Village Gamer

Vancouver – Deep Fried Entertainment Inc., an independent video game developer, is proud to announce its first WiiWare™ title, ShadowPlay, an entertaining puzzle game that will have you thinking about common household objects in a different light! The game is available exclusively on WiiWare service for Nintendo’s Wii™ system, and will be released January 11th, 2010.

ShadowPlay challenges players by transforming shadows into 100 exciting, unique puzzles. By using the Wii Remote™, players manipulate their given objects one by one to create a cumulative shadow that matches the goal. As more challenging puzzles are unlocked, players will have to find more creative ways to solve problems. You will never look at a slice of pizza the same way again! Winning a round will allow players to advance to the next level as well as score another item to use in the FreePlay Mode where you can unleash your imagination and create your own shadow art. Try creating a bike out of a pineapple or a dolphin out of the shadow of a pear. Family and friends can also jump in to help tackle a puzzle at any time using Local Co-op Mode! ShadowPlay will provide tons of brain-racking fun for players of all ages!

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What is even more awesome is that ShadowPlay is the first independent WiiWare game to take full advantage of the Wii MotionPlus™, which means you can experience full maneuverability of objects and have even more fun! Of course, the game still works with the Nunchuk™ controller and will provide loads of entertainment.

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Many fans of the classic FPS and LAN tournament favourite have often wondered where Minh “Gooseman” Le has gone. Well, it turns out that since leaving Valve Software a few years ago, the former Vancouverite and SFU student joined Korean software developer FIX Korea in 2008, and they have just announced Minh Le’s current project – Tactical Intervention, will have a beta release in the first part of 2010.

Mihn Lee worked on various games including Counter-Strike for HL2, CS:Condition Zero, CS:Source, and Day of Defeat at Valve. Lee left Value because he wanted to create his own FPS. Lee started working on Tactical Intervention since 2006 and then joined FIX Korea two years ago as vice president.

Tactical Intervention takes aim at maximizing strategic team play. The game is being developed with the Source Engine and is set in the modern battle between terrorists and counter terrorism teams. Tactical Intervention is guaranteed to deliver real-like weapon and character design as well as K9 units and hostage NPCs with impeccable AI.

“The Counter-Strike-type of game is proven to be a success throughout regions such as Asia, Europe, and North America. It is quite challenging to balance between bringing out familiarity and new system at the same time. But I can guarantee you will have fun playing it,” said Mihn Lee.

Tactical Intervention is already licensed in North America and Europe and the developers are currently looking for publishing partners in other countries including Korea, Japan, China and in Southeast Asia.

Ottawa – Fuel Industries has released a new web application which is designed to make the following of topics on Twitter much easier. TweetYouThere is currently in beta, and is showing the current tweets relating to this month’s CES in Las Vegas. TweetYouThere makes it simple to follow each company’s Twitter feed updates, and you can choose to view results either alphabetically or by popularity. Each company’s feed shows up in a sidebar window when you click on their respective names. I couldn’t find much in the way of information about this web app on the Fuel Industries’ site, but I would certainly be interested in learning more about TweetYouThere and finding what is in store for it in the future.

Congratulations are due to Klei Entertainment, whose upcoming title Shank has been nominated to the IGF Awards, which take place at GDC San Francisco. Shank has been nominated in the Excellence in Visual Art category. Another Vancouver-made title in the running at IGF is Enviro-Bear, an iPhone-iTouch game designed and developed by Justin Smith. Enviro-Bear has been nominated for a Nuovo Award. Shank and Enviro-Bear are the only two Canadian titles which have been nominated for this year’s IGF. Good luck to both studios!

Toronto – Canadians will be among the first in the world to experience open and integrated social media, communication and entertainment with the launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia ™ X10 phone, which will make its North American debut first in Canada , exclusively from Rogers . The Xperia ™ X10 is expected to be available in the second quarter 2010.

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Edmonton – Hot on the heels of missing the release date for Dragon Age’s DLC Return to Ostagar (and the mysterious removal of its announcement from the front page of the game’s site), Bioware has announced that Dragon Age™: Origins – Awakening, the first official expansion pack to Dragon Age: Origins, the recent recipient of Spike TV’s Best RPG and PC Game of 2009, IGN’s Best RPG of 2009, CNN.com’s Best RPG of 2009. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be available for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC on March 16, 2010.

