Village Gamer

TVO gives Facebook politics a whole new meaning and takes another step in promoting citizen engagement with the launch of Honoured Citizen, a multi-player social media game that runs on the Facebook Platform.

Developed for TVO by Lazar Entertainment, Honoured Citizen allows players to participate in all levels of civic society and demonstrates that there are many ways to become an Honoured Citizen, if you are willing to speak out, engage with issues, question, debate and vote.

“Game-based technologies can serve as powerful tools for advancing civic engagement – it’s called gaming for good,” says Christine McGlade, Manager of Interactive and Digital Media for TVO. “Honoured Citizen will immerse gamers in the political process. It’s a great example of how TVO uses digital media as a platform for civic engagement.”

Honoured Citizen is the only Facebook game that realistically simulates all aspects of the political process. Players participate as citizens, politicians, activists or lobbyists. Politicians can seek nominations and woo voting blocs. Lobbyists can wine and dine politicians. Activists can start protests and organize petitions. Citizens can raise issues and participate in polls.

The object of the game is to gain honour points by engaging with and participating in an online shadow government – discussing, debating and organizing around political issues. These points may be spent to take on different roles in the game, perform other functions, or they may be traded with other players or strategically donated. The game runs in real time and every round is one week long, with new issues in play during each round. After every four rounds, there is an election.

Set in a virtual province, Honoured Citizen offers players a chance to simulate the political process. While the topics gamers raise may be real-life issues, it’s not a place for partisan politics. The game focuses on issues of governance, and non-partisan debate.

Honoured Citizen is the most recent addition to TVO’s gaming for good efforts, which includes Inside the Haiti Earthquake, the Games for Change Festival 2010 Transmedia award-winning interactive game.

Honoured Citizen is part of TVO’s Your Vote 2011, a suite of multimedia resources designed to engage Ontarians in the lead-up to the fall 2011 Ontario election.

Majesco Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products and Bagdasarian Productions have announced plans to release the Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked video game, which is based on the third installment of the blockbuster animated feature film franchise, coming to theatres this December 16^th.

Scheduled to launch this November, the game is currently in development at Behaviour Interactive and lets players sing and dance along with the film’s stars Alvin, Simon, Theodore and The Chipettes (Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette), in an immersive motion-based experience. The Kinect™ for Xbox 360^® version tracks full body dance moves as players control their Chipmunk on stage, and plays back their “Alvin-ized” voice as they sing along. The game will also be available for both the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

“The Alvin brand has proven to be evergreen with universal awareness and growing appeal,” said Jesse Sutton, CEO, Majesco Entertainment. “The extensive customization and combination of dancing and singing to contagious Chipmunk music will deliver a full-featured experience based on the upcoming movie that the whole family can enjoy together.”

“This game will bring fans even closer to the fun and music of Alvin and the Chipmunks by taking full advantage of the Kinect for Xbox 360,” said Gary Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President, New Media for Fox Consumer Products. “It’s going to be the perfect complement to the upcoming film and we know that fans are going to love it.”

The forthcoming Alvin and the Chipmunks movie finds the trio vacationing aboard a luxury cruise liner, turning it into their personal playground until they become ‘chipwrecked’ on a remote island. The Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked video game continues the story with an around-the-world journey that has The Chipmunks visiting six tropical locations inspired by the movie. Hear your voice “Alvin-ized” when you sing along with the game and unleash your “Munk Power” to perform ultra-cool dance moves.

The Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked video game features include:

• Sing and dance as any of The Chipmunks and The Chipettes — Alvin, Simon, Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor.
• Perform more than 50 different dance moves to electrify the crowd with your on screen performance.
• Customize your Chipmunk before you hit the stage by choosing from a huge range of styles and accessories.
• Experience the movie in Story Mode with environments inspired by the film.
• Hear your voice “Alvin-ized” during your on-stage performance using the Kinect for Xbox 360.

Game publisher Wicked Interactive has announced that the popular, free-to-play, online first-person shooter Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.) will begin commercial launch today. Wicked Interactive’s SUBA Games platform, best known to shooter fans for such titles as Cross Fire, is hosting M.A.T. With the official commercial launch of M.A.T., SUBA Games endeavours to blow through expectations of all SUBA Games’ Cross Fire and M.A.T. fans.

“We are delighted to be launching M.A.T. 2.0 today,” said Sam Ho, Director of Wicked Interactive. “M.A.T. 2.0 comes with a massive amount new content and updates.  The biggest change is that the game is no longer in Open Beta status.  M.A.T. 2.0 strikes hard with its commercial release; rocking a new user interface, a new game mode, an expanded crafting system, seven maps and over a dozen weapons.”

