Village Gamer

A-la-carte tickets for Spark Animation are now available. Vancouver’s ACM SIGGRAPH chapter have officially opened the event’s site for individual session or film session purchases. The festival will open with a social mixer on Wednesday, September 8th and will feature a full schedule of inspiring speakers, panels and films.

Vancouver indie studio Ninja Robot Dinosaur has declared Ray Ardent: Science Ninja done. The product of indie developer & design veteran Shane Neville, Ray Ardent: Science Ninja is a high speed platformer where players assume the role of Ray Ardent, a retro pulp combination of Nicholas Tesla and Chuck Norris who saves the world with his unique combination of Science and Ninjutsu. Power-ups like Science Slide, Triple Jump and nine others let gamers customize Ray to play how they want him to. Ray Ardent features 15 levels and is currently up for licensing on Flash Game License. Ray Ardent was built using the Flixel game libraries created by Adam Saltzman of Canabalt fame, with John Tennant providing the audio work.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLGlNbfgE0]

Big Blue Bubble Inc.’s newest iOS game, Fighting Fantasy: Creature of Havoc has been released to the iTunes Store. Fighting Fantasy: Creature of Havoc is the fourth release in the Fighting Fantasy series and includes iPhone/iPod Touch support, as well as our new iPad support.

You begin this adventure not knowing where you are or who you are. All you know is that you are some kind of creature of instinct, understanding little. During the course of the adventure, it may be possible for you to begin to control your bestial nature, to find out more about yourself, and even to learn your destiny. But even if you know all this, success is by no means certain, for the traps and terrors of Trolltooth Pass are many.

Now you can experience the books that have sold over 15 million copies worldwide, on your iPhone or iPad. Fighting Fantasy fans will love the classic story and original illustrations with a technological twist. No more dice, pencils, or bookmarks. All of the special features are built in:

* New! Player Achievements
* Universal app iPad support
* Scrolling image gallery of unlocked in-game art
* Tap the on screen buttons to flip pages (No papercuts!)
* Shake to roll the 3D dice using the accelerometer (or tap through with ease)
* Inventory items selectable via touch-screen
* Game-save feature allows you to retrace your steps
* Includes both original illustrations by Ian McCaig and digitally re-mastered versions
* Integrated iPod music library access

Bioware has just announced that the newest DLC for Mass Effect 2 for PC and Xbox 360 will be released on September 7th. Available for 800 Bioware/MS Points, players who purchase Lair of the Shadowbroker will  join Liara T’Soni on her mission to track down the mysterious Shadow Broker. She’ll do anything to recover the man the Broker kidnapped, and the Shadow Broker’s agents will do anything to stop her. Team up with Liara and chase down clues as you adventure from the luxurious heights of Illium to the Shadow Broker’s own secret lair. In this new DLC, players will gain access to the Shadow Broker intel center, new research, and five new achievements. Mass Effect 1 players who carried their characters over to ME2 will also have the chance to continue a relationship with Liara.

Electronic Arts Inc. and Hothead Games™ have also just announced that DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, the follow-up to the delightfully twisted and fiendishly addictive action RPG, DeathSpank. Featuring the trademark humor found in the original, Thongs of Virtue centers on DeathSpank’s journey through a massive war-torn land; explore the North Pole and the high seas to locate six mystical thongs to bring peace and harmony to the universe. DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue (T.O.V.) will be available for download on PlayStation®Network on September 21, 2010 for $14.99 and Xbox LIVE® Arcade on September 22, 2010 for 1200 Microsoft Points.

“Bigger, longer, harder–these were the words that drove us while we created the follow up to our introduction to the DeathSpank universe,” said Vlad Ceraldi, Director of Game Development for Hothead Games. “In T.O.V., we’re taking action RPG fundamentals and adding loads of new creatures, environments, weapons and characters, while continuing to push the envelope with our signature humor.”

DeathSpank: T.O.V. puts players in the mighty boots of DeathSpank, the “Dispenser of Justice”, “Vanquisher of Evil” and “Hero to the Downtrodden.” As I found out at the end of my DeathSpank play-through, a long time ago, nine mystical thongs were planned to bring balance and harmony to the universe, but when marketing got in the way, only six thongs were produced, and the result was disastrous. Granting great power to those who wear them, the thongs corrupted all those they touched–except DeathSpank. DeathSpank must find all six thongs and destroy them once and for all. Thongs of Virtue includes local co-op mode, allowing a second player to choose one of two hilarious sidekicks to help save the world. Players will enjoy unleashing magical skills, playing as Sparkles the Wizard, or laugh at the ninjatastic Kung Fu moves of DeathSpank’s new partner in crime, Steve.

Okay, I can’t say that I didn’t see this one coming. Last week Future Shop released its iOS app, and today Best Buy Canada has announced the launch of its own app, which does basically the same thing as the app for its “sister store” – find the nearest stores with the geo-locator, surf the online catalogue, check sales, get product reviews, make purchases and share items on Twitter, Facebook or email.