Designed and written by the same team that brought you Dragon Age: Origins, the Awakening expansion pack offers a brand new area of the world to explore known as Amaranthine, featuring an epic story that will allow players to unravel the secrets of the darkspawn – and their true motivations! Players will face a range of horrific and terrifying creatures including an evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn and other menacing creatures such as the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening provides exciting new ways for players to customize their heroes and party, including the ability to re-spec their character attributes, allowing even greater customization and replayability. Featuring an increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations and items, plus five all-new party members, players can continue their adventures from Dragon Age: Origins, or begin with a brand new character.

“Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening shows BioWare’s commitment to our fans by delivering new story-driven experiences which enrich the dark heroic fantasy universe our fans have come to know and love,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group, EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. “The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.”

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, BioWare’s next thread in the Dragon Age: Origins tapestry, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins and puts players into the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens. In addition to rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon. How players choose to rebuild their order, resolve the conflict with the mysterious “Architect,” and determine the fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices that will shape each player’s heroic journey. Players will be able to import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.

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Gormley – Digital Leisure has announced that their newest title, Fast Draw Showdown, designed exclusively for Nintendo’s WiiWare™ game service is now available for download.

When it comes to fast draw there are only two types of people: the quick…and the dead! Now you have the chance to find out where you stand, or lie, as the case may be. You’ll go up against the best quick draws in the business, including one of the world’s fastest, Wes Flowers.

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Unholster your Wii Remote™ and show’em who the fastest draw really is, in this live action shooter – a first for the WiiWare service! Once you’ve mastered your shootin’ skills, take on all your friends to see which of you really has the quickest draw.

You’ll need some serious speed and awesome accuracy to take on these gunslingers…so get ready for some real fast draw action! Fast Draw Showdown is available today in North America and later this month in Europe, exclusively on WiiWare for 500 Wii Points™. Fast Draw Showdown is rated T by the ESRB.

Montreal – Ludia’s new title Hell’s Kitchen Vs., which is based on the U.S. TV phenomenon where world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay puts aspiring chefs through rigorous culinary tests is also now available on WiiWare. The game recreates the show’s pressure-cooker atmosphere as two players battle head-to-head in an arcade-style kitchen challenge. Try to conquer your opponent in each time-management test, while taking the heat of Gordon Ramsay judging and rating your performance at every stage of the game. Designed for 1 or 2 players, Hell’s Kitchen Vs is rated E by the ESRB and costs 800 Wii Points to download from the WiiWare store.

London ON – Big Blue Bubble also has a release out on WiiWare today. Pub Darts is a simple darts simulation which uses the Wii Remote™ controller’s unique controls to mimic dart-throwing motion. The game is set in a local pub where the players will settle in to play some of their favorite dart games, including 501, Cricket, Around the Clock, Killers and Baseball. Controls function just like throwing a real dart. Players are able to create their own personal profiles, including selecting their avatar image from a collection of creative characters and the design they would like displayed on the dart flights. Pub Darts is rated E by the ESRB and is downloadable for 500 Wii Points.

Also out today is Big Blue Bubble’s first Fighting Fantasy game book, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, now available on iPhone and iPod Touch for $2.99usd. For the first time ever, you have the opportunity to explore the world of Titan on a portable screen bringing the adventure with you wherever you go.

Experience the book that started the massively popular series which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and set a new standard in roleplaying excellence. This exciting game plunges you into a thrilling adventure to the top of Firetop Mountain and its vast treasure, ruthlessly guarded by a powerful Warlock. Will you have the courage, tact and skill to survive where none have returned to tell the tale?

Following the successful Nintendo DS launch of the game of the same name, Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain for iPhone and iPod Touch takes a different approach bringing Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson’s legendary game book to your favorite handheld device. Scroll through the pages effortlessly by tapping the screen to flip pages, roll dice by shaking your iPhone and experience the breathtaking tale that has sold millions of copies.

Fighting Fantasy readers will be excited to know that Big Blue Bubble will be releasing four more titles in the series. In January, look out for Deathtrap Dungeon as it makes its iPhone debut providing the user with the same level of adventure, excitement and ease of use that The Warlock of Firetop brought.

Fighting Fantasy fans will love the classic story and original illustrations with a technological twist. No more dice, pencils, or bookmarks. All the special features are built in!

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As requested by some of our readers, here is a complete list of the games, studios, characters and publishers who have been nominated for our very first Readers’ Choice Canadian Video Game Awards. Good luck to all of the nominees – and you don’t need to be Canadian in order to vote for your favourites – if you like ’em, let ’em know by giving them a vote.

