Village Gamer

Game Prototype Challenge has announced its Version 2 themes – Immortality and Thin Ice. For this second round, developers have until 11:59pm on December 20th, 2010 to submit their games by posting a link to it on Twitter with the hashtag #GPCv2. Web deploy-able games are preferred but not required, simply provide a download link if your game is run as an executable. Please see the Game Prototype Challenge blog for complete details on how to participate.

A quick message from Capcom has alerted me to the approaching availability of Dead Rising 2: Case West. Developed exclusively for the Xbox 360, zombie fans will be able to purchase this chapter for 800 MS Points on December 27th. Case West will see the two Dead Rising heroes unite to battle back the hoards of walking dead, infiltrating the Phenotrans Facility in an attempt to uncover the company’s murky dealings.

With all new content, new combo weapons to create, new enemies to test them on and the return of the ability to capture those magic moments on camera, Dead Rising 2: Case West continues the Dead Rising 2 experience in both single and co-op play. You do not need to own Dead Rising or Dead Rising 2 in order to play this DLC.

For those constantly on the go, Dead Rising for the iPhone and iPod touch shambles onto the App Store, just in time for the holiday shopping season with a limited-time launch price of $4.99 USD. In the game players must fight their way through a shopping mall that’s been overrun with an army of the undead utilizing anything they can to fight off the flesh-hungry mob.

Like the console games of the same name, users play as Frank West, a freelance photojournalist on the hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. Utilizing makeshift weapons scavenged from the stores and displays, players battle against waves of zombies in the hopes of surviving and making their way to freedom. Items like samurai swords, chainsaws and shotguns will help the player sow a path of destruction through the undead menace. More ordinary items like bowling balls and manikins can also be used to keep zombies at bay.

Zombie hunters the world over know that nothing gives you the munchies like fighting off a flesh-starved undead maw. “Dead Rising” therefore includes a game mechanic that requires the player to scavenge for mall food to stay alive. Finally, just because it’s a zombie apocalypse doesn’t mean you can’t be social. When a player dies in the game they’ll have the opportunity to send out a distress call via Facebook or Twitter to their friends. If the player is revived, the player and their friend will receive a bonus. However, if the player is allowed to die, they’ll rise as a powerful zombie in their friend’s game.

Social media gurus, if you aren’t busy on February 26th & 27th, then you might want to check out PodCamp Toronto, a free “unconference” bringing together professionals and hobbyists from Toronto and the surrounding area to explore the cutting edge of new and social media. If you are an online content creator – hobbyist and professionals – who are building communities online in a variety of ways, then PodCamp Toronto 2010 is for you. Share ideas, discuss theories and learn lessons from an audience of experts.

A reminder from DFAIT: To ensure that your company is included in the Trade Commissioners Service (TCS) international match-making at GDC 2011, make sure you have your application filled out and sent in to your DFAIT representative by December 15th (that’s the day after tomorrow, btw). Trade Commissioners are actively seeking match-making opportunities for Canadian companies at GDC 2011 in San Francisco with publishers such as CapCom, Electronic Arts, Disney Interactive, Activision Blizzaard, PlayFish, Bandai Namco and Zynga among others. If you are selected for a meeting, a Trade Commissioner will contact you in the weeks immediately before GDC 2011. Meetings will be scheduled at the venue of the buyer’s choice.

Please note the following initiatives planned by the TCS and partners for GDC 2011.

GDC 2011 Prep Camp Webinar – January 11 and 12 (date TBC)
Telefilm is organising a pre-GDC 2011 webinar in co-operation with the Trade Commissioners Service. Canadian companies will have the option of attending on two different dates to receive practical information and advice on best international business development practices when attending GDC – Game Connection.

Canada Business Lounge at the W Hotel – March 1, 2 and 3
The Trade Commissioners Service is pleased to announce that the Canada Business Lounge will be at the W Hotel during GDC 2011. The Canada Business Lounge includes 2 private meeting rooms and an open-concept lounge that will be exclusive to Canadian companies and their clients for meetings. Your local Regional Office will be in touch in January 2011 with more details when the schedule is released.

Canada Networking Event – March 2
Please reserve Wednesday, March 2 in your calendar for the annual Canada Networking Event at Jillians. Registration information will be sent closer to GDC 2011.

Fans of Club Penguin can rally together this holiday season to help provide children around the world safe places to live, learn and play as part of the fourth annual Coins for Change event, allowsing the children who visit the snow-covered virtual world of Club Penguin to donate the virtual coins they earn playing games online to real world causes that matter to them.

Players can direct their virtual donations to provide medical help, build safe places and protect the earth. At the end of the event, which runs from December 17 to 27, 2010, the players’ virtual donations will serve as votes to determine how a $1M contribution from Disney Online Studios will be divided among pre-selected charitable projects aimed at helping children, families and the planet.

“It’s incredible to witness the passion our players have for making a difference in the lives of others, and we love being able to empower them through Coins for Change,” says Lane Merrifield, one of Club Penguin’s co-founders and executive vice president of Disney Online Studios. “The kids who play Club Penguin have already helped more than two million people get medical care, enabled 200,000 children to go to school and helped protect more than a dozen endangered species and their habitats, and we’re confident they’ll rise to the challenge again this year.”

Club Penguin is one of the largest virtual worlds for children with a reputation for providing fun for kids and peace of mind for parents. Millions of children and families in more than 190 countries play Club Penguin in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Word filters and live moderators monitor chat and activity on the site and work to prevent the sharing of inappropriate or personally identifiable information.

Club Penguin is free to play, however special features such as front-of-the-line access to game features, exclusive parties and opportunities to customize your penguin and igloo require a membership. A portion of the proceeds from each membership purchased supports organizations working to improve the lives of children and families around the globe. The results of Coins for Change 2010 will be announced on January 4, 2011.

Online retail platform Shopify has secured $7 million in Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital and Felicis Ventures, enabling the company to continue providing advanced commerce functionality to businesses of all sizes.

Shopify, which features a groundbreaking “app store” to help run your shop, will use the proceeds to invest in the growth of the company, including product development and international expansion. Shopify already serves customers in over 60 countries. The company also plans to invest in its technology, infrastructure and developer tools. Shopify is committed to attracting the best app developers to its platform, giving them access to thousands of retailers.

Shopify’s software-as-a-service offering can scale as customers grow: Shopify processes more than $100M in revenue for customers as diverse as General Electric, Tesla Motors, Amnesty International and the Foo Fighters. “Shopify has allowed us to focus on our product,” said Craig Dalton, president and co-founder of DODOcase. “We knew we wanted to have a powerful e-commerce system in the background, so we chose Shopify.”

At the same time, Shopify makes it simple for smaller sellers with little or no programming skills to set up an online shop in just a few minutes. Each Shopify storefront is customizable and gives the user control over a shop’s look and feel, in addition to setting up a streamlined checkout and the ability to easily integrate PayPal or a credit-card processor for payments. Shopify employs a dedicated team of security experts to ensure each storefront meets the highest possible security requirements. The Shopify App Store is a collection of Shopify apps that can extend the functionality of the online store, and has brand name apps such as Quickify, Chimpified, Hubspot, and Vurve.

LG Electronics Canada has named Brandon, Manitoba as the host city of the 2011 LG Rocks Your City Winter Festival. Residents of Brandon showed-off their hometown pride amassing the highest percentage of votes to have their city host the LG Ultimate Winter Festival featuring Hedley. On January 22, 2011, LG will melt away Brandon’s winter blues with a free concert from Hedley and the Plain White T’s, pro snowboarders and other amazing entertainment.

“We are thrilled to make life good for residents of Brandon. People all over Canada voted to win the LG Rocks Your City contest for their city, but the residents of Brandon truly showed their passion and enthusiasm with their votes,” said Colin Bettam, Vice-President of Marketing, LG Electronics Canada. “We look forward to rocking out in Manitoba at the LG Ultimate Winter Festival.”

