Village Gamer

Bioware has just announced details for more upcoming downloadable content for Dragon Age: Origins on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. However, according to the small print on Bioware’s site, Golems of Amgarrak will not be available as a separate download for the Mac version of Dragon Age: Origins.

On August 10th, Dragon Age players will be able to delve deep underground to save a missing dwarven expedition who went off in search of ancient secrets for creating monstrous constructs, and only your Warden can venture into the Deep Roads and discover what awful fate met the expedition.

Put your Warden back in action and adventure through new environments, meet new characters and defeat never before seen creatures. Golems of Amgarrak adds an engrossing new storyline and challenging puzzles to your Dragon Age experience. As with previous DLC add-ons, you will be able to import your highly-developed Warden characters, or begin anew by starting a new high-level hero. You will also be able to earn fully transferable and powerful rewards for your characters, and Golems of Amgarrak promises to challenge even the most experienced Dragon Age veterans. I sense more near-death unconscious experiences in the future of my Warden. Good thing she’s resilient.

DIG London is looking for your input as to who and what you’d like to see on the conference’s agenda. Head over to the DIG London Facebook account to share your views. This year’s conference will be held November 18th and 19th at the London (Ontario) Conference Centre.

American company Constant Contact has signed a co-marketing partnership deal with HootSuite® through their Constant Contact Partner Program. By partnering with a leader in social media, Constant Contact is again demonstrating its commitment to offer its customers the best social media marketing tools and resources available today whether through acquisition, in-house development, or strategic partnership. As part of the Constant Contact Partner Program, HootSuite will benefit from exposure to Constant Contact’s diverse customer base of more than 350,000 small businesses and nonprofit organizations. HootSuite’s customers will also be able to leverage the proven email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online survey tools Constant Contact offers.

Two major corporations have announced their digital agencies of record today. Teletoon Canada Inc. has partnered up with Tribal DDB Canada’s Toronto office as its digital and social media agency of record, while ING Direct Canada has named Dashboard, also located in Toronto, as their interactive developer.

Starting immediately, Tribal DDB Toronto will build a social media strategy with an integrated approach to extend consumer awareness and engagement of Teletoon’s three key brands – Teletoon, Teletoon at Night and Teletoon Retro – through digital and social media vehicles. New campaign work is expected to launch later this fall.

“Teletoon has been successfully fostering engagement through various social networking initiatives, however we’re looking to collaborate with Tribal DDB to build on and further optimize our efforts,” says Russell Ward, VP Marketing, Teletoon Canada inc. “We’re impressed by Tribal DDB’s social creativity, strategic thinking and track record of creating ideas that have generated wide appeal and buzz.”

ING DIRECT has been a strong player in the digital space since the bank’s Canadian launch. For over 13 years, they have operated and marketed as a direct bank. A partnership with Dashboard, will further ING Direct Canada’s interactive initiatives. With big news for the bank on the horizon, both teams have already begun working.

“We are thrilled to add ING Direct to our growing roster of excellent clients,” said Daryl Aitken, President, Dashboard. “ING Direct was one of the first digital marketers in Canada, essentially digital veterans, so they are ready to go to the next tier of digital presence that Dashboard delivers on time and time again. Our team is already at work doing smart and innovative work.”

The fight against spam got a little bit easier as Roaring Penguin Software Inc. announced the latest release of their CanIt 7.0.6 software. Roaring Penguin offers an evaluation copy so you can personally test out the following new features, along with all of the previously existing anti-spam capabilities of this software:

1. Direct Injection of Messages into Sendmail Queue: CanIt can directly inject streamed mail into the Sendmail Queue rather than re-mail it with Sendmail. This should significantly improve performance in busy sites that have individual streams for each user. Read the rest of this entry »

There are some contests going on across the country which I feel will be of interest to most, if not all, of you. First, recruiting agency 3pod is holding a summer referral contest. If you refer a successful career position candidate to their office (see contest details), you could be the proud owner of a shiny new gaming console. You will need to refer a friend before September 30th, and that friend will need to be successfully hired by December 31st 2010. Village Gamer needs a PS3…is there anyone out there needing a referral?

