Village Gamer

Regina’s NetSecure Technologies, the company behind SmartSwipe, has announced a strategic partnership with BitDefender®, developer of BitDefender Antivirus Pro, BitDefender Internet Security and BitDefender Total Security. By combining the companies’ flagship products, NetSecure Technologies and BitDefender will provide a layered security package later this year to protect both consumers’ computers and their online transactions.

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, Internet fraud increased by 22.3 percent last year, causing financial losses linked to online fraud to more than double. Additionally, a recent survey of social media users conducted by the Ponemon Institute, an independent research firm, found that identify theft from online banking was of greatest concern, followed by conducting e-commerce transactions.

Daniel McCann, president, NetSecure Technologies, said, “With the steady rise in both e-commerce and online fraud, the industry needs to look for better ways to protect consumers. Today, no one device or software program is completely effective in preventing identity theft and Internet fraud; therefore, consumers must leverage multiple security methods. Through our partnership with BitDefender, we’re confident that – together – we can provide a bundled security package to further protect consumers’ financial and personal information from malicious attacks.”

By leveraging its Dynamic SSL (DSSL) patented technology, NetSecure’s personal credit card reader, SmartSwipe, encrypts sensitive data at the point of origin, before it ever reaches the computer, protecting sensitive financial and personal information from endpoint threats. SmartSwipe cannot be hacked and thus protects both financial institutions and their customers from the growing threat of cyber fraud and identity theft.

“BitDefender’s goal is to help protect computer users across the globe from online threats,” said Peter Laakkonen, General Manager, OEM and Technology Licensing, BitDefender. “We’ve remained committed to set new standards in proactive threat prevention, and our partnership with NetSecure is the latest testament to that commitment. We look forward to working with NetSecure to effectively safeguard the online world.”

Meanwhile over in Ontario, WinMagic® Inc. has announced that leading research firm, Gartner Inc., has placed WinMagic as a “Visionary” in its Mobile Data Protection (MDP) Magic Quadrant* for 2010. WinMagic is committed to Research & Development, innovative features, comprehensive certifications, heterogeneous platform support and wide-ranging embedded system support for such technologies as Seagate self-encrypting (Drive Trust) drives, Opal compliant self-encrypting drives, TPM, Intel® Anti-Theft Technology (Intel® AT) and EFI. Read the rest of this entry »

Open Text Corporation has announced the release of Open Text ECM Suite 2010, the largest innovation effort in the company’s history to create the industry’s most comprehensive, fully integrated ECM solution suite.

The unique value of ECM Suite 2010 is its combination of technologies covering all aspects of ECM. Open Text adds wide ranging new functionality linked through numerous integration points covering 90 products and modules, and spanning everything from compliance, business process management and portals to integrated mobile support and enterprise information archiving. The result gives customers the most complete content management system available to handle the vast array of content types, languages, applications, user needs and business processes in their organizations.

ECM Suite 2010 gives organizations the power to move ECM beyond projects or functional deployments, where ECM crosses systems and departments to add greater value, helping to reduce costs and increase productivity. The strength of the ECM Suite is its core services layer – process services, user interface services and the cornerstone of the ECM Suite, the Enterprise Library (formerly Livelink), with integrated archiving, metadata management, search and records management. All ECM Suite components integrate with this layer. ECM Suite 2010 adds leading capabilities from acquired technologies to further strengthen the ECM Suite:

– Open Text Portal (from Vignette): Offers a powerful, standards-oriented portal capability that publishes content from the ECM Suite, from processes, from the Web, Open Text Social Communities, and other content sources.
– Open Text Web Experience Management (from Vignette): Offers a dynamic Web content management capability for the ECM Suite. It can publish content from the Enterprise Library, Open Text Social Communities and Open Text Media Management. It can also publish into the Portal. Web content can be archived and managed with the ECM Suite.
– Open Text Social Communities (from Vignette): Adds dynamic social and community intranet and extranets capabilities to the ECM Suite. Content can also be archived and put under records management.
– Open Text Content Analytics, Semantic Navigation (from Nstein): Adds content analytics technology into the ECM Suite, allowing users to find content faster based on its meaning. Semantic Navigation is now also available as part of Web Experience Management.
– Open Text Capture Center (from Captaris): Fully integrates imaging and optical character recognition components.
– Open Text Media Management (from Artesia): Open Text has also integrated Open Text Media Management with Web Experience Management. Read the rest of this entry »

Edmonton’s Beamdog is happy to announce the availability of great Kalypso games such as Disciples 3, Tropico 3 and Patrician 4.

