Village Gamer

At the E³ Expo, Nintendo introduced a new paradigm for video games and home entertainment: Wii U^™, a new console that includes a controller with a 6.2-inch screen. Adding a second screen to the living room creates a multitude of new video game experiences while offering families a variety of options to customize their entertainment.

Previously, video games played on a home console have been confined to the TV and offered identical viewpoints to each player in a multiplayer environment. Furthermore, watching TV and playing console games have been completely separate experiences. The new controller removes these boundaries, creating a more dynamic and fluid gaming and entertainment experience. Visitors to the E³ Expo will see firsthand the type of gaming experiences made possible by Wii U and the new controller such as:

• In single-player games:
  • The new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV.
  • The information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope.
• In multiplayer games:
  • The player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV. This will offer a wide variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities.

In addition to the 6.2-inch screen, the new controller also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers. Adding these features to the Classic Controller^™ button scheme – two analog Circle Pads, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons – will enable a breadth of game-play experiences while appealing to both casual and dedicated video game players.

Wii U combines motion-sensing game play with the ability to support full HD graphics. Each Wii U console will be partnered with a new controller and can also use up to four additional Wii Remote^™ or Wii Remote Plus controllers. The system is also backward compatible and can play all Wii games and use all Wii accessories. The Wii console has sold more than 86 million units globally and greatly expanded the overall audience for video games. Wii U aims to expand that audience even further. Developers worldwide are already working on new games and experiences for the console.

“Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together,” said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. “The experience enabled by Wii U and the new controller takes players deeper into their games, while reaching out wider than ever before to be inviting to all kinds of gamers.”

Nintendo 3DS^™, which lets users see 3D images without the need for special glasses, launched in the North America on March 27 and continues to evolve. Owners will find that their Nintendo 3DS experience is different every time they pick up the system, thanks to new content and updates delivered by Nintendo, by third parties and exchanged between users.

A new system update is now available for the Nintendo 3DS system. Users who connect to a wireless broadband Internet connection and install the system update will instantly gain access to the Nintendo eShop, which contains a variety of games and applications for download using a cash-based system.

Users can browse original 3D software, 3D Classics (select classic video games re-mastered in 3D), classic Game Boy^™ and Game Boy Color games, and more than 350 games and applications currently offered for the Nintendo DSiWare^™ service. Visitors can also see videos and screen shots for games, plus see how other players rank games.

The system update also provides Nintendo 3DS owners access to free items, including an Internet browser that can show 3D images on sites specifically designed to show 3D images, a download of a re-mastered 3D version of the NES^™ classic Excitebike^™ game (free until July 7) and Pokédex^™ 3D, which lets users discover and view more than 150 Pokémon^™ from the Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version games in visually engaging 3D.

Nintendo also announced a huge lineup of upcoming new and fan-favorite franchise games:

• Nintendo 3DS: Super Mario^™, Luigi’s Mansion^™ 2, Mario Kart^™, Kid Icarus^™: Uprising, The Legend of Zelda^™: Ocarina of Time^™ 3D, Star Fox 64^™ 3D, Animal Crossing^™, Paper Mario^™, Picture Lives!, The Rolling Western^™.
• Wii: The Legend of Zelda^™: Skyward Sword, Kirby^™ Wii, Wii Play^™: Motion, Mystery Case Files^™: The Malgrave Incident^™, Mario Party^™ 9, Rhythm Heaven^™ and Fortune Street^™.
• Nintendo DS^™: Kirby^™ Mass Attack, Professor Layton and the Last Specter^™, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker^™ 2 and Super Fossil Fighters^™.

Nintendo kicked off its E³ Expo Presentation by announcing a number of initiatives to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. A re-mastered 3D version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches for Nintendo 3DS on June 19, while Wii owners will see the arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in the 2011 holiday season. Additionally, Nintendo announced a tour of orchestral concerts featuring music from the beloved franchise. Additional commemorative activities will be announced at a later date.

For the duration of the E³ Expo, Nintendo will provide fans with exclusive videos and Nintendo content on the Nintendo Network. People can visit http://e3.nintendo.com to watch developer interviews, get all the information about new games and see coverage coming directly from the show floor. The same exclusive content also will be streamed through the Nintendo^® Channel to Wii owners who have a broadband Internet connection.

PadWorx Digital Media Inc. has put the finishing touches on its latest project, Alice: Madness Returns^TM Storybook App. Created in conjunction with Electronic Arts, the app is designed to bridge the gap between games American McGee’s Alice and Alice: Madness Returns. The storybook app introduces readers to the world of Alice as imagined by acclaimed game designer American McGee, recapping the events, characters, and environments from the first game while setting the stage for the visionary world of Alice: Madness Returns.

“It was an amazing experience for us to work with EA and American McGee’s company Spicy Horse on such an intensely realized project,” said Jeffery Alan Schechter, Creative Director and President of PadWorx Digital Media, Inc. “American McGee’s Alice is a legendary title in the game industry, and just being mentioned in the same breath is a real honor.”

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“We needed a partner who could bring the incredible story and styling of Alice: Madness Returns to life, we wanted to set the bar for what a free interactive storybook experience could be, and we needed it done fast,” said Ben Swanson, Online Marketing Manager at EA.  “PadWorx stepped up and not only delivered a beautifully intense book in record time – just six weeks – they also simultaneously developed the book for iOS, Android, and even a Flash version that’s playable from inside our Facebook page.  These guys are rock stars!”

PadWorx Digital Media, Inc. worked closely with game developer Spicy Horse to create what has been described as the most intense reading experience ever on a mobile device. Rated 17+ by iTunes, the Alice: Madness Returns Storybook is a free download and is both a prequel and a companion to the upcoming EA game Alice: Madness Returns.

A dash of kitchen simulation, a smattering social elements and a heaping spoonful of Zombies is on the Fall 2011 menu over at Beeline Interactive Canada (formerly Capcom Mobile Canada). Play as a Zombie Chef and cook Zombie Food, prepare ingredients and put them in the stove or oven for just the right amount of time. A brand extension of Zombie Cafe, players of both games will be able to unlock unique content across both titles.

While Zombie Cookin’ is free to play, players can accelerate gameplay or acquire unique items by purchasing “Bones,” the game’s in app premium currency.

• Master more than 50 recipes
• Send your zombie hoard out to discover macabre, unusual and downright disgusting ingredients.
• 18 finger cleaving, brain scooping mini games.
• Decorate and increase the efficiency of your kitchen with better stoves, windows, floor coverings and more.

Rock Hippo Productions Ltd has announced that MicroVolts, the fast and furious MMO-TPS  is officially going live on June 9th, and since many players have already started their own clans, Rock Hippo decided it’s about time these clans received a home. The new Clan Hall is the place to create, manage, or join a clan and compete to see who’s best of the best in the MicroWorld. A new map is going to be revealed on June 9th, players can also look forward to a new character set, new weapons, and new costumes. A hint of what’s to come can be seen in the “Build Your Legend” trailer.

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The official release of MicroVolts will also mark the grand opening of the new online shop, where players will find exclusive weapons, parts, accessories, items and sets to help make their character truly unique. On Saturday, June 18th the “Free the Hippo” Tournament will take place, and the winners of this Free For All tournament will receive a ton of Micro Points and a Hippo-In-Style character set as prizes. Be sure to check the MicroVolts web site for tournament and in-game event updates.

OpenText™ has joined forces with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) to launch a new and exciting service for the public sector around the world called Public Service Without Borders (PSWB).

The secure, cloud-enabled collaboration and social media site, based on OpenText’s Social Workplace software, will connect all levels of public service employees to one another in order to network, share ideas, impart valuable lessons learned in such areas as governance, healthcare, technology and the environment, and engage.

Whether via the Internet or through mobile devices, participants will be able to connect, network, plan and deliver exciting new partnerships and initiatives at anytime, from anywhere in the world. Whether you are Canadian, American, South African, Brazilian, British, Chinese or Indian public-sector employee, you can now connect to PSWB and engage with colleagues in a safe and secure fashion; whether to exchange policies, compare programs, or simply network.

“IPAC recognizes the need to facilitate the flow of ideas and best practices across all orders of government and areas of public services,” said Denise Amyot, IPAC’s President, adding, “PSWB will create links between knowledgeable individuals, as much as between institutions and jurisdictions in an objective and non-partisan environment, to ensure that expertise, research, and best practices are shared widely.”

“Public administration touches the lives of citizens around the world through the daily actions of their governments,” said Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of OpenText. “Improving public policies and processes is a constant challenge in our increasingly interconnected world. Public Service Without Borders offers leading social, cloud and mobile technologies to connect the public sector around the world in a way that wasn’t possible before to open an exchange of program ideas and solutions.”

