Village Gamer

Wow – one day away and so much went on yesterday! Of course, catching up with yesterday has put me behind for today, but I’ll get all caught up eventually – even on all those games I’ve been trying to get to for reviews. I had a non-digital project to complete and ended up in a very demanding crunch time, because my time line for delivery did not match the deadline that my Mother implemented, and we all know that Mom’s always right…

For those who aren’t already aware, Ubisoft has acquired Longtail Studios’ Quebec City location, and will absorb most of its staff into their own studio. Longtail had contributed to Ubisoft’s Michael Jackson: The Experience, and while this means that Longtail Quebec is no longer in operation, both of Longtail’s maritime studios – Charlottetown and Halifax are still open for business. The Halifax studio recently launched its latest title, Dance on Broadway. By the way, the Halifax studio is currently looking to fill four career positions, including that of Game Tester.

EA Mobile put several of its titles on sale for 99 cents yesterday – if you live in the USA. The only exemption to the USA location restriction is Reckless Racing, which was put on sale worldwide. The other titles currently on sale in the US App Store are:

Tiger Woods PGA Tour – Skate It by EA – Command & Conquer Red Alert – Yahtzee Adventures – Trivial Pursuit – Boggle – Clue – Spore Creatures – Boggle for iPad – Snood – EA Sudoku – Spore Origins – Star Trek – Lemonade Tycoon

WordCamp Fraser Valley is going to be held at the SFU Surrey Campus from 9 – 5 on November 20th. The Early Bird tickets are available until November 7th for $36.00, after November 7th the price goes up to $45.00 for the day. The schedule & list of speakers has not yet been posted, but organizers will update it as soon as they are confirmed. If you are new (or even a novice) to using the WordPress platform, I highly recommend attending this WordCamp.

I also missed the launch of Riese: Battle for Eleysia, developed by Vancouver’s Genius Factor Games, who is continuing their transmedia strategy with this second title in the Riese series.

Riese: Battle for Eleysia ($3.99 in the App Store), which was developed exclusively for the iPhone and iTouch, brings the world of the award-winning, steampunk inspired Syfy web series Riese: Kingdom Falling, features the voice of Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible?s Sing Along Blog), is an RPG card battle game that lets players battle for control as the deadly Sect, the glorious Eleysian Army, or the dedicated Resistance, all in an effort to conquer and rule the land of Eleysia.

Players can customize their decks of over 60 gorgeous cards and 24 modifier cards to develop packs that best suit their own personal battle strategy, track their progress with OpenFeint achievements, unlock additional content as they play through the campaign and immerse themselves in the Riese world with Felicia?s narration and the riveting series soundtrack composed by Rich Walters.

“Riese: Battle for Eleysia is built upon the rich and diverse canon from the already successful show and sets the stage for another unique and deep way for fans to explore and engage in the series.” said Ted Nugent, President of Genius Factor Games. “Our focus on independent IP naturally aligns us with production companies like Riese Productions, Ltd. and we are extremely excited about future transmedia projects.”

A product update is already in the works with additional features including head-to-head multiplayer, supplemental content and other improvements. The update is slated for release around mid December 2010. An iPad specific version is also in development and anticipated in early 2011.

“Working with GFG on the Riese: Battle for Eleysia game has furthered our goal of being truly transmedia” said series co-creator Kaleena Kiff, “The story we’re telling with the live action series is the basis for the game, while the game itself has allowed us to create a larger world, full of depth and new characters and inventions that will eventually become a part of the live action series. With the two fueling one another, we feel like we’re just beginning to scratch the surface of the expanding stories we’ll soon be able to tell with both the series and the game.”

Bioware yesterday announced Dragon Age^TM Legends, a new Play4Free Facebook^® game that expands on the critically acclaimed RPG franchise Dragon Age. The new game is inspired by the award-winning BioWare franchise but custom-designed for the casual and social play style for Facebook users of all ages. Dragon Age Legends blends accessible and engaging tactical combat with compelling co-operative gameplay perfectly suited for social networks, making for a unique offering on the platform. Launching in February 2011, Dragon Age Legends will also give gamers the chance to earn exclusive unlocks (EA account required) for Dragon Age II, one of the most highly anticipated video games of 2011. If you are interested in participating in the beta, visit the Legends website for information on how to sign up.

“We are privileged to be working with BioWare to bring the Dragon Age universe to the hundreds of millions of gamers on Facebook,” said Mark Spenner, General Manager of EA 2D. “Our goal is to change the perception of social network games and attract new players to the Facebook platform by raising the quality bar. Dragon Age Legends will deliver a deep, sophisticated experience, and we will continue to delight gamers by adding new features and content far into the future.”

Dragon Age Legends will give players their first taste of the Free Marches, the primary setting of Dragon Age II. Alongside their Facebook friends, players will take on challenging quests within an engaging storyline, earning loot, sharing rewards and growing their kingdom. The game will include a gratifying character customization and upgrade system that will allow players to tackle demons and darkspawn to become a legendary hero within the Dragon Age universe.

Rethink Canada’s first campaign for Toronto-based premium stock photo agency Masterfile launched yesterday by introducing the world to the “Master Creative” —the ancient, all-knowing, wise-cracking guru of the advertising and design industries.

The four-language initiative spanning North America and Europe is designed to highlight Masterfile’s image search platform, Endless Media, as the fastest way to find the right image.

“We’ve got the best image search interface of any stock house anywhere,” says Steve Pigeon, Masterfile’s Toronto-based CEO. “In under five minutes, the Master will teach art directors and designers how to save hundreds of hours over the course of their careers—in a fun, engaging way.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dTbozmBJI]

An online hip-hop video introduces the Master and invites ad professionals to visit Masterfile.com, where they can test their creative kung-fu in a series of creative challenges to unlock their very own “wisdom beards,” ranging from Brown Beards for beginners to the coveted Platinum Diamond Beard. Online ads featuring challenges like computer “mouse mastery” also drive players to the site.

The Master urges every “Creative-san” to: “Learn my ways to achieve true creative enlightenment and become a Master like me.” And adds, “If you don’t got the chops, I send you home crying, if you do, I give you sexy wisdom beard.”

“This is a very different approach than you’ve ever seen from a stock photo house,” says Dré Labre of Rethink Canada, the agency that developed the campaign. “Using outrageous humour, quirky industry insights and playing off of Creatives’ competitive nature will help keep us top of mind and encourage repeat visits.”

Though primarily housed online, the communication also extends to print, DM and trade-show material and is set to run through February.