Village Gamer

Grey Alien Games has just announced that its latest casual puzzle title, Spring Bonus, has been released for the PC and Mac platforms. We saw this game demonstrated at last Monday’s Indie Dev Meetup, and I highly recommend this title for the whole family.

A very highly polished production, Spring Bonus is an Easter-themed game that offers very cute and well-drawn graphics, a Disney-esque soundtrack and non-irritating sound effects. While the soundtrack and sound effects are pleasant to listen to while playing the game, it is possible to adjust the volume or even turn it off. An important marker for me is if I can play through the game with no sound and still do well. I know that much effort goes into writing soundtracks and getting just the right sound effects, but being able to play a game without the sound a bonus point on development as far as I’m concerned.

Spring Bonus releases with 100 levels spread across a colourful map in a country setting, which pairs up nicely with the game’s pieces which feature spring flowers, bunnies, carrots and various Easter egg treats.  The first 18 levels of Spring Bonus are available in the game’s demo, which installs smoothly and easily.

There are a variety of board shapes, each of which with its own challenges. Some are filled with ice blocks that need to be broken either by matching the game pieces or using power-ups to break or melt them. Some levels only require the matching of a set number of pieces to advance to the next level, while others require a combination of pieces to be matched or removed. There are even some level with multiple mini boards to work through – and luckily for the player, the power-ups can cross board borders.

Every few levels feature the elusive golden eggs, which must be moved down the board by eliminating the pieces below them until the golden eggs fall off the board. To add to the challenge, you can opt to play against the clock or play in relaxed mode, which is a great option for younger children to play, especially as they may get distracted simply by looking at the the puzzle pieces or they may want to play by their own methods, as children sometimes do. The only negative point of the entire game is that it lacks a keyboard lock-out to prevent children from exiting the game and accidentally accessing your files or the web. While I don’t condone using games as a babysitter, even those parents who are sitting with their children while playing a game get distracted – the phone rings, another child needs attention, dinner needs to be prepared, and it’s always nice to know that if you do have to leave the computer for a moment, your child cannot leave the game screen.

The instructions and tool tip windows are very easy to understand, but they will need to be explained to children who either can’t yet read or who are at the beginning stages of learning how to read. This is another opportunity for parents to work with their children in learning not only game play but also new words and meanings. The tool tip popups can also be turned off if they are not needed, plus they can either be left to fade from the screen or closed by clicking on the X. Another option is to play the game either in full screen or tiled mode, which is handy if you have other things going on such as chat windows.

If you have chosen to play in relaxed mode, you can easily up the ante by switching to timed mode with a click of the mouse, as there is a check box on the game screen to switch back and forth. Even relaxed mode gives you extra bonus points if you finish within the set limit, but does not penalize you for running out of time, other than to not give you the extra points. The time limits given for each level are realistic, and really won’t put you into panic mode unless you get sidetracked with just matching the pieces.

There are several power-ups available to help you advance faster through the levels- something which comes in handy not only in timed mode but also when you need to drop the golden eggs off the board or change up some pieces. You gain power-ups by matching 4 or more pieces, with bubbles being the first power-ups to appear. When you click on a bubble, it clears the blocks around it – but in order to really power-up your power-ups and give them more range, you need to make matches with the glowing pieces. When you do this, your magic rainbow will fill up with colour, and once it’s bright and shiny, your power-ups will harness the power of the rainbow and clear even more tiles, columns or rows.

Power-ups come in the form of the aforementioned bubbles, birds in a nest, four-leaf clovers, storm clouds, hammers, magnifying glasses and the sun.  The nesting birds fly out horizontally when you click on them, clearing from one to three rows, depending on your shiny Rainbow power. Storm Clouds will clear one to three columns, while the Four Leaf Clovers clear a star-burst pattern vertically, horizontally and diagonally. The Hammer will break ice cubes, the Sun will melt a circle of ice cubes much the same way as the Bubble clears squares, and the Magnifying Glass will clear one tile of ice.  There are also Mystery Boxes which appear later in the game (beyond the 18 demo levels) that contain a surprise. I imagine there are power-ups hiding inside, but one never knows.