“I am delighted to form a strategic partnership with Beamdog and look forward to this exciting business development!” says Charlie Barrett Managing Director of Kalypso Media.

“I’ve just started playing Tropico 3 and so far I’m no Fidel. My island people have yet to embrace my doctrine of statue building and banana worship.” rants El Presidente of Beamdog Trent Oster.

Kalypso Media games are available for purchase now, and the offerings on Beamdog’s site includes some free trials.

JoWooD Entertainment, the BVT Group and Toronto’s DreamCatcher Interactive announce details of the planned digital services for ArcaniA – Gothic 4 and therefore react to the needs of the gaming community.

“Digital Rights Management as a module of the digital services has always been a tightrope walk between user friendliness and security of the product. ArcaniA – Gothic 4 is different here” explains Clemens Schneidhofer, JoWooD Entertainment. “With Arcania – Gothic 4 we deliver a high-quality product gamers will enjoy playing for hours. This joy and fun should not be disturbed by intrusive copy protection measures. So SecuROM is the perfect solution for us because it offers the necessary security and at the same time it fulfills our high expectations concerning costumer-friendliness.”

ArcaniA – Gothic 4 can be installed on an unlimited number of PCs and only needs to be activated once via the Internet. To play, which can be done at up to three PCs at a time, neither the original disc nor a constant internet connection is needed. The possibility of an uncomplicated transfer of license between the used PC offers a maximum of flexibility to the customer.

“The implemented digital services will be perfected by a user-friendly Auto Update Feature that informs the gamer pro-actively – without an annoying search – about the availability of a new Update and installs with the permission of the gamer right away” says Sascha Geschwendtner, Product Manager Games Services Sony DADC. “In addition other innovative solutions to increase the usability and the comfort of the game were implemented one of them being the verification of the release date. This feature allows the user to install the game in advance and to start it directly on the release date and therefore helps to avoid unnecessary waiting time to access the game-world.”

The Province of Ontario is helping The Canadian Film Centre, the country’s largest institution for advanced training in film, television and new media, continue its leadership role in developing world-class talent. This training helps Ontarians get jobs in an exciting and growing industry, while giving Ontario’s artists an opportunity to reach a broader audience with their work.

The province is investing $9 million over three years to help expand its acclaimed training programs and further develop Ontario’s screen-based and digital entertainment market. This provincial support builds on a $10 million investment in the film centre announced in 2005, and in 2009, Ontario’s foreign film and television industry contributed $946 million to the provincial economy and The International Indian Film Academy has selected Toronto to be the first North American city to host its annual Weekend and Awards in June 2011.

Growing the creative sector supports the province’s five-year Open Ontario Plan to help seize new global opportunities and turn them into jobs for Ontarians. Two Canadian Film Centre films were selected for the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival: “Champagne” and “How To Rid Your Lover Of A Negative Emotion Caused By You!”

“The Canadian Film Centre has been instrumental in promoting Ontario’s entertainment industry to the world. Our government is proud to support its growth and the key role it plays in developing our cultural industry, which creates thousands of jobs for the province,” said Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture.

“We applaud the government for recognizing the cultural and economic contribution the Canadian Film Centre makes to the province and are grateful for their continued partnership. This investment will help our talent excel at creating innovative content for global audiences,” said Slawko Klymkiw, Executive Director of the Canadian Film Centre.

THQ Inc. today announced that it has selected Joyent, a global provider of smart computing solutions with an office in Vancouver , to support THQ’s expanding presence in the social games space. THQ will use Joyent’s innovative Smart Technologies to provide a turn-key development and publishing environment to its social gaming development teams. Joyent will provide the server infrastructure, bandwidth, hosting and network operations that enable rapid prototyping and deployment of online games.

Joyent’s quick-start cloud solution and professional services will enable THQ’s developers to focus on game innovation rather than infrastructure deployment. The application of Joyent technology will allow THQ to speed time to market, lower operating costs and improve scalability.

“Joyent provides a key component of our social network strategy,” said Mike Hogan, Vice President of Online Publishing and Operations, THQ. “Using Joyent technology, we’ve been able to create an environment that allows us to provide our studios a scalable platform for developing and launching social games. By removing the complication of infrastructure deployment, we allow developers to focus on what they do best, making great games.”

