Village Gamer

Independent Nova Scotian publishing imprint AIM Comics has released its first book, “The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit”.  The book collects stories from the archives of the long-running web comic Bruno The Bandit. In using digital distribution methods, including formatting the book for Amazon’s popular Kindle reader, AIM Comics is breathing new life into once popular but lately overlooked web comics, while at the same time helping to close the gap that still exists between traditional web comics and the new trend of portable readiing devices.

“Bruno the Bandit” is a web comic that ran for over 10 years from July, 1998 to October, 1999 that was  created, written and drawn by Newfoundland cartoonist Ian McDonald. The comic was hosted by web comics publisher Keenspot and was nominated in 2002 for best fantasy comic by the Web Cartoonists Choice Awards.  It is a sword and sorcery parody strip that lampoons current events and trends as much as it does the tropes of its own genre. Previously collected by Plan 9 Publishing, the collections were available in print only and no move was made to package any sort of digital collections of the work.

In 2011, AIM Comics was started by independent artist Mike Dominic as an imprint for self-published, creator owned works.  The flagship title for this imprint is a new collection of Bruno the Bandit strips, “The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit”, a 72-page magazine-sized book collecting the first 13 stories from the strip’s archives.

Although small and new, AIM Comics has already achieved global distribution by using the best of the new publishing channels for the comics format, including print on demand from Amazon’s Createspace service, as well as digital distribution through Wowio, DriveThru Comics and MyDigitalComics.com.

While the book has been available through those channels since February, AIM Comics’s latest move allows them to embrace the portable reader platform by making the book and any future offerings available via Amazon’s Kindle reader.  Although this means many hours of reformatting the material to fit the new device, the rewards are seen to be worth the effort as this opens up the book to a huge potential audience who may no longer be looking to their browsers or their desktop systems for reading material.

As the ubiquity of portable devices increases, more readers will stock their libraries from the wireless connection built into their device of choice, which means they will be spending less time exploring those kinds of materials through browser based interfaces.  In order for webcomics creators to enjoy the audiences they’ve held for the last decade, they’re going to need to start making their work available in collected versions aimed at the portable market.

In addressing the portable market, comics publishers have focused their efforts on the iOS-based devices from Apple, but have not yet made a strong move to embrace the wide variety of other portable devices currently available.  In releasing their first book for the Kindle, AIM Comics is exploring the portable market for comics and hoping to show that distribution to these devices will be feasible and rewarding.The second volume of “The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit” is slated for August, 2011 release through all channels, including the Kindle.  Also, AIM Comics will be releasing a second title, “The Journals of Simon Pariah”, adapted from the web comic by Mike Dominic, in Fall of 2011.

Rock Hippo Productions Ltd. announced today that the online cartoon style and free to play third-person action shooter MicroVolts.  Officially launched one week ago, MicroVolts has enjoyed a rapidly growing player base, glowing player and critical reviews and over 31,000 Facebook fans. The company is celebrating its first week with the release of a new official wallpaper, events, prizes and more.

“We have been thrilled with the official launch of MicroVolts.  We’re seeing our player base grow in leaps and bounds and getting great feedback from our MicroVolts community,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “Our players’ characters are already sporting many of the newly released items such as Naomi’s Cupcake Dress and Knox’s Skeleton Jacket and arming themselves with new weapons such as the Mimic Grenade Launcher and the DareDev Gatling Gun. MicroVolters from all over the world are continuing to wage their secret war in the new map, The Studio, and all of this is just the beginning!”

To thank the growing community for helping make the game a success in its first week, Rock Hippo Productions has released an official MicroVolts wallpaper to commemorate the successful launch.  Players can download the official wallpaper showing Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P .in action from the  MicroVolts web site.

Here are some of the things it seems MicroVolters can’t get enough of:

Clan Feature: MicroVolts’ new clan feature has boosted the competitive spirit amongst MicroVolters with over 1000 clans already created.  In the new Clan Hall, players can now create or manage their clans.  They can also request membership into coveted clans or recruit elite members to their ranks.  Players ultimately compete in-game with other clans for domination of the MicroWorld and placement on the Clan Leaderboard that will be re-launched tomorrow, Friday June 17 along with some other clan updates.