AOL Inc. announced today that Graham Moysey will join the company as General Manager, AOL Canada. Moysey will work with the Global Senior Executives and the Canadian leadership team to oversee the development and execution of the business strategy around AOL’s core objectives of content, advertising and local. He will report to Jeff Levick, President of AOL Global Advertising and Strategy, and will be based in AOL’s Toronto office.

“I am excited to join AOL and lead AOL Canada in continuing to deliver on the company’s mission to provide original, quality content to consumers,” said Graham Moysey, General Manager of AOL Canada. “At this time of rapid growth in the online content industry, we want to make sure we align to the US strategy while focusing on the wants and needs of our local Canadian audience and advertisers alike. I look forward to executing on these goals and representing the hard-working AOL Canada team on the Global Management Council.”

As General Manager, Moysey will be responsible for promoting the AOL brand and conducting a strategic review of the divisions in order to maximize the growth of the business. He will be focused on ensuring that the AOL brand is represented appropriately within the region while realizing the importance of locality.

Before joining AOL, Moysey served as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Media at Canwest Global Communications, where he was responsible for all revenue, product and digital strategies.

Prior to Canwest, Moysey was appointed Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Bell Canada, where he played an instrumental role in building the Sympatico and MSN strategic alliance. Moysey currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada.

Five teams of entrepreneurs, business owners and students have been seeded with $500.00 and have until July 1, 2011 to turn it into $1 000 000.00 in a new online social reality show called The Race to a Million. This is a real money making contest that will benefit participants, charities and fans of the show alike. By following along with the show from anywhere in the world,fans can be entertained, educated on money making strategies and maybe make a million dollars themselves.

The Race to a Million is a contest which will show that anything can be done by harnessing the power of the human mind…but not just a single mind…a group of minds with a singular goal. In this case, the goal is to be the first team to reach the one million dollar mark using creative thinking and innovative strategies.

When deciding on rules of the contest, the organizers realized that they had a chance to really do something unique with the reality show genre. Most reality shows thrive on deceit and controversy, the participants in the Race to a Million are bound by rules to make sure that all strategies are socially responsible and environmentally conscious while also ensuring that investments will be sustainable and not have a negative effect on people or the planet.

This is a first ever concept that is specifically designed to encourage interaction between fans of the show and the contestants themselves. Fans of the show can follow along on the weekly blog and YouTube videos to learn about the specific strategies that the teams use and (if they choose to do so) can duplicate those strategies to make a million dollars for themselves. Fans can also interact with the teams by sharing money making ideas to win prizes, receive recognition and perhaps win one of two all expenses paid trips for two from anywhere in the world to beautiful British Columbia at the conclusion of the contest on July 1st 2011.

We are living in a knowledge based economy and the Race to a Million is a way to share that knowledge with anyone who is interested in gaining insights on how to accelerate profitability for themselves and their businesses. Imagine having access to free money making ideas from around the world that you can use yourself by simply following the contest. The organizers hope the show will help to kick start the economy by giving entrepreneurs and small business owners new tools, fresh ideas and the confidence to succeed.

Every team will receive a share of the money that they raise during the life of the contest and are representing a recognized charity which will also receive an equal share of the money.

Says organizer Peter Cameron-Inglis, “We are all capable of amazing things by ourselves, but the Race to a Million will show that we can all do and earn more in less time (and with less stress) by surrounding ourselves with a team of inspiring people that share a common goal. We’ve built a real win-win scenario for everybody.”

The Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal (JCCM) and Anges Québec are proud to launch the 2010 edition of the Angel Investors Challenge. The mission of the Angel Investors Challenge is to help Quebec’s young entrepreneurs, in the seed, start-up, or development stage, to create and develop their company by offering them the possibility to present their project to angel investors interested in investing their time and money to launch young companies to the next level.

“The new concept of the Angel Investors Challenge is designed to develop a new generation of entrepreneurs by offering selected candidates privileged access to a large network of private investors, a coaching program, media coverage, and networking opportunities. Through this initiative, the JCCM encourages and promotes audacious, innovative entrepreneurship that creates wealth in Québec” said Alexandre Doire, president of the JCCM.

“This association between a junior chamber of commerce and a group of angel investors in order to support the next generation of entrepreneurs is not only a first in Québec and in Canada, but also in North America” added François Gilbert, president and CEO of Anges Québec. “This is why we are very happy to present the Angel Investors Challenge in collaboration with the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal”, he added.

The initiative aims to identify the most promising companies that will become the future engines of Quebec’s economy. Among the candidacies received, a dozen will be selected to constitute the 2010 cohort. Those companies will take part in a training program especially designed according to their needs and will get the incomparable opportunity to meet more than 50 investors during a private event.

Entrepreneurs wishing to participate to the 13th edition of the Angel Investors Challenge can immediately submit their application online.