The LG Winter Festival will feature performances by platinum selling, award winning rock group Hedley and the Grammy nominated Plain White T’s. The crowds in Brandon will also be treated to demonstrations by pro athletes in the LG Snowboard Rail Arena and tons of prizes from the LG street team.

The contest isn’t over yet though! From now until December 31st, 2010, Canadians can still become LG VIPs by purchasing any LG phone from TELUS. VIPs are eligible for daily and weekly prizes and are entered for the chance to win the VIP grand prize which includes:

* Round trip transportation to Brandon (flight, car, etc.) – departing Friday, January 21, 2011 and returning Sunday, January 23, 2011 – from the nearest major Canadian city to Brandon
* Two nights accommodation in Brandon
* VIP access at the LG Rocks Your City Winter Festival
* The opportunity to participate in a meet-and-greet with Hedley
* $500 spending money for the winner and his/her guest

Netflix Canada has announced that some new titles are now available on its streaming video service, and others will be made available over the next few weeks. Among the highlights of new additions for Netflix members in Canada are seasons 1 and 2 of the Emmy® Award-winning television series “Weeds,” season 1 of Sony’s “The Big C,” and season 1 of Emmy-nominated television series “Undercover Boss.” Also coming to the service are seasons 1 through 4 of the epic and critically-acclaimed hit TV series “The Tudors,” season 1 of the popular “Men with Brooms,” and seasons 1 and 2 of “Republic of Doyle.” Season 2 of “Republic of Doyle” will be available from Netflix the day after episodes air on the CBC in Canada. “Best of” episodes and the last two complete seasons of “Saturday Night Live” and seasons 1 through 5 of “The Kids in the Hall” will be available, and seasons 1 and 2 of “Merlin” will be available in the first half of 2011. Seasons 1 and 2 of the popular comedy series “Pulling” will also be offered through Netflix.

And last but certainly not least, for those parents currently enveloped in the world of Barbie, to celebrate the recent collaboration between the Joe Fresh Style® brand and Barbie®, Mattel has created its first Canadian one-of-a-kind doll in the likeness of the larger than life fashion icon, Joseph Mimran. A specialist team of five Mattel designers, stylists and cosmeticians worked together over the span of three months, and brought the magic and authenticity of Joe Mimran’s individual style to life (in plastic) in the form of this unique doll.

“Barbie is thrilled to salute one of our great Canadian designers and add him to a very select group of celebrities in fashion, music and entertainment,” says Samantha Taylor, Senior Manager, Licensing, Mattel. “We are also very excited to partner with the Joe Fresh Style brand for a limited collection of vibrant apparel and encourage Barbie girls everywhere to dream big, continue to explore a world without limits, and do it all with great style this holiday season.”

The one-of-a-kind 11.5″ doll, which was presented to Mimran on Thursday, December 9, 2010, features his unique face-sculpt, skin-tone, hairstyle and clothing including a blazer, dark jeans, white dress shirt and his signature velvet loafer shoes. Mattel’s Tammy Abang, principal designer on this project, has created one-of-a-kind Barbie® dolls for celebrities and world-renowned designers, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Ralph Lauren, Rachel Zoe, Oprah Winfrey, JK Rowling, Janet Jackson, Will Smith and Arnold Schwarzenegger to name a few. One of a kind Barbie® dolls are created in-house at Mattel’s head offices in El Segundo, California and are reserved only for high-profile celebrities and significant partnerships. Joe Mimran is the first Canadian celebrity to be awarded this exclusive gift and one of the few males to make the high-profile list.

“I am thrilled to be honoured by Barbie with my own look-a-like doll, says Joe Mimran of Joseph Mimran & Associates, Creative Director, Apparel, Home and Entertainment for Loblaw Companies Limited. “What a fun way to celebrate the BarbieTM Loves Joe Fresh® collection that brings Barbie’s playful spirit to life through stylish and affordable fashions, which is what Joe Fresh is all about.”

The limited-edition Barbie Loves Joe Fresh collection is comprised of items for women and girls including: sleepwear sets and separates as well as boyfriend-style underwear, all priced from $6 to $14 and in stores now. The collection also features a Barbie Loves Joe Fresh tote bag for $2. The colour palette combines light and dark pinks with white and black, and the designs feature cute animal graphics, argyle patterns, Barbie’s silhouette and the Barbie logo.

Probably one of the worst-kept secrets in this part of the country is that Alex Mercer will be returning in 2012. Activision Publishing confirmed during the Spike VGAs that PROTOTYPE® 2, the sequel to PROTOTYPE, Radical Entertainment’s original best-selling game of 2009, is currently in development at the Vancouver studio. PROTOTYPE 2’s first official trailer was revealed, giving fans of the shape-shifting open-world action franchise their first glimpse into the mind and character of  Sgt. James Heller, and why he is going to destroy PROTOTYPE’s original anti-hero, Alex Mercer. EGM magazine has been given an exclusive, in-depth first look preview of PROTOTYPE 2, which will be published in EGM’s April 2011 issue.

“When PROTOTYPE surpassed 2MM units we knew gamers would want a sequel to find out what happens next with Alex Mercer,” said Ken Rosman, Studio Head, Radical Entertainment. “The team here at Radical is sincerely grateful to the fans and we are laser focused on delivering an even bigger and better experience with PROTOTYPE 2.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNfJzJhNW0E]

Additionally, for those who missed out on one of 2009’s best-selling games, or fans dying to reawaken their shape-shifting skills, Radical Entertainment’s original over-the-top action game PROTOTYPE is available now for download on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for $29.99, and will be available for download tomorrow, December 14th, on the PlayStation®Store for $29.99. Fans of the game on PROTOTYPE’s Facebook page will automatically be entered into a random drawing to win a token to download the game for free.

EA Sports has released more information about the announced return of SSX™, one of the most critically-acclaimed videogame properties of all-time. Currently in development at EA Canada for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, gamers will experience a stunning reinvention of the classic action snowboarding franchise, SSX™: Deadly Descents packs adrenaline into every run with compelling characters and heart-pumping adventures as riders battle the most treacherous and diverse mountain ranges on Earth.

“An entire genre was born from the original SSX a decade ago, and it’s time to reboot one of the most popular franchises of all-time in an unpredictable and unexpected way,” said Peter Moore, President, EA SPORTS. “Fans have been begging for this since the launch of this generation of consoles, and we have an experience that will be worth the wait. This franchise has always been about racing, tricks, characters and fun – SSX: Deadly Descents will deliver all of that, and more, on a global scale, with rich online experiences, and with the sense of adventure never before imagined on a snowboard.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E66yoKPIEs]

Redefining the SSX franchise, SSX: Deadly Descents will pit riders versus both mountain and man. Players will explore the story of a team who seek to be the first to descend the faces of the most treacherous mountain ranges on the planet. The team will travel the world to face the worst that Mother Nature can throw at them. From the peaks of the Himalayas, where the air is so thin that riders have to descend through the death zone at breakneck speeds to keep from blacking out, to the solid ice ranges of Antarctica, where a sunlit line is the only survival option when temperatures drop 50 degrees centigrade in the shade. And the mountain isn’t the only danger players will face. In SSX: Deadly Descents the first goal is to survive. The second, in true SSX fashion, is to look good doing it.

After weeks of rumour and hints, the speculation finally came to an end Saturday evening as the world witnessed “Earth”, the spectacular announcement trailer for Mass Effect 3 when it was broadcast exclusively on the Spike Video Game Awards. The pinnacle of Commander Shepard’s emotionally charged journey and conclusion to the Mass Effect trilogy is set to launch globally in holiday 2011 on the Xbox 360®, the PlayStation®3 and the PC, which marks the first time the Mass Effect franchise will launch on all three major platforms simultaneously. And as was also announced at Saturday night’s Spike VGAs, Mass Effect 2 was named “Best RPG” and “Best Xbox 360 Game” and BioWare was named “Studio of the Year”.

