMile.com

Vancouver – After a very successful Fusion Forum Boot Camp and Presentation Day, the Top Ten Finalists were announced by New Media BC last evening at the networking mixer. Congratulations to all of you, and good luck with today’s investor meetings. The Best in Show presentation winner was Ecobuddies Interactive.

GAMES

Clicktoy
Ecobuddies Interactive

MOBILE

Aegis Mobility
AppSocial
Mobify

WEB 2.0 / SOCIAL MEDIA

Muutu
My Wedding Match
Wantsa

APPLICATIONS & NEW PLATFORMS

Mingleverse Labs
Moving Media

Montreal – On the other side of the country, Bug-Tracker has distinguished itself as a Gold winner during the National Awards ceremony, which took place at the Cirque Éloize on November 6th.

“Each year through the SME Awards, the Financial Group honors the exceptional performance of the province’s enterprises and their leaders. The nominees are passionate, involved and visionary men and women who, through their dedicated work and excellent results, have carved themselves a place in a highly competitive environment” declared Réjean Lévesque, Executive Vice-President – Retail and Commercial Banking, and Honorary President of the Gala.

“To receive this honor is a true recognition for ourselves and our teams” explained Antoine Carre, Founding President of Bug-Tracker. “We are all very proud to distinguish ourselves again by our will to excel in the management of our resources and relationships with our partners. Our reputation will now be able to continue to shine at the national level as well as on the international scene”.

Finally, the Financial Group underscored its collaboration with its trusted partners – Samson Bélair/Deloitte & Touche, IBM Canada Ltd, Bell Canada, La Presse, Le Droit and TVA – in uniting to pay homage to the boldness, determination and excellence of the best of Canadian entrepreneurship.

Two reports on the Montreal office of Bug-Tracker will be broadcast, one during the program “Salut Bonjour!” on TVA, and the second on Canal Argent, from November 27th to December 23th 2009.

Toronto – Ontario is supporting a new commercialization centre that will help digital media entrepreneurs build new companies and create jobs. The province plans to invest more than $26 million in The Communitech Hub: Digital Media & Mobile Accelerator (“The Hub”), a new centre that will help emerging digital media companies grow and succeed in the global market. In particular, The Hub will look beyond the entertainment sector to focus on companies creating hardware and software for industries, including advanced manufacturing, healthcare and finance.

Based in Waterloo Region, The Hub expects thousands of jobs could be created over the first five years by serving entrepreneurs across the province. This investment supports Ontario’s Innovation Agenda, the province’s plan to make innovation a driving force of Ontario’s economy. The Hub will focus on commercialization, business development and access to financing. It will offer state-of-the-art tools and lab space, with equipment and support provided by industry leaders including Open Text Corporation, Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc., Intel, Agfa HealthCare and Research In Motion.

“Ontario is already recognized as a global leader in the digital media sector and today we are sending a clear signal to digital entrepreneurs everywhere – Ontario means business. The Hub will strengthen our ability to support innovators across the province, as they work to turn new ideas into new jobs and globally competitive businesses,” said John Milloy, Minister of Research and Innovation.

“Digital media and mobile computing are the future of Canada’s technology industry. The Hub is a place where entrepreneurs and business leaders can make connections, start companies, and create jobs for Ontario,” said Iain Klugman, President and CEO, Communitech.

Worldwide, the digital media sector is one of the fastest growing industries in the knowledge economy, and its double-digit growth rate will help drive the global media market up to US$2.2 trillion by 2012. Ontario has the third-largest entertainment and creative sector in North America, after California and New York. Ontario’s digital media industry generates more than $1 billion annually.

Vancouver – Kerberos Studios has released an update to the lite action/RPG, Fort Zombie. Adding brand new content such as additional weapons, expanded town properties, and new mission locations, the survivors of Piety, Indiana now have even more ammunition (figuratively and literally) against the flood of zombies that have invaded the peaceful town and turned it into a battleground for survival.

Additionally, the latest update to Fort Zombie will enhance a variety of game aspects across the board, introducing more sound options, a mid-mission healing system, and improved interactions with weapons and other game objects.

To receive the update to your Fort Zombie copy, go to “MY GAMES” on your digital download account.

Now is the perfect time to jump into all of the terrifying action of Fort Zombie. Fort Zombie is available through all major digital distribution channels for the suggested retail price of $9.99

In remembrance of those who went before, those who have yet to be, and those who fight every day for our freedom.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8gRx8tWJmI]

I have now logged over 48 hours of game play (probably closer to 58 now, because I started writing this yesterday) in Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360 CE), and there are many aspects I really like, but there are some that may take a bit of warming up to. Having read both of the prequel novels written by Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider, I knew a fair bit of the back-story and my progress through the game has been greatly aided by that knowledge. I am still amazed at the amount of story yet to be revealed through the Codex additions – I have lots of reading of the story’s bits and pieces I have picked up so far through quests, conversations and random items. This is a positive aspect, because I like games which tell a good story. The writing in Dragon Age is tight – and humorous. I have found myself at times just standing and listening to my “henchies” talk, and there has been many a time that I find myself laughing out loud at their dialogue. There are also a number of references to modern pop culture in the game – some of it so subtle that it can be missed if one is not paying attention. The “light” has gone on a few times after certain scenes or dialogues, when I realize what has transpired and its reference to something in our society.

