Village Gamer

New in the iTunes App Store today is Red Nova, an inertial survival shooter for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Created by Celsius Game Studio, Red Nova is available now for the introductory price of 99 cents.

Game Description:

While on a routine mission to test a number of prototype fighters destined to replace the Earth Colonial Fleet’s aging Starhawk, the ECS Red Nova, your carrier, 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!

Game Features

* Universal app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
* Game Center leaderboards
* Retina Display graphics
* 3 scaling difficulty levels
* 3 playable ships
* 4 power-ups
* 7 different enemies
* Dynamic camera zooms in when things get intense
* iOS Controller: use an iPhone or iPod Touch to control Red Nova on an iPad wirelessly
* Dynamic touch controls for faster reaction times; no more hunting for fixed virtual buttons when it counts

Future episodes of Red Nova will be released as free updates, adding different game modes and missions to the game.

Drum Studio: Platinum Edition from Vancouver developer All Seeing Eye Games is now available on  Xbox Live Indie Games for 80 MS Points. This follow-up to the award-winning Drum Studio allows players to record, layer, & edit their own drum songs on virtual drums customizable from a collection of over 320 drum sounds.

Drum Studio: Platinum Edition is a virtual drum recording tool that gives players the ability to build their own drum beats using their Xbox 360 drum kits or controllers.  Players can then go online to share their songs with friends, listen to each other play, and even jam together in real-time.

Lead Programmer Darren Joe says, “Music has always been about sharing. Drum Studio put music creation in the player’s hands. Now, Drum Studio: Platinum Edition allows players to share their music with each other and the world.”

It is no secret that the music game genre is in steep decline. Whereas the big names have rehashed the same gameplay mechanics a dozen times over and then some, Drum Studio: Platinum Edition pushes the genre forward with a music creation & sharing experience unlike anything any other title has to offer.

In addition to its extensive online features, Drum Studio: Platinum Edition also expands upon the award-winning original with all new art by graphic artist Terry Wong (Cirque Du Soleil, National Geographic, Electronic Gaming Monthly) and full Xbox 360 Avatar support, allowing players to turn their Xbox 360 Avatars into full-fledged animated virtual drummers.

Maid Marian Entertainment Inc. and Gene Endrody, sole creator of the indie hit MMORPG, Sherwood Dungeon has announced the arrival of, two new allies just in time for the holidays – the Shadowfey Knight and Priestess.

The Shadowfey are lost descendants of the Picts, an ancient Celtic tribe. Possessing ominous white skin and a dark mysterious gaze, this race of warriors will battle alongside players as they crawl through Sherwood’s perilous dungeons.

An additional feature for those who purchase pets in Sherwood is the ability for players to transform their characters into the form of their pets. Explore the world and fight monsters while transformed into a Dragon, Unicorn, Spider, Shadowfey, and more. If that wasn’t enough, the Wolf and Lion pets can now be ridden as mounts. Along with the Horse and Unicorn mounts, players now have plenty of options for striking fear into Sherwood’s minions while leading the charge mounted on these ferocious beasts.

You are cordially invited to check out the new allies and features, or just play in the snow at the holiday themed Sherwood Castle, head over to – no sign-up or download is required. With the addition of the new Zong SMS Mobile Phone Payment system, players all over the world can easily purchase premium companions for their enjoyment, without the need of Paypal or a credit card.

Cookie Jar Entertainment has announced long-term deals with Netflix, allowing consumers in the U.S. and Canada to instantly enjoy selected titles from Cookie Jar’s extensive library of animated and live-action programming. Terms of the agreements are confidential.

In the U.S., Netflix members now have instant access to four of Cookie Jar Entertainment’s most recognizable television series – Busytown, Johnny Test, Metajets and Strawberry Shortcake – for a total of almost 200 half-hours of children’s entertainment.

In Canada, the agreement covers nine classic titles for a total of more than 500 half-hours and includes Bunch of Munsch, Caillou, Country Mouse City Mouse, Heathcliff, Horseland, Inspector Gadget, Paddington, Wimzie’s House and Zoboomafoo.

“Internet streaming offers tremendous opportunities for leveraging our catalogue of nearly 6,000 half-hour episodes of television series, the second largest kid’s library in the world. With these ground-breaking agreements in hand, we are actively pursuing additional digital distribution deals worldwide,” said Michael Hirsh, CEO of Cookie Jar.

Those of you who own Joyride for Kinect will be able to download a Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette and Cruze for free on January 4, 2011. You can choose a color for your new cars or paint them using the Kinect sensor and then take them for a spin in any of “Kinect Joy Ride’s” six game modes. You can also use the cars in online races over Xbox LIVE. To unlock the new Chevrolet cars for Kinect Joy Ride simply select the Chevrolet ad in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace – keep your eye out for it – or you can unlock the Chevrolet cars by visiting Xbox.com.