“At BioWare, we are always driving ourselves to improve and I firmly believe our best work is still ahead of us,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager and Co-Founder of BioWare. “We could not be prouder of the team’s accomplishments with Mass Effect 2, and are excited and humbled by all of the recognition the game has received so far. We can’t wait to show you what the team is doing to make Mass Effect 3 an even bigger success.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXxd1I3urkI]

Mass Effect 2 is available now for the Xbox 360 and PC. The Mass Effect franchise will make its first appearance on the PlayStation 3 console when Mass Effect 2 ships to retailers on January 18, 2011 in North America and January 21, 2011 in Europe. The PlayStation 3 demo of Mass Effect 2 will be available on PlayStation Network starting December 21, 2010 in North America and December 22, 2010 in Europe.

Square Enix and Eidos Montreal have released a Director’s Cut trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, giving players a close-up look at ex-SWAT member Adam Jensen as he narrates the story of civilization as it exists in 2027. Rated M for Mature by the ESRB, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is now available for pre-order (with some pretty cool pre-order bonus options) and will arrive on the gaming airwaves early in 2011. I firmly believe that this latest chapter in the Deus Ex universe will help to launch a year of Canadian-made blockbuster releases, and I am only one of many looking forward to giving this title a spin.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoRwOux7Ofw]

A national media union and an agency that represents independent journalists have joined forces to advance the interests of freelancers who provide content to Canadian media organizations. The Canadian Media Guild, along with its parent union CWA-SCA Canada and the Canadian Writers Group are working together to represent individual freelance writers and to advocate for all freelancers on issues such as rates, copyright and digital and re-use rights.

“I’m proud to be a partner in this alliance,” says Derek Finkle, an independent journalist and founder of the Canadian Writers Group. “The agency has already made important strides in expanding our writers’ client base and has worked hard to make sure our writers are compensated properly and signing the fairest contracts possible. With the support of the Canadian Media Guild, our writers will be marketed in a more sophisticated way, and freelance journalists will have an effective way to negotiate more collectively when it comes to publishing contracts that are increasingly less favourable to contributors.”

“After years of stagnating rates and contracts that haven’t kept up with the digital realities, this is a true opportunity to improve the economic situation for media freelancers,” adds Lise Lareau, national president of the Canadian Media Guild. “Many groups, including trade unions, have been struggling for a long time to represent freelancers effectively. This alliance is a new model that is already starting to bear fruit.”

In addition to negotiating individual contracts, the two organizations have begun meeting with publishers with a view to introducing new standards for contracts with freelancers that allow writers to benefit from additional revenue their work generates in digital and other new platforms and that protects their copyright and moral rights. The group has also launched The Storyboard, an online community for Canada’s independent journalists, complete with the latest news, advice and opportunities for freelancers.

Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles, previously available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, is now available in HD for the iPad for $9.99 USD. Developed by GameLoft, Altair’s Chronicles plunges the player into this Assassin’s Creed prequel with rich gameplay and a well-balanced mix of stealth, chaotic action, and riddle-solving exploration in the midst of a 3D world set in the historical Middle East. Features exclusive to this iPad version include impressive HD graphics, and iPad optimized camera and a customizable interface.

This chapter of the Assassin’s Creed franchise is sent in 1191CE Jerusalem, a time when the Third Crusade is tearing the Holy Land apart. Playing as Master Assassin Altaïr, you are sent by the Order of the Assassins on a quest to find the “Chalice”, an object of such power that, in the right hands, can end the Crusades. Steal the Chalice from the Templars before someone offers them the right price for it. The fate of the Holy Land depends on you.

As with other Assassin’s Creed titles, playing as Altair will present with the benefits of your Master Assassin skills – acrobatic moves, combo attacks, patience, coercion and dexterity. You will be able to adapt your fighting tactics with the use of six weapons for both close combat and long-range attacks including swords, daggers, a grappling hook, and bombs. Achieve the ability to upgrade your health and weapons by collecting the glowing orbs as you explore the fully 3D-rendered historic world of the Crusades.

Vancouver technical artist Jason Brackman has published his first iOS app in the iTunes store. My ICD9, available for $2.99 USD, is an app that provides users easy and immediate access to medical diagnostic codes. The easy to use search button provides access to the code you want right now and you can always bookmark items for later retrieval.

Jason’s debut app features the following:

* everything is contained within the application. Results are immediate and always accessible.
* My ICD9 has a simple design aesthetic for ease of readability and interaction.
* a custom dictionary that understands short forms of medical terms.
* Add frequently used codes to “My Favorites” for even faster reference.
* search the entire ICD9 database, or just one category

In this age of increasing electronic technology, developing computer skills at an early age has become necessary for successful transition into working life. The use of a computer can empower any student with a powerful tool which can greatly improve their homework assignments, research projects and ultimately their education level. Computers for Kids takes aim at turning children of families with economic barriers into success stories of the future.

Computers for Kids relies on computer donations from local area businesses and residents to fulfill referrals received from social organizations and schools. “I would like to thank the many donors we have, both commercial and residential, for their support,” said Chris Davies, Computers for Kids executive director. “By choosing to donate your computers and electronics to us you have enabled us to continue offering this valuable service to our community.”

Donated equipment is evaluated by trained staff and volunteers who then repair and refurbish as many systems as possible. This year over 700 computers were refurbished for designated placements in which over 1,000 children reaped benefits.

In order to continue to meet the high demand in their area increased equipment donations are necessary. Products which are accepted include desktop and laptop computers; peripherals such as mice, keyboards and disk drives; monitors; televisions; desktop printers and fax machines. Even non-functional items are found useful as Computers for Kids operates a recycling program which helps raise funds for their mission. To drop off your items visit Computers for Kids anytime between 9:00AM-6:00PM Monday through Friday or 9:00AM-3:00PM on Saturday. They are located at 4150 Sandwich in Windsor, Ontario.

Stingray Digital, a Montreal-based provider of music services to multi-channel operators, has launched their Galaxie Online Music Player as part of the Rogers On Demand Online service.

“The popularity and appreciation of the Galaxie music service continues to grow, and loyal users of Galaxie are asking for access to the service on the Internet,” says Eric Boyko, President of Stingray Digital. “Every day, our customers ask us how to listen to Galaxie online since they want to be able to tune to Galaxie elsewhere than in front of their televisions. Now, Rogers digital cable customers can continue to listen to Galaxie, their preferred source of music, through Rogers On Demand Online.” he adds.

Rogers digital cable customers will be able to access the Galaxie Online Music Player by choosing “Galaxie” in the list of channels on Rogers On Demand Online. With the Galaxie Online Music Player, users can stream their choice of the same 40 Galaxie channels available on Rogers digital cable. Users can browse the 40 channels, see the album cover art of the current, next and previously played songs, and they can consult a complete list of the songs played in the past 24 hours on each of the 40 channels. The player is easy to navigate and is visually attractive.

The Galaxie Online Music Player is the second Galaxie service to be offered on Rogers On Demand Online. The popular Galaxie Music Videos on Demand service has been available on the platform since the launch. Visitors to the site can search, select and view their choice of current top videos from among a large library of titles of all genres.

And, to leave you with a laugh this weekend in case you’ve not seen it cycling through Twitter and Facebook, here is Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain talking about his game playing adventures. I know it’s not Canadian content, but I bet every single one of you can relate to this routine – especially the crouch button dilemma.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKIiUsbOO24]

Today I want to share a few sites that I’ve found by following links and recommendations, usually from the Twittersphere. But first, thank you to womanzworld, Big Bad Brush, Cybele Negris, Roddie Kieley, Wojtek Kawczynski and Savant Games for the #FF today on Twitter.

Here is a reminder that Game Prototype Challenge v2 will be announcing the themes on Monday December 13th, as well as a teaser look at some of the games from version 1.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs8qETkPIOw]

If you are a professional, student or hobbyist, I recommend that you take part in the Game Prototype Challenge – because hey, you never know where that next great idea will come from.