I went with the human noble warrior for my first go around – I wanted to be a caster, because that is what I’m good at, but Scott talked me into trying something different. It has become (sometimes painfully) obvious that I am a far better caster than I am a warrior. Thank goodness for the ability to change which party member I can control during battle. I will, however, admit that I am getting better at melee combat. I still have a long way to go at being highly proficient in close-up and personal fighting, but I certainly like the amount of control Bioware gave us in character creation. I also really like that each character – Dwarf, Human or Elf has its own story beginning, as this adds to the replayability factor.

Each of the party member’s distinct personalities and beliefs play very important roles in how the game unfolds, as does each choice you make in the dialogue trees. One could almost feel sorry for Alistair as he goes through relentless teasing at the hands of Morrigan, whose own jaded view of the world at large often prevents her from seeing the simple good in people as anything other than weakness. During last night’s play, I caught Wynne also giving Alistair a rough time about filthy socks. Meanwhile Leliana appears to be the complete opposite – she is strong in her belief of all things good,  although I have a feeling that this is going to change at some point in time. Just a hunch – and some advance reading on Scott’s part. I haven’t made a lot of use of Zevran and Sten yet, but I’m sure they’ll get their chance in battle as well.

I’ve read many online comments about areas where players aren’t happy with the Tactics menu, or they aren’t happy with some of the sudden difficulty spikes. Maybe it’s just my play style, but I am not disappointed by any of it. Yes, some of the battles are insanely difficult and my hero may end up as a pile of ashes after being blasted by a huge fireball, but thanks to the Save Game function which I mostly remember to use, it’s “try, try again” for me. I probably died a dozen times trying to defeat Flemeth before going and doing some different quests first in order to level my Grey Warden some more and perhaps gain a little more help in the way of additional party members. Once I completed the quest for Shale and kicked Alistair out of the party for this particular task, I did it in one go. Shale is a very effective tank when equipped with the right crystals for the job. Next time around I will have to remember to go get Shale before hunting for the urn. Perhaps then I won’t turn into a crispy critter because I just had to ring the gong to see what it did. Apparently the dragon landing on the cliff edge was supposed to be a clue. Maker bless the Load Last Save function.

While I sometimes find the long cinematic conversations frustrating, I realize that they are an important game component – dispelling knowledge and opening different paths in the story, but geez sometimes I just want to get on with eliminating the vile creatures who are trying to take over my map.  On the plus side is the ability to skip forward through the conversations to get to where you want to be – whether it’s to retry a battle or to try a different path in the dialogue trees. On my next play-through I might just take the time to solve the puzzle and let the little girl live instead of allowing Kitty to possess her.

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Montreal – Earlier today Ubisoft released the final episode of their Assassin’s Creed 2 video dev diary series. Covering the importance of the Animus interface in the player’s game experience. Building on the foundation set in Assassin’s Creed, the development team took some risks in taking the Animus’ capabilities even further. Presentation Art Director Laura De Young says in the video that the team broke a few design rules to immerse the gamer more fully into Ezio’s story, offering such features as historical and local facts.

We also get a look at even more of the new features coming in Assassin’s Creed 2, which will be available in Canadian stores this November 23rd.  The video introduces Ezio’s family villa, which at the beginning of the game will be in very sad disrepair. Through game advancement, the player can rebuild the villa, making it a vibrant and productive community. The villa will serve as Ezio’s Assassin Stronghold, and will also provide storage for all of the equipment and treasures acquired – something which makes the treasure hunter in me very happy. I hate it when I have to dispense with a treasure due to space constraints.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0wtpU1QF10]

Vancouver -Village Gamer, always willing to assist Canadian studios, will be posting further Game Industry job postings from Swim Recruiting. Here is the first:

PHP Developer – Social Games

– Entrepreneurial, growing, and action-packed environment
– Quick-to-market new generation of games – agile environment
– Creation encouraged and input valued

What’s your favorite game? Do you find yourself constantly playing a wide variety of software games and board games in your spare time?

A Vancouver ‘home grown’ organization based in funky Gastown is on the lookout for a passionate game-orientated LAMP developer to join a professional, fun, and dynamic software team to develop and enhance new and existing games for social network platforms such as Facebook and iPhone applications. You will be working in an environment where your creative input is encouraged and valued, and the short iteration methodology will keep your interest levels high as you release up to 8 multiple titles on various platforms per year. As well as excellent communication and documentation skills, you must have expert open source development skills and a natural and keen interest in Gaming and Social Networks. You will also need to be comfortable working in a fast paced, action packed, rapid prototyping, iterative model amongst peers in a social and collaborative environment.

In order to be considered for this role you must be able to demonstrate the following:

– Expert proficiency in all areas of LAMP development
– Passion of a wide variety of Gaming technologies and methodologies
– Experience taking games from inception to completion is favorable
– A creative knack for finding and fixing bugs
– Experience developing Facebook’s API a huge asset.
– Flash development and/or training
– Iphone development an asset
– Graduated from a four year college or university, a degree from a recognized design school, or two to four years of related experience and training.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a modern, fast paced, innovative, fun and dynamic work environment working on some of the latest games and applications with bleeding-edge open source technologies – apply by visiting the Swim Recruiting website or by emailing your qualifications to Brian Thompson.

Swim Recruiting is a search consultancy firm offering advanced recruitment solutions tailored to the precise needs of its individual clients and job seekers. Focusing on technology and finance professionals, Swim is able to draw upon an in-depth knowledge of this market combined with an extensive network of contacts. Please contact Brian Thompson if you would like further information or would like to list a career opportunity with Swim Recruiting.