This video has absolutely nothing to do with gaming whatsoever, but it is a timely bit of cheer from interior designers Colin & Justin. The dynamic duo have put out three Christmas songs on iTunes, with all proceeds going to support Cash for Kids. While we do have a Cash For Kids charity here in Canada, I do believe that these songs are to benefit the UK Cash for Kids organization. Either way, enjoy the video, buy the songs (I did, and I’m not even a huge fan of the Christmas season), but most importantly, support the kids – and please remember your local toy, clothing and food drives, too.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9cJorHjweY]

Xona Games, a talented and award-winning team creating some of the most critically-acclaimed indie arcade games to date, has announced its two newest offerings to the gaming world at large: Decimation X3 and Score Rush. Both titles will be launching on the Microsoft Xbox LIVE Indie Games platform with Decimation X3 going live on Tuesday, December 7 and Score Rush on Thursday, December 9, and both will be available for purchase for 80 Microsoft Points ($1 USD).

Decimation X3 has been selected as part of the Indie Games Winter Uprising, a week-long celebration of the best that Xbox LIVE Indie Games have to offer. 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 the first week of December and features 12 top-tier games that they hope will elevate the impression of the Indie Games channel.

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 #2 out of approximately 1,500). Get ready for intense, 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, 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.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtuiCoQBwD8]

The spiritual prequel to Duality ZF and built upon the same engine that was a semi-finalist for technical excellence in the 3rd Independent Game Developer’s Competition, Score Rush is an intense 2D, four-player, dual-stick, bullet-hell, score-running shooter. It features unlockable difficulty modes, several mid-bosses and bosses, and tons of smaller enemies. It is visually intense with a hard rocking soundtrack created by Dragon Music Productions. Collect both types of power-ups – those that upgrade the main weapon and those that add deadly appendages to your ship – to rack up insane scores. The bigger the enemies are and the faster you kill them, the more points you get.

Just in time for the holiday season, Toronto developer Big Bad Brush Inc. has announced the launch of their much anticipated second game, Kung Fu Santa, which is available now for the iPhone, iPod and iPad.

Kung Fu Santa is a unique concept with a fun factor of 100! This arcade style game features game center and retina display capabilities. Playing as the kung fu master himself, the user will have to jump between moving candy cane poles and save all the presents, while avoiding dangers such as poison goo, bombs, and evil elves!

The evil elves have stolen all of Kung Fu Santa’s presents and plans to sell them all for money. Greedy little things aren’t they? But alas, Kung Fu Santa is here with his superior Kung Fu moves!

Game Features:

* Game Center: Master the boards
* Retina Display: High Resolution Sharpness so you can see Santa’s skills
* In-Game highscores
* Collect presents and gold
* Beautiful and colorful illustrations
* Tap on candy cane poles or swipe left and right to move
* Collect presents and fill up Christmas bag!
* Avoid dangers and stop Evil Elves!

EA Mobile™, Harmonix Music Systems Inc. and MTV Games have announced that Rock Band™ Reloaded is now available on the App Store. The iPad™-exclusive HD version and the version for iPhone® and iPod touch® offers players an initial powerhouse set list of songs from artists including Nirvana, Billy Idol, No Doubt, Nine Inch Nails and Vampire Weekend. More than 20 songs will be available today with new tracks launching throughout the holidays. Plus, for the first time, Rock Band Reloaded players now have a “5th Way to Play” by singing directly into their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad utilizing new vocal recognition features.

Rock Band Reloaded is the experience fans have been waiting for, innovating on the popular franchise and bringing the entire band onto the iPad and iPhone for the first time,” said Travis Boatman, Vice President of Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile. “These games bring a deep Rock Band experience to mobile players in very cool and creative new ways. Innovative vocal recognition features, social integration connecting players to their friends and challenging gameplay modes will drive forward the mobile music genre and provide the best music experience to players.”

New vocal recognition features introduce players to a unique way to play by singing directly into their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to earn points. Players can showcase their inner rock star by picking from a setlist of songs that include “Hella Good” by No Doubt, “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down, “Your Decision” by Alice in Chains, “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, “In Bloom” by Nirvana, “A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend and many more. In addition to the songs included with the initial purchase, free (internet connection required. Data rates may apply) tracks are available in the Music Store along with Premium Packs by The All American Rejects, Third Eye Blind, Blink-182 and other top-selling artists available through In App Purchase.

For the first time on iPad, Rock Band Reloaded packs delivers device-exclusive features including a Multiplayer mode where players can challenge friends live in a head-to-head split-screen environment. Flexible controls provide for ultimate customization of all play styles. The iPad game’s new “Big Drums” layout increases the interactivity of this fan-favorite instrument. Songs are now more accessible to players with custom playlists in Quick Play and quick replay using an “Encore” feature.

Other game features include a new Expert mode for experienced players along with a World Tour mode that enables players to rock six cities and 36 events earning up to 50 awards and achievements all while living the Rock N’ Roll dream. By logging into Facebook, players have access to the News Center where they can find out when new songs launch, follow friends’ exploits and directly challenge their friends’ accomplishments with a simple touch of the screen. And for those just looking to jam, get “the band” together via local WiFi and Bluetooth and play live on guitar, bass, drums, or vocals with up to three bandmates using their own iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. (Vocals/voice feature not available on the 1st generation iPod touch. Microphone required to play vocals/voice on the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod touch. Headset required to play vocals/voice on 1st generation iPhone)

PadWorx Digital Media, Inc. is pleased to announce that you can now come face to face with a revolutionary new vision of Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future in the most immersive edition ever of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic A Christmas Carol, available now in the iPad App Store for $4.99 USD – a portion of which will be donated to charity.