Shop: Players are enjoying the newly launched Web and In-Game Shop and all the access to exclusive items that this feature grants them. MicroVolts plans to continue to expand its payment options and availability to more countries to better support the ever-growing community.

“Free the Hippo” Tournament: Players are amped for the ”Free the Hippo: Free For All Tournament” being held on Saturday, June 18th. Prizes include up to 135K MP and a Hippo In Style costume set.

Telefilm Canada has invested $2.7 million through its Canada Feature Film Fund into David Cronenberg’s (Eastern Promises) latest film Cosmopolis, for which principal photography recently began. The feature is adapted from Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name and stars Robert Pattinson (Water For Elephants, The Twilight Saga). The 40-day shoot on location and in studio will run through mid-July in Toronto.

“David Cronenberg is the definitive Canadian artist, who despite receiving many tempting offers to move to Hollywood, has remained in Canada to practice his craft,” said Carolle Brabant, Telefilm Executive Director. “Since his early years in the 70s as a visionary horror film director, Telefilm has been a proud supporter of this edgy auteur who constantly eyes new challenges, while all the while creating films that connect with mainstream audiences worldwide.”

David Cronenberg added: “Telefilm has made my career in Canada possible. Their continuous support of my work since my early days as a filmmaker has allowed me to remain and work at home.”

Cosmopolis is produced by Martin Katz (Hotel Rwanda) of Toronto-based Prospero Pictures and Paulo Branco (Mysteries of Lisbon) through Paris-based Alfama Films Production as a Canada-France co-production.

Cosmopolis is a contemporary thriller about a young billionaire asset manager on a twenty-four hour odyssey across Manhattan. Despite traffic jams and a looming financial disaster, Eric Packer (Pattinson) risks traveling cross-town in his stretch limousine for a haircut. During delays including a presidential motorcade, a celebrity funeral, and political protests, Eric receives visitors, both for business and pleasure, in his opulent, high-tech automobile. As the encounters and the economic crisis intensify, Packer cynically gambles with his clients’ fortunes and his own. The stakes are enormous, and in the hours that pass, Packer’s limousine and life veer toward the end of an era.

Rounding out the all-star international cast are Academy Award-winner Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Academy Award-nominee Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version), Academy Award-nominee Samantha Morton (In America), Sarah Gadon (A Dangerous Method), Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder, The Trotsky).

After more than a year of bringing change to the Canadian wireless consumer, WIND Mobile is changing the wireless market again, this time for businesses. With the launch of Unlimited Business Solutions, WIND Mobile is the first new, national wireless provider to offer fair prices to the Canadian business community.  WIND offers businesses the chance to create their own flexible solution that comes without a contract.

“Our offering is a game changer for small businesses,” said Ken Campbell, CEO of WIND Mobile. “I know from my own experience building WIND from the ground up that many small businesses are so busy they don’t have the time to look into cost-cutting options but these solutions offer a significant way to save on something that is essential to their success.”

WIND’s Unlimited Business Solutions offer businesses the ultimate flexibility to be agile and cope with constantly changing market conditions. Every business can mix and match plans for each team member, change plans as needed, and with no term-contracts, businesses don’t have to worry about penalties or cancellation fees. WIND also offers more deals as companies grow with savings of up to $5 per month on each additional line. This means a team of four can save more than $3,000 a year when compared to similar plans from the incumbents.

“Expanding into the small and medium business market in Canada is a natural next step for us,” said Scott Campbell, CMO for WIND Mobile. “WIND was the first to offer genuine 24/7 unlimited talk, text and data to consumers and many competitors have followed. Unlimited for business is something new and unique to WIND.”

Every plan offers free, unlimited national WIND-to-WIND calling and most offer 24/7 unlimited talk and text which means businesses don’t need to worry about exceeding minute limits.  WIND also never charges for incoming long-distance calls, as many competitors do, and offers $0.25 per minute roaming rates to and from anywhere across Canada and the US which is less expensive than the recently reduced rates of the incumbents.

Recognizing that business is often done anywhere but in an office today, WIND offers incredible value for hi-speed mobile Internet. Unlimited mobile Internet add-ons for smartphones are just $10 per month, and unlimited mobile Internet for laptops or tablets costs only $29 per month for up to 12 months. WIND also offers a full range of business friendly smartphones and data devices like the WINDspeed Data Stick that helps customers get work done just about anywhere.

