Village Gamer

As a warm-up to his US and Canadian winter tour (he’s in Ontario this week), comedian Jeff Dunham has created his first-ever, free mobile and online game featuring fan favorite, Achmed. Achmed’s Bombsweeper challenges players to compete against the clock to solve five levels of the game, before Achmed creates the RoboAchmed terror weapon destroying the world. The game is full of comedic twists from Jeff Dunham and his cast of characters, as Achmed taunts the player with insults at every step of the game.   Read the rest of this entry »

Merging Media 2013 has announced the 12 finalists who will be pitching at MM2013 on November 7 to vie for the $10,000 Pitch 360 Award. This year there are five Canadian finalists alongside seven European projects with Canadian co-production potential. Read the rest of this entry »

In this preview of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, learn everything there is to know about the largest and most immersive Assassin’s game ever created.  See how Edward Kenway takes on the Golden Age of Pirates, and meet the outlaw characters that defined this unforgettable era.   Experience the breadth of this open-world, including enhanced naval gameplay, expansive new environments, exotic animals and the vibrant underwater world.  And learn more about new combat features and weapons, including dual-sword attacks, multi-gun abilities and the free-aim system. Read the rest of this entry »

“Two worlds, one reality” – so goes the tagline for ‘IRL’, a new feature film by director Erik Leijonborg which features Funcom‘s modern-day massively multiplayer game The Secret World as a central part of the story. Valter Skarsgård (son of Hollywood heavyweight Stellan Skarsgård known from films such as ‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Thor’) plays Elias, the film’s main character. Bullied at school, Elias escapes to the virtual universe of Funcom Montreal’s The Secret World, where he meets a girl – Scarlet – and they eventually decide to meet up in real life. Read the rest of this entry »

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) has just launched its 2013 Essential Facts Booklet (PDF), which contains 19 pages of research points and information about the Canadian video game industry. Also released today is an in-depth report (PDF) from Nordicity, with 60 pages of industry research of import to the Canadian creative industries sector. In these reports you’ll see that Canada’s video game industry continues to be at the vanguard of Canada’s digital economy, employing 16,500 men and women in 329 creative and innovative companies that collectively contribute $2.3 billion to Canada’s economy. Watch the video shown below for a quick view of some of the facts contained in this year’s report. Read the rest of this entry »

Ubisoft® has released a new trailer about The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot’s new customization features. Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the humorous free-to-play PC title thrusts players into the medieval fantasy world of Opulencia where wealth, status and showboating are the name of the game. In the trailer Cornelius Richling, Opulencia’s premier talent agent, presents a wide range of castle themes and headwear for players looking to loot and plunder in style. With these new castle themes, players will have the opportunity to customize their property to stand out from the crowd and express their personal style with a selection of new hats! And all of these new customization options are directly accessible from the comfort of the Castle Heart. Read the rest of this entry »

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has revealed a comprehensive seventeen minute gameplay walkthrough video for Batman: Arkham Origins featuring Senior Producer Ben Mattes and Gameplay Director Michael McIntyre at WB Games Montréal as they guide viewers through the mechanics of the new title, highlighting the game’s deep combat system and engrossing narrative. Over the span of the video, you’ll see the Dark Knight explore the Batcave, beat down on thugs and infiltrate a corrupt Gotham City Police Department. WARNING: Spoiler Alert! Read the rest of this entry »

We are going to be at Merging Media 2103, which is being held at the Granville Island Art’s Club in Vancouver this November 6th and 7th, and we would like to see you there. The organizers over at Merging Media would like you to answer a somewhat easy, although possibly tricky, trivia question about the conference’s speakers correctly in order to be entered in a random draw to win one of three conference passes. The contest begins today and runs until noon PDT on October 30th 2013. The winner will be announced November 1st. Send your entry, along with your contact information, to contest-at-villagegamer-dot-net. Please use “MM13 Contest” in the subject line. One entry person, winners will be notified via email. To enter, answer this question:

There’s a great lineup of over 50 speakers featured at The Merging Media 2013 Conference – Global Edition. How many countries do they represent?

Enterprise Information Management (EIM) developer OpenText announced it has been recognized by Mediacorp Canada, Inc. as one of the “Top Employers in Canada” for 2014. As part of the “Canada’s Top 100 Employers” project, the national competition awards Canadian employers for their leadership in the creation of exceptional workplaces for employees. OpenText’s selection as one of the Top 100 Employers in Canada was announced in a special section of The Globe and Mail today. Read the rest of this entry »

Telefilm Canada continues to support emerging feature film talent through its Micro-Budget Production Program for a second year. Through this Program, Telefilm will support between eight to ten projects through the Main Component, and up to three projects in the new Aboriginal component. This Program also seeks to stimulate the use of digital distribution platforms and increase audience access to the works of new Canadian talent, aiming to increase support and visibility for Aboriginal creators through the Aboriginal component. Read the rest of this entry »