Village Gamer

Vancouver’s Gnosis Games, developer of award winning Facebook games Candace Kane’s Candy Factory and Piñata Bash, today announced the release of Seek and Find, a fun, fast-paced, and colorful brain and reflex trainer exclusively for the Apple iPad that will have kids and adults alike clamoring to grab high scores while also sharpening their recognition and memory skills. Seek and Find is available for immediate download and is priced at $2.99.

Seek and Find features 45 levels and various mini-games that require players to find and identify cute, funny faces hidden among a plethora of different faces. With each game type, players will be given the task of locating a particular face amidst a slew of others and touch it with their finger, nabbing more points the quicker a face is found. Mini-games like Find the Odd One or Find Three of My Kind will require the player to seek and find one or several faces among static or moving faces. As levels progress, the movement and speed at which faces are to be found increases, challenging even adults as they play along with their children. Seek and Find also supports multiple profiles and tracks each person’s score on a leaderboard, advocating friendly competition that will have everyone vying for that top spot on the ladder!

“As kids, we all remember playing board games with our parents, creating a bond through quality time shared over friendly competition. Seek and Find on the iPad can be used to create this same experience, with parents and children challenging themselves, and their dexterity and speed, with the hours and hours of content Seek and Find has to offer, ” said Dan Irish, CEO of Gnosis Games. “I’m sure kids will love trying to, and undoubtedly will, beat their parents’ best scores!”

Ubisoft® revealed it’s developing Petz® World, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) free-to-play game tied to its multimillion unit-selling Petz brand. Petz World is an online pet simulation adventure game for kids and tweens being developed by Frima Studios and will be available in 2011 for the PC.

“Ubisoft is excited to be propelling its popular Petz brand into the MMO space. This game is a unique way for children and parents to play games together,” said Chris Early, vice president of digital publishing at Ubisoft. “Petz World allows players to share their progress and adventures, helping each other to receive more coins, achievements and unlockables.”

In Petz World, players can adopt unique pets with their own personality and embark on remarkable adventures in realistic environments around the world. The Petz will be able to explore and learn about exotic locations, meet new and exotic animals and even save them. Petz World will be ever-growing with more locations to visit, more animals to unlock and more places in the world to discover.

On the heels of a successful weekend which saw the debut of ladder competition in Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.), publisher Wicked Interactive has announced that the World Online Gaming League (WOGL) will extend competitive gameplay for its popular free-to-play online shooter through the end of October. The competition, celebrating the third explosive week of the game’s open beta, begins today, Friday, October 1 and runs through Sunday of every weekend through October 31, Halloween.

“Last weekend was about getting players comfortable with the new ladder system,” said Stephen Tucker, CEO, World Online Gaming League. “Now we have teams in place as we add more and more players each weekend throughout the competition.”
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Toronto-based start-up DrinkBox Studios today announced that their alien-invasion-themed co-op platformer Tales from Space: About a Blob will be released in early 2011 as part of Sony Computer Entertainment America’s “Pub Fund” program.

Developers looking to release a game through the Pub Fund initiative must be prepared to build it to completion and commit to a period of console platform exclusivity. In return, approved developers receive a development-budget-matching royalty guarantee from SCEA. A number of popular PlayStation®Network games, including Burn Zombie Burn by DoubleSix and Joe Danger by Hello Games, have already been released through the program.

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DrinkBox CEO Ryan MacLean had this to say about the initiative: “Pub Fund has been a good fit for us. The royalty guarantee and other Pub Fund terms have allowed us to confidently focus on finishing our game while retaining ownership and artistic control over the project. Working with SCEA has been a great experience in general: The advice they have given us over the course of development has helped us build a better game. We’re excited to be working with them on this project!”

Moncton software developer DOVICO Software has announced DOVICO Planning & Timesheet, a new software product from the makers of the industry leading DOVICO Timesheet. Building upon DOVICO’s Time Tracking foundation and user experiences, this new product answers the need for customers who want quick answers to simple questions such as: ‘Who is available and who is not?’, ‘How long will this project REALLY take to complete?’, ‘How much will this project cost us?’.