One of my recent new followers on Twitter is Disruptive Publishers. Based in Vancouver, this group creates licensed avatar gear for platforms such as Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. They have created themes and avatars for groups such as American universities, as well as partnered with companies such as Capcom, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the NBA for personalized gear that can be purchased in the respective console marketplaces. Creating user-customization gear for avatars is a great way to get your company’s image out into the main stream, broadening its presence to areas you may not have previously considered. According to their site, Disruptive Publishers is “an end-to-end solution for all production, licensing, approval, accounting and marketing disciplines throughout the entire process.”

Toronto-based Raw Sugar PR, owned and operated by Juli Strader, is a company whose philosophy is very similar to our own, to quote their site: “Raw Sugar PR is dedicated to developing and establishing a star system of directors, producers, screenwriters and actors so that Canadians across the country will proudly boast about our talent in the film & TV industry. Film & TV publicity opportunities abound from all stages, from development to casting to production to theatrical debut and to multi-platform distribution. Each stage offers new opportunities to build industry awareness and consumer recognition of your project.”

Another Twitter-find is Vancouver’s Blatant Studio, whose specialty is animation and motion-graphics. They have done work for clients such as Piranha Games, MTV, MuchMusic, 20th Century Fox and many more. While watching their show reel, I saw something very disturbing. Scott Baio is 45? I feel really old now. Thanks, Blatant.

I followed a link posted by Toon Boom, which led me to their Christmas ecard application. A link on that page led me over to Premium Beat, a royalty free music provider founded in 2005 by father-son creatives Giles and Francois Arbour. Based in Quebec, Premium Beat offers high quality Royalty Free Music for all new and traditional media, including websites, online videos, slide shows, DVDs and CD-ROMs, television, radio and films. The company also offers a variety of Flash Media Players for websites: Flash mp3 Players, Flash Video Players and Flash Slideshow Players.

Moderation Town from Stitch Media had its premier yesterday. Airing as a web series on Showcase.ca, Moderation Town is a comedy series about a small Maritime town after the local factory folds and is replaced by an Internet moderation company. Local residents become not-so-internet-savvy content moderators, responsible for filtering the most offensive content off of the Internet.

Kelowna studio Situware has released Pigeon Drop, a kind-of-location-based game available now in the iTunes App Store for $2.99. According to the game’s info, Pigeon Drop is a revolution in interactive game play, physically integrating players into an online world where they command an army of pigeons capable of launching real-time attacks against other online players around the globe.

Pigeons have united in a worldwide effort to help humanity avoid total self-destruction. After years of practicing on statues and monuments around the world, pigeons have finally perfected the art of high altitude bombing and are ready to offer their services to humankind. It appears pigeon poop is a great alternative to weapons of mass destruction and pigeons are willing to partner with humans in an effort to avoid a worldwide disaster and offer a new way of achieving total global domination.

Today seems to be the day for finding out about games with questionable titles. New from Winnipeg’s Complex Games is Monkey Poo, available now in the iTunes store for 99 cents. This game, according to its store description, allows you to fling your way to victory by covering unwary zoo-goers with mounds and mounds of monkey poo, awarding bonus points for finishing off your targets with multiple hits, while nailing mystery celebrities brings massive rewards. Another game objective is to avoid the zookeeper, as he will apparently put your poonami to an early end.

Microsoft’s Vancouver game studio launched an online beta of their newest title last night. Neosaurs is an MMORPG free-to-play PC browser game, and it appears that there will be purchasable upgrades. I did find information about charges and charegbacks in on the game’s site, but could not find any mention of what could be purchased or any prices. Perhaps this feature will be enabled once the beta phase has concluded.

The game’s description is as follows: “deep below Earth’s surface, Inner Earth is in trouble and needs your help! Raise your very own Neosaur to be protector for the forces of good. Play with your friends and explore the extensive lore and endless adventure in the magical land beneath. You can evolve your Neosaur into a ferocious Rex, strong Cera, or agile Ptera.”

Behaviour Studios has a new title on XBLA – Doritos Crash Course is a fast-paced, funny, obstacle course game show for your Avatar to compete against your friends and family over XboxLive. Play through 15 exciting platformer levels across 3 different countries. Compete against your friends and family up to four players over XboxLive and local split-screen. Technically, this free game was developed by Wanako Studios in Chile – but – Wanako is a wholly-owned division of Quebec’s Behaviour Studio, which, in a round-about kind of way, gets it in through the Canadian Content Door.

Last evening we had the pleasure of attending Annex Pro’s Expo 2011 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, where we had a chance to catch up with a few friends as well as make new ones. The team at Annex Pro put together a great group of vendor booths – it’s a good thing that the CaveChild was not with us, or he would’ve tried to make off with the entire Avid Pro Tools display. As it was, I spent a fair bit of time talking with Bonnie from Wacom, and with a smoking hot sales deal from Annex Pro, my very dated Wacom Graphire 3 is now a medium-sized Intuos 4. Now I am just waiting on my registration emails from Wacom (how long does that take, anyway?) so that I can install the free software tools that purchasers of Wacom tablets receive, and then I can watch my Adobe PhotoShop Elements 4 upgrade to version 8 (oh wow, just learned that Adobe is now on version 9), and maybe in a few months’ time I can take advantage of the Wacom Buyer Privileges and upgrade my PhotoShop 7 to PhotoShop CS5 with the special purchase deal. Oh, and if you think my PhotoShop is outdated….I still use Bryce 5 and PaintShop Pro 8. I won a copy of Corel’s PaintIt on Twitter a few months ago, and have been playing a bit with it – watching the software’s conversion process is quite entertaining.

Scott’s interest at the Annex Pro event was tweaked both by the keynote delivered by Technicolor Creative Services’ Tom Burns and by the offerings from Atempo, Aspera, Blue Arc, G-Tech, AJA and HP because he likes to geek out over the technical side of things, which are completely out of my realm. As long as our networks connect and the computers and server are working, I’m happy – although I do want the fancy computers & screens they have on CSI and Bones, just because they look cool.

I have always liked the software tools developed by Autodesk, who was also present at the expo, but as I can’t draw and haven’t even mastered Bryce 5, Maya and Max are far beyond my capabilities – I have a healthy respect for anyone who creates product with that software. Craft Animations was also displaying their wares, and I actually have one of their products, which I won at a previous Annex Pro event. Not a clue what to do with that, either. Perhaps we should come up with a contest and offer it as a prize; I’m sure there are some indie devs out there who would benefit greatly from having it.

Transgaming Studios has released the pre-game cinematic for their upcoming title Garage Inc on the game’s Facebook page. The cinematic introduces the player to the characters and sets the mood for this 1920’s Prohibition-era game. Watch as lead character Angelo talks with his cousin Sal during a family Christmas gathering about the garage he dreams of opening.

There are two new indie titles available today – Xona Games is burning up the dev pipe, releasing their second new title this week. Score Rush has passed Peer Review and is now out on Xbox Live Indie Games for 80 MS Points. Built on the Duality ZF engine, this 4-player shoot ’em up features overwhelming firepower, trailing options, full screen bombs, tons of enemies, an intimidating final boss and hundreds of crazy bullet patterns to survive. The 60 fps adrenaline-rush experience is complemented by a hard-rocking Dragon Music soundtrack.

Also out today is RatRod Studio’s Drift Mania Canadian Championship is now available in the Android Marketplace for 99 cents. Previously released in the iTunes App Store, Android users can now get in on the racing action. Drift Mania Canadian Championships features Online Global Leaderboards with live events, variable throttle system and hydraulic handbrake with adjustable steering sensitivity, 7 uniquely spec’d vehicles, 5 different tracks, 2 acceleration modes and 3 levels of difficulty with 3 camera configurations. If you want to relive the moment, there is a highlights replay system, and you can also listen to either the included soundtrack or your own music as you tear up the track.

A post made earlier today by Frima Studios‘ Executive Producer Martin Brouard on the official PlayStation blog announced that there will be a new title released by the studio on December 21st. A Space Shooter for Two Bucks will be available for free to all PlayStation Plus subscribers, and $1.99 for everyone else. According to the blog, A Space Shooter is of the classic arcade space shooting genre (in case you couldn’t guess that from the title), and “swarms of enemies filling the screens with hazardous bullets and missiles, heaps of upgrades for your ship and its arsenal, high-paced and constant action requiring deft reflexes, and hordes of alien baddies just waiting to be blown up by your superior space-faring skills.” Plus, to add to your gaming experience, there will be a myriad of interesting characters to encounter and in some cases control.

Kitchener-Waterloo developer Footloose Games has announced that they will be releasing a beta version of their Munchies’ Lunch title on December 27th. Munchies’ Lunch is a fun adventure-puzzle PC-based game for the whole family. Simply download the game from the Footloose website to embark on an epic journey with the Munchie family as they say goodbye to their homeland and travel the world to find a peaceful place where they can settle down. Mr. & Mrs. Munchie will travel along with their children through far-away jungles, over steep mountains, and across the hot deserts in their journey. Along the way they’ll meet the ravenous Hungries, crafty bird-snakes and perhaps even a tribal tiki or two.

Vancouver developer LoudCrow has released its latest iPad book. Available now, this pop-out version of The Night Before Christmas joins LoudCrow’s previous title, Pop-out Tales of Peter Rabbit in the iTunes store. In this new release, you can see William Denslow’s masterful illustrations brought to life with innovative pull-tabs, spin-wheels, and elements that bounce and spring with the touch a finger. Listen to “O Christmas Tree” beautifully performed on piano while you read and interact with each page of the book. Explore every scene and discover the many delightful life-like interactions at your fingertips.

Bioware has released the first in a series of “Making of” videos for Dragon Age 2. Here is Part One:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8AulecgRbI]

Kobo has launched Reading Life, an industry first social eReading experience. Readers can now track their personal reading history, check-in with characters and places inside books and earn achievements and awards for simply reading. Readers can also choose to share books, favourite passages, awards and more with their friends on Facebook. Kobo Reading Life is initially available on iPad, as a part of the latest iPad update in the iTunes store now.

Kobo Reading Life for iPad provides an unparalleled experience that enables users to engage in eReading in new ways, connect with friends, and earn awards just for reading: Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best parts of being on Twitter has been learning more about the great independent developer community we have in Canada. There is an incredible camaraderie shared by these talented entities, and they are very prone to sharing their knowledge and experience with each other – something I don’t generally see with the bigger conglomerate studios, although I have seen such sharing amongst those designers who are employed by EA, Ubisoft and THQ studios (to name a few), it’s not to the same extent shared by the independents. Naturally, this could be due to contractual agreements and requirements put in place by the big studios, which is understandable for proprietary areas, but experience and knowledge never shared impedes the advancement of our digital industry.

Perhaps it is because in smaller, independent studios everyone is accountable for the success (or failure) of their creations, and this in turn leads to working at improving their publicity efforts as well as their end product. The sharing of opportunity is something else I see much of between the indies, and it’s because of this that I have been able to discover and share information about studios and Canadian-made products that I may have never found if it weren’t for the folks on Twitter passing on leads and links to me, because I, too am an independent, and appreciate the assistance I am given and battle daily to catch up on indie titles I need to play and review, as well as keep up on the news. One such discovery was sent my way yesterday by Celsius Game Studio.

Chaotic Box touts itself as a one man game making machine. The man behind the machine is Torontonian Frank Condello, and true to the independent genre, he is Chaotic Box’s developer, 2D/3D artist, music & sound designer. Chaotic Box has released four titles for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad: Flooid, Pollywog, Pinch n Pop, and his newest title, Silverfish, which is currently on sale in the iTunes App Store for $1.99 USD.

According to the game’s info page, Silverfish pits the gamer against swarms of menacing space bugs that the player must weave through and defeat with powerful detonations, combining pure arcade action with stunning visual effects. Silverfish currently offers three game modes with more on the way, leader board and achievements, Retina Display graphics, intuitive swipe-anywhere controls and an original soundtrack.

DreamCatcher Games is happy to announce the release of Learn Science for Nintendo DS™ just in time for the holiday season! Learn Science let‘s kids learn while having fun. Learn the basic principles of: Light and Sound, Physics, The human body, Biology and Geography while playing a variety of engaging mini-games. Unlock new mini-games by scoring high marks in Career Mode and then perfect your skills by mastering unlocked mini-games in Game Mode on one of 3 difficulty levels. Kids can challenge their friends in multiplayer mini-games, or they can co-operate and challenge the AI.

Features:

· Learn the basic principles of: Light and Sound, Physics, The human body, Biology and Geography
· Integrated age check with traffic light system offers gaming fun for every level of knowledge
· Two different in game guides to help with explanations and examples
· Multiplayer mode: Hot seat, Single card and Multi card for common learning with parents and friends through mini games

Learn Science is priced at $19.99 USD and is available in retail stores across North America. Rated ‘E’ for everyone.

Get Set Games has just announced that their hit title Mega Jump will be coming to Android in the next couple of weeks. Mega Jump is compatible with Android 2.0 and up and will be free to download. Mega Jump for Android makes use of OpenFeint’s great social gaming features including global high scores and unlockable achievements.

Mega Jump has been downloaded by more than 7.5 million people worldwide in the App Store, and the studio is looking forward to inviting Android gamers to join the mix. The exact release date has yet to be decided, but you can be sure that once I know, you’ll know.

Congratulations again to Vancouver start-up Ayogo Games Inc., who won the prestigious “Hottest Digital Media Company in Canada” title at nextMedia in Toronto last week.

Ayogo’s latest Facebook® game, called HealthSeeker™, was the entry that helped win the hotly-contested award. The game is built on Ayogo’s GoodLife Gamification Engine™, and aims to help people living with diabetes habituate healthier behaviour around diet and exercise. Michael Fergusson, CEO of Ayogo, was excited to accept the award.

“Gamification is touching all areas of our lives, especially online,” said Fergusson. “I’m proud that Ayogo, and our GoodLife Gamification Engine™, is being recognized for being at the forefront of this exciting new trend, and for using the power of constructive play to help make people’s lives better.”

Xona Games, that very talented and award-winning indie team who has been creating some of the most critically-acclaimed indie arcade games to date, announced today that the first of its two Xbox LIVE Indie Games launching this week, Decimation X3, is now available for only for 80 Microsoft Points ($1 USD)! Having been chosen to be a main title featured in the Indie Games Winter Uprising, Decimation X3 features intense shoot-em-up action in a ridiculously affordable package.

Decimation X3 is the thrilling sequel to one of the most popular 2D-retro shooters on Xbox LIVE Indie Games, Decimation X, which is one of the top-rated Indie Games in Japan (currently #3 out of approximately 1,500). Get ready for intense local four-player action, never-ending waves of enemies and a continual rain of power-ups to significantly improve your offensive and defensive capabilities. Featuring decidedly retro pixel art graphics, an overload of explosion particle effects, normal and challenge game modes, 60 frames per second and a hypnotic trance beat soundtrack from Imphenzia, Decimation X3 is everything an arcade junkie could wish for and will put your reflexes to the ultimate test.

The Indie Games Winter Uprising is a celebration of the best that Xbox LIVE Indie Games have to offer, and was recently expanded from just the first week of December to the entire month. Orchestrated by a group of fellow developers longing to promote the higher-quality games that can be found on the platform, the Indie Winter Games Uprising takes place during December and features 14 top-tier games that they hope will elevate the impression of the Indie Games channel.

Ubisoft has announced that Your Shape: Fitness Evolved will offer new exclusive workouts and fitness programs available on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360®.