Cell Bound, the latest iOS device game from Hothead Games is available now in the iTunes App Store, and for just 99 cents, you can pick up a simple and addictive puzzle matching game that players in control of an important piece of science equipment – a sterile culture dish. Unfortunately, as soon as the dish is in the player’s hands it is subjected to contamination from a constant bombardment of colored cell structures.

To save the scientific sample, players have to spin the dish around using on-screen controls, catching and matching different colored cell structures as they drop into the field of play. Link five or more of the same color and cause the cells to burst and vanish before they can contaminate the whole dish. Burst more chains at a faster rate to score more points.

Cell Bound has three different game modes to play, plus Game Center support:

• Infinite Mode: The main mode, colored cells drop towards the center and explode when 5 like colors are connected. All of the cells can be burst using the smart bomb trigger in the center of the dish. More smart bombs can be accrued by racking up points.
• Timer Mode: Gain as many points as possible in 1:30 minutes. There are no smart bombs, and for every 1,200 points, one more second is added to the timer.
• Burst Mode: Cells that connect and are not the same color turn black and inert, obstructing the new cells.

[youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-4i7UbYZ6Y]

The PROFIT HOT 50, which is celebrating its 12th anniversary, is Canada’s premier ranking and awards program for successful young businesses. Anyone who manages or knows of a fast-growing young company is invited to submit a nomination by completing the simple entry form before June 30th.  Candidates or nominators looking for more information can call the toll-free PROFIT HOT 50 hotline at 1-800-713-GROW or visit the Hot 50 web site.

PROFIT will honour Canada’s Top New Growth Companies in its October issue and at GrowthCamp, an exclusive summit at which HOT 50 leaders share ideas, learn from experts and make valuable new contacts. Past winners have called it the best business event they’ve ever attended. Winning firms are backed by a national publicity campaign that generates extensive consumer and trade-media coverage.

Past PROFIT HOT 50 winners include Robert Herjavec of Dragons’ Den; Tony Lacavera of Globalive Communications and Wind Mobile; and Stephan Cretier of Garda World Security, a billion-dollar global security firm.

Collect shiny gems raining down from the sky, but beware of lurking sea monsters, all while playing four exciting mini-games – in tvokids.com’s The Mysteries of Lagoon Bay.

TVOKids.com continues to lead the way in teacher-approved, kid-tested fun with the launch of its new online educational game that was developed in close collaboration with students from a Toronto community school. The Mysteries of Lagoon Bay, which launches today on the TVO Kids web site, is an online board game that can be played by one to four players on the same computer – perfect for families.

Built from the ground up, over a one-and-a-half year period, game developers and educators from tvokids.com worked with a group of 10 children, aged five to seven, to incorporate their ideas and preferences into an exciting and challenging game. Not only is it adjustable for different skill levels, but The Mysteries of Lagoon Bay finely balances a mysteriously fun game while reinforcing the Ontario school curriculum.

The tvokids.com team began by building a life-sized physical board game and workshopped it with kids to determine the best way to make the educational elements of the game really come alive.

Players select one of six unique characters and compete to collect the most gems by playing four types of mini-games. Each game is designed to help kids with adding (Nice Dice), patterning (Ball Fall), geometry (Shape Escape), and spelling (Word Herd). The game’s adventurous setting incorporates suggestions from kids to add hidden passageways, top-secret trapdoors and wonderful surprises.

“The Mysteries of Lagoon Bay is the result of a collaborative effort between kids and tvokids.com – we really listened to what they liked in their favourite games and tried to pack as much as we could in this game,” says manager of tvokids.com Marie Morency-Lee. “When we showed the kids the final game, they were excited and screaming, ‘This was my idea!’. The game is a great tool to practice math and language concepts while having a blast playing with friends and family.”

AOL Canada introduces Canadian teens to Cambio, an online entertainment destination that allows fans to connect with their favorite celebrities and combines original programming with interactivity to offer “entertainment 2.0” for teens. The website, launched last July in the United States, is the result of a partnership between AOL, The Jonas Group and MGX Lab.