Toon Boom Animation and Sci-Fi industry community MyOuterSpace.com are joining forces to make the greatest talent in the creative galaxy come forward and shine! This contest will challenge your creativity and originality and show the universe your support for MyOuterSpace.com. With the animated William Shatner starring in your lead role and three audio voiceovers to choose from, this is your opportunity to showcase your skills as a top-notch animator. Watch this video for more information about the upcoming contest, which will open for entries in August 2010:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EkkFaFz_28]

Not exactly a contest, but still worthy of mention, the Gemini Awards are looking for your best artwork. In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Canadian Gemini Awards, organizers are creating a very special piece of Canadian art. According to their web site, they are looking for a unique way to tell the story of the 25 years of excellence in Canadian programming behind us, and many more years of innovation to come. This will take shape with ‘Gemini Nights’ which will in part be made up of user submitted images that are iconic in nature and instantly recognizable. It could be a show title, a screen shot from a promo poster, a character everyone knows, or a logo that speaks to success. Organizers ask that images be submitted by Wednesday, August 4th via their online form. Take note that you must have rights to any images which you submit for consideration.

Want to pitch a product to and get feedback from the likes of Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and TELETOON? Get yourself over the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s web site and find out all of the details. The deadline to apply is September 1st, so don’t delay.

Pitch Participation Requirements:

* Project synopsis, including target audience, technique, format, rough budget, (1-2 pages)
* One episode synopsis
* Bios of key executives
* Short paragraph indicating your current stage of development and any additional information (i.e. interactive components, merchandise, etc.)
* Concept art (2 or 3 images)

XMG Studio would like you all to know about the upcoming launch of Cannon Cadets, its latest mobile game available for iPhone and iPod Touch users, rocketing into Apple’s App Store in early August 2010.

From the award-winning company that brought you Drag Racer, Little Metal Ball and Marine Sharpshooter, XMG Studio’s Cannon Cadets is a supremely addictive physics game with 80 visually stimulating and diabolically devious levels to challenge children and adults alike.

In this new game, you are Rocketboy, who must save your team of Cannon Cadets from Gordo, an evil lab monkey, and his robot army, that are determined to rid the universe of all that is fun. Players will shoot their cadets at the robots, trying to knock them out while dealing with complex structures that follow advanced physics rules including rolls, slides and hinges!

Each level is a new challenge, from basic structures to complex Rube Goldberg-esque machines that will test the skills of even the bravest cadet. As players advance, the Cannon Cadet team members will need to rescue fun new friends and add to the player’s arsenal of special powers to use against Gordo. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are a few more details about Solitaire and the City from Ph03nix New Media and TRZZonline which was released on Facebook last Friday. This latest social media app fuses the classic solitaire card game with a ‘beat the clock’ type of time management that has never been done for this type of game. “Solitaire and the City”was developed exclusively for Facebook®, and has already started gaining a small following of solitaire fanatics.

Solitaire and the City is a unique blend of the classic solitaire card game mixed with the type of speed that will test anyone’s hand-eye coordination. Gamers have 45 seconds to clear as many cards as they can off of the board in order to earn points. The points earned daily go toward unlocking cool items in the gamers’ fashionable closet. Users can also ‘gift’ items to their friends and try to collect every item available. For the competitive gamer, badges are earned for hitting high scores that are displayed on a profile tab, enabling users to show their friends where they stand in the rankings.

If you haven’t noticed by now, the title and fashion infusion are definitely a direct ‘ode to’ the popular “Sex and the City” series and movies. The user gets to fill up their walk-in closets with some of today’s hottest fashion and accessories from Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choo and more. As the user clicks on the cards, the on-screen martini glass fills up with a New York Cosmopolitan drink! Competing against friends to earn a high score has never been so fashionably fun.

In news that is going to make the CaveChild salivate, THQ and Relic Entertainment have announced that Warhammer® 40,000®: Space Marine®, will be shipping for the Windows PC in addition to the Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 in early 2011.