“We’re pleased to be providing smart computing infrastructure to THQ’s developers,” said Chris Arisian, Joyent EVP Field Operations. “Joyent’s extensive experience supporting some of the leading developers of social games have helped us refine our technology specifically for online games. We support the entire development lifecycle and have optimized our platform to deliver an end-to-end performance and scalability required by game developers. From prototyping through production, Joyent provides the infrastructure solutions to deliver the entire game.”

Incidentally, Joyent’s Water Street studio in Vancouver does have career positions open. According to their site, Joyent is looking for a Software Engineer, a Senior Network Engineer and a Sys Admin.

Coinciding with the release of the Mob4Hire platform Version 4.2, Mob4Hire announced today that its online community has exceeded 50,000 mobile testers (a.k.a. “mobsters”) from 152 countries with handsets on 389 different network operators. The Mob4Hire community also includes more than 1,600 mobile app developers and market researchers from 88 countries.

The award-winning Mob4Hire community puts mobile developers and a global community of tech-savvy testers together in a marketplace for mobile testing, product feedback and market research.

Mob4Hire is experiencing a rapid increase in the number of mobile functional and usability testing projects due to the growing demand driven by the explosion of the mobile app and smartphone industry. Mob4Hire’s customer base has grown substantially with both new mobile brands as well as larger traditional brands. Some of the 1,600+ companies registered in Mob4Hire include Verisign, BBC World Trust, IMMI, O2, Truphone, Yellow Pages, MTV Brazil, Vringo and Whompster. By using Mob4Hire, project costs for developers can be reduced by 65% to 90% over traditional methods.

“Mob4Hire’s mobile community of ‘real people on real handsets with real opinions’ are in virtually every country on the planet, which makes it very compelling for mobile developers who are looking for ways to extend their reach, decrease costs and increase software quality,” says Stephen King, Mob4Hire CEO. “Our developer base is growing by 14% per month and we have seen a 150% increase in usage of the Mob4Hire platform in the past year.”

Mob4Hire’s cost-effective “Do-It-Yourself” model allows developers and market researchers to post their own testing and research projects, requesting specific handset devices, carriers and countries. Developers who submit projects can set a flat fee for each qualified Mobster to make per test, or request that the Mobsters bid on the job when they apply to work on the project. Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver’s Layer 7 Technologies, a leader in security and governance for cloud and SOA services, will showcase its industry-first Oracle Service Bus (OSB) Appliance and new CloudSpan™ product suite at Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco on September 20-22. Layer 7 will be a featured guest in premier sponsor CSC’s pavilion, located at 1101 Moscone South.

Show attendees can participate in a showcase of the OSB appliance and view how it extends the Oracle Service Bus into the DMZ, and see how the CloudSpan solution simplifies integration to the cloud, secures applications in the cloud and governs the publication of APIs from the cloud. Read the rest of this entry »

The original vampire who gave us a reason to fear the dark is coming to Apple®iPad™ as a whole new, frightfully interactive experience! PadWorx Digital Media, Inc., an independent developer of a new category of interactive eBooks for tablet PCs, announced today it will release Bram Stoker’s Dracula on the App Store® in time for this Halloween. Dracula will be the first eBook title for the Apple iPad built from the ground up on PadWorx Digital Media’s proprietary game engine, giving readers the chance to experience a new level of entertainment through the combination of text, animation, gameplay, touch screen interaction, social media, original soundtrack and music, sound effects and more.

“Our new interactive version of Dracula is unlike anything I’ve ever seen on the iPad,” said Jeffery Alan Schechter, director and producer at PadWorx Digital Media, Inc. “From fans of the original classic tale, to the blood and romance fans of the Twilight books and movies, to tech savvy enthusiasts, there are plenty of elements to keep everyone reading for hours. We’ve created original illustrations, animation, sounds and touch screen elements that work together with the text on each page, drawing readers in and allowing them to uncover a new tale worth telling.”

Dracula for the Apple iPad puts a new twist on the classic novel written by Bram Stoker in 1897. The interactive eBook features 300 pages of text, animation, gameplay, and touch screen technology that creates the definitive interactive, user-driven experience. From lighting up the words of the page with a lantern, unsealing the mysteries of letters and journal entries, blowing the leaves off of tombstones to reveal the writing beneath, and even using their own “blood” to reveal hidden text on a page, readers will bring Dracula to life page after enthralling page.

Beyond text and animation, PadWorx Digital Media’s Dracula will break new ground in the world of eBooks by featuring both an original soundtrack as well as eighteen songs from the indie rock performers and bands Adaline, Eve and the Ocean, Ingela, Nadia, and Emily Spiller. Each song will set the tone for a different chapter from the book, creating a whole new way of experiencing this classic story. The Dracula soundtrack will also be available for separate purchase on the iTunes Store®. Pricing for the eBook and for the separate soundtrack will be announced at a later date.

People have watched Gary Brolsma lip-sync and dance in his world-famous “Numa Numa” video more than a billion times since it was first posted to the Internet in 2004. But, how do you think he would do in a game of Trivial Pursuit? The star of the video is joining a cast of YouTube stars for an online Trivial Pursuit challenge to find out if the stars of YouTube, the world’s largest online video community, can outsmart, well, everyone else.

YouTube Trivial Pursuit began on September 8th, and players are invited to participate in the Trivial Pursuit You vs. YouTube challenge to determine who’s the better bet – YOU, the people’s team, or the stars of YouTube. For the first time ever, visitors to the world’s number one video sharing site can play an interactive game with the celebrities of YouTube to try their hand at the new betting game play of the brand new Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It game.

Just like in the new board game, players don’t need to know the answers to win – what counts is if they bet correctly on whether or not their opponent will answer the question correctly. In the online game, players are first asked to answer three questions to earn chips. Then, they bet their chips on whether or not the YouTube star will answer the next question correctly. If players bet wisely – regardless of whether or not the star answer is correct – the points go to the global collective. If not, the points go to YouTube.

Joining Brolsma are more than a dozen YouTube sensations, including Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr of “Charlie Bit My Finger” fame (currently the No.3 most viewed video ever on YouTube), Michael Buckley from the “What the Buck?” show (currently the No.13 most subscribed to channel ever on YouTube) and Tay Zonday, best known for his original work, “Chocolate Rain,” which has had more than 55 million views since it was first posted. Everyone has an inner genius when they play Trivial Pursuit. Find out which of the YouTube stars is a car expert, who is the life-long Trivial Pursuit player and who has a degree in Psychology.

“You vs. YouTube is an incredibly exciting innovation for Trivial Pursuit,” said Jane Ritson-Parsons, Global Brand Leader for Trivial Pursuit. “We’re excited that people can try the new Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It game online by betting on YouTube stars.”

Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It Edition brings high stakes betting to trivia, giving each player a stake in their friend’s every turn. As ever, answer one of 1,800 fresh trivia questions to win a wedge, or if you’d rather, use chips acquired throughout your game to purchase a wedge for that elusive category that has you stumped. On your friends’ turns bet on the likelihood of them getting their question right or wrong. A correct bet will earn you more chips!

Questions in Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It Edition include contemporary topics such as Supermodels, Hot Dogs, Horror Movies, and Heavy Metal, in a variety of new formats like multiple choice and image-based questions to make each turn a unique experience. Play and discover your inner genius in a game where knowing your friends is just as valuable as knowing the trivia.

Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It Edition is recommended for two or more adults and is available at mass merchandise retailers for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

TransGaming, Inc. has unveiled a completely redesigned and innovative GameTreeTV user experience at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. Scheduled to be commercially deployed this fall to European television audiences, the GameTreeTV Platform delivers a comprehensive on-demand video game experience for consumers that is optimized for HD TV through the next generation of set-top boxes and connected consumer electronic (CE) devices based on Intel® CE Media Processors.

The GameTreeTV user experience brings an interactive and intuitive design to digital home gaming, allowing consumers to easily browse through a comprehensive catalog of content to quickly access their favorite games with ease. The design offers game developers a dynamic and visibly compelling user interface where their games can be promoted, showcased and searched easily by consumers. Each game profile in the catalog leverages a variety of video trailers, screenshots and descriptive game content, plus the Platform provides a multi-lingual localized game play experience for consumers around the world.

The release of this new interactive user experience coupled with the extensive game catalog and innovative payment models for consumers, positions GameTreeTV as the premier on-demand gaming platform for all Intel® CE Media Processor based devices. In addition, the recent launch of the GameTreeTV Authorized Developer Program now provides the rapidly growing interactive App-TV marketplace with both a rich third party game development community and a compelling gaming platform experience.

“We’ve designed what I believe to be an exceptionally innovative user experience that aligns to the high quality entertainment and interactive nature of video games. The GameTreeTV user experience is representative of the next generation of interactive platforms that consumers expect, delivering an immersive and enriching game play experience”, commented Blake Lewin, President of TransGaming Digital Home. “Our entire strategy in the design of the user interface is to deliver an interactive and engaging experience that resonates with both the caliber of our content and with the global consumer market. We believe we’ve accomplished this with great success.”

The GameTreeTV Platform will be delivered to consumers through an array of distribution vehicles such as Managed Service Operators (MSO), global OEMs (connected consumer electronics), and related digital media solutions providers. The GameTreeTV Platform will be launching this fall in select European markets and then scaling quickly through 2011 globally.

“Cable providers want to offer new services and entertainment options to their subscribers, and we believe casual gaming will be an integral part of an immersive next generation experience”, said Bob Ferreira, General Manager, Cable Segment, Intel Digital Home Group. “The GameTreeTV Platform offers a rich portfolio of video games, while set top boxes based on Intel® CE media processors provide the performance for an enjoyable user experience. TransGaming provides both rich technology and a flexible business model to fit the requirements of the cable industry.”

The full GameTreeTV experience is being showcased in the SmartTV pavilion at the Intel Developer Forum this week. GameTreeTV is launching later this fall in Europe with some of the industry’s most respected video game developers, including PopCap Games, Paramount, Sandlot Games, 2D Boy, Her Interactive, Playrix, Blitz Games and more. Combined, these developers bring hundreds of games to the global catalog that consumers will enjoy through GameTreeTV.

Cable operators, Managed Service Operators (MSOs), and CE manufacturers globally are embracing Intel’s new CE media processors and are ushering in a new generation of broadband-based interactive offerings for their digital home consumers. TransGaming is working closely with companies around the world to ensure the revolutionary gaming experience provided by GameTreeTV is available to a global consumer television audience.

Hasbro and Electronic Arts today announced that big things are just around the corner for the millions of Littlest Pet Shop fans this fall. Hasbro will release an expanded Littlest Pet Shop Online (LPSO) toy line-up to retail this month. In addition, EA is set to launch a new virtual pet collection program within LPSO.com. Together, the growing Littlest Pet Shop Online experience will offer a blend of real-world and online play designed to capture the essence of the globally popular tween girl brand — collectability.

Building on the success of the Frima Studio developed Littlest Pet Shop Online, an immersive online world launched by EA in September 2009, Hasbro has added two new Littlest Pet Shop Online toys to its fall line-up that will allow girls to extend their real-world Littlest Pet Shop collections while also giving them special LPSO.com virtual benefits when they enter special codes included with toy purchases. Landing on retail shelves this month, the LPSO Dancing Dog and the LPSO Starter Pack toys further integrate the two play styles and enable girls to collect their favourite Littlest Pet Shop pets, connect online with friends, play games, and embark on fun adventures. Additionally, EA’s upcoming LPSO.com collection program, “Collect- a-Pet”, will broaden the online play experience with a series of in-game activities and challenges that girls must complete to unlock new adorable “Reward” pets that can be added to their growing virtual collections.

The LPSO Dancing Dog is an interactive pet that plugs into the computer or an MP3 player and boogies to the music on girls’ digital playlists. It also functions as a speaker and lights up and flashes to the beat creating instant Littlest Pet Shop fun. In addition, the LPSO Dancing Dog comes with a secret code to LPSO.com that unlocks special virtual in-game gifts. The LPSO Dancing Dog will carry an approximate retail price of $24.99.

Also on retail shelves this month will be the LPSO Starter Pack, which will allow girls to collect toy versions of their beloved LPSO.com star characters. Girls can assemble up to six of their favorite in-game characters such as Felina Murchent, the fashion-forward kitty who purrs with style and sass and Woolma O’Chic, the charismatic artiste who creates the trendiest designs available in LPSO fashion. Each LPSO Starter Pack pet will also come with a unique LPSO.com code to unlock a 30-day Premium Membership subscription as well as virtual gifts for a girl’s in-game pet. The LPSO Starter Pack will carry an approximate retail price of $9.99 for each of the six characters including a one-month Premium Membership for each pet purchased.

“Hasbro and EA have created an integrated suite of Littlest Pet Shop Online products that takes girls’ affinity for collection, meaningful play and social engagement to a new level,” said Valerie Jurries, Global Senior Vice President of Marketing at Hasbro. “Whether listening to music, spending time on the Internet or just hanging out, these latest LPSO offerings have been designed to allow girls to have their Littlest Pet Shop pets tag along right beside them.”

Adding to the fun and excitement of Hasbro’s new LPSO toys, EA will roll out major enhancements in LPSO.com this month, including the new “Collect-a-Pet” feature which will allow girls to unlock “Reward Pets” when they complete certain in-game activities such as performing multiplayer pet tricks, starting dance parties, or completing a challenging level in one of the many games. The LPSO.com “Reward Pets” will be a very special stand-out addition to girls’ online pet collections as many are inspired by their adorable on-shelf toy counterparts. The LPSO.com “Collect-a-Pet” feature will debut with four “Reward Pets” that will be accessible to all LPSO.com players like the Spotted Dalmatian, inspired by the Dalmatian that comes with the Littlest Pet Shop Rescue Tails Centre playset, also arriving at retail this fall. Additionally, 15 special edition pets such as a Strawberry Hamster and a Candy Zebra will be available exclusively to Premium Members.

“We anticipate the ‘Collect-a-Pet’ feature to be a big hit with our Littlest Pet Shop Online players as it really speaks to the core play pattern of the brand, which is all about building a delightful collection of wonderful pets,” said Chip Lange, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Hasbro Division at Electronic Arts. “With collection as a main pillar of gameplay within LPSO.com, girls will now have the opportunity to add to their virtual Littlest Pet Shop family, just as they have enjoyed doing with their toy collection over the years.”

Littlest Pet Shop fans can create an LPSO.com account and play for free under Basic Membership or purchase a Premium Membership subscription with exclusive features and benefits for $5.95 per month.

Regina-based NetSecure Technologies, a provider of online transaction security solutions for financial institutions has announced that its personal credit card reader, SmartSwipe, is now compatible with the Firefox® Web browser 3.6 or higher. Made available to financial institutions earlier this year, SmartSwipe helps protect consumers’ private information, while they shop online. The device is also compatible with Explorer 6.

“By enabling SmartSwipe to operate with various Web browsers, the personal credit card reader is a viable security option to a broader customer base,” said Daniel McCann, president, NetSecure Technologies. “For financial institutions, this means the potential for increased sales through bank-branded credit cards. Because of the security benefits, consumers are more likely to shop with that card, making SmartSwipe the ultimate “top of the wallet” product for financial institutions.”

“Additionally, SmartSwipe improves customer satisfaction and confidence,” McCann continued. “Confidence in banking is at an all-time low, but by offering a personal security device that puts the consumer in control, financial institutions have an opportunity regain trust.”

Hackers are increasingly becoming more sophisticated, and anti-virus software is no longer enough to protect consumers. SmartSwipe provides proactive protection against all existing attacks as well as new emerging attacks, such as the latest Zeus Trojan virus, reported to have stolen more than $1 million from U.K. bank accounts this summer.

By leveraging NetSecure’s Dynamic SSL technology, SmartSwipe secures sensitive data at the point of origin, before it ever reaches the computer, protecting sensitive financial and personal information from endpoint threats such as keylogging, Spyware and Man-in-the-Browser.

Virtual-Vancouver.com will host a Virtual Night of Comedy, a real-time web stream of an all-star comedy event scheduled Sept. 16 at BBQues restaurant. This marks the first time this kind of live comedy and entertainment has been made available to thousands of residents without leaving their homes.

The local barbecue eatery has teamed with Virtual-Vancouver.com parent company Utherverse Digital to host the event on stage while simulcasting it live online at BBQues in-world location. Attendees in real life will be able to watch virtual avatars within the 3D world via TVs located throughout the restaurant, while virtual partygoers will see the live in-person event from within the online world.

“This provides a new, exciting and unique experience for people to view live entertainment either in person or in the virtual world if they can’t make it to the actual event,” Utherverse President Zak Zarry said.

The event will be hosted by local comedian Greg Kettner and will showcase top-rated acts that have been featured at Yuk Yuks, Just for Laughs, CTV’s Comedy Now, Las Vegas HBO Comedy Festival and Canada’s Next Top Comic. The headlining act will be Patrick Maliha, supported by fellow funnymen Chris James, Kyle Jones and several others.

The live web stream will start Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in the BBQues virtual space with a $5 cover charge. The virtual event also will have a small cover charge using a virtual currency called “Rays.” BBQues’ physical location is 1043 Mainland St. in Yaletown.