Cambio features up to the minute news on today’s brightest stars and original online specials and series including Live Chats with fan favorites Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas; live streaming of Red Carpet Events such as Disney’s Prom Premiere; and an inside look at the childhood homes of top celebrities, like Matthew Morrison, in Cambio Goes Home.

The goal of Cambio is to offer a next-generation online network that fuses exclusive video, information, social interaction, and compelling entertainment taking teens from Fans to Friends.

Cambio resonated as a premium advertising opportunity for Toronto agency, J3 and they turned to Neutrogena^® to be a partner in this endeavour. As a result, this summer, Cambio is partnering with Neutrogena for their Canadian campaign “One Less Stress” and will feature video interviews with celebrities on topics that matter to them and on how they cope with stress in their busy lives. Read the rest of this entry »

Maplesoft™ has announced a new release of MapleSim™, the high-performance physical modeling and simulation software. With its broader application scope, streamlined modeling environment, and ability to efficiently simulate even more systems, MapleSim 5 makes it easier to tackle large projects and get results quickly.

MapleSim 5 comes with over 150 new components, including new libraries for magnetics and thermal fluids, which means the power of MapleSim can be applied to even more modeling projects. With these components, customers can use MapleSim 5 to quickly develop a wider range of applications, such as the solenoids in dialysis machines and fuel injection systems, saturating motors and transformers, and heat exchangers for machine cooling systems.

The MapleSim 5 interface includes many new and improved features to reduce model development time and help customers manage the complexity of their models. For example, enhanced diagnostic tools provide early feedback related to the definition of the model itself, such as identifying inconsistent initial conditions. MapleSim then provides assistance in resolving the problem, so corrections can be made before running the simulation. Other additions include increased control over parameters and initial conditions, easy export of 3-D animation simulation results, and streamlined design environments for building both model diagrams and 3-D model representations. The improved simulation engine in MapleSim can now generate highly optimized C code for all MapleSim models. This royalty-free code can be incorporated into other software in the toolchain.

MapleSim uses a fully developed symbolic modeling engine to handle all of the complex mathematics involved in the development of engineering models. This symbolic engine offers unique advantages that expand the modeling and simulation capabilities of engineers. Each MapleSim release further develops these capabilities, which include automatically generated model equations in full parametric form, equation-based custom components, optimized code generation for real-time systems, revolutionary multibody technology, and an interactive analysis environment that captures the full engineering knowledge that goes into each project.

“By leveraging symbolic computation technology, MapleSim offers unique advantages that enable our customers to succeed at very difficult design projects they simply cannot do with other tools,” says Laurent Bernardin, Executive Vice-President and Chief Scientist, Maplesoft. “MapleSim reduces model development time from months to days while producing high-fidelity, high-performance models. With MapleSim 5, our customers can apply those time and cost savings to even more projects, while further reducing the time needed to design their complex models.”

New Brunswick indie studio On The Fly Entertainment has announced the launch of the studio’s first Xbox Live Indie Games release, math-based puzzle fighter Sum Fighter. Choose from one of six high school archetypes, use their unique abilities to bury your opponents and rise to the top of the school math competition.

To crush your opponent, rapidly add numbers to destroy blocks on your board and drop them into your opponent’s board. To destroy your blocks, you must drag adjacent blocks together, combining their face values. Once you’ve connected as many groups together as their face value the blocks disappear (players would connect five groups of the value 5 to destroy them or two groups of the value 2 and so on). The first player whose blocks reach and stay at the top for ten seconds loses. Our narrated tutorial steps the player through our mechanics before their first match.

Each character has their own path through story mode with their own unique character interactions and ending. The Jock, Nerd, Emo, Tagger, Principal and Librarian each have a unique ability they can unleash on their opponent, in order to be crowned the Sum Fighter Champion!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1hZSjLyxF4]

Sum Fighter Features:

• A fully animated intro
• A narrated tutorial
• 2 Player vs Mode and Story Mode
• 6 Animated characters at a gorgeous 720p
• 6 Character Endings
• 8 Expertly composed and varied music tracks

Sum Fighter is available now on Xbox Live Indie Games for 240 Microsoft Points.