Jonathan Dowdeswell, General Manager of Relic Entertainment commented: “The loyal PC audience is incredibly important to us here at Relic so we are delighted to be able to announce the PC version of the game.”

Combining intense melee and ranged combat, Relic’s 3rd Person Action-Shooter Space Marine puts players into the boots of one of humanity’s elite soldiers, genetically engineered and equipped with state of the art weapons and armor. Players are dropped right into the action as they battle to defend an Imperial Forge World, from an invasion by the savage and brutal Orks, using the most devastating weaponry mankind has at its disposal.

Travis Plane, Vice President of Global Brand Management commented: “Delivering great content the fans want to play is the key goal in the core games division at THQ so we are pulling out all of the stops to make this the best possible game for PC and console audiences alike.”

Telefilm Canada is today unveiling its brand-new online directory of mentors and scriptwriting consultants, which includes the names of more than 100 experts, that creators working in Canada’s film industry will be able to access via Telefilm’s website. New applications for mentors and consultants will now be accepted on an ongoing basis and the directory will be updated regularly.

“Telefilm Canada is dedicated to supporting all links in the Canadian film industry value chain,” stated Sheila de La Varende, Telefilm Canada’s Director of National and International Business Development. “Canadian filmmakers are bursting with talent, and we are committed to meeting their needs and supporting their growth and development-which, at the end of the line, will result in the creation of high-quality feature films that will appeal to their target audiences. We are very enthusiastic about the potential of the new online directory of mentors and scriptwriting consultants that we’re unveiling today, which enables Telefilm to act as a catalyst for the industry’s success.”

“When I started my career, I was very lucky to benefit from the patient advice I received from such industry professionals as Michael Miner (Anaconda, Robocop), the wonderful writer and film editor,” said Vancouver writer Michael Giampa, who is included in the directory as a scriptwriting consultant. “Having a mentor who can answer your questions and provide encouragement makes all the difference when you’re starting out in the business. I hope that this directory will foster these kinds of relationships and that it becomes a key tool in the development of a mentoring philosophy within Canada’s movie industry, one that will hep nurture Canadian talent.”

The new online directory of mentors and scriptwriting consultants will enable emerging writers and producers to make contact with industry mentors and veterans, offering them the possibility of developing their skills or finding specific expertise for a given project. All the producer-mentors and writers included in the online directory were chosen by Telefilm following a call for candidates issued in May, and all have agreed to makes themselves available to offer professional advice, coaching and know-how, and thereby help foster the development of talent and projects. Read the rest of this entry »

Blue Castle Games‘ Dead Rising® 2: Case Zero, will be available on August 31st exclusively to Xbox 360® gamers via Xbox Live® Arcade at a cost of 400 MS Points. A unique and stand alone piece of content, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero acts as a prologue, introducing players to the main protagonist, Chuck Greene and provides a glimpse of the action to come when Dead Rising 2 releases in North America on September 28th, Japan on September 30th and throughout European and Australian territories on October 1st.

Set two years after the Willamette incident chronicled in the original Dead Rising® and three years before the start of Dead Rising 2, Chuck along with his young infected daughter, Katey, find themselves trapped in the zombie infested desert town of Still Creek. It’s up to Chuck to find a way out of town, and locate the Zombrex Katey must take to prevent her from joining the ranks of the undead.

Just like in the full game, players in Dead Rising 2: Case Zero will use Chuck’s handyman skills and a roll of duct tape to combine two items to create powerful combo weapons. Not only do combo weapons make killing zombie sprees more fun but they also have the added benefit of earning Chuck additional ‘Prestige Points’ which in turn result in quicker leveling up.

Players who download Dead Rising 2: Case Zero and then go on to buy Dead Rising 2 will be able to carry over character attributes earned such as ‘Player Level’, to a maximum of five, ‘Prestige Points’ alongside skills, ‘Combo Cards’ and a number of alternate outfits.

“With Dead Rising 2: Case Zero we had two goals: provide newcomers with an easy point of entry to the Dead Rising universe, and give fans of the series an insight into what took place after Frank West survived the outbreak at the Willamette Mall,” said Keiji Inafune, Capcom’s Head of R&D Management Group and Executive Producer for Dead Rising 2. “We have certainly achieved both of these ambitions but I am equally pleased that we are able to give gamers so much unique and entertaining content at such a great price.”

For all of you developer types with iPads, Endloop has released the newest iteration of iMockups. With lots of bug fixes, iMockups v1.08 also has loads of new features, some of which are featured in this short video:

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

iMockups is available now in the iTunes App Store for a very reasonable $9.99.

According to Big Stack’s last tweet, Ph03nix New Media has just launched their latest Facebook game, Solitaire and the City. I can’t find much in the way of information about the game other than an icon and its Facebook page thought, which is a little disappointing as this makes it difficult to give you any advance information you’d like to have before giving the game a try.

Mafia® II (2K Games), a title which Vancouver’s Massive Bear Studio had a hand in, will have a downloadable demo available worldwide on August 10 for the PlayStation®3, Xbox 360® and Windows PC. Set in the fully realized and immersive 1940’s and 1950’s American urban cityscape of Empire Bay, soon all gamers will be able to experience the decadent and meticulously crafted atmosphere, intense shooting and driving gameplay, and character narrative in the M rated Mafia II that is set to be released on August 24 in North America.

The Mafia II demo invites gamers to dive into the “Buzzsaw” level, where Vito and his buddies, Joe and Henry, are sent to take out a mobster known as “The Fat Man”. While the epic game spans two decades, the Buzzsaw demo takes place during the summer of the ‘50s – a time considered the “Birth of Cool”, and with it, rock ‘n’ roll, hot rods, and rebellious attitudes. The demo showcases the type of vibrant edge-of-your-seat action, as well as a slice of the expansive city of Empire Bay in the colorful era.

Mafia II looks to be the industry’s most compelling action crime game to date. Players take control of Vito Scaletta, who is making a name for himself on the streets of Empire Bay. He’s someone who can be trusted to get a job done. Together with his buddy Joe, he is working to prove himself to the Mafia quickly escalating up the family ladder with crimes of larger reward, status and consequences… the life as a wise guy isn’t quite as untouchable as it seems.

Wavefront AC has just announced a Rogers Ventures Matchmaking Session for Canadian entrepreneurs and innovators that will be held in Vancouver on August 23rd. To reiterate the Wavefront announcement, this is a great opportunity for wireless and new media startups looking for Seed or Series A funding. On average, Rogers Ventures invests $250K-$1M in companies and investment can go larger or smaller depending on the company’s requirements and the opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I went down to check out some of the goings-on at Casual Connect Seattle, and once again it was a huge event – evidence that the casual gaming market has grown, and continues to grow, exponentially. The conference is also a reminder about the many corners of today’s culture that casual gaming is spreading its influence into, and I noted many new companies who were attending Casual Connect for the first time. The only real downer this year was not related to the conference itself – when I went out to my car to drop off some of the materials I had picked up, I noticed that someone had removed the magnetic yellow ribbon showing my support for our armed forces from the tailgate. I feel that this was an act of total disrespect to not only our Canadian troops, but also to the United States’ closest ally. Karma will get the person responsible for the small theft, I’m sure. I hope that such a trite act made their day. Thank you to Scott though, who picked up a new magnet for me from our local Royal Canadian Legion on his way home from work.

I would like to personally thank Victoria Hayes, Neil Swain and Duane Robson from our federal Trade Commissioner Service for the opportunity to finally meet many of the developers from eastern Canada whom I had previously only known through email, twitter and Facebook. A special shout-out to my twitter buddy Sasha, who toils daily at the creative studios of marblemedia, and to another twitter friend, Rob Anderson, a.k.a. the “head cheese” at New Brunswick’s Noise2Signal. I also had the chance to chat briefly with  Dan Kratt, Senior Designer at Ph03nix New Media/Big Stack Studios, creators of my current match 3 addiction, Sigma for the iPhone.