Jenkins added that PSWB represents one of the world’s first truly global, cloud-based government program, one in which OpenText is proud to support, and a program for which IPAC has established truly visionary goals. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s federal budget confirmed the Government of Canada’s commitment to young entrepreneurs through a continued confidence in the work of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF).

With today’s budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty confirmed $20 million over two years in CYBF funding, an investment that will help the national charity continue to expand in order to meet the growing demand for start-up assistance. CYBF provides character-based start-up financing and world-class mentoring from business expert volunteers to young Canadians, enabling them to launch more than 1,000 new businesses in the next two years. These businesses are expected to generate more than 6,700 new Canadian jobs, reinforcing both short-term recovery and Canada’s long-term economic growth.

“We are grateful for the ongoing partnership we have forged with the Government of Canada, in this, the Year of the Entrepreneur,” explains Vivian Prokop, chief executive officer of CYBF, widely considered the go-to organization driving youth entrepreneurship in Canada. “This contribution will allow CYBF to continue to support the ideas, the innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit of Canada’s youth, ultimately creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”

Earlier this year, The Government of Canada designated 2011 as Year of the Entrepreneur, in recognition of the critical role that entrepreneurship plays in building a strong and competitive economy. The organization will also rely on funding from non-federal government sources in the public and private sectors in order to help meet the ever-increasing demand for its programs from coast to coast to coast.

“Not everyone will survive,” warned EA BioWare as they announced that the epic action RPG Mass Effect™ 3, will arrive at retailers worldwide beginning March 6, 2012. In Mass Effect 3, an ancient alien race known only as “Reapers”, has launched an all-out invasion of the galaxy, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction.

As Commander Shepard, players must lead the counter assault to take it back. Only Shepard can determine how events will play out, which planets will be saved from annihilation and which alliances will take form or be abandoned as the forces of the galaxy are rallied together to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all.

“With Mass Effect 3, we are delivering blockbuster action and heart-wrenching emotion on a scale that far exceeds anything we’ve ever done before,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series. “This is an all-out galactic war and how you choose to lead and play will ultimately determine how – and if – you can save the galaxy.”

BioWare also unveiled the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition, a special edition of the game featuring exclusive bonus content and unlockable items (conditions and restrictions apply), including in-game appearance packs, a Dark Horse Comic Book, a hardcover art book, an exclusive extended soundtrack, exclusive lithograph and an exclusive N7 patch. Designed to delight both new and seasoned fans, the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition also gives instant access to the N7 Arsenal Pack which features four tactical guns exclusive to this special edition. The Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition is available for pre-order now at participating retailers for $79.99 in limited quantities.

Mass Effect 3 and the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition will be available for the Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 and PC, with the Xbox 360 version Kinect™-enabled, allowing players to immerse themselves into the Mass Effect universe even further through new voice recognition technology. The Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition will be available in a digital format on the PC exclusively via Origin, EA’s new digital store destination.

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Gamers who purchase the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition on the PC via Origin will receive exclusive bonus content and unlockable items in digital format. This includes in-game appearance packs, a digital version of the Dark Horse Comic Book, a digital version of the art book, an exclusive extended soundtrack, a digital version of the exclusive lithograph and the N7 Arsenal Pack. The digital version of the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition will not include the N7 patch.

Electronic Arts Inc. has announced its latest live service for FIFA Soccer 12 players with an internet connection. (You must accept EA’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service in order to play). called EA Sports™ Football Club that will bring the world’s most passionate sports fans together and engage them within the massive FIFA online community. EA Sports Football Club—the heartbeat of FIFA Soccer 12 —connects players to the real-world game with fresh, new content all the time, enabling them to support their favorite club in new ways connected to real-world events, and connect and compete with friends, rivals and millions of other players around the world.

“The millions of fans playing FIFA online have shown us there is a constant appetite for a deep connected experience, driven by a love of the sport,” said Matt Bilbey, Vice President and General Manager of Soccer for the FIFA Soccer franchise. “EA Sports Football Club is a new social experience that brings the world’s soccer fans together, engaging and entertaining them in new ways that have never been done before in a sports game.”