“Our goal for DOVICO Planning & Timesheet was a simple and easy project planning tool that satisfies a manager’s need to have a good insight into employees’ current and future availability – while keeping our core time tracking features in place.” said Bob Gorham, Product Manager at DOVICO. “Equally important is the ability to uncover what is keeping everyone occupied and , more significantly, a method to try ‘what if scenarios’ when planning a project and seeing the impact of these before moving ahead.”

DOVICO Planning & Timesheet: It’s easy to try and the first 30 days are free.

Immediate Benefits

* Determine whether you should take on a project or not.
* Ensure that your proposed project plan is accurate and profitable.
* Know which of your employees are being under/over utilized.
* Easy transition from a spreadsheet template such as MS Excel, simply copy and paste!
* Affirm that your best talent is working on your mission critical projects.
* Save time and costs in the planning process with our innovative tool that unites project planning and resource utilization.
* Reduce project overruns with our project forecasting tools so you can fix any issues proactively.
* Shorten billing cycles and get paid sooner.
* Deliver projects on time and on budget.
* Easily shift project priorities with our resource reassignment tools.
* High employee adoption with our intuitive time tracking solution.

I just received information from DFAIT that due to its relationship with San Diego’s high tech industry organization CommNexus, Canadian companies are welcome to apply to participate at MarketLink, which takes place in San Diego this November 17th & 18th. The deadline for interested companies to apply is October 22nd 2010. In conjunction with this invitation to participate, Verizon Wireless is looking for companies who specialize in these areas:

Privacy/identity management
Collaboration tools
Personal health & wellness monitoring
Consumer Cloud-based services (content sharing, gaming, etc.)
Mobile security
Mobile Services and Applications marketing tools
Mobile Application Development enablers (API management, porting, voice APIs, context awareness, mash-ups, etc)
Customer Analytics
In-car mobile experience
Hardware innovation
Voice innovation

Random House of Canada is pleased to announce its move into the mobile screen space with a first-of-its-kind app based on interesting and fun facts from new and bestselling books from Random House of Canada and McClelland & Stewart.

Conversation Starters is a first in the book publishing industry, an insightful collection of fun and interesting facts from new & bestselling books presented in an easy-to-use Did You Know format. Created for both the iPAD and iPhone/iPod touch, this free application has a leading edge mobile user experience and design technology with a personality of its own, engaging users both 1:1 with the app and 1:many when users of the app take what they have learned and share with others to spark conversation.

Conversation Starters allows people to boost their knowledge and keep the conversation flowing, and to share facts and tidbits with friends through email, Facebook and Twitter. Users can also read an expanded selection from each book with just one click, and to keep reading, they can easily connect to online retailers.

“This is just the beginning of our foray into the rapidly growing mobile space” says Lisa Charters, SVP, Director, Digital for Random House of Canada who oversaw development of the app. “We want to reach and engage with readers, providing them content from our books on the go and in an interactive fun way. We set out to build a unique app that people would keep coming back to on a regular basis. Conversation Starters is also another way we can help readers find the next right book for them and to help spread the word of mouth about our authors and their books.”

Deborah Hall, Managing Director at Web2Mobile, who worked with Random House of Canada on the development of the app commented, “Conversation Starters combines the best in breed digital content with a robust and innovative technology platform created by Web2Mobile. Our team is really proud of this project design and immersive digital experience unique for both the iPhone/iPod and IPAD platforms.”

Along with the launch of this app, Random House of Canada has optimized key content areas of the Booklounge.ca site for small mobile screens – the highest trafficked pages on the site such as bestsellers, new releases, and books in the news can now be found here http://m.booklounge.ca.

The iconic Mega Bloks® system, beloved by parents and children around the world, turns 25 and to mark this milestone, MEGA Brands is launching its biggest promotion and giving North American families the chance to win $25,000 towards their children’s future.

“We want to celebrate Mega Bloks®’ 25th birthday by giving back to the families who have helped us become the world leader in preschool construction toys,” said Stephane Boulay, Marketing Director at MEGA Brands. “We are thrilled to provide families with the chance to win $25,000 towards their children’s future, one of 25 Mega Bloks® prize packs valued at $500 each, as well as offering them $5 off their next Mega Bloks® purchase, which is all available in over 700 thousand 80-piece Mega Bloks® bags throughout North America.”

From October 1 to November 30, 2010, North American families can participate in Mega Bloks®’ birthday contest through two possibilities: in-store and online. At all major retailers in North America, participants can simply purchase the award-winning 80-piece Mega Bloks® bag and peel off their in-pack peel off contest card to instantly get the chance to win the grand prize of $25,000 for their children’s future or one of 25 Mega Bloks® prize packs valued at $500. Participants also have another chance to win one of 25 Mega Bloks® prize packs valued each at $500 by going online and registering at www.megabloks.com/25.

The 25th birthday promotion is one of the many marketing initiatives supporting Mega Bloks®’s 25th Birthday. The company is also celebrating this occasion through retail events at Toys “R” Us throughout North America, a Mega Bloks® 25th Birthday feature shop in Toys “R” Us Canada, and a new and exciting Mega Bloks® iPhone and iPad application for preschoolers ages two to five.

Open Text Corporation’s Open Text Records Management, a fully integrated component of the Open Text ECM Suite, has received the highest possible rating of “Strong Positive” in Gartner’s new report entitled “MarketScope for Enterprise Records Management” (by Kenneth Chin for Garnter, August 23, 2010)

Gartner’s MarketScope provides specific guidance for users who are deploying, or have deployed, products or services. A vendor with a “Strong Positive” rating is viewed by Gartner as a provider of strategic products, services or solutions, meaning that current customers should continue with investments while potential customers should consider the vendor a strong choice for strategic investments.

Open Text Records Management helps organizations safeguard against the liability, risk and cost of content and provides a way to verify the integrity of business practices. By ensuring that business policies and legal requirements govern the retention and disposition of content, Open Text Records Management helps organizations comply with worldwide regulations, standards, and certifications, such as U.S. DoD 5015.2, U.S. FDA 21 CFR Part 11, U.S. SEC Rule 17a, Europe’s MoReq, and Australia’s VERS. Open Text Records Management is a service provided to all applications of the Open Text ECM Suite and uses the core enterprise archiving capabilities of the suite.
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Toronto-based ScribbleLive has launched the latest version of its live content management system (CMS) to help journalists spread news in real time. Social media services deliver information at a rapid pace. ScribbleLive enables media companies to harness the immediacy of these technologies while maintaining the control required in the newsroom to cover developing news events in a new style that meets the needs of its audience – fast, engaging and collaborative.

ScribbleLive is a comprehensive live CMS platform that enables media companies and large organizations such as Reuters and Hearst Television, to report on developing news stories like natural disasters, sporting events and election results in an entirely new way online. Journalists can now report story elements from e-mail, SMS, Twitter, voice call or the ScribbleLive web interface – whether in the newsroom or out in the field. The result is dynamic content that provides real-time updates, including multimedia, to readers as the event unfolds.

The event pages reside on ScribbleLive’s servers, but otherwise maintain a seamless appearance with the organization’s existing website – to both visitors and search engines. After the event, the searchable webpages remain, so readers can look back on the way the story unfolded – a unique opportunity to see a “rough draft” of history as it was first written.

“People want news delivered quickly – They are turning to social media sites such as Twitter to access breaking information, rather than waiting for news outlets to push stories through editorial review,” said Michael De Monte, co-founder and chief executive officer, ScribbleLive. “ScribbleLive changes the traditional linear flow of the newsroom to a more dynamic, collaborative process that empowers real-time reporting and audience engagement while ensuring editorial control and journalistic integrity. With our tool, journalists are able to tell stories in a completely new way.”

This latest version of ScribbleLive offers powerful new features that:

* Let journalists leverage mobile devices to create stories in the field via enhanced publishing capabilities through SMS and voicemail, as well as mobile apps for iPhone and BlackBerry
* Better harness information from Twitter with advanced filters
* Employ SSL to improve data protection
* Allow syndication of posts to multiple web properties
* Lay the groundwork for a revolutionary new way of telling stories and engaging with readers online Read the rest of this entry »

Kobo has announced the new Kobo Wireless eReader, the newest addition to the Kobo family. The new Kobo Wireless eReader adds WiFi connectivity, upgraded hardware with faster performance, longer battery life, and a sharper eInk screen.

With the new Kobo Wireless eReader, consumers can now shop on the go, anytime, anyplace, directly from their Kobo eReader with one touch of the “Shop” button. Adding over 200,000 books in six months, the Kobo store now boasts over 2.2 million books including today’s new releases and bestsellers, timeless classics and thousands of free books. Consumers can read on any device – iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, PC, MAC, Linux, and their library will always be up to date on their eReader. The addition of WiFi means consumers can now receive wireless deliveries of popular newspapers and magazines directly to their eReader.

With this release, Kobo demonstrates its continued commitment to providing customers with a choice when reading, rather than locking them in to a single provider. Support for open standards like EPUB and PDF means that customers can easily borrow and read the latest eBooks from their local library – for FREE – and also upload documents with an SD card, drag n’ drop or Adobe Digital editions. The eReader comes pre-loaded with 100 free literary masterpieces including a selection of fiction, memoirs, politics, philosophy and more.

“We introduced the Kobo eReader to make eReading more affordable and accessible for consumers. It worked, making the Kobo eReader a bestseller, and the industry followed,” said Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo. “Today, we are excited to introduce our latest generation, the Kobo Wireless eReader, enabling customers to shop and update their library on the go with superior performance for only $149 CAD. The launch of the new Kobo Wireless eReader caps a very busy month for Kobo, in which we announced a new application that will come preloaded on the Samsung Galaxy, introduced the new Kobo Desktop and updates to our iPhone and Android apps, and unveiled the first social reading application for Blackberry. The market for eReading continues to grow at an unparalleled pace, and Kobo is advancing even faster.”

The Kobo Wireless eReader will be available for $149 CAD at Kobobooks.com, and will be available for purchase at Borders US, Indigo Books & Music and Walmart in Canada. Online pre-orders begin today with the Kobo eReader being shipped to customers in October. The Kobo Wireless eReader is now available in three stylish colors: Onyx, Porcelain with Metallic Silver back, and Porcelain with a Pearlized Lilac back.

To celebrate the launch of the new Kobo Wireless eReader, Kobo has partnered with Random House of Canada and is pleased to offer two FREE eBooks to customers who pre-order the new eReader exclusively through Kobobooks.com or at Indigo Books & Music in Canada. The titles include International bestselling author Linwood Barclay’s critically acclaimed novel Fear The Worst which delivers readers a fast-paced suspense story, while When My World Was Very Small by Ruth Rakoff provides an intimate, one-of-a-kind memoir of family, food, cancer and recovery. Together these titles provide customers with an additional value of $59.90.

More Information about the Kobo Wireless eReader: Read the rest of this entry »

Those of you who are fans of The Sims and Army of Two will be pleased to know that Rios and Salem will be making a crossover appearance in MySims SkyHeroes. Here’s a sneak peek at their adventure:

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Relic Entertainment has released a new video for Dawn of War II: Retribution. This new video takes a look at the Eldar Race, which was revealed for the first time during last weekend’s Games Day UK.

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Montreal’s Audiokinetic Inc. has released the latest version of Wwise, its award-winning audio pipeline solution. Wwise 2010.2 introduces new features and enhancements.

Among the new features included in Wwise 2010.2:

* New Wwise effects: Tremolo, Flanger, Guitar Distorsion, Meter
* Side-Chaining
* Convolution Reverb
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Winnipeg’s Complex Games has announced the impending release of their latest iPhone game, but the game’s name is a total mystery! Further details about the title will be released in the following weeks, but in the meantime visitors to the game’s site can for a limited time win prizes by guessing the name of the mystery game. The game will be available on both the iPhone and the iPad.

Although there are no details available yet regarding the title, the Canadian-based game developer has promised that a game trailer will be available shortly after the winners of the contest are announced.

“We expect this game to make #2!”, says Complex Games Lead Programmer Frano Sailer in his usually cryptic way, “once this game launches, it’s really going to hit the fan!”

Battlegoat Studios and Paradox Interactive today announced the launch of the first Supreme Ruler: Cold War developer diary. In addition, to celebrate the occasion, they have released a selection of new downloadable wallpapers.

In Supreme Ruler: Cold War, players will enter the world of the 1950’s and navigate their nation through many of the historical headlines. Prepare to battle economic challenges, unstable governments and worldwide tensions in this grand strategy experience.

“With Supreme Ruler: Cold War as our first historical title, it brings the very exciting new realm of ‘what if’ into the gameplay of Supreme Ruler,” said Stewart Braybook, Battlegoat CEO. “History tells us about the Cold War, but there are so many turning point events and personalities that the end result was never certain. Supreme Ruler: Cold War will allow players to see if they can change history, improve upon it or succumb to it.”

Game Features:

– Play as the United States or Soviet Union in Campaign Mode
– Control any Nation in Post-World War II Era in Sandbox Mode
– Use Diplomacy, Trade and Espionage to influence the policies of other nations
– Research new Technologies to give your nation an edge
– Grow and Modernize your Economy
– Control Military production and deployment, or let your Ministers take care of the details
– And when Diplomacy Fails… Sophisticated Real-Time Strategic and Tactical Control of your Military Forces
– Enhanced Graphics and Sound including New 3D Terrain
– Experience the redesigned GUI with improved On-Map feedback and streamlined controls
– Up to 16 players in Multiplayer over local network or Internet

Still with publisher Paradox Interactive, they, along with Vancouver’s Kerberos Productions have released a new engine teaser trailer for Sword of the Stars II, the follow-up hit to the 4X franchise, Sword of the Stars. The game offers an evolved version of the original six races from Sword of the Stars and its expansions, Sword of the Stars II reveals the deep, dark secret of the Suul’ka. Boasting an all new graphics engine and incorporating new ship details that allow for new fleet strategies and tactics, Sword of the Stars 2 is poised to revive the 4X space genre and is scheduled for a 2011 release.

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Rogers Media announced today that Citytv.com is launching the first iPad video application by a Canadian television broadcaster. The new Citytv Video app will feature shows from its primetime broadcast schedule along with CityLine and Breakfast Television Toronto. The ad supported Citytv.com video app for iPad is available free from the App Store on iPad.

“How Canadians interact with traditional television is evolving. They want to watch their favourite shows when and where they want to on their preferred device – whether it’s a television, smartphone or a tablet,” says Claude Galipeau, SVP & GM, Digital Media, Rogers Media Inc. “Rogers has a reputation for innovation in Canada. Launching the first Canadian TV iPad application reinforces Rogers’ commitment to deliver seamless entertainment experiences for our customers. In addition to catching-up on their favourite shows online, on Citytv.com, through Rogers Video On Demand and RogersOnDemand.com, audiences can now access the easy to use and convenient iPad option.”

With the launch of the Citytv iPad video app, Rogers Media is advancing its strategy of bringing multi-screen branding opportunities to its advertising partners. The Shorts in the City app for iPad and iPhone, which launched in May of this year, is another example of a multi-screen programming initiative.

The app gives Citytv fans the ability to catch up on full-length television programs and clips on their iPad. The Citytv app also includes a number of convenient features, such as a TV schedule and a notification service that allows users to be reminded when their favourite shows are available on the app and on TV. Other features include the ability to share video links on Facebook, Twitter and via email. The app also saves your viewing history and favourites.