Go here to vote

Best PC Title

Assassin’s Creed 2 – Ubisoft Montreal
Avatar – Ubisoft Montreal
Braid – Hothead Games
Dragon Age: Origins – Bioware
Fort Zombie – Kerberos
KrabbitWorld Origins – Krabbitsoft
Madballs In Babo: Invasion – PlayBrains
Monsters vs Aliens – Beenox
Prototype – Radical Entertainment
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Beenox

Best XBox 360 Title

Assassin’s Creed 2 – Ubisoft Montreal
Avatar – Ubisoft Montreal
Dragon Age: Origins – Bioware
Madballs In Babo: Invasion – PlayBrains
Monsters vs Aliens – Beenox
Prototype – Radical Entertainment
Wet – Artificial Mind & Movement

Best PlayStation 3 Title

Assassin’s Creed 2 – Ubisoft Montreal
Avatar – Ubisoft Montreal
Monsters vs Aliens – Beenox
NBA Live 10 – EA Canada
Prototype – Radical Entertainment
The Bigs 2 – Blue Castle Games
Wet – Artificial Mind & Movement

Best Wii Title

Academy of Champions – Ubisoft Vancouver
Avatar – Ubisoft Montreal
Copter Crisis – Digital Leisure
Monsters vs Aliens – Beenox
Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage – Ubisoft Montreal
The Bigs 2 – Blue Castle Games

Handheld PSP or Nintendo DS Title

Avatar – Ubisoft Montreal
Dragon’s Lair – Digital Leisure
Fighting Fantasy: Warlock of Firetop Mountain – Big Blue Bubble
Ice Age 3 – Artificial Mind & Movement
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes – Capybara Games
NBA Live 10 – EA Canada
Sudoku Challenge – Digital Leisure
The Bigs 2 – Blue Castle Games
Warriors Orochi 2 – Koei Canada
Zombie Tycoon – Frima Studio

Best Handheld Phone or PDA Title

Dead Strike – Psychoz Interactive
Diamond Fever – Howling Moon Games
Gravity Well – Genius Factor Games
Implode – IUGO Mobile Entertainment
Jamble – No Robots Interactive
Sky Babes vs Fly Boys – A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games
ToyBot Diaries 3 – IUGO Mobile Entertainment

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I want to wish all of Village Gamer’s readers and friends a very happy, productive, profitable and safe New Year. To those of you who have supported the site with product copies for review and news items, thank you – your support has been greatly appreciated. To those who are still waiting on reviews to be completed – I’m working on it – The Cavechild (who has vowed to get out more in 2010) has been assisting in some areas, and the two of us are working through the backlog to get caught up while Scott is kept busy on the server side of things. I occasionally kidnap some of the volunteer staff from our other site to help out with the chores, and I have to thank them for stepping up to the plate when needed.

I certainly wasn’t prepared for the welcome and success Village Gamer has enjoyed over the past year, and while this is all very good,  I’ve found that my time and project management skills are due for a major upgrade.  These are areas which I will be seriously working on as Village Gamer continues to grow and move forward into the next decade – but I can’t talk about that yet, Orby has me under an NDA and I wouldn’t want to end up like the fireworks he’s found – I’m not really sure just what his joystick controller is attached to, so I’ll have to wait on the sharing of news about Village Gamer’s future.

In the meantime, as we look back on the turbulence of 2009, all of us saw many local studios fade to black as they closed their doors forever. While the resulting talent pool is a boon to the other remaining and opening-soon studios, it was still sad to see the game development landscape go through such a major shift. I can only hope that 2010 will bring a brighter outlook for BC’s development industry, especially as we welcome new studios and production houses – let’s all hope that the closing of studios has ended with the passing of this first decade of the 21st century.

This past year also saw the merging of New Media BC and winBC to become DigiBC. This is an event which I am still not convinced was the best move for a provincial industry association, but I will save that opinion for a later post. The digital media industry has grown in both strength and exposure in recent years – not just in Canada but globally, and as provincial governments now vie to have the biggest studios in their respective provinces, we see even more shifting of the digital landscape. This is one of those times when I wish that our country was more united and willing to work together for the betterment of all Canadians instead of just looking out for their own provincial interests. I am in agreement with those involved with the Canada 3.0 forum – we need a viable national strategy, because the times are-a-changing and Canada, while it’s a big country, isn’t really big enough to successfully maintain a hostile and competitive atmosphere among regions as the digital technology industry matures.

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