EA Sports Football Club creates a new social experience where fans can connect and compete with their friends and millions of other fans playing FIFA Soccer 12, where status, bragging rights and progression are all measured and ever-changing. For the first time ever, everything that happens within EA Sports FIFA Soccer 12—and against friends—is measured in a meaningful way. Every match matters, all season long. Earn experience points and level up to build your status. Track friends, challenges and status through the web. Share and compare accomplishments and spread the news on social channels like Facebook.

EA Sports Football Club also ignites the passion of sports fans and deepens their connection to their favourite team through Support Your Club, a central experience in EA Sports Football Club that enables fans to represent their club and compete against rival clubs in everything they do in FIFA Soccer 12. Earn club points and lift your club higher in the Support Your Club League Tables or help them avoid relegation. Virtual league tables are reset each week to create new challenges, renewed rivalries, and fresh story lines.

Fans will be more closely connected to the sport than ever before. Real-world story lines will drive content in EA Sports Football Club, making the game feel fresh and new all the time. Gamers will relive crucial real-world soccer events through regular challenges. EA Sports Football Club will have a dedicated team deliver new content and challenges so that FIFA Soccer 12 will look, feel and play like the real-world season.

There will be no additional charge for EA Sports Football Club as the service kicks off with FIFA Soccer 12 on the PlayStation®3, Xbox 360® and PC when the game launches this fall.

Michael McGinnis, the inventor of the top-selling 3D marble maze game Perplexus, will be visiting several Western Canadian Chapter’s stores over the next two weeks along with Timothy Kimber, the President of Ottawa-based Plasmart Inc., the company which helped make Perplexus an international best-selling and award-winning game sensation as part of a 2-week game signing and media tour.

Michael and Tim will be available for interviews to discuss how they turned the Superplexus – a large-scale piece of art – into a hand-held family toy hit. Theirs is a Canadian success story that combines artistic inspiration with the magic of toy invention and business marketing. An original large-scale Superplexus will be on-site to provide fans and interested parties with the opportunity to learn tricks and tips to solving the incredibly challenging puzzle and to see in large-scale just how challenging it was to invent and create.

• Chapters Victoria in Victoria on Wednesday, June 8th at 5:30 pm
• Chapters Granville Vancouver on Thursday, June 9th at 6:30 pm
• Indigo CrossIron Mills in Rocky View on Monday, June 13th at 6:30 pm
• Chapters Southpoint in Edmonton on Tuesday, June 14th at 6:30 pm

Ubisoft^® announced the joint development of Just Dance^® 3 by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Montreal. The third game in the multi-million selling Just Dance franchise, Just Dance 3 marks the debut of the Just Dance series on Kinect™ for Xbox 360^®and the PlayStation^®Move forPlayStation^®3, and the latest installment of the series on the Wii™ system from Nintendo. Developed by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Montreal, Just Dance 3 will be released worldwide on October 11.

“The Just Dance brand has truly become a worldwide phenomenon with over 30 million people playing Just Dance,” said Olivier Ernst, director of Ubisoft Canada. “Fans play Just Dance at parties with friends, at home with the family, and as part of an active lifestyle to stay fit or even lose weight. Ubisoft is excited to bring Just Dance 3 to all motion platforms and give even more people the opportunity to enjoy the fun.”

Featuring more than 40 tracks across a wide range of musical genres, including pop, hip-hop, rock, R&B, country, disco, funk, and more, Just Dance 3 introduces a number of new game features that take advantage of the unique mechanics of each console. To get the party started, Just Dance 3 includes some of today’s hottest hits as well as classic dance tracks that everyone loves.

Confirmed tracks for Just Dance 3 include:

• 2 Unlimited – “No Limit”
• Black Eyed Peas – “Pump It”
• Duck Sauce – “Barbra Streisand”
• Groove Century – “Boogie Wonderland”
• Gwen Stefani – “What You Waiting For”
• Katy Perry – “California Gurls”
• Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”
• Laura Bell Bundy – “Giddy On Up (Giddy On Out)”
• LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock – “Party Rock Anthem”
• MIKA – “Lollipop”
• Taio Cruz – “Dynamite”

In addition to this exciting tracklist, Just Dance 3 introduces exclusive new game features on all three motion-control platforms, such as four-player choreographies and dynamic environments on Wii and the new “Shout Out!” feature on Kinect, which allows players to score extra points by belting out their favorite song verse. This, combined with the entertaining and unique choreography developed by professional dancers, will provide players with the fun and accessible challenges they are looking for and ensuring that Just Dance 3 will get the world dancing.