Hybrid Invasion is a brand new game mode that is being introduced with this patch, expanding on the need to band together as team mates to survive.  Players will survive wave after wave of hybrid creatures that are a combination of AI robots, mummies and biological weapons.  If players survive long enough, they will encounter the Tyrant; a hammer-swinging monstrosity that’ll take a well trained and well armed squad to put down!

The expanded crafting system will allow players to create a variety of items out of multiple types of materials.  Before the patch, players had to collect just a robot part from AI Mode and use a Weapon Casting Machine on it to create one of several weapons.  With the new patch, players will be able to use all kinds of materials like PCB boards, diodes, metal, nylon, leather, dyes, etc to create not just weapons, but clothing and items as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Hothead Games producer Hamish Millar (heyyyy, we know that guy!) provides an in-depth tutorial of the gameplay from the Tower Mode in this new Kard Combat video.  Kard Combat, which is already available for Canadian iOS gamers will be unleashed upon the masses in the iTunes App Store on July 13th.

Watch the video to learn how players can earn upgrades for their mage, items, and additional cards by completing the Tower campaign.  The walkthrough covers basic strategy, offensive and defensive tactics, card combinations, and powerful spells.  This particular battle is fought out on the Master difficulty level, but nothing less should be expected from the producer of the game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcjfDJvq-Vc]

Kard Combat is rated 12+ for the following:

* Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
* Frequent/Intense Horror/Fear Themes
* Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 3.1.3 or later.

Enter The Secret World – a next-generation massively multiplayer online game for the PC, a world where players are given total freedom to create and progress their characters, unbound by the restrictions of classes and levels. Players will get the opportunity to join one of the three secret societies and fight for power over important locations throughout our own world.  Players will also journey through familiar places across the globe, such as Egypt, New England, London, New York and Seoul and battle monsters of myth and legend.

From the dark and unforgiving Atlantic shoreline, to the overgrown attractions of a theme park lost to the darkness, the Savage Coast reveals more of its hidden mysteries in the latest location video from Funcom. Only a small part of the game, the Savage Coast is home to several unique monsters and myths as well as providing a fantastic backdrop for players to immerse themselves in.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0NQAgZ2FqY]

An exciting new health and fitness iPhone app has been released by Calgary’s Gratisites Inc. Body Tracker is an app that allows users to keep all of their essential measurements in one place and compare their progress over time when used in conjunction with a workout regime. Progress can be viewed by measurement or pictures to help with motivation.

“Gratisites prides itself on creating technological answers to everyday problems,” says Gratisites spokesman Danton Lalonde. “Our objective is that Body Tracker will fill the need of enabling people to reach their fitness goals.”

Body Tracker monitors users’ body fat and weight, while keeping track of the following measurements:

• Waist
• Chest
• Hips
• Thighs
• Calves
• Neck
• Arms

“We recognize that goals need to be written down if they are to be effective. With Body Trackers “History” and “Compare” functions, you can easily see your progress, encouraging you to stay on track,” Lalonde explains, “Body Tracker is your accountability partner.”

Body Tracker for iPhone is available immediately for $0.99 on your mobile device or from Apple’s App Store. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

For our European readers: Hot cars, exotic travel and Need for Speed, the world’s top racing video game – are you up for the ultimate job? Beginning today, EA and Need for Speed is conducting the 2011 ‘Need for Speed European Spokesmodel Search’. This continent-wide search is set to discover two women with boundless energy, an outgoing personality and an edgy style fused with a passion for cars and gaming.

The winners will act as Need for Speed ambassadors at events throughout 2012 including representing Need for Speed products at high profile gaming events across Europe and our Team Need for Speed racing team in the prestigious FIA GT3 European Championship and Euro Drift program.

Models searches are being conducted in Six territories: France, Germany, Norway, Russia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Finalists will be selected from each territory with the final two winners being announced in November in conjunction with the release of Need for Speed The Run.

Along with the chance to represent the UK in the grand final, two UK regional finalists will win £1500 worth of entertainment merchandise. The UK regional competition is now live for online entries.

Since 1994, Need for Speed has been a leading force in gaming and automotive culture.  With over 115 million units sold, Need for Speed has debuted some of the world’s hottest cars like the Pagani Huayra and Nissan GT-R.  It has also featured actors, models, musicians including Brooke Burke, Kelly Brook, Maggie Q, Kanye West, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Prodigy.