“We’ve taken Charles Dickens’ most famous story and infused it with unique steampunk illustrations and animations,” said Jeffery Alan Schechter, CEO of PadWorx Digital Media, Inc. “As a visual style, steampunk conjures up images more usually associated with H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. By bringing this incredible style to ‘A Christmas Carol for iPad’ we’re giving readers and families a brand new way to experience the joy and wonder of this inspiring classic.”

Through 130 pages of lovingly abridged text, readers will help power the story forward. Whether turning the key in Scrooge’s door and watching as the door knocker changes into the deceased Jacob Marley, powering up and manipulating an assortment of wonderful steam powered devices, or just marveling at each chapter’s ‘mechanical‘ page-turning contraptions, A Christmas Carol for iPad’s animations, illustrations, original score, and sound effects will draw you into the story’s unforgettable lessons of darkness, despair, joy and life. As with PadWorx’s debut title Dracula: The Official Stoker Family Edition, A Christmas Carol for iPad includes hidden Easter eggs of bonus content: the complete 1910 silent movie version of A Christmas Carol by Thomas Edison Studios as well as the full 1938 Orson Welles radio adaptation of the holiday tale – and is fully endorsed by the Dickens family.

Vancouver indie studio All Seeing Eye Games is pleased to announce that its new game Drum Studio: Platinum Edition will be available this December on the Xbox LIVE indie games channel of Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Record songs, share them online, and jam with your friends in real-time over Xbox LIVE in Drum Studio: Platinum Edition. The follow-up to the multiple award-winning Drum Studio expands upon the original virtual drum recording tool with all-new graphics, Xbox 360 Avatar support, and extensive online features. Players will be able to meet online, chat, share songs, listen to each other play, and jam together in real-time. Lead Programmer Darren Joe says, “Music has always been about sharing. Drum Studio put music creation in the player’s hands. Now, Drum Studio: Platinum Edition allows players from around the world to share their creations with each other.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNIowRt3gSQ]

Drum Studio: Platinum Edition also features all new art by graphic artist Terry Wong (Cirque Du Soleil, National Geographic, Electronic Gaming Monthly) and full Xbox 360 Avatar support, allowing players to turn their Xbox 360 Avatars into full-fledged animated virtual drummers. It features the same simple yet powerful song recording interface as the award-winning original and hundreds of high-quality drum sounds to choose from. Players can play with any combination of one to four Xbox 360 drum kits or controllers.

The original title in the series, Drum Studio, received widespread critical acclaim & multiple awards upon its release, including an Editor’s Choice Award from teamxbox.com, who declared that it “takes music games to a whole new level”. You can get the original Drum Studio game now from Xbox Live Indie Games for 80 MS Points.

Once again the clock tells me that it is high time I head for my day job at “the salt mine” but before I go, I’d like to draw attention to two events currently underway – the first is Desert Bus for Hope – which, according to the event’s FAQ, is an “internet telethon by accident – you give donations to Child’s Play, and we play Desert Bus.  It’s really boring and mind numbing and generally unpleasant. The more you donate the longer we play. To keep you and us amused, and to increase the donations we auction off  and give away prizes, have celebrity guests stop by, and become your monkeys. Want us to sing “Still Alive?” Sure, we’ll do it for a $20 donation.  We play 24 hours a day until you stop donating.” Be sure to visit the site and check out their Challenges, Giveaways and Auctions.

The second event is happening at Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s Start-Up Incubator. The involves a group of coders who, beginning on November 20th, locked themselves in for seven days with, to quote “food, energy drinks, and beanbag chairs” during which time they will attempt to write an app a day for seven days. The group has promised video summaries of each day, and according to the Project’s site, the participants firmly believe “that seven smart people with perfect communication, mutual trust, and an agile mindset can get more done in a day than anyone would believe. And if all that isn’t enough, we have no intention of being timid. We’ll choose difficult problems, and we’ll probably fail once or twice. If we didn’t, we would know we didn’t shoot high enough. We’ll work insanely hard, probing the limits of human creativity and team productivity.”

Think you can be the next big music star? Well now you’ve got all the tools right at your fingertips with Mix Superstar from Digital Leisure. Create, mix and record your own royalty-free musical masterpieces right on your Wii™ system. There are over 1,000 Dance, Hip Hop and Techno loops included across multiple instruments like Drum, Bass, Synth, Guitar and even voice tracks.

Once you’ve got that next hit created, it’s time to show it off. Mix Superstar allows you to export your music creations, and download them to your computer so you can take them on-the-go. You can also use WiiConnect24™ to send those hits to your Wii Friends and even collaborate on mixes!