Spring Bonus is a very high quality casual game – the colours are bright and appealing, the characters and scenery are well-drawn, the menu is easy to use and understand, and you can even save the game’s background to your PC or Mac as desktop wallpaper. For those of you constantly on the go, Spring Bonus will also be available for iPad and Windows Phone 7 in the near future. The game has also been localized into 9 languages including English. Spring Bonus does not require the latest computing power to run on your PC or Mac, which is always a bonus, because not everyone has the latest high-powered gaming rig, and as it’s a downloadable title, I can even play it on my netbook.

PC Minimum System Requirements:

Operating System: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7
Processor Speed:1GHz
RAM: 512MB
Hard Drive Space: 27MB
Graphics Card: DirectX7 or OpenGL compatible 3D graphics card
DirectX Version: 7
Sound Card: Any

Mac Minimum System Requirements:

CPU: Intel or PowerPC
Operating System: OSX 10.3
Processor Speed: 800MHz
RAM: 512MB
Hard Drive Space: 32MB
Graphics Card: OpenGL 3D compatible graphics card
Sound Card: Any

Spring Bonus offers very good value for it’s price of $9.99, is DRM-free and also has a 60 day no quibble, money back guarantee. Overall, I give Spring Bonus a 9.5 out of 10 – if it had a keyboard lock-out option, it would be a 10.

This morning I also woke up to an announcement from TransGaming Inc. about the new title its Studio Division, creators of the popular title Garage Inc., have been teasing about the past few weeks on both Twitter and Facebook. This new title, Kula Blox, is a  multi-platform game targeted to a broad family audience. Leveraging TransGaming’s innovative cross-platform game enablement technologies, Kula Blox will be simultaneously released on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, PC and the GameTree TV Smart TV Gaming Platform in the summer of 2011. 

“Our original game Garage Inc. was an incredible success and has garnered a user base of almost 500,000 since its release. The casual gaming sector is a high-growth market with lots of potential. These are exciting times, and we are very pleased to be launching a new title based on our own IP”, commented Wojtek Kawczynski, Managing Director of TransGaming’s Studio Division. “By incorporating both TransGaming’s own enablement technologies, as well as innovative micro-transaction business models Kula Blox,  is well-positioned to become profitable quickly while at the same time generating a long-term revenue stream.”

Kula Blox will be an animal-themed arcade-style game that allows a broader audience of non-traditional gamers to have immersive, but still “snack” gaming experiences. The Kula Blox property is designed to become a franchise that spans across multiple future titles with Kula Blox being the first. When paired with the lucrative in-game micro-transactions and content updates, the result will be a game that maximizes both profitability and long-term playability.

Starting today, NHL fans will have the opportunity to make their Stanley Cup® Playoffs predictions in the EA SPORTS™ NHL®2011 Playoff Bracket Contest on Facebook. Fans can make their predictions on the real series using the EA SPORTS NHL 11 simulation engine that will link to the Playoffs bracket and predict who will advance to the next round. The engine correctly predicted that the Chicago Blackhawks would win the Stanley Cup last year, and that the Vancouver Canucks would win the Presidents’ Trophy this year. Fans will vote on the winner of each series at the start of each round, accumulating points for correct selections; prizing will be available for each round so fans can continue to enter after the playoffs start. A grand prize winner will receive two tickets to the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa for the most points accumulated throughout the contest; the winner will be announced at the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.*

The NHL 11 computerized simulation is conducted using artificial intelligence that uses real-life data from each team, such as player ratings and line combinations, and includes variances such as injuries and hot streaks to predict a realistic outcome of each game and series.

Contest Schedule:

First round selections open today, and subsequent rounds will be announced at the end of each series.

EA SPORTS NHL 11 Round One Predictions – Conference Quarterfinals:

Western Conference

(1) Vancouver defeats (8) Chicago; 4-2

(2) San Jose defeats (7) LA Kings; 4-1

(3) Detroit defeats (6) Phoenix; 4-2

(5) Nashville defeats (4) Anaheim; 4-3

Eastern Conference:

(1) Washington defeats (8) NY Rangers; 4-0

(2) Philadelphia defeats (7) Buffalo; 4-1

(3) Boston defeats Montreal (6); 4-3

(5) Tampa Bay defeats (4) Pittsburgh; 4-2

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Eligibility restrictions apply. Contest starts April 13, 2011 and runs through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Complete Contest rules can be found online.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Cineplex Entertainment will be hosting a Canadian launch and tournament event for Mortal Kombat, the highly anticipated game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, on April 18th. Tickets for this event are only $5 – on sale now – and all ticket holders will get the chance to participate in a Mortal Kombat tournament for some great prizes, with the final rounds taking place on the big screen. An exclusive contest for SCENE members will also take place at each location (not including Quebec). By redeeming SCENE points, members can enter to win a life-size Scorpion replica statue ($2,000 approximate value).

Event participants at the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto will be able to meet Canadian UFC fighter Sean Pierson as he will be signing autographs from 8:00-10:00 p.m.  Finally, three versions of the game for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be available for purchase at midnight at the theatre. The Mortal Kombat Standard Edition will be available for $69.99, the Mortal Kombat Kollectors Edition for $99.99 and the Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition for $149.99.

The latest iteration of the award-winning Mortal Kombat videogame, available on April 19, marks a triumphant return to the series’ mature presentation and a reinvention of its classic 2D fighting mechanic. Driven by an all new graphics engine, the fan favorite Fatality is back and presented in more gory detail than ever before. In addition, Mortal Kombat introduces a number of new game-play features including tag team and a deep story mode. Mortal Kombat is being developed by NetherRealm Studios, led by Mortal Kombat creator and creative director Ed Boon.

The game is rated M for Mature, participants must be at least 18 years of age to attend the event and purchase the game.

WHEN: Monday, April 18, 8:00 p.m. to midnight (local time)

WHERE: Advance tickets are now available at participating theatre box offices, through the Cineplex Mobile Apps and online at www.cineplex.com/events or mobile site m.cineplex.com

BRITISH COLUMBIA: SilverCity Coquitlam Cinemas, 170 Schoolhouse

ALBERTA: Cineplex Odeon South Edmonton Cinemas, 1525-99th Street NW, Edmonton and SilverCity CrossIron Mills Cinemas & XSCAPE Entertainment Centre, 261055 CrossIron Boulevard, Rocky View (Calgary)

MANITOBA: SilverCity Polo Park Cinemas, 817 St. James Street Winnipeg

ONTARIO: Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond Street West and SilverCity Newmarket Cinemas and XSCAPE Entertainment Centre, 18151 Yonge Street

QUEBEC: Scotiabank Theatre Montreal, 977 rue Ste-Catherine Montreal

In the meantime, check out this teaser trailer for Mortal Kombat: Legacy done by Vancouver’s GoldTooth Creative:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1uTTtQ21Ls]

Updated: This press release arrived in my email just after I made the original post.

Goldtooth Creative is proud to have provided visual effects, editing, motion graphics, and more than an hour of original music for the highly-anticipated Mortal Kombat web series, produced by Contradiction Films and Warner Premiere and debuting online today.

Beginning in the pre-production phase and continuing through filming and beyond, Goldtooth artists worked closely with Director Kevin Tancharoen and the Mortal Kombat production team to create slick visuals and an evocative musical score that heighten the chills and thrills of Tancharoen’s action-packed series.

Though the Goldtooth crew has worked its magic on countless videogames—and key creative personnel cut their teeth on television series’ and blockbuster films—this is the company’s first foray into live-action web-based entertainment. “We’re excited to be part of this innovative project and proud to show off the talent we have here at Goldtooth,” said Tyler Weiss, Goldtooth Vice President and Audio Director.

“We’re fans of the franchise, and so we were determined from the word ‘go’ that our work would be worthy of the Mortal Kombat universe,” said Goldtooth VFX Supervisor Keegen Douglas, who helped design the visual effects in pre-production, supervised on set, and led the Goldtooth VFX team during the whirlwind post schedule. “We had a great time collaborating with Kevin and the entire Mortal Kombat team,” said Goldtooth Associate Creative Director Paul Furminger, who led the Goldtooth editorial team on this project.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s6UiEuCYXA]

“From the start we knew that this was going to be an unbelievably challenging project,: said Tim Carter, producer of Mortal Kombat: Legacy. “Goldtooth embraced the project and truly invested in it both emotionally and in terms of their approach to budget. Their work has been consistently phenomenal and it’s no exaggeration to say that without them Mortal Kombat: Legacy simply wouldn’t have been possible.’

The nine-webisode series relates origin stories for many of the franchise’s most notorious characters. The first episode—in which Sonya Blade (Jeri Ryan) and Jax (Michael Jai White) go head-to-head with Kano (Darren Shahlavi)—premieres today, with subsequent episodes to be released each consecutive Friday through April and May.

Reminder: You have two days left to apply to be one of 20 media professionals at Anita Ondine’s groundbreaking Transmedia Lab on April 28-29, presented by Merging Media Productions and CMPA-BC.
Deadline: MiGS 2011 Speaker Deadline is Monday. Get your proposals in now.
Register: Toronto Startup Weekend is June 3 – 5th.
Launch: Firefox 4 and Mozilla’s Vancouver Office Launch Party is on April 15th

Funcom and EA have released a new Secret World video – and apparently all of those conspiracy theories are … true …

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OymMalX8VYM]

Also new today from EA Sports is the SSX franchise re-launch video for the upcoming Deadly Descents.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72X8csHXflM]

Ludia and Disney-ABC Domestic Television today announced the availability of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire game on Facebook platform, giving a true-to-TV experience with thousands of questions and hundreds of categories from the “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” TV show, complete with authentic theme music. Based on the exciting and unpredictable “shuffle” format of randomized questions seen on the hit TV game show, players can now enjoy a multiplayer experience with friends and other Millionaire fans across North America on Facebook.

Contestants simultaneously compete to correctly answer ten multiple choice trivia questions from various categories, with the ability to use the “Jump The Question” lifeline for a stumper question as well as use their Facebook friends as lifelines to earn bonus points and increase their chances of winning. The champion of the multiplayer “Round 1” goes on to play a “Classic Millionaire” round of four questions, each with a progressively higher dollar value that leads to the simulated $1,000,000 grand prize.

Congratulations to Ubisoft, who came out as big winners at last night’s MI6 Game Marketing Awards, hosted by California-based PromaxBDA, an international association for entertainment marketing professionals. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood picked up the following medals:

Gold Medal Best GamePlay Footage Trailer for “Enter Rome” Single-Player Gameplay Trailer
Gold Medal Best Product Packaging
Gold Medal Best Limited Edition or Collector’s Edition
Gold Medal Best Swag for the “Doctor Jack-in-the-Box” Collectible
Silver Medal Outstanding Promotional Trailer for its E3 trailer
Bronze Medal Best Co-Branding & Video Asset by Gamestop TV, Harlequin Doodle Dandy and Ubisoft

Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell franchise also won two Bronze Medals, the first for Best Use Of Online Media or Use Of Online Social Media Marketing for Splinter Cell: The Search for Sam Fisher (by Liquid Marketing), and the second for Splinter Cell Conviction “Set in Stone” Buzz Tactic in the Most Effective Buzz Creation category.

Not to be left out, Ubisoft’s Your Shape Fitness Evolved: Boot Camp Pre-Launch Campaign picked up a Bronze Medal for Most Effective Viral Marketing/Promotion and a Gold Medal for YourShape Fitness Evolved: Outtakes (Pereira & O’Dell) in the Best Work Never Seen category.

EA Sports NBA Jam picked up a Bronze Medal for NBA Jam in the Standout Print Advertisement category while Bioware’s Mass Effect 2 won a Silver Medal in the Best Online Take-over/Road Block/Rich Media Unit for Mass Effect 2 – Diorama produced by draftfcb San Francisco & Wieden+Kennedy

Speaking of awards shows, the voice over community is banding together in an effort for their industry to be recognized at the Oscars, which currently recognizes just four acting awards for live action. Animated films are eligible for the Best Picture and Animated Feature Film categories but there is no category to honour the voice actors in these films.

Canadian company Voices.com initiated the idea for a change to the Oscars program on their Facebook Group. When the company asked if talent were willing to not only talk the talk but also walk the walk and sign a petition lobbying for a voice over performance category, the fan-base gave them a resounding thumbs-up.

“Our initial research shows that many people are in support of the Academy Awards introducing a category for voice over performance,” says Stephanie Ciccarelli, Voices.com Chief Marketing Officer. “We were amazed by the outpouring of support in our endeavor to get the ball rolling in this regard. Recognition in the form of an Oscar for voice actors not only acknowledges their work at this level but also esteems voice acting and its significant contribution to film.”

The purpose of the petition is to achieve recognition for actors who perform behind the scenes. Outstanding voice over performances breathe life into animated films thereby creating iconic characters that are memorable, lovable and real. Recognizing the art of voice acting by designating a voice over performance category for voice actors in the Oscars could result in the fulfillment of many collective dreams.