American PC game distributor CompuExpert has announced that the company has signed a deal with Capcom to be the exclusive North American PC distributor for Dead Rising 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 2006’s critically acclaimed survival horror action game developed by Blue Castle Games (now Capcom Game Studio Vancouver).

Set several years after the Willamette incident of the original game, Dead Rising 2 takes place in Fortune City, a glamorous entertainment playground where people attempt to escape from reality and the threat of zombie outbreaks by winning at games of chance. Players take on the role of Chuck Greene, a former national Motocross champion and handyman who is willing to do anything for his daughter Katey, including fighting the undead.

The original Dead Rising forced gamers to fend off hundreds of zombies at any time by using everyday objects like bowling balls, shower heads and traffic cones. Dead Rising 2 will pack even more zombies on screen, as well as additional new items that Chuck can use to make customized weaponry, such as explosive footballs or chainsaws strapped to kayak paddles.

Dead Rising 2 for the PC will be available at Gamestop, Best Buy, Amazon and other PC game retailers tomorrow, September 28th. The game has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

BC analogue game studio Funleague Inc. has announced the release of its horse card game called “Perfect Stride”. It’s a fun gather-round-the-table experience designed primarily for those who love horses.

Perfect Stride is a horse-themed card game that can be fun and challenging for everyone, but it will hold particularly strong appeal for girls and women. “There are many games out there that are primarily directed towards boys,” said Kay Darby, President of Funleague Inc. “I decided that it was time girls and women, particularly those who love horses, had a game designed with their interests at heart.”

In the game Perfect Stride, players are horse riders who gallop across the countryside toward the finish line over a random course of jumps. The players must combine their skills as riders with their horse’s abilities as they attempt to clear each obstacle. Ribbons are earned along the way and at the end of the race the rider with the most ribbon points wins the game.

In addition to the engaging game play, there’s a lot of visual interest here to satisfy the eyes. Almost 100 unique pieces of art are in the game; each is drawn and painted with an eye for accuracy. “I wanted Perfect Stride to be fanciful, yet still believable and somewhat accurate,” said Kay Darby. “As a horse-lover myself, I always appreciated when horses were portrayed in a thoughtful and informed way.”

While Perfect Stride features a theme that is typically of interest to girls, the design was mindful of others too. “It’s an inclusive game that doesn’t indulge in stereotypes,” Darby explained. “We worked hard to keep the design open and approachable and make it inviting to everyone who would like to enjoy the game.”

In celebration of Mega Bloks’ 25th birthday, MEGA Brands will be launching its first iPhone and iPad application ‘Mega Bloks Playground,” a unique mobile-based toy designed to give younger children a fun and engaging experience developed by

MEGA Brands is proud to bring the realms of children’s toys and digital entertainment together with the release of their first-ever iPhone and iPad application based on its founding product ‘Mega Bloks Playground.’. This intuitive new app will be available October 1st, 2010. The preschool world includes two playable characters, a boy and a girl, who interact with a full set of playground elements, such as swing sets, slides, teeter-totters, playful animals, a lake with a sailboat, and even a hot air balloon. While playing the app, children will be delighted to collect piles of colorful bloks that will ultimately piece together to form new Mega Bloks creations every time!

New Quebec-based Budge Studios, the developer and publisher of the Mega Bloks app, specialize in creating children interactive products for touch devices and tablet computers. Budge Studios goal was to create the ultimate digital playset for preschoolers with the number one preschool construction brand, Mega Bloks.

Both iPad and iPhone versions will be released October 1st, 2010. Mega Bloks Playground is $1.99 (iPhone) and $3.99 (iPad) and available worldwide exclusively through the Apple App Store in the Game – kids section. Starting on the day of the launch, the app will be 50% off for 48hours.

Offers.com launched Offers.com Canada earlier this week to help Canadian consumers save time and money. Offers.com Canada is a one-stop resource that brings together the best money-saving offers available for online shoppers in Canada. The site helps consumers save money when shopping online and save time by presenting all the best offers in one well-designed site. Read the rest of this entry »