Village Gamer

Toronto’s Phantom Compass, contributors to the Skatoony Home Game for marblemedia’s Skatoony TV show, among others, has launched their latest project to the masses. Points 4 People is currently in public beta and uses a unique tag to add (or subtract) points for Twitter users.

The premise for the game (as explained on the P4P site), is to provide a global points exchange and leaderboard system for Twitter users like you. Reward your friends, penalize your enemies, or vice versa. Exchanged points are broadcast via Twitter, tracked by Points 4 People and automagically popped into our leaderboards, activity feeds, and profile pages. No additional signup or permission is required. Simply reference someone in your Twitter post, add the hashtag #p4p and a positive (eg. #p4p+56) or negative number (eg. #p4p-42) of your choice.

Phantom Compass Founding Partner & Producer/Director Tony Walsh is currently down in San Francisco, so I conducted a quick email interview with him to find out more about Points 4 People:

VG: How (and why) did you come up with the concept for Points4People?

TW: Our technical director Jos Yule had come up with the idea of Points 4 People as a secret side project. He mentioned the concept to me a few weeks ago while we were on our way to a meeting, and by the time we arrived we decided it had to get made.

As a game company we’ve been following developments in so-called “gamification” for years, and we’re fascinated by how invested people become in reward structures. Points 4 People is an experiment in this area, and we think it’s got a lot of potential for consumer and business use.

VG: How long has Points 4 People been in development?

TW: We’ve spent several weeks on the project but the development time was probably under 40 person-hours. We’re in an ongoing development phase now as we iron out bugs, test new ideas, and implement user feedback.

VG: What was the biggest challenge the studio faced in bringing Points 4 People to life?

TW: Time. We burned a lot of midnight oil immediately prior to launch.

VG: Will there be a monetization aspect to this gamification of Twitter?

TW: Absolutely. We’ve got consumer and B2B options cooking. We’re going to be very careful with how we handle the commercialization.

VG: I know you’ve only just launched – but has anyone taken the game too seriously yet? (I was meaning from an over-praising/vindictive perspective, but Tony’s answer is good news, too!)

TW:Yes, there’s already been unofficial interest from one of the world’s largest technology companies.

VG: Where do you see Points 4 People going – what is your hope for the game?

TW: We are paying close attention to what our users want and how they are using Points 4 People. As we plan for a Facebook implementation we’re also getting great feedback on the Twitter-based system and making changes on a daily basis.

VG: Thank you for your time, is there anything else you’d like to add?

TW: #p4p+1000 @villagegamer

🙂

The actors starring in the July 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival production of The Mistress’ Boyfriend – an original play written by DeeJay Dayton – are putting their improv training to work – rather than using the stage to improvise they are using the online world to further develop their characters on Facebook.

The play is the story of a Southern Preacher who has re-written the Bible, his mischievous wife, an anarchist prostitute and her ex-con boyfriend.  Told in reverse order the play is filled with mystery and murder. Each of the actors have created a facebook page and all are interacting on their event page;  posting photos and videos and developing their relationships online. The idea for this character development was the brainchild of Artsy Fartsy PR who are doing publicity for the event.

Alexis Fakouri from Artsy Fartsy PR says: “We created this concept based on the idea that every one of us has an online and a real life persona. Increasingly, people interact more with each other online than they do in person – why should these characters be any different?”

The play is showing at Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace between July 7th and 15th, 2011.  The cast: Mandy May Cheetham, DeeJay Dayton, Amanda Petryschuk, and Oliver Georgiou and directed by Alan Bee – a comedic improviser, director and producer.

The Mistress’ Boyfriend – written by Deejay Dayton and presented by Quondam Dreams of Toronto

An imperious bible publisher, an aspiring anarchist, an ex-con and a woman who will do anything for a thrill get caught up in a whirlwind of deceptions, betrayals, sex games and murder in this darkly comic melodrama. how did it all come to this?

Director: Natasha Booner
Genre: Play, Comedy
Warning: Smoking, Gunshots, Nudity, Sexual Content, Graphic Violence, Mature Language
Show Runtime: 50 minutes

Show Times:

Thursday, July – 7 7:45 PM
Friday, July 8 – 8:15 PM
Sunday, July 10 – 1:00 PM
Monday, July 11 – 2:15 PM
Tuesday, July 12 – 6:45 PM
Wednesday, July 13 – 4:45 PM
Friday, July 15 – 1:45 PM
Saturday, July 16 – 9:45 PM

Toronto studio March Entertainment has released its first Android game to the Marketplace. The bubble-popping puzzler Cranky Cat is a free to try title, with more levels available through in-app purchasing. There are more than 250 hand-crafted levels in Story and Puzzle modes, as well as three variations of “infinite” mode. A free demo can be played on the official Cranky Cat website. An Apple iOS (iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) version will arrive in the coming weeks, as well as full online and downloadable versions.

Fast-paced and addictive, the game features a cantankerous Victorian-era cat trying to create a youth elixir by condensing chemical compounds in a steam-powered centrifuge. Cranky Cat is March’s first game not tied to an existing intellectual property, and marks the company’s foray into “pure” casual gaming just for the fun of it. Cranky Cat is OpenFeint-enabled and was built in the Unity game engine, another first for March Entertainment, which has previously built games primarily in Flash, such as The Great Canadian Trivia Shootout and Dex Hamilton’s Bug Quest.

Last month the studio’s groundbreaking web-to-TV animated comedy series Chilly Beach became available in the U.S. for the first time on Hulu and the Hulu Plus subscription service, via a deal with distributor Duopoly. Originally produced for the CBC, Chilly Beach ran over three seasons and garnered a large and enthusiastic following through a combination of broadcast play and the property’s dynamic, interactive website.

Along with Chilly Beach, two original series-related movies released after the TV series, The World is Hot Enough and The Canadian President are also available on Hulu and Hulu Plus. The series and movies are viewable for free on Hulu.com to U.S. viewers.

“Chilly Beach was the first web-to-TV series in Canada and we are delighted to launch this flagship comedy franchise to U.S. audiences for the first time on Hulu,” said Catherine Tait, President of Duopoly. “We’ve seen impressive viewership numbers for great Canadian series like Odd Job Jack on Hulu and believe it is a valuable option for producers seeking to monetize their content in the U.S.”