Ubisoft and Gatorade have announced a new partnership to deliver a workout series designed specifically for fitness athletes for Ubisoft’s popular video game Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. Gatorade enlisted the talents of celebrity-trainer Gunnar Peterson to develop a workout series created around the G Series™ FIT, their new line of innovative products for fitness athletes. The Gatorade-inspired workouts are available to download now for free on the Xbox LIVE marketplace.

The ‘G Series FIT Workout with Gunnar Peterson’ offers personalized training sessions with one of the country’s top celebrity and athlete trainers and the workout plan is designed to inspire and fuel the inner athlete in everyone. The downloadable workout plan includes a 30-minute full-body toning program, and introduces new exercises including jumping jacks, squat raises, lunges, and other new moves that integrate free weights and dumbbells.

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is available exclusively on Kinect™ for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system. G Series FIT was developed specifically for fitness athletes to provide fuel, fluid and nutrients before, during and after a workout. The products, each inspired by fitness athletes and designed by Gatorade, are currently available nationwide.

Let the heavens rejoice after 5 years in development  Hothead Games has released Swarm. Swarm is a amazing downloadable action platformer game for  XBLA and PSN.

It’s about a gigantic blue worm that lands on a nasty planet and it’s up to you to control a team of 50 little “Swarmites” at once through 11 levels, collecting points and DNA to help grow “Momma”, get her a new hat and leave the planet. There is one catch though; this path is full of things that burn, trap, electrify and decapitate your swarm at every point and you get glorious points added to your score for it. All you have to do is make it through the level with at least one Swarmite in order  to return to Momma. Momma has lots of  Swarmites spawn points throughout the levels so if they die, Momma spawns more. This can be helpful because there are points in the game that require you to have a certain number in order for the higher point value orbs to appear.

You are rewarded in this game for the collection of things that look like nucleus and DNA. The more you collect in a row helps fill a multiplier which can greatly add to your score, but in a cruel twist, deaths of your Swarmites also add to it. So if your multiplier looks like it’s running out you can just kill off some of your swarm to keep it up. This is the game’s primary mechanic, as you find that most obstacles you encounter or crates to open just happen to kill off some of your happy blue buddies. At the end of the level your amount of Swarmite deaths are calculated up and put towards progressive death medals and the worldwide death total. Deaths in the level also have death medals but are only rewarded when the last 10 of your Swarm encounter the same deadly fate.

The game gets progressively harder and (easier if you replay earlier levels) as you get better at controlling your swarm and there are even two boss battles that are unlocked by collecting enough DNA.

Some of the awesome things you can get your swarm to do include moves such as jump, dash, huddle together and stack on each other as well as pick up and throw explosives. Sometimes your Swarmites will pick each other up when picking up explosives, leading to some hilarious deaths.

The game’s length is 6-8 hours but with the leaderboards, achievements and the constant questioning of Momma asking “Why can’t you be more like (Insert friend’s gamer tag here)”  the replay value is high. Here’s hoping there is more Swarm content coming.

Hothead Games has taken an old convention that games punish you if you die, turning it around so that death is rewarding. Congratulations to Hothead for taking an original idea and making it shine. If you’re looking for a fun, original type of game don’t let this one pass you by cause you wouldn’t want to disappoint Momma – plus it would make a great gift for any video game loving mom (Mother’s Day is coming up) and you know that would score some serious points.

Swarm is on  XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) for 1200 MS Points and PSN (Playstation Network store) for $14.99 Released on March 22nd 2011 by Hothead Games, Swarm is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

Review by: Twisted Majic

Toon Boom Animation has a new look with their redesigned web site. While you’re over there taking a look around, check out the entries in their Animated Winter Wonderland Contest. It was open to elementary students in Quebec, in partnership with LearnQuebec and voting to pick a winner is now in progress.

The first video dev diary for Space Marine has been posted to YouTube – check out the action and hear from the devs as they talk about Relic Entertainment’s next title. Set in the rich Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop®, Space Marine is scheduled to be released worldwide for the Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 and Windows PC in August 2011.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGToH9mQTjY]

You are a Space Marine, one of humanity’s elite warriors, the last line of defence between mankind and its enemies. Through extensive genetic modification, psycho-chemical conditioning and years of rigorous training that would kill a normal man a Space Marine becomes superhuman. When one of the industrial ‘Forge World’ planets where humanity creates its greatest weapons, comes under attack and the thousands of imperial soldiers stationed there are overwhelmed the only thing standing between this planet and its total destruction is your Space Marine.