Many thanks to the government and association representatives from Ontario, Quebec and of course BC for their support and interest in what we’re trying to accomplish here at Village Gamer. The social gathering at the Canadian Consulate was great. It was great to catch up with Cerebral Vortex President Keith Makse, whom I met at last year’s Casual Connect. By the way, if you’re in the Toronto area, Cerebral Vortex is hiring, and if you’re a fan of word games, grab their iPhone game Word Burst from the App Store.

Once again the Casual Connect team has offered a top-notch venue for the global casual gaming industry to share experience and find new opportunity. If you are a Canadian casual game studio and didn’t attend this year’s event in Seattle, may I suggest that you put it on your conference schedule for 2011.  Of course, a day trip to Seattle and no internet access means that I am now a day behind in what’s been going on north of the 49th, and there’s plenty going on across this vast country of ours.

I got a sneak peek at how things are going with Untold Entertainment’s new word puzzler Spellirium. I can safely say that what I saw looks very polished, colourful and high quality – much nicer than the mock-ups I’ve been playing through with each iteration’s beta test interface. What I saw of the more finished product makes me all the more impatient for another high-quality word game to challenge my word-making abilities.

One other thing I did learn while visiting with Sandy Spangler and Murray McCarron from A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games – the WipeOut game recently released by Activision was – you guessed it, developed by A.C.R.O.N.Y.M., an apparently little-known fact as there was no mention of the studio in Activision’s game launch press release. I received that email, but as you all know, we are a Canadian content site, and as I received no reply from Activision to my question of where the game was developed, the news went unannounced on this site.

Rated E by the ESRB, Wipeout: The Game for Nintendo DS^TM and Wii^TM is based on the Endemol USA produced hit TV show Wipeout. Wipeout: The Game  features the contestant demolishing Dreadmill to the fan-favorite Big Balls, pitting friends and family against each other in the world’s largest, messiest, and most hilarious obstacle course out there.

“When developing the game our goal was to capture all the elements that people love about the hilarious reality ABC show, and to above all make it fun,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing. “So far, we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from fans, who clearly can’t wait to step up to the challenge of the obstacle course.” Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver game dev industry veterans Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch and Kirsten Forbes have officially announced the formation of Silicon Sisters Interactive, a new Canadian video game company based in Vancouver that will create games for a predominantly female audience.

According to the Entertainment Software Association, female gamers are one of the industry’s fastest growing demographics, with women currently accounting for 40% of the overall gaming audience. Silicon Sisters plans to capture and grow this rapidly expanding market by tailoring games to these players’ daily lives and personal interests. Their target customers — women of all ages, from tweens and teens to hard-working women worldwide — comprise an audience that the company’s all-female design staff inherently understands.

“We’re not interested in ‘pinkifying’ games, which is how girl games are typically designed,” says Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch, Silicon Sisters’ CEO. “It’s no coincidence that the games I and many other female gamers are most drawn to have had women involved in their development. Girls and women game differently than boys and men. Silicon Sisters has studied these differences so we can make games that truly appeal to and resonate with the female audience.”

It’s an objective perfectly suited to the founders’ backgrounds. During their combined 18 years in the industry, both have been vocal champions of female representation among video game developers and audiences. The former COO of Deep Fried Entertainment, Bailey Gershkovitch chairs the Vancouver chapter of Women in Games International (WIGeh) and sits on GDC Canada’s Advisory Board. Forbes, previously an Executive Producer at Radical Entertainment, has delivered eleven top-selling games and is a veteran industry advocate for girl gaming preferences.

“The video game industry is experiencing a rebirth of sorts,” says Kirsten Forbes, Silicon Sisters’ COO. “PC online gaming is up, social networking has become pervasive, and mobile platforms are ubiquitous. Women are adopting games on these platforms in droves. It’s time to get serious about delivering quality games into this burgeoning market.”