Also included is full support for both the Logitech® USB Microphone and Wii Speak™ so you can lay down your own vocals on that next hit.

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

Looking to give your mix a unique flare? Over a dozen new music loop packs will be releasing via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play™ to enhance your music creation experience. Thousands of additional loops from packs like Rock, Pop, Latin, House and even World.

Visit mixsuperstar.com to hear what you’ll be able to create with Mix Superstar, available today in North America exclusively on WiiWare for only 500 Wii Points™.

Toronto’s DreamCatcher Games and its parent company JoWooD Group announce the launch of the official website for SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny, which will be available on November 30th for $19.99USD.

SpellForce 2 opens four years after the Shaper’s defeat through the use of Archfire. During that time scientists, dragons and inventors have tried to find to counter the mysterious deterioration of the portals – in vain. The portal network has now totally collapsed and the islands are cut off from one another. The dragons and the Shaikan act as the only connection between the races, but even their resources are limited.

Now, with the nations isolated from one another, a new nameless enemy strikes. Eo is completely at the mercy of the attackers ascending from demonic depths. In the midst of this chaos a new hero appears. To discover his destiny our hero must acquire new skills and do battle with enemies new and old. But wherever he goes – the Nameless always seem to be a step ahead, and futile battles break out in which the hero holds the destiny of all of Eo in his hands.

SpellForce 2 Features:

* An all new campaign that fits into the SpellForce series and enriches the world of SpellForce, including favourite characters and quests.
* An all new race of demonic enemies are also playable in multiplayer mode, featuring new units and structures.
* Ride into battle on a fierce dragon and use new spells and effects to enhance your tactical possibilities.
* Innovative new Role-Playing-Strategy Genre.
* Click’n’Fight and Quick-Action-Buttons: The revolutionary control system guarantees instant action, and a wealth of unique tactical possibilities at your fingertips.
* Easy Skill tree system that allows individual character development.
* Enjoy a highly detailed and living fantasy world that adapts to the actions of the player: Fight monsters, gather items, adventure, trade and collect mighty artifacts to use for your battles.
* 5 different fractions: Lead The Realm, The Clans, The Pact, the Shaikan and the Nameless to victory, with 12 very different units consisting of infantry, cavalry and flyers.
* 10 different races: heroic humans, powerful elves, strong dwarves, barbaric trolls,battle-tested orcs, destructive barbarians, powerful dark elves, unbreakable gargoyles, malicious shadows and mean demonic powers.

Transgaming Inc. has launched a brand new web site for its game development studio. Transgaming Studio features information about its launched titles, In The Mix Featuring Armin van Buuren, G-G-Goal, and the recently released PuzzleQuest: Challenge of the WarLords for iOS. Also featured is news about its latest game in development, Garage Inc. for the Mac, PC, iPhone and GameTreeTV. Garage Inc., a time management game set in 1928 Chicago, is based on an original IP by Global Fun and is being produced through a partnership with Breakthrough Entertainment. Players will guide recent Italian immigrant, Angelo Marito, as he tries to manage and grow a car garage. Game play features include the ability to diagnose and fix cars, hire workers, and try to steer clear of the ever-present mob while pursuing the American dream.

Capcom has announced that the Dead Rising 2 Ninja Theme Pack is now available on Xbox Live, Games for Windows Live and the PlayStation Network. With the new ninja pack, Chuck gains a “stealth mode” that allows him to evade zombies by making it harder for them to detect Chuck’s presence. Sword-type weapons (broadswords, katanas, etc.) have their attack power increased and will allow Chuck to perform new special attacks. Stackable items and throwing items such as nails, plates, gems, etc. will also do more damage and Chuck’s throwing speed is increased. The Dead Rising 2 Ninja Theme Pack is available for 160 Microsoft points, or $1.99 on the PlayStation Network.

AudioKinetic’s Wwise 2010.1.2 platform has been nominated for a Game Developer magazine 2010 Front Line Award in the Audio Category. Also named as nominees in this category are FMOD Designer 4.32 (Firelight Technologies), Miles Sound System 8 (RAD Game Tools), ProRemote 2.0.1 (Far Out Labs) and ProTools 8.0.4 (Avid Technology). Read the rest of this entry »

Internet radio fans, check out Gaming World Entertainment Network, an internet station with roots in Canada. While the station is on the air for anyone to listen to, Guild Wars players can interact directly with radio DJs right in the Guild Wars world, participating in special events and fundraisers such as the upcoming Pink Day in LA (Lion’s Arch) whereby players are encouraged to dress their characters in pink on October 16th to show their support for breast cancer research. For those who would like to also donate financially to the cause, GW-EN has a donation page on the Canadian Cancer Society’s fundraising site. Station co-founder Rhonda Head, who lives in Saskatchewan, wanted to not only entertain and interact with Guild Wars players, but also give them a chance to give back to the global community. GW-EN has partnered with Gamers Giving Back, providing a way for gamers to come together as a group and help support a variety of non-profit organizations, including the Red Cross for Haiti relief effort and the Canadian Multiple Sclerosis Society. The Gaming World Entertainment Network plays a wide variety of music, and starting today at 1pm PDT, Michael (a.k.a. The CaveChild) makes his return to internet radio as DJ Behemoth. If you are a Guild Wars player, you’ll be able to find him in Kaineng Harbour rocking it out on one of the boats in American District 1.

Koolhaus Games announces Voting for Round One of its International Contest for Unsigned Bands. The Top 25 Favorites in each Round are being decided by voters to the site. The Top 10 Winner’s Songs will be included in the new soundtrack of their popular iPhone game – iMP:Surf the Music and the groups will earn royalties from game sales.

Just visit the site, click on the Contest link – and go to “Fans: Vote and Enter”. Check out the bands and vote for your favorite by August 23, 2010. Then, Enter to Win an iPod Touch. Enjoy all the great new songs and be part of getting these Unsigned Acts the exposure they deserve! There will be several Rounds and one Voter from each round wins an iPod Touch.

The National Film Board of Canada returns to 2010 Hiroshima International Animation Festival (August 7–11) with six films in competition. In the running for the Grand Prix are Lipsett Diaries and Drux Flux, two films by Theodore Ushev; Jeu de forme by Malcolm Sutherland; The Spine by Chris Landreth; Runaway by Cordell Barker and Retouches by Georges Schwizgebel. Ushev will be in Hiroshima, and Internet users can stay in touch with him via his blog.

The festival offers several programs in addition to the official competition. No fewer than 11 NFB films are featured at special presentations: Neighbours by Norman McLaren screens at the opening gala; Vive la rose by Bruce Alcock, co-produced with the Canadian company Global Mechanic, screens at the Best of the World program; and When the Day Breaks by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, Village of Idiots by Rose Newlove and Eugene Fedorenko, The Big Snit by Richard Condie and Ryan by Chris Landreth, co-produced by the Toronto-based company Copperheart Entertainment, are among the films selected for the program celebrating the festival’s 25th anniversary. Read the rest of this entry »

A reminder to Canadian dev studios that the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle is planning activities around Casual Connect Seattle 2010 (July 20 – 22) to promote the Canadian game development industry, including a networking event, a Canada table at the show and a Canada Casual Games Organization Directory. Discounted registration is also available on a limited basis. For information on these activities and how to become involved, please contact Victoria Hayes or Neil Swain for more information. Still with government news, Dick Harris, Member of Parliament for Cariboo–Prince George is scheduled to make an announcement regarding the Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians programme tomorrow afternoon at the Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre in Prince George.

The Apple Canada App Store recently added a new app category entitled, “Great Canadian Apps“. This feature, as the name implies, recognizes apps created by Canadian-based companies. Only 29 Canadian-made apps have made the short list thus far, for everything from navigating Montreal to finance and productivity. It would be really nice to see a Made In Canada game feature as well, although searching for Canadian games in the App store does yield some interesting results…

All Seeing Eye Games announced today the release of a title update for the Xbox 360 game Drum Studio. The update for the award-winning drum recording game adds full support for velocity-sensitive drum kits. This new feature allows players with supported Xbox 360 drum kits to control the volume of their in-game drums by how hard they hit their real-life Xbox 360 drum pads.

Lead Programmer Darren Joe says, “This title update is a thank you to all the players who have made Drum Studio a success. For those with compatible drum kits, it adds a whole new dimension to Drum Studio’s already unparalleled recording tools.”

Drum Studio is an award-winning virtual drum recording app for Xbox 360 that allows players to play, record, edit, save and playback their own song creations using their Xbox 360 drum kits or controllers. It features a powerful easy-to-use recording interface, hundreds of high quality drum sounds and fully animated characters. It has received widespread critical acclaim since its release, including an Editor’s Choice Award from teamxbox.com.

The title update also includes fixes for an incorrect sign-in change detection and a conflict with cymbal expansion kits. Drum Studio is available now exclusively on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 80 Microsoft Points or try the free trial on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Snow Day Games, a new game development studio based in Charlottetown has announced that its original title for iPhone and iPod Touch, Fly vs. Car, is now available. Snow Day Games has partnered with international charity “Child’s Play” to put games and toys in the hands of sick children all over the world by sharing 50% of the profit from sales of the game to charity.

“Fly vs. Car is a fun, casual game for players of all ages and that fits with our goal of making a game that can do good in the world for children,” said Matthew White, chief creative officer of Snow Day Games. “As players dodge traffic in homage to Frogger and other great games where you avoid getting flattened, they can also know that their gaming is helping others.”

In Fly vs. Car, players avoid oncoming traffic for as long as possible by moving their fly from side to side. It’s a challenging and fun, fast paced game where the faster your reflexes, the higher your score. Fly vs. Car features OpenFeint, Facebook, and Twitter integration, so high scores can be shared and players can compete against their friends on the leaderboards.

Cross Media Toronto has announced new additions to its line-up of industry executives and technology experts to speak, demonstrate and debate at its symposium this July 21st, 2010. The event is in partnership with NATPE, the MaRS Discovery District, the CFC Media Lab and Bell, with the additional support from Canadian Media Fund, Idea Couture, MarbleMedia and Bellfund.