Paradox Interactive has released the first trailer of Supreme Ruler: Cold War. Developed by BattleGoat Studios, which also created the successful Supreme Ruler 2010 and 2020, their most recent title invites you to relive the tension and uncertainty of the Cold War.  Supreme Ruler: Cold War is the next installment in the Supreme Ruler series and gives players control over a 1950’s United States or Soviet Union as they try to lead their country to glory.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKberi0I2HU]

As leader of the United States or the Soviet Union, you must make the correct Economic, Diplomatic, Domestic and Military decisions to successfully navigate your country through this dangerous historical era and increase your nation’s Sphere of Influence on the world stage.

EA BioWare™ has partnered with FUNimation® Entertainment, a distributor of Japanese animation in North America, announced today an agreement to create an anime feature film adapted from one of the video game industry’s most revered franchises, Mass Effect™. Tokyo-based anime and international feature film production company T.O Entertainment, Inc. has signed on as a co-producer on the video. Based on the Mass Effect universe, the anime video will tell the tale of an epic science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets.

Casey Hudson of BioWare, executive producer of the Mass Effect series, will serve as executive producer on the film, along with FUNimation President and CEO Gen Fukunaga and Director of Original Entertainment Chris Moujaes and T.O Entertainment’s CEO Takeichi Honda and Yui Shibata.

“Over the last few years, we have revealed different pieces of the Mass Effect world through different media. Extending the story through an anime medium is another amazing opportunity for us,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer for the Mass Effect series. “Partnering with FUNimation ensures that we will bring this rich universe to life with the utmost quality and the same attention to detail that the Mass Effect games are known for.”

“It is thanks to the enormous and passionate Mass Effect fan base that this movie is made possible,” said Gen Fukunaga, President & CEO of FUNimation. “With production underway on the Dragon Age video, we are excited to team up with another BioWare team to add an exciting new chapter to this vast sci-fi world.”

Production of the Mass Effect anime movie has already begun. Digital and home video releases are scheduled for the summer of 2012. The original Mass Effect game and its sequel Mass Effect 2 have received over 250 awards and 100 perfect ‘10’ scores from critics worldwide. Mass Effect 2 is available now for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC. Stay tuned for more news about the continuation of Commander Shepard’s adventure as BioWare will release more information about Mass Effect 3 soon.

In another deal, EA and Hasbro, Inc. have proclaimed that today, April 7th, is Global Monopoly Day on Facebook. Monopoly fans around the world are invited to play Monopoly Millionaires on Facebook to win more than $20,000 in prizes (no purchase necessary, void in Quebec) and participate in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Records® title. The attempt will be measured by the greatest number of people worldwide simultaneously playing Monopoly Millionaires on Facebook. Official adjudicators will be monitoring the game over a 24-hour period from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. PST on April 7. Players can take part during that time frame through Monopoly Millionaires on Facebook and can RSVP to participate at the Global Monopoly Day event page on Facebook any time prior to 11:59 p.m. PST on April 7. As of right now, there are over 74 000 people “attending” the event. Read the rest of this entry »

Talent Lab: Applications are open for the TIFF Talent Lab. Deadline is June 8th.
Nominate: Gemini Awards now accepting Digital Media nominations. Deadline is May 24th.
Apply: Mesh Prize is now open for submissions.
Register: BCIC New Ventures 2011 Competition applications open until April 18th.
Register: Search Engine Strategies Toronto is open for registration.
Survey: Vancouver’s Network Hub is looking for your input on a second location.
Open Today: Disney Store locations at Metrotown in Burnaby and Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga
Hiring: Hothead Games in Vancouver is looking for programmers

Smiles Zen and Smiles Drop, two mobile games by Sykhronics Entertainment have made their debut in the Ovi Store as a dual game pack for $2.99.  The games are also available on iTunes as a pack for $4.99 or you can buy them separately for $2.99 each. There is also a lite version of the two pack on iTunes that lets you experience both games. The Android pack is also priced at $2.99 for the dual game pack. Smiles works on both phones and tablets for iOS and Android.

