Village Gamer

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 »

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 »

Leading today’s news is the official release of Hot Head Games‘s justice-seeking, action-RPG blending epic storytelling, addictive gameplay, humor and evil chickens title DeathSpank on the PlayStation Network for $14.99. Xbox 360 gamers will be able to join the fight for justice on XBLA (for 1200 Microsoft points) tomorrow, July 14th. Developed under the direction of The Secret of Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert, DeathSpank takes players through a heroic adventure in the boots of the titular hero DeathSpank as he hacks and slashes his way through epic quests in a vast world filled with vibrant, eccentric and terrifying characters.

“While DeathSpank is definitely one of the funnier games out there, it’s more than a one trick pony,” said Vlad Ceraldi, Director of Game Development for Hothead Games. “We’ve built a game with fast-paced, addictive combat set in a world that has a tremendous amount of depth that is filled with dynamic characters, colorful environments and tons of cool weapons and loot. And yes, we still have ponies too — trick ponies!”

“The team at Hothead has really made the perfect experience for the summer,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development for EA Partners. “DeathSpank is a high-end and fun game, yet incredibly accessible. It’s very easy to pick up and play, both in terms of its classic arcade controls, as well as the convenience of downloading it straight to your console.”

Players who download the game, which is rated T for Teen, will be placed in the boots of the mighty DeathSpank, “Dispenser of Justice”, “Vanquisher of Evil” and “Hero to the Downtrodden”, embarking on his life long journey is to search for and find a mysterious artifact known only as, “The Artifact”. Along his journey, DeathSpank will rescue orphans, defeat a local tyrant, help an aging adventurer, and dive headfirst into an even deeper mystery. The game’s accessibility makes for a fun, addictive experience where players will find themselves solving crazy puzzles, collecting massive amounts of loot and hearing witty dialogue. For those with friends, DeathSpank also features local co-operative gameplay, allowing friends to jump in and out of fighting through this adