Village Gamer

Capital Plan Supports Mainstream Performance-Computing Adoption of Liquid Cooling

Calgary – CoolIT Systems, the industry leader in advanced electronics cooling solutions, has completed a CDN $6.2M financing package. The investment was led by iNovia Capital, a leading venture capital fund manager, and included existing angel investors and AVAC Ltd.

CoolIT recently launched its breakthrough Domino Advanced Liquid Cooling (ALC) solution for desktop computers to industry acclaim at the Consumer Electronics Show (Las Vegas) and CeBIT (Hanover). CyberPowerPC will be utilizing the Domino ALC in its Gamer Xtreme product line. This financing was timed to support that launch and accelerate the completion of a number of development projects for OEMs based on patented CoolIT technology.

“Electronics performance is now governed by thermal design more than any other factor. Customers are demanding quiet, reliable and efficient equipment that can only be delivered with advanced cooling solutions of the caliber provided by CoolIT,” said Shawn Abbott, partner with iNovia Capital. “In addition to technology excellence, CoolIT has a world-class management team with the proven ability to lead high-volume, quality technology design and manufacturing organizations.”

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Vancouver – 6S Marketing created the Canadian Social Media Survey to determine how businesses in Canada are using social media marketing for building online communities around their product offerings, and how they are using social media to increase brand authority and visibility online. The survey produced surprising stats on the use of Social Media by companies in Canada, as well as individuals.

Participants were asked about their involvement with various social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, as well as their age group. Not surprisingly, younger people seemed more likely to use Twitter, but the most-used social media site overall is Facebook at 69% followed by Twitter at 47% and LinkedIn at 30%.

Canadians also seem to be very active bloggers, with 74% maintaining a personal blog, 57% running a business blog, and 35% maintaining both a personal and business blog. At 63%, WordPress is the number one blogging platform of choice, followed by Blogger in a distant second with 34%.

It seems that those seeking careers and those doing the hiring still prefer to do things the old-fashioned way. Only 22% of respondents had been hired through an online application, while only 9% of those who do the hiring had found employees online. Businesses are, however, concerned about what their corporate reputation is, with 61% of corporate respondents monitoring online chatter about them. What I did find interesting in regards to business blogs is the breakdown of which department is responsible for blog postings. Marketing departments were responsible for 28% of the corporate blogs, while Management made up for 18%, Other Staff came in at 13%, IT Departments at 4%, and No Work Related Accounts came in the winner at 37%.

You can see the full survey results at 6S Marketing’s web site.

Vancouver – Yummy Interactive, Inc. has created a special offer for software game publishers in time for the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC) to be held in San Francisco March 23 to March 27, 2009. PC game creators and distributors will be able to evaluate GameShield™, Yummy’s Digital Rights Management software free of charge. Furthermore, game publishers and distributors can protect and sell their games without paying any royalties on the license and protection service for 60 days.

“What we have essentially done here is remove all the barriers to publishers,” says Christopher Hennebery, Director of Software Distribution at Yummy Interactive. “We understand that in this industry, game titles are measured on their playability and overall value. GameShield is no different in this respect.” Hennebery goes on to say, “We’re confident that if we can give publishers unhindered access to GameShield, they’ll see for themselves the incremental value that a flexible and powerful licensing product can deliver.”

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Burnaby – Teradici® Corporation, the industry leader in delivering a true PC experience over standard IP networks, announces that its groundbreaking PC-over-IP® (PCoIP®) technology is now available worldwide in new products from partners EVGA Corporation, ELSA Japan Inc. and Leadtek Research Inc.

EVGA is supplying PCoIP technology as an add-in card solution to PC and workstation users in North America, South America, and Western Europe. EVGA’s HD01 and PD01 products enable the benefits of desktop consolidation to be realized securely across the enterprise while delivering high definition content to the desktop. The EVGA products are available from distributors Ingram Micro, D&H and Synnex.

ELSA Japan, a leading computer graphics and multimedia solution provider based in Tokyo, has implemented Teradici’s PCoIP technology in highly-integrated 3D remote graphics products called the ELSA VIXEL series. Available in Japan, VIXEL products provide scalable and secure remote computing solutions featuring rich graphics performance.

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Toronto – Opalis Software Inc., the market leader in IT process automation, today announced version 6.0 of their award winning automation platform with support for cloud computing. This release marks the first IT process automation vendor to deliver integration, orchestration and automation for multi-vendor heterogeneous cloud computing environments.

Opalis IT process automation accelerates the adoption of cloud computing by simplifying the delivery and utilization of cloud resources. With Opalis, companies can automate IT processes that provision, consume, monitor, and release on-demand resources without vendor lock-in.

The Nature of Cloud

“Cloud computing equals virtualization plus automation. For cloud computing to deliver on its promise, it must be dynamic and responsive to the needs of the consumer. Dynamic response comes from having virtual workloads that can be moved automatically – this means you need to have an automation fabric to orchestrate virtual services within the cloud” said Charles Crouchman, CTO, Opalis Software Inc.

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Ottawa – Corel Corporation today announced that Joe Roberts, formerly President of Broderbund software, has been hired as the Company’s Interim Executive Vice President, Products.

An established industry executive with over fifteen years of experience in consumer-oriented software, Roberts was President of Broderbund software prior to it being sold to Riverdeep. At Riverdeep, Roberts served as President, Worldwide Products and Marketing where he was responsible for growing revenue to over $270 million by extending the business into alternative media. After leaving Riverdeep, Roberts served as President of Cosmi Corporation, a leading publisher and distributor of physical and digital PC software solutions. At Cosmi, he played a key role in expanding the company through OEM and e-commerce distribution channels. Most recently Roberts has provided strategic consulting services to a variety of software companies as President of J.D. Roberts Group.

In his new role at Corel, Roberts will lead the Company’s global product management, product development, and product marketing efforts for the Graphics, Productivity and Digital Media businesses, overseeing products such as CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite, Corel® Painter™, Corel® Paint Shop Pro® Photo, VideoStudio®, WinDVD®, and Corel® WordPerfect® Office.

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Vancouver International Partnering Forum and New Media BC’s Digital Media PopVox Awards return with bigger outreach and expanded programs

Vancouver – New Media BC announced its second annual Vancouver Digital Week will be held May 11-14, 2009 at the brand new Vancouver Exhibition and Convention Centre. Partner events include the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Canada, marking the first time the famed gamers meet up has come to Canada; Cossette West’s Convergence Conference, a digital marketing and social media gathering; and nextMEDIA’s first Vancouver event. New Media BC will present its own Vancouver International Partnering Forum and its People’s Choice PopVox Awards during Vancouver Digital Week. For a full list of events, visit: www.vancouverdigitalweek.com

“British Columbia is a global leader in digital media”, says Kenton Low, President of New Media BC. “Vancouver Digital Week is a partnership of top notch events focusing on digital media that brings attention to the world class talent and companies we have here in BC.”

The Vancouver International Partnering Forum (VIPF), to be held from May 12-13, 2009 was first launched in 2004 by New Media BC and continues as a significant annual event for leading Canadian digital companies to meet international decision makers, to explore partnership opportunities and negotiate deals. The forum attracts high calibre delegates from all over the world including the UK, USA, France, Germany, Korea, Australia, China, Singapore, Thailand and Japan. 2009 ushers in a new two day format allowing participants more networking components and the opportunity to double the number of business meetings during the hand-picked B2B sessions. Companies that have confirmed interest to attend this year’s forum include Google, Disney, Nokia, Rainmaker, Mediasense and Next Level Games. On-line registration is open at: www.vipf.ca

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Former Radical Chief Joins Hothead Crew

Vancouver – Hothead Games announced today the appointment of former Radical Entertainment president and CEO Ian Wilkinson as the company’s new president and CEO, effective immediately. Wilkinson oversaw Radical’s growth from a startup company to an established industry player and ultimately sold the company to Vivendi Games, which merged with Activision last year.

As part of the change, former Hothead Games president and CEO Vlad Ceraldi will become director of game development and Joel DeYoung will move from COO to director of game technology.  “My passion is making great games and my new role will allow me to focus on just that,” commented Ceraldi. “I worked for Ian at Radical and felt that his business leadership would be a huge boon for Hothead. I was very excited when he accepted our invitation to join the team.”

“I have worked with both Joel and Vlad before. We made some fantastic games that were multi-million sellers such as The Simpsons Hit & Run and The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction,” stated Wilkinson. “I have already rolled up my sleeves and I am very excited to be back in the industry. I know that together, along with the outstanding team assembled at Hothead with Ron Gilbert and others, we will become one of the great game creators in the world.”

Montreal – FremantleMedia, one of the largest creators and producers of global entertainment brands, has announced a strategic minority equity investment in Ludia, a leading developer and publisher of interactive casual games based in Montreal, Canada. The deal is part of FremantleMedia’s ongoing expansion into the high-growth video games market. It also follows a range of new growth initiatives by the company’s new business unit, FremantleMedia Ventures, and represents the division’s first equity investment.

“Ludia has rapidly carved out a unique position in the competitive video games market by combining a strong focus on quality, exceptional technology and a multiplatform strategy. The company’s leadership team is outstanding and has a strong track record in the industry,” said Christian Schneider-Sickert, FremantleMedia’s Director of Operations and Strategy, who will be joining Ludia’s board.

FremantleMedia’s cash and rights investment will enable Ludia to further expand its portfolio of branded, IP-led casual games and to broaden its international business outside of North America. FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) already licenses formats such as American Idol, The Price is Right and Press Your Luck to Ludia, which has built a unique expertise in translating hit entertainment brands into top-selling games. Ludia recently debuted the The Price is Right game for PCs, gaming consoles and the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. The game quickly became a top-selling game in its category on all formats.

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Toronto – The economic downturn is forcing companies to restructure and contract, but Delvinia Interactive, a pioneer and authority on digital marketing and interactive solutions, has reaping the benefits of the digital space that is showing strong, stable growth and enormous potential. In fact, Delvinia was recently selected to re-architect the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation’s 5km Breast Cancer Run website, rebuild Aeromove’s website and formed an alliance with enterprise computing company IGLOO.

“The digital space is an area that hasn’t come to a complete standstill like other industries,” said Steve Mast, Vice President and Managing Director, Delvinia Interactive. “The state of the economy has created an opportunity for companies to re-invent the way they interact with their audience in the digital space and create an engaging and interactive experience, beyond just a company website.”

Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation’s 5K Your Way website to receive makeover
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