Smiles Drop is an unconventional action puzzle game of the “match 3+” genre, but unlike other games, you don’t have to wait for the tiles to stop moving before you make your next move. You can also play at your own pace, making matches and using power-ups to work your way through the levels. Also unlike conventional match 3 games, you don’t slide the tiles to make your matches, you use the single tile at the bottom right of the screen, so placement of the tile becomes very strategic as you want to match as many at one time as you can while setting off more matches in succession.

Smile Drop’s companion game Smiles Zen is a relaxing game of strategy that borrowing heavily from the Solitaire and Sudoku style of game play. Instead of clearing the board of pieces, you need to make enough matches to light up the full board.

Smiles features 14 game modes, including Avalanche, where the ice constantly pours out, Hard Mode where the ice is harder to break, Long Play, where multiple matches and combos are easier, and Six, where you can lose in as few as two moves. The games also offer three different themes – blocks, vegetables and weather, along with 140 achievements. You can also keep track of your high scores and game statistics.

Vancouver middleware developer VI Technologies has released a beta version of their SDK, which is currently free. VI Technologies has two game development products based on AI and Animation available. The company plans to release programming tutorials on a regular basis, and its first tutorial is a soldier squad evolving on difficult terrain, which is part of this first SDK release. The next tutorial will be about racing.

Canada Post announced today the addition of a BlackBerry version of its Mobile Apps suite, which broadens its family of mobile applications and provides consumers and small businesses with new ways to access to its Track a Package and Find a Post Office tools.

The new application is available as a free download from BlackBerry App World and follows the release of the app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch a few months ago. These tools provide customers with the ability to track their packages and find nearby post offices, either by typing in an address or by using their device’s GPS feature.

“More and more, our customers are interacting with us on-the-go using their mobile devices,” says Louis O’Brien, Senior vice-president and Chief customer officer at Canada Post. “With this new BlackBerry application we are becoming as mobile as our customers. This is a great example of how we are embracing new technology to become a truly modern post.”

Canada Post is expected to release an Android version of the application this spring, and will also be adding a Find a Postal Code tool to its mobile applications on all three platforms within the next two months.

Big Blue Bubble is pleased to announce that Burn the Rope for the iOS fans can now play a new puzzle every day. Players can log in daily to see a fresh, new challenge. Additionally, Burn the Rope fans are invited to submit their original puzzle ideas for development as a Puzzle of the Day.

Puzzle of the Day is a unique game feature introduced in the 1.3 game update now available to all users. Every day, players of Burn the Rope for the iPhone will receive a new puzzle to play, which means free ongoing new content designed by users.

Anyone who submits a puzzle design has a chance to win a free T-shirt, bragging rights, and the undying admiration of Wickman if their puzzle is selected to become an actual game level. One puzzle will be selected every day so there’s plenty of opportunity to win. Submit a puzzle now to become one of the first winners.

“Puzzle of the Day strives to give users more influence over the kind of levels they most enjoy. With the ability to design and rate their own levels, players can create an experience they want and not what we think they want.” stated Dave Kerr, designer of Burn the Rope.” Plus, they’ll get a ton of new levels to solve.”

Burn the Rope is a challenging game where you try to burn as much rope as you can in each level, and as the fire only burns upwards, you have to tilt and turn your iOS device to keep your flame alive – and sometimes it’s burning up three or four different ropes, all headed in different directions.

As you progress through the levels, you’ll encounter bugs crawling along the rope. Different bugs have different reactions to the flame. For example, the ant changes the color of the flame so you can burn different colored ropes, and the spider shoots out a web bridge so you can access parts of the level that you could not before.

Burn the Rope is incredibly fun and addictive. You will actually feel like you’re burning a rope, yet there’s no need for a fire extinguisher.

Features:

· 112 exciting levels that are fun for the whole family
· New puzzle of the day feature
· Incredibly fun and addictive that is easy to learn but hard to master
· Unique controls with beautiful graphics and cool fire effects

Burn the Rope has received a great deal of praise from the critics and has been nominated for several awards including Best of 2010 and several categories in the upcoming Canadian Video game awards. Burn the Rope was also selected as “App of the Day” on both Gizmodo and TUAW. Burn the Rope 1.3 is $1.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category, as is Burn The Rope Lite version. A new Unlocking System has been introduced in Burn the Rope Lite, which now includes the ability to earn every level in the original game, for free.