Newly added speakers include SVP Managing Director of Arc Worldwide Richard Bernstein and Chief Digital Officer of TBWA Worldwide Colleen DeCourcy in a conversation on the future of the advertising industry titled ‘The Changing Agency: Evolution or Revolution. President of Digital Extremes Ltd Michael Schmalz rounds out the super panel which includes SVP Director Digital for Random House of Canada Lisa Charters, Head of Agency Relations for Google Canada Sabrina Geremia and Senior Business Development Manager for RIM Pete Watson, while Core Matrix Creator Jacob Blackstock, President and Founder of Secret Location James Milward and CEO of ES3 Douglas Edwards will be presenting technology demos which will explore the latest innovations in digital media. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has released the official guidelines for its Diverse Languages Program. The Diverse Languages Program, which forms part of the CMF’s Convergent Stream, ensures that Canadians have access to content that reflects the variety of languages they speak. The program will provide funding support for the creation of Canadian content for television and digital media platforms in languages other than English, French, and Canadian Aboriginal languages, which are served by the CMF’s other funding programs.

Congratulations are due to Tickle Tap Apps developer zinc Roe, the proud recipient of three Parents’ Choice Awards in the highly competitive Mobile Apps category. Sound Shaker and Sort Slider both earned Gold Awards for highest quality apps while Count Caddy was recognized with Silver Honors for excellence. These popular apps are educational iPhone games preschoolers love and parents can feel good about.

To celebrate the awards, zinc Roe will be giving away Bug Builder, the newest app in the Tickle Tap series, for free! Visit the iTunes App Store on Saturday, July 3 or Sunday, July 4 and type “Bug Builder” into the search to download your free app.

The venerable Parents’ Choice Foundation has been reviewing and recommending quality children’s media for more than three decades. This year it was inundated with entries for its new Mobile Apps category. Apps were judged based on overall ratings for how each app amused and offered new ways to learn. The judges describe Tickle Tap Apps as “a charming introduction to learning anytime and anywhere.”

“zinc Roe design offers a suite of bright and colorful apps for the youngest users,” says the Parents’ Choice Awards review of the Tickle Tap apps. “With its welcoming continuity of voice and characters, this age-appropriate playful prologue is deliciously intriguing to those eager to learn.”

Tickle Tap Apps are attractive, simple games that help kids learn about numbers, shapes and patterns. The apps are developed by child gaming experts, vetted by educational researchers and tested by kids. These portable games help transform trips, line-ups and car rides into fun, educational experiences for young children.

U.S. publisher 505 Games and Canadian developer Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M) have released the bears – Naughty Bear is now available for the Xbox 360™ and PlayStation®3 platforms. The game allows players to take on the role of the infamous Naughty Bear, who is driven to seek retribution after his fellow bears snub him one time too many times. After the other bears exclude him from Daddles’ big birthday party, Naughty Bear finally snaps and slashes a grisly path of revenge and destruction across the Island of Perfection.

Waging psychological warfare against all things cute and fluffy, as Naughty Bear, players engage in sadistic scuffles on all that crosses their path. Using a hilarious array of weapons, interactive objects and endless scare tactics, gamers create chaos on the Island of Perfection to earn Naughty Points as they inflict physical and psychological harm on Naughty Bear’s numerous enemies. This all-new scare-based points system allows players to win the most rewards for being truly deviant and maniacal. As the ill-fated bears become more difficult to harass and terrorize as the game progresses, the variety of scare-based attacks allow for a completely new experience each time players pick up a controller.

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

Rated by the ESRB as “T” for Teens with a “Violence” content descriptor, Naughty Bear features more than 28 single player levels to unlock as well as competitive online multiplayer modes filled with unique characteristics and weaponry encountered at every stage. Players battle an endless barrage of bears recruited to wage war against Naughty, including Soldier Bears, Ninja Bears, Robo Bears and even an Alien Bear invasion. As they scour the Island of Perfection to unleash their naughtiness, players can collect all the hidden party items locked away by the other bears to win wearable items and unlock special Achievements and Trophies.

Transgaming has just announced that Her Interactive’s title Nancy Drew: Trail of the Twister is now available on GameTree Online for Mac gamers. Download the game for only $19.99 and then go undercover as a storm chaser, immersing yourself in meteorology by studying clouds, reading Doppler data, and surviving tornadoes – all while trying to find a saboteur.

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Before we get into today’s news, just a reminder that submissions are now open for the 2010 Canada New Media Awards. Get your nominations in now, the early bird deadline is July 16th.

Updated with link: Mattel Canada is taking the new Hot Wheels® Colour Shifters™ collection for a road trip across Canada this summer. They are stopping over at 50 Canadian community festival events between now and September. Mattel Canada’s Assistant Brand Manager Melissa Chau will officially launch the summer tour tomorrow morning at Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas Square. The summer road trip is meant to show off the new life-size Colour Shifter Ford Mustang, and kids who attend the launch event tomorrow can help change the colour of the car, play with Hot Wheels® toys and also receive a special Hot Wheels® collector booklet, T-shirt and more.