“When we started working on the development of Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, we contacted several renowned fitness experts and trainers”, said Claudine Cézac, game’s producer for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. “Each trainer insisted on the fact that in order to keep people motivated, it would be important to consistently bring new varieties of exercise to the game. That’s why from the very start, we thought of Your Shape: Fitness Evolved as a comprehensive fitness program that players would be able to enrich at their will. There are many different ways to work out and get in shape, and that’s what we want to offer with the add-on content.”

The add-on content for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved will include personalized workouts, dance-related fitness programs, and a variety of cardio and toning exercises, expanding the overall gameplay experience. The first installment of add-on content will become available in early December 2010 and will include:

• The “Toned Body Program”, to strengthen all your muscles and get a firmer body
• “Cardio Boxing Platinum”, a new advanced level of the Cardio-Boxing class

The second installment will come shortly after and include:

• “New Year New You”, a specific program to get back in shape after Xmas and New Year’s celebrations
• “Dance Workout: Bollywood”, a high impact dance workout using popular Bollywood dance moves.

All extra workouts and programs will be offered individually or in bundle packages. In the first half of the calendar year, over 12 new fantastic workouts for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved will be released on Xbox LIVE. All of these extra workouts and programs will be offered individually or in bundle packages. In the first half of the calendar year, over 12 new pieces of add-on content for Your Shape Fitness Evolved will be released on Xbox Live. Pricing will range from 320 to 560 Microsoft points.

Dark Acre Game Development announced today that its debut title Above and Below, built with Unity 3D, is now available for those with Unity-enabled browsers. Free to play, Above and Below is a vertical-scrolling platformer designed by Christopher ‘Jack’ Nilssen.

In Above and Below, the player controls a tiny person who can jump up to the harrowing heights and fall down into the deadly depths of the game world, collecting valuable treasures, avoiding mindless minions, and defeating terrible guardians. A casual platformer, the full experience can be had in under thirty minutes and is available completely free from the developer’s website.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zJPohbhB-8]

The game’s features include:

Ascension and Descent

* End the game in the highest heights or the deepest depths of the game world.
* The world below is a different challenge from the one above.
* Experience dynamically changing visual and audio elements depending on the chosen path.

Simple Platforming Pleasures

* Fluid jumping and movement controls.
* A variety of enemies and obstacles that will challenge the player’s reflexes and timing.

Battle Persistent Adversaries

* Not all challenges are environmental. Creatures will try to thwart the player’s progress.

Try Again

* Players may choose the expanded win conditions with a time attack or high score challenge.

Above and Below is the result of eight weeks of intensive full-time work. It is delivered via the Unity 3D game engine to browsers, and represents the first in a series of free-to-play efforts from Jack’s Dark Acre.

Another Vancouver indie dev house, Big Sandwich Games, has confirmed that a major update for their critically-acclaimed downloadable dragon game HOARD™ is now live on the PlayStation®Network in North America. The v1.01 update includes new content as well as improvements to several key areas of the game.

“This update is the first step in the long-term support plan for HOARD™,” says Big Sandwich Games’ Design Director Tyler Sigman. “We’re excited that the game has been very well-received by critics and fans, but there are a few items that have been consistently flagged as in need of a bit more polish. We’ve listened to this feedback and the result is an even better game! If you haven’t checked HOARD™ out yet, now is the perfect time to do so.”

The update includes a brand new “HOARD mode” level called “Deathspin”, which allows players to try their survival skills on a spiral map filled with wizard towers and knights.

Major improvements include increasing the text size for on-screen dialogues in HD, enabling friend list leaderboard sorting, and the addition of a new persistent multiplayer lobby which allows gamers to stay grouped up after finishing a game. “The lobby improvements make keeping a good multiplayer group together five million times easier,” quips Sigman.

Other update items include the addition of a restart option within single player levels (for aid in your score-attack attempts) and the appearance of purple princesses, which appear instead of pink any time a maiden is worth 3,000 or more gold. This dress color helps a treasure-hungry dragon tell at a glance which princesses are worth prioritizing.

An innovative innovative strategy arcade game where up to four players compete as dragons, burning medieval villages, kidnapping princesses, roasting thieves, and otherwise trying to collect as much gold as possible, HOARD™ is currently available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system in North America. Upcoming releases in Europe, on the PSP® system, and on Steam will include all update items in their initial release. Local and online multiplayer play are supported for the PlayStation®3 system version, as are leaderboards and other PlayStation®Network community features.

HOARD™ is Big Sandwich Games’ innovative strategy arcade game where up to four players compete as dragons, burning medieval villages, kidnapping princesses, roasting thieves, and otherwise trying to collect as much gold as possible for their hoards. Local and online multiplayer play are supported for the PlayStation®3 system version, as are leaderboards and other PlayStation®Network community features. According to their site, Big Sandwich Games currently has two career positions open.

Big Bad Brush Inc. is pleased to announce that in collaboration with Appvent 2010, their mobile title Big Bad Flower is available for free today, December 7th. Big Bad Flower is rated Rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence.

Big Bad Flower Game Features:

*Unique Game Play
– draw circles around enemies to trap them in bubbles
– swipe flower’s face or petals to create petal spinning action to blow bubbled enemies away
– poke to trap weapons and specialized evolved enemies

*Wacky Creatures
– 15 intense chapters with lots of new creatures to battle
– 3 Different levels from the minuscule backyard to the grand scale of space itself
– 3 Bonus levels of sheer Mayhem madness

*Addictive
– Watch your flower grow and progress through each level of earthly chapters
– beautiful and colorful characters, backgrounds and illustrations

Montreal’s Savant Inc., developer and publisher of iPhone games and entertainment applications, has announced the worldwide release of “The Balls!”, their debut title for iPhone and iPod touch for the introductory price of $0.99 USD.

Hardcore sports Coach Timmins wants you to juggle as many sports balls as possible to prove your worth. Bounce different balls (soccer, basketball, bowling, and more!) a number of times until they burst! Be careful not to let them drop, or Coach Timmins will give you a verbal whipping!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_xqA2PM8MI]

The balls are physics enabled and can bounce against each other for a bigger challenge. Tap the balls to bounce them up, or flick them in a direction for more precise control. Bounce them as late as possible for a higher score and crits! And watch out, sometimes the coach will lob a grenade at you to make sure you are paying attention!

Game Features:

* Simple to pick up and play
* 2 game modes: Classic and Balls mode (no time limit, score as high as you can)
* 5 different types of balls (and more to come in future updates)
* Juggle different types of sports balls to get the highest score
* Flick them up for more control
* Open Feint Leaderboards (compete with your friends)
* Open Feint Achievements
* Game Center enabled with Achievements and Leaderboards – Seamless integration with Open Feint

The Balls is rated Rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humour

And so it begins – Disney Interactive Studios’ TRON: Evolution video game, developed at Vancouver’s Propaganda Games, is now available in North America. TRON: Evolution takes place between the original “TRON” film from 1982 and the highly anticipated 3D film “TRON: Legacy,” which will be released in theaters on December 17th.

TRON: Evolution has a story set around a series of seismic events within the Grid of TRON. Players control a security program, Anon, who must protect the digital world from Abraxas, a dangerous computer virus. Players will witness unique moments that are referenced or shown as the backstory of the thrilling “TRON: Legacy” story. The game features the iconic TRON vehicles – light cycles, light tanks and recognizers – and has high mobility combat using light discs. The multiplayer modes enable up to 10 players to take on each other online in a variety of maps with on-foot combat, light cycles and light tanks.

TRON: Evolution is available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Games For Windows – LIVE, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and the Nintendo DS™ family of hand-held systems. TRON: Evolution – Battle Grids is exclusive to the Wii™ console.

“TRON: Evolution is an experience that encompasses the great elements from the TRON franchise,” said Darren Hedges, game director, Propaganda Games. “The game takes players through the Grid and foretells some of the key events of the upcoming film. For both core and casual players, TRON: Evolution is a game that will challenge them to fight for the survival of the Grid.”

The development team working on the game collaborated with the filmmakers throughout the development process, including during principal photography in Vancouver. Production information and assets were shared to ensure franchise consistency.