From the Golden Gate to the Empire State, Need for Speed The Run, in development at EA Black Box, takes players on a heart-pounding, high-stakes race that will have players surrounded by the constant feeling of danger. The heat is on and lethal action unfolds as gamers not only get out of the car for the first time, but also get up-close and personal with the franchise’s first hero, Jack – all while battling hundreds of the world’s most notorious racers. Weaving through dense urban traffic, rocketing down icy mountain passes and navigating narrow canyons at breakneck speeds, players will be challenged in this illicit race for their life.

Big Bad Brush has announced that their much anticipated iOS game Big Sticky, will be available on the app store on July 26, 2011 (pending review and approval). Utilizing intuitive controls combined with original gameplay, Big Sticky will be sure to dazzle, challenge, and entertain gamers of all ages. Stay tuned for follow up releases with promo codes.

Sticky is a purple frog prince who was living happily with his princess until one day chaos erupted when a jealous lonely castle abducted her, along with all of the other princesses in the world! Injured by the evil castle, Sticky is forced to use his Big Sticky tongue to stick and swing in search of his beloved princess.

With simple intuitive controls combined with an original gameplay experience, players help Sticky conquer the evil castle, moving him through the levels with his sticky frog tongue. By simply tapping the screen, players will use a stick and swing action to get Sticky to the castle door, where he then must save the princess hidden within each level. With a total of 51 platform-styled puzzle levels, there are always new obstacles and challenges to overcome.

Join Sticky in this wild sticky adventure as you swing over snow, lava, enchanted platforms, moving walls and more. Everyone needs a little purple hero and there’s never a dull moment in this fairy O’ tale.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iv1MiSPV4c]

Big Sticky Features:

• Original gameplay with simple intuitive controls
• Using the tongue, tap to stick and swing away
• 51 platformer puzzle levels to overcome
• 5 beautifully illustrated worlds to explore
• Many out of this world princesses to save
• Collect roses and earn gold trophies
• Obstacles such as fireballs, moving walls, switches and more
• Available on iPhone, iPod and iPad

Frima Studios and Bolt Creative want you to know that the Pygmies of Pocket God on Facebook will be celebrating the 4th of July festivities with a global in-game event. From now until July 7, players can participate in a new dance craze sweeping the island and win a new idol in the process, and can also send a special holiday-themed item to their friends.

Move over Macarena, the Indepen-Dance is the premier dance all the cool kids are doing nowadays. During the night, Pygmies may display the urge to cut a rug—or rather, sand—and it’s up to you to make sure that your hip, little Pygmies keep with the times and participate. Until July 7th, if 100,000 Pygmies shake their booties on the floor, all players will receive a limited edition Liberty Bell idol for their island. What are you waiting for, get on the dance floor already!

Players can also send their “friends” a special gift in the form of a rocket. For just one bone, would-be deities can bestow a rocket to their loved ones, giving the recipient a chance to view a monumental fireworks show. Each fireworks show also recharges five devotion points so you can keep the party going. And no, you can’t light the rocket underneath your friend’s butt.

Canadian-poker.ca reports that Full Tilt Poker, which was involved in the April 15 online poker shutdown in the U.S., has just had its license to operate suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC).

PokerStars, another major online poker site involved in the April shutdown, still has its license. The poker room released an official statement assuring that players will not be affected. Full Tilt Poker’s suspension is completely unrelated to the operation of PokerStars, which will continue unchanged, the statement confirmed. For players in Canada, the Full Tilt Poker site is currently listed as undergoing “scheduled maintenance.”

According to Canadian-poker.ca spokesman Leon Daniels, it might take time until Full Tilt Poker resolves its licensing issues. “In the meantime, there are plenty of other options for us Canadian poker fans, and at this point we can only trust sites run by publicly traded companies who won’t risk their reputation or stock value.”

“Take 888 Poker for example; it’s remained online and reliably in operation while other sites struggle with lawsuits and regulators. In fact, 888 Poker is winning back the hearts of Canadian poker players who were swept away to other poker rooms, but who are now realizing it’s best to stick to a strong company.” Leon also remarked that 888 is now offering players in Canada special bonuses for “returning home” from other poker sites.

Party Poker is another example of an operation that has remained reputable and reliable throughout this period of online poker turmoil, and is an option for players looking to play at an established institution. Party Poker recently merged with Bwin Poker and players can enjoy both brands under the same protection of a strong, publicly traded company.

Despite Leon’s concern, Canadian-poker.ca is convinced there is no reason for Canadian players to be concerned over the latest Full Tilt news. Companies like 888 Poker, Party Poker, and Bwin continue to operate as usual, and online poker in Canada is as strong as ever.