Silicon Sisters’ predominantly female team, which includes noted designer Brenda Brathwaite as a consultant, is working on two projects for PC and mobile platforms. This summer, company representatives will attend Casual Connect, GDC Europe, and GamesCom to pursue publishing opportunities for their own properties, as well as potential work-for-hire projects that correspond to Silicon Sisters’ corporate vision.

TransGaming, Inc. is crossing the Atlantic and entering the European market after securing its first in a number of active agreements to deploy GameTreeTV in the European market before the end of 2010. The first deployment will be with a European Managed Service Operator (MSO) who will begin releasing the new generation of set-top boxes to their subscriber base of multi-millions of households. Financial terms were not disclosed due to confidentiality reasons. TransGaming will be working closely with this MSO over the next few months to prepare for the commercial launch of GameTreeTV, which is currently slated for late 2010.

“This agreement is a major milestone and demonstration of TransGaming’s leading role in revolutionizing the delivery of high-end interactive content in the digital home,” said Vikas Gupta, President and CEO of TransGaming. “We are excited that European consumers will be the first to enjoy the ability to play great games directly through their set-top box and conveniently will be able to transact their games through a variety of consumer friendly business models.”

The GameTreeTV Gaming Platform is an on-demand video games service that gives consumers access to high quality games directly from the comfort of their living rooms through any Intel CE Media Processor based device. Consumers will be able to access a broad assortment of well-known, popular arcade, puzzle, family and adventure style games from the growing library at GameTreeTV. TransGaming first unveiled its GameTreeTV platform at the Intel Developer Forum in September last year while announcing a strategic collaboration agreement with Intel Corporation and an investment by Intel Capital.

Developers are invited to sign up for TransGaming’s Content Developer Program in order to gain access to their SDK game emulation tools, documentation, and hardware requirements to bring your games direct to consumers through the GameTreeTV Games Platform.

Big Blue Bubble Inc. announced today that Home Sweet Home Online, the next evolution in the Home Sweet Home series is released on Facebook.

Do you think you have what it takes to be a home decorator? Now you can with Home Sweet Home Online! Build your dream home and show it off to your friends and the rest of the Home Sweet Home users.

Home Sweet Home Online gives the player complete freedom when it comes to designing rooms, kitchens and bathrooms. They can paint objects different colors and they are not restricted to a grid when placing items. This freedom combined with thousands of furniture pieces allows the player to create a virtually infinite amount of different rooms!

Travel to your friend’s homes to see what ideas they come up with. You can even travel to their friend’s homes and check out what they’ve done. Meet new and interesting people and become an active part of the Home Sweet Home community!

The player can also play mini games to earn coins, unlock new furniture by gaining experience, and visit virtually everyone else’s home to rate their rooms get decoration ideas. With weekly updates of new content and features, players will continually try to outdo each other and win the Room of the Week prizes. Read the rest of this entry »

The biggest news of the day seems to be the announcement by American Internet movie subscription company Netflix, Inc. The corporation started our week with the announcement that it will expand into Canada this fall offering unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed instantly to TVs and computers (and game consoles?) for one low monthly fee.

Canadian Netflix members will be able to instantly watch a broad array of movies and TV episodes right on their TVs via a range of consumer electronics devices capable of streaming from Netflix, as well as watching on PCs and Macs. In addition to representing its inaugural international market, Canada will also mark the first streaming-only service promoted by Netflix.

At the time of launch, the Netflix Canadian service will be available in English only, but the company said it expects to add French language capability over time. Canadians interested in Netflix can sign up to receive an email from the company when the service launches in Canada this fall.

Vancouver’s Yummy Interactive, Inc. a veteran leader in online PC games distribution for over 10 years today introduced its turnkey game service, Yummy Games Quick Launch, which provides portal operators and online communities with a quick-to-market Games on Demand solution.

The Yummy Games Quick Launch system enables multiple business models packaged under one umbrella. Consumers can play their favorite games via subscription, full-purchase download and limited-time PC game rental. Quick Launch partners can choose from one of Yummy’s custom design themes for their website, and customize elements throughout the site. They will then be able to select their game inventory from Yummy’s licensed catalog of over 1,000 titles and even supplement their library with their own proprietary or licensed game content.