Tickets for Interactive Ontario’s IN 2010 are now on sale, with Super Early Bird and special rates for those delegates who attended the event last year expiring on July 16th. This cross-platform, multi-stream conference about the business and ideas of interactivity will take place from September 12-14 at the Carlu in Toronto. The conference will be divided into the following streams:

Mobile: The IN Mobile stream will present sessions from case studies to discussions about the latest and greatest key developments, the current status and future development trends in wireless technology.

Social Media: Social Media at IN will focus on the creative and business opportunities in a sector which is continuously reinventing itself through user-generated content. Showcasing leading-edge projects and discussions about the newest communication platforms, these sessions will explore marketing, collaboration, information sharing, and experimental crossovers.

Games: The video games industry continues to be one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. With an eye toward intellectual property, which is exploitable along multiple entertainment verticals, this stream brings creative, production and business perspectives to the table at IN 2010. Industry veterans will discuss current trends, explore leading-edge projects and examine the challenges and opportunities that exist in crossover projects.

X-Platform: This stream focuses on the opportunities that lie in the digital media content space as it continues to grow by showcasing the interconnectedness of various interactive sectors within cultural and digital media industries. This stream highlights the potential creative and business opportunities that exist between platforms.

Visionary: The visionary stream is dedicated to showcasing thought-leaders. Made up of the innovators, originators, inventors and explorers of big ideas. These forward-thinkers share their vision and in turn, incite new ways of thinking about business models, interactivity, and technology.

A release date has been set in zombie blood for Dead Rising 2. Fans of this survival-horror title from CapCom and Blue Castle Games can assimilate the persona of motorcycle racer Chuck Greene on September 28th. Dead Rising 2 is listed at Future Shop for $59.99 (Xbox 360) and $64.99 (PS3), while Best Buy lists both versions at $59.99. Neither store lists a PC version, and the CapCom US store doesn’t yet list Dead Rising 2 at all. GameStop Canada also neglects the PC version, but it does offer the strategy guide for pre-order.

CapCom also confirmed late last week that Zombrex Dead Rising Sun, a motion picture inspired by the Dead Rising universe, will be distributed free of charge in both Europe and North America this summer. Written and directed by Keiji Inafune, Capcom’s global head of research and development, Zombrex Dead Rising Sun follows two brothers as they try to escape the zombie outbreak that has hit Japan. Exploring the darker side of human nature and filmed entirely on location in Japan, Zombrex Dead Rising Sun, both pays homage to the zombie movies of the 1960s and ‘70s and provides links with the videogame world of Dead Rising®.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkyap9_qhr4]

Zombrex Dead Rising Sun will be released digitally in a series of eight episodes which Dead Rising and zombie movie fans can watch for free. Featuring an English voice over, the episodes will also be available as separate versions with French, Spanish and Italian subtitles.

Vancouver indie studioAll Seeing Eye Games has launched its debut title exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Drum Studio, available for 80 Microsoft Points, allows players to play, record, edit, save and playback their own song creations on their Xbox 360 drum kit. It utilizes the full potential of the drum kit to put the power of music creation in the players’ hands.

Game Designer Joel Cappelletto says, “Drum Studio takes music games to a new level with its creation and customization tools. We’re very excited to finally share it with the world.”

Drum Studio does away with playing along to pre-determined drum lines. Instead, players create their own jams on drums they’ve customized from a library of over 320 sounds. A simple & elegant recording interface allows players to layer in multiple tracks and hone their songs to perfection before they save the song, kick back, and watch an animated drummer play back their creation.

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Global video game publisher 505 Games and developer Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M) today revealed rare footage of the elusive Unibear character found in the upcoming comic mischief title, Naughty Bear. In conjunction with the release of the film, the Perfection Island Herald today ran an investigative report (PDF) on whether or not the Unibear is a hoax.

According to sources that claim to have seen the mythical Unibear, the creature can appear at random on the Island of Perfection for a very short time. Given the amount of mystery surrounding the Unibear, it is likely that any player who manages to catch and scare the mysterious creature will win an exponential amount of Naughty Points.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67uAbtNBpyU]

Naughty Bear’s reign of terror doesn’t stop at the shorelines of the Island of Perfection, however. As the resident bears call for backup, Naughty Bear takes on increasingly powerful waves of enemies, including Ninja Bears, Soldier Bears, RoboBears, ZomBears and even powerful Alien Bears from another planet. Naughty Bear can unlock costumes for each of these enemies as he defeats them, allowing players to create utter pandemonium on the Island as the bears try to distinguish friend from foe.

Nickelback, the 11th best-selling act of the 2000’s with more than 30 million records sold worldwide, will make their Rock Band debut in the Rock Band Music Store on June 29th. The band will make their debut in Rock Band next week with a six pack of songs.