“‘TRON: Legacy’ re-envisions a unique digital landscape that is perfectly suited to the video game world,” said Sean Bailey, producer for “TRON: Legacy” and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures president of production. “TRON: Evolution is a natural extension of ‘TRON: Legacy,’ and I can’t wait for fans to see them both.”

TRON: Evolution stars film and TV star Olivia Wilde in her “TRON: Legacy” role as Quorra. Bruce Boxleitner, an actor who appears in both TRON films, also plays a major role in the game.The game includes two tracks from the “TRON: Legacy” score, original music which was composed by iconic and renowned French electronic duo, Daft Punk.

“Video game players will get an understanding of Quorra’s experiences before the ‘TRON: Legacy’ story by playing TRON: Evolution,” said Olivia Wilde. “As a person who played video games when I was growing up and from understanding fans’ excitement about the TRON digital world, I felt it was important to also voice the role in TRON: Evolution and ensure authenticity.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5yglIBBs0E]

The PlayStation 3 system version includes a state-of-the-art stereoscopic 3D option for 3D-capable HDTVs and also supports the PlayStation®Move motion controller during light cycle gameplay in story mode.

Free downloadable content is available through a one-time-use retail code in the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Games For Windows – LIVE versions of TRON: Evolution. The content includes two multiplayer maps available now and a Sam Flynn multiplayer character skin, available December 14th. Additional premium downloadable content will be released in the future.

TRON: Evolution – Battle Grids for Wii features 15 minigames for as many as four players in the same room. Families and younger players can experience the story mode and track their results in the competitive arcade-style combat games.

TRON: Evolution is rated T for Teen by the ESRB for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system and has a suggested retail price of $59.99. TRON: Evolution – Battle Grids, rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older, for Wii has a $49.99 suggested retail price. TRON: Evolution games (E10+) for the Nintendo DS family of hand-held systems and PSP system are $39.99. The Games For Windows – LIVE version (Teen) sells for $29.99. A Collector’s Edition for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is priced at $129.99 and features the game, an exclusive collectible illuminated light cycle model, protective case and vouchers for “TRON: Legacy” film tickets.

Disney Mobile’s TRON app for the iPhone® and iPod® touch is free to download and features all-new versions of the classic Tanks and Light Cycles games from the TRON arcade. The app also features “TRON: Legacy” trailers, a streamed version of a Daft Punk track from “TRON: Legacy,” pre-sale order information for the TRON: Evolution game, and will continue to be updated leading up to the December film premiere.

Digital Leisure Inc. has launched Space Ace, the follow up title to Dragon’s Lair, designed exclusively for Nintendo’s DSiWare™ service. Available today for 800 Nintendo DSi Points, Space Ace is a fully animated classic arcade game from legendary animator Don Bluth. In this completely arcade authentic adventure, you’ll journey to rescue the beautiful Kimberly by using your Nintendo DSi™ to move and fire your lasergun. This is the first time the stunning 2D animation has been seen on a Nintendo® handheld format – No pixel graphics here!

In Space Ace you play the heroic Ace who must stop the evil Commander Borf from taking over the Earth! Borf plans to reduce all of humankind to infants and take over the planet. Only two people have the courage and strength to stop Borf and save Earth: the beautiful Kimberly and the heroic Ace. But as they approach Borf’s stronghold, Ace is hit by the Infanto Ray, changing him into a child, and Kimberly is kidnapped by the evil madman! The fate of Earth is in your hands!

Source Studio has released a demo for their space shooter game, ProtoGalaxy, on Steam for the PC ($9.99 USD). ProtoGalaxy is a multi-genre, independent game that features arcade action, smart puzzles and space exploration with a built-in level editor.

Up to four players can team up, configure their ship and upgrade their weapons in order to defend earth from powerful alien invaders. Throughout the game, players brave fierce battles, solve challenging puzzles, and explore the far reaches of the galaxy in order to end the attacks and rebuild a home for the survivors.

“ProtoGalaxy is an action game, but it has growing appeal with arcade and shooter fans,” said Alex Brown, CEO and founder of Source Studio. “The game includes a built-in editor which allows players to easily create entirely new levels. Players can share their creations online and download other people’s levels for endless game play,” Brown added.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_RwsKVdOxA]

ProtoGalaxy Game Features:

· Level editor to create new galaxies
· Single and multi-player mode (up to 4 players)
· Array of weapon choice
· Ship customization with large selection of parts
· Use physics to solve problems
· Save progress online and play from anywhere

From somewhere in Canada, Going Loud Studios is proud to announce that its debut action side-scroller game “Zombie Accountant” is now available on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace. Download it today for just 80 Microsoft Points. also available on WP7.

In 2010, a terrifying zombie outbreak threatens to consume humanity and you fall victim to the undead curse, doomed to hunger for human flesh. In a startling turn of events, the army actually manages to contain and eliminate the threat. Life quickly returns to normal.

Except you’re still a zombie. And it’s tax season. Complete tax returns as fast as possible without eating your coworkers! With any luck, you can still make it to zombie partner.

Zombie Accountant Features:

* Run to the right! With increasing speed!
* Dodge your coworkers and collect tax returns to increase your multiplier and achieve a high score
* Rise through 8 ranks on your way to becoming zombie Partner
* Wonder if a zombie working for a corporation is symbolic

Celsius Game Studios has released a new trailer for its upcoming epic inertial space shooter Red Nova, which I first told you about last week. Episode 1, First Contact, opens with the player taking on a routine mission to test a number prototype fighters destined to replace the Earth Colonial Fleet’s aging Starhawk. While on this mission, your carrier, the ECF Red Nova, comes across an unknown alien fleet preparing to stage a sneak attack on the human colonies.

In order to give the Red Nova a chance to escape and warn the rest of the fleet you have volunteered to attack the aliens head-on. With a choice of any of the fighters on deck, you have to use your wits, your guns, and your ample supply of homing missiles to survive for as long as you can.

Take a peek at the video – this game is scheduled for release on iOS this month:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7XpDXvTJRk]

Style Studio, a fashion design app from XMG Studio now has a Lite version of the only App that lets you create, customize, and share your own fashions. Tops, jackets, dresses, skirts and pants with an endless array of material and accessories. Now with both male & female models and fashions. Personalize designs with your own graphics and even use photos right from your device. The full version of Style Studio is also available on iTunes for $2.99 USD.

Style Studio: Fashion Designer has been featured by Apple as “New & Noteworthy” and a week later made the “What’s Hot!” Also featured as part of Apple’s “Fashion — Apps for the Clothes Minded” feature alongside Top Designer’s such as Chanel, D&G, Gucci, Dior, Fendi and Hugo Boss.

Have you dreamed of designing your own fashions and seeing them on a magazine cover? With Style Studio you can create your own line of custom designs from casual chic to haute couture. Dress one of the models with your designs, add some props, and lay out your very own magazine cover. Show off your talent by sending your fashions and layouts to friends on Facebook, Twitter or email.

This App Features:

* Lots of clothing items to choose from including dresses, tops, skirts and pants
* Personalize your fashions with a huge variety of materials and prints which can be customized
* Add buttons, belts, bows, pockets and more.
* Import photos and images to make one-of-a-kind designs!
* Try your design on the male and female models or dress up a photo of your friends
* Lay out your own magazine ads and covers using fashions and dressed up models
* Promote your very own fashion label by sharing your designs on Facebook, Twitter, and Email

Also related to fashion, Toronto’s ModiFace has announced the availability of “MakeUp Live” — a new iPhone application that is the world’s first Augmented Reality (AR) virtual makeover tool. MakeUp Live ($0.99 USD) creates a true virtual makeup mirror by using the iPhone camera to apply cosmetics in real time directly onto the user’s own face. The application also gives step by step instructions on how to achieve one of eight trendy beauty looks, including smoky eyes, down to the brush type and shade brand and name.