Yummy’s full spectrum of applications, back-office tools and digital distribution technology are all leveraged to engage customers in buying and playing games. If you are at Casual Connect in Seattle this week, be sure to stop by Yummy’s booth and say hi.

The Yummy Games platform includes:

* Yummy’s Progressive Streaming – this technology permits end users to begin playing a game before it has been fully downloaded. This buffering also reduces bandwidth usage, lowering overall hosting costs.
* Games Player – as both a web-based and desktop application, users can access their service and download, launch and save games through the Player from their desktop or their favourite web browser.
* Games Website – the website includes a complete array of pages that highlight the product catalog, service features and support. It includes all meta data on games, search tools, advertising and dynamic web services that will automate lists of games such as Top Played Games, New Releases, and Recommendations.
* Account Management – customers can establish user accounts which are fully managed, secured, and maintained and can be connected to outside databases.
* Automated Updates – content changes, game patches, application fixes are all managed automatically for users every time they log in.
* Digital Rights Management – game executables are wrapped and protected with Yummy’s GameShield™ technology and data is encrypted alongside session-based authentication and IP detection for user account access.
* Cloud Computing – a selection of games can now be saved to the Cloud, so users can access their game saves remotely.
* Real-time Reporting – revenue reports, statistics on player usage, network traffic, most played games, and network activity (session length, time of day, installs, playtime, geographic locations) are included.

The Quick-Launch system also manages hosting, delivery and e-commerce support as part of the overall white label package. Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to three homegrown developers whose titles have been named to 2010’s Pax Prime The Pax 10. For those who are not familiar with what this means for indie developers, The Pax 10 is a featured booth area at the Penny Arcade Expo events. Pax Prime takes place in Seattle this September 3 – 5th, and any indie game featured in The Pax 10 booth has the potential to be played by several thousand gamers over the course of the weekend. Gamers can also meet with the development teams and learn more about the game’s background. At the end of the expo, one game will be awarded The Audience Choice Award as the Best of The Pax 10 at Pax Prime.

The three Canadian titles which were chosen for this year’s Pax Prime Pax 10 are:

Hegemony: Philip of Macedonia by Longbow Games (Toronto)
Fowl Space by Pixelante (Vancouver)
Retro City Rampage by Vblank Entertainment (Vancouver)

Today is the final day to get the Super Early Bird registration rate for IN 2010, a unique cross-platform interactive media event that features two action-packed days of inspiration, insight and interaction between top creative and business minds from across Canada and around the world. Interactive Exchange 2010 takes place this September 12th through 14th in Toronto.

Toronto’s Shot In The Dark Mysteries is pleased to announce it will be sponsoring The Campaign to Save Parent’s Summer Sanity this year on Facebook. The campaign, aimed at providing parents with physical activities to keep their kids engaged through the summer months, is a lighthearted approach to a very real frustration.

“Many parents feel as though they spend the summer months trying (and often failing) to amuse their children,” says Shot In The Dark Mysteries owner Leigh Clements. “The result is stress, exhaustion and, sadly, a bit of resentment. We believe if parents have a constant stream of positive, creative activities to keep their kids both physically and mentally entertained, the result will be happier kids, happier families, happier parents and, of course, earlier bed time!”

The campaign has kicked off with a one minute viral commercial and a Facebook page. Simply clicking “Like” on the Facebook page will link parents to a daily stream of activities for kids, as well as a discussion forum and “wall” where they can interact with other parents, post their suggestions and get new ideas.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FsOUZHWD78]

“The aim is for a community of parents who are banding together to save their sanity!” says Clements. “The Facebook format is perfect for parents. Already, we don’t have a lot of time to be surfing the internet to find activity ideas. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we have a few minutes a day to pop on Facebook and check in with our friends and family. This format puts an idea right into parents’ ‘newsfeed’ so they don’t have to go out of their way to remember to check it.”

On Fridays, Shot In The Dark Mysteries will offer a special “Sponsored” activity idea relating to a kids mystery game available through Shot In The Dark Mysteries.com

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome new Community Engagement Manager Brad Lowe to the awesome team over at Wavefront.

“Wavefront values its engagement with the community and its advisory and market linkage role for local wireless businesses trying to get their technologies and applications to market,” said James Maynard, President of Wavefront. “Brad’s background and ties to the local technology and academic community are instrumental in further strengthening our contributions and we’re excited to welcome him to the Wavefront team.”

Lowe has been active in the Vancouver technology community for 20 years, holding management positions at national and international technology corporations including Nokia, Redback Networks, Abatis and MacDonald Dettwiler. At Wavefront, Lowe will help to facilitate greater interaction between industry and universities, and ensure better integration through regular exchanges of information, knowledge and insight. This collaborative approach will provide greater opportunities for the conversion of innovation in wireless research and technologies into commercial products and services that can be harnessed by a broader range of companies. Lowe will also lead the Entrepreneurship@Wavefront program in partnership with BCIC. Read the rest of this entry »

Select GameStop/EB Games locations across Canada are hosting exclusive Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Tag Mode events on Saturday, July 31, from 2pm – 4pm. Along with trading maps with other attendees, players will also be able to download an exclusive map, and have the chance to win a Midnight Blue Nintendo DSi XL.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies is the latest game for the Nintendo DS family of systems. The game combines imaginative game play with social fun, setting players out on an epic adventure. Maps allow players to find otherwise inaccessible special dungeons called grottoes, which can contain rare items or enemies. In Tag Mode, treasure maps and customized greetings can be exchanged automatically by players who come within range of one another. For a complete list of participating GameStop/EB Games locations across Canada please visit the Dragon Quest product page on the GameStop web site.

Ubisoft Montreal has announced an Assassin’s Creed comic book mini-series is currently in development and due for release this fall. Developed by Eisner Award nominees and Shuster Award-winning illustrators Cameron Stewart (Batman & Robin, Seaguy and Catwoman) and Karl Kerschl (Superman and The Flash), the Assassin’s Creed comic mini-series will be unveiled during a panel to be held on July 22, 2010 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Room 7AB at Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Moderated by G4TV’s Morgan Webb, the panel entitled “Assassin’s Creed: Behind and Beyond the Brotherhood” will include details of the new comic series and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood video game release. Featured panelists will include Stewart and Kerschl, along with Jeffrey Johalem, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood video game scriptwriter. Stewart and Kerschl recently visited Saint Petersburg, Russia on a research trip for the upcoming project. That visit, along with the teaser video released today, will give fans an inkling on where and when the new Assassin comic series will be taking place. Additional details on the project will be revealed at the Comic-Con panel.

The new comic series is part of Ubisoft Montreal’s UbiWorkshop initiative that encompasses a number of the studio’s projects related to leveraging Ubisoft intellectual properties in entertainment mediums outside of video games, such as comic books.

“We always thought that the Assassin’s Creed universe would be perfect for transmedia initiatives like this new comic series,” said Mathieu Ferland, transmedia senior producer at Ubisoft Montreal. “We are excited to have the fantastic and acclaimed artists Cameron Stewart and Karl Kerschl working on the project. Ubisoft is looking forward to showing Assassin’s Creed fans what these talented artists have been up to at next week’s Comic-Con panel.”

Following last week’s news that Zombrex Dead Rising Sun, the full feature film based on Capcom’s popular video game, Dead Rising, will be distributed in Europe and North America, we are pleased to confirm more details on when and where fans can view Inafune-san’s directorial debut. Split into a number of episodes that will be distributed over a number of weeks, Zombrex Dead Rising Sun, will be made available as a free download exclusively on Xbox Live from August 4th, before going live on www.deadrisingsun.com a week later. As an added bonus, certain episodes will begin with interviews featuring Inafune-san where he will provide insight into the film making process. The movie will also be available on the North American Dead Rising 2 Zombrex Edition as mentioned below. 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 »