“Nickelback Pack 01” will include “Burn It to the Ground” and “This Afternoon” from 2008’s album, Dark Horse, which has held a place in the Top 100 of the Billboard 200 since its release last year. Also included are “Photograph” and “Rockstar” from 2005’s All the Right Reasons, which was certified eight-times platinum in the United States in October 2009, making it one of the best-selling albums in U.S. history. “Figured You Out” from 2003’s three-time platinum The Long Road and “Never Again” from 2001’s six-time platinum Silver Side Up will also be featured in “Nickelback Pack 01.” These tracks will be available for purchase as “Nickelback Pack 01” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, and as individual tracks only on Wii.

Be Green Canada today announced that it has joined the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing computer power consumption by 50 percent by the year 2010. Together, Be Green Canada and the other industry-leading members of the Initiative will work to increase the adoption of energy-efficient PCs and servers and increase awareness and use of computer power management.

“Be Green Canada is committed to reducing the energy consumption of information technology, both through actions, as well as driving awareness and development of energy-efficient technologies among customers. By working with Climate Savers Computing, Be Green Canada is helping lead the movement toward a more clean and sustainable future”, said Owner, Rich Dezso.

As a member of Climate Savers Computing, Be Green Canada is committed to reducing energy consumption from a majority of its computing equipment by:

* Pledging to purchase high-efficiency computer equipment that meets or exceeds Energy Star ratings
* Optimizing existing computer systems to use power management capabilities, such as hibernation and sleep modes
* Ensuring in subsequent years the company purchases computing equipment with increasing levels of efficiency

In a typical desktop PC, nearly half the power coming from the outlet never reaches the processor, memory, disks or any other computing components. The wasted electricity is dispersed as heat and increases the cost of powering a computer, as well as the emission of greenhouse gases. In offices, homes and data centers, the added heat from inefficient computers can increase the demand on air conditioners and cooling systems, making the computing equipment even more expensive to run. Servers are more efficient than desktops, but still typically waste 30 to 40 percent of the input power.

Telefilm Canada has announced the winners of the Golden Box Office Award, a newly-created award that recognizes the writers and director of the Canadian English-language feature film with the highest domestic box-office sales each year. The 2009 “Goldie” was handed to the director and writers of the film Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day at an auto-body shop in Halifax today. The second feature film in the Trailer Park Boys comedy franchise, the title grossed $2.9 million in domestic box office sales. The 2009 winners of the Goldie and accompanying cash grants totalling $40,000 are director and co-writer Mike Clattenburg and co-writers Timm Hannebohm, John Paul Tremblay, Robb Wells and Mike Smith.

“We are very pleased to be presenting the inaugural Goldie Award to Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director, Telefilm Canada. “With two feature film hits and a TV series that was able to garner a cult following both here and south of the border, the team behind The Trailer Park Boys has achieved outstanding success. Telefilm strives to recognize the talent behind Canadian cinema, because it is these outstanding partners – the hardworking writers, filmmakers, producers and distributors – who keep our industry solid and vibrant,” she concluded.

“Telefilm took a huge chance investing in the Trailer Park Boys concept back in 1999 but it paid off with the success of our first and second features films,” said Mike Clattenburg, director and co-writer of Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day. “Without Telefilm’s unfailing support, we could never have made our two movies or the series,” he concluded.

“Congratulations to the Trailer Park Boys writing team, and a big thank you to Telefilm for the important recognition,” says Maureen Parker, Executive Director, Writers Guild of Canada. “A prize like this will help our talented writers stay in this country and develop the next winning Canadian film,” she concluded.

Helmed by writer-director Mike Clattenburg, Trailer Park Boy: Countdown to Liquor Day was co-written by John Paul Tremblay, Robb Wells, Mike Smith and Timm Hannebohm and produced by Barrie Dunn, Michael Volpe and Mike Clattenburg.  The film begins with Julian, Ricky and Bubbles newly released from jail and brimming with optimism about their prospects for the future. However, when they return to Sunnyvale, they encounter a leaner and much meaner Park Supervisor Jim Lahey who has some big changes in mind for the park, changes that don’t exactly go over well with the Boys, who then face their biggest test since Grade 10. Alliance Films distributed the film across Canada.

Just in time for hot dog season, dougiedog the Dogumentary premieres in Vancouver this Monday, June 28th. Featuring celebrities Dave Grohl and Jason Alexander plus music from some of today’s finest acts, dougiedog the Dogumentary is the inspirational story of a man (comedian, entrepreneur and hot dog fanatic dougieluv), who overcomes tremendous obstacles to achieve his dream of opening up a hot dog shop. What starts as a hot dog research expedition across America in a rusted-out Dodge Caravan turns into an incredible journey of self-discovery guided solely by the hands of fate.

The premiere will be held at the Cellar Nightclub directly across from the dougiedog Hot Dog Joint at 1011 Granville Street. The event will feature food, music, prizes, hot dogs, and a special appearance by the Ivy League Brawlers (an 8-piece live band). Tickets are $10 and available at the dougiedog Hot Dog Joint while supplies last. Admission includes a free cocktail and appetizers. Doors open at 6:30 pm, the movie screens at 8 pm. People who show up sporting their hot dog spirit will be granted free entrance.