“MakeUp Live is the next best thing to having your own personal makeup artist in the room with you,” said Nikkie Gatto, mobile project manager and resident beauty expert at ModiFace. “Many magazines offer ‘how to’ guides from beauty experts around the globe, and many virtual makeover tools allow women to see different products on their own photo. However, MakeUp Live takes the beauty guide and makeover tools to an entirely different level by enabling women to work alongside the tool to get it exactly right.”

“Our goal is to consistently push the boundary of what is possible when you apply state-of-the-art computer vision technology to beauty and fashion applications. MakeUp live is a perfect example of advanced technology applied to make a virtual mirror possible right on your iPhone,” said Dr. Parham Aarabi, president and founder of ModiFace.

MakeUp Live is based on ModiFace’s patent pending facial recognition technology that powers the number one virtual makeup application on the iPhone, “MakeUp.” Originally launched in November of 2009, MakeUp is a free beauty tool that allows users to virtually try on different types of makeup, including mascara, foundation, blush and eye shadow, in hundreds of shades from leading brand names like Revlon, Cover Girl, Lancôme and Clinique. On the newest version of MakeUp, users can now use their own Facebook, iPhone album, or iPhone camera photo to test out the most popular cosmetic looks on themselves.

The Citytv video iPad app which launched earlier this fall, has released another Citytv daytime favourite LIVE on the free iPad application. As of this morning, fans of CityLine hosted by Tracy Moore, can watch CityLine LIVE on their iPad between 9am-10am ET Monday thru Friday. This new addition on the iPad is yet another first, making CityLine the only Canadian daytime talk show available LIVE on iPad. Full episodes of new and past CityLine programs will also be available on the iPad, in addition to Citytv.com. The Citytv app also includes a number of convenient features, such as a TV schedule and a notification service that allows users to be reminded when their favourite shows are available on the app and on TV. Other features include the ability to share video links on Facebook, Twitter and via email. The app also saves your viewing history and favourites.

“Giving fans of CityLine the ability to watch Tracy and her team of experts every day, LIVE while commuting or at the gym is just another way Rogers is engaging audiences on multiple screens,” says Claude Galipeau, SVP & GM, Digital Media, Rogers Media Inc. “Fans no longer have to miss their favourite morning show once they leave the house — they can take CityLine with them.”

CityLine is the longest running and most successful daytime show for women in Canadian history. Host Tracy Moore brings her energy and enthusiasm along with her charismatic personality and flare for style – making her a perfect fit for Canada’s top source for the latest in home decor, food, fashion, health and beauty. CityLine engages, entertains and informs viewers across Canada with its unique live format and daily themed approach. As familiar and trusted guest experts visit the set, viewers are treated to professional tips covering such topics as décor, entertaining, fashion, beauty, home and gardening.

According to my Twitterfeed this morning, congratulations are due to David Lightbown, Senior Artistic Technical Director at Behaviour Interactive for being named as the winner of the Autodesk® Maya® Master Award. Check out his Autodesk interview on the Autodesk interview.

The Waldorf Hotel in Vancouver will be holding a Comic and Zine Fair on Sunday, December 19th from 11:30am – 7:00pm. The event will feature American artist Dame Darcy, who will be signing books and performing with her band, Death by Doll. Other comic artists and zine makers who will be in attendance include Ed Brisson, Robin Bougin, Cloudscape Comic Collective among others. Check out the event’s Facebook page for more information and table space availability.

The first nominees for the 2011 Canadian Video Game Awards have been announced: Dead Rising 2, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, EA Sports Active 2, Trainyard, Lil Pirates and Top Bar. Make sure your favourite Canadian-made games of 2010 are nominated, submit your choices today. Please note that the nomination process does require Facebook Connect – I’ve noticed that a few people have stated that they will not send in their nominations due to that fact, and while it’s a step that I too could do without, I hope that it will not deter too many of you from nominating games to the awards process. We also use Facebook Connect on this site, as we thought it would make it more convenient for readers to comment on articles if they wanted – is this not the case? Do you find Facebook Connect to be an intrusion?

Webnames.ca President and Co-Founder Cybele Negris will be participating in the launch of Momcafé in the Fraser Valley on January 13th, 2011 (9:00 – 11:00a.m.). Join Cybele and Chillwack mayor Sharon Gaetz at the Clayburn Gourmet Gallery as they discuss how they have navigated their way through different career paths to find their passion while balancing the responsibilities of family. Childcare is available during this event, and a portion of ticket sales will be donated to Matthew’s House. Please see the registration page for complete list of ticket prices and options.

EA Sports has released two new videos for Fight Night Champion featuring boxer Andre Bishop. You can view Part One here, Part Two is also posted on our YouTube channel. Fight Night Champion takes the boxing experience one giant step forward by delivering an experience never before seen in an EA Sports video game. Fighting as contender Andre Bishop in an all-new story-based Champion Mode or as one of more than 50 legends or future champions, battle your way to the top in the boxing revolution that builds upon the best-in-class gameplay and physics engine of the critically acclaimed Fight Night Round 4.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3UQDMepylA]

Indie studio SillySoft has released v1.12 of their board game-inspired title Castle Vox for the PC. The developers offer a free demo download which includes a Tutorial map, a Hex Barons medieval kings map, and a World War 2 – Axis vs Allies modern map.

The reasonable purchase price of $14.00 allows players to access  over 40 more hand-crafted maps including the American Civil War, the Hundred Years War, Napoleon, the Roman Empire and a Map Editor that can be used to create even more Geographic and Hex maps.

Play online multi-player games with once-a-day moves, or fast online skirmishes. Team-chat lets you collaborate in team scenarios. Achievements track your progress through the different wars. Impressive rank titles accompany your advances.

Rogers Communications Inc. has unveiled the company’s vision for tablet and mini tablet devices. Anchored by growing customer demand to be connected on multiple devices any time, any place, Rogers announced three new initiatives including new data sharing plans, the upcoming launch of Rogers On Demand Online for tablets and plans to introduce remote PVR capabilities on tablets and smartphones for its Rogers Digital Cable customers.

“The tablet is the command centre – a mobile hub through which our customers will be able to access everything in their world – from reading email for work to looking at photos, programming their televisions to turning on lights at home, checking on friends on Facebook and even updating their personal finances,” says John Boynton, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Communications. “Our role is to enable these experiences seamlessly and reliably across all devices. Our announcement today reflects our commitment to ensuring we continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

Rogers also unveiled the results of a recent poll of tablet and non-tablet owners, conducted by the Strategic Counsel. Close to 60 per cent of those surveyed who currently do not own a tablet agree that tablets will transform the way we live, work and play, and 42 per cent say they plan to purchase a tablet within the next year. Of those surveyed who have already purchased a tablet, the vast majority (69 per cent) claim they take their tablet everywhere they go and 58 per cent state their tablet is typically the first device they turn on in the morning.

“What we are seeing is a shift from one device to many devices connected together, anytime, anyplace,” Boynton continues. “The tablet is the dashboard for the highways of tomorrow, where people can easily access the same personalized experiences at work, in the home or on the go. We will provide the best tablet selection, integrate Rogers content on devices and build new pricing structures to make it easy for customers to make tablets part of their work, home and personal lives.”

Boynton made the remarks in a keynote speech at Rogers TabLife TO, an event Rogers organized to showcase the way tablets are changing the way we live work and play. The event brought industry leaders, manufacturers and experts to share experiences with tablets in communications, healthcare, business, media and entertainment. More information on Rogers TabLife TO conference can be found at www.tablife.ca.

A tablet-optimized version of Rogers On Demand Online will feature hours of primetime TV, movies, sports, music and will adapt perfectly to a variety of tablet screen sizes and operating systems. In 2011, customers will be able to go online on any tablet free of charge (standard data rates apply) to access Rogers On Demand as well as Rogers’ new Remote PVR service to set and manage recordings from any tablet, and smartphone anywhere, anytime. Rogers On Demand Online and Remote PVR for tablets will be available in early 2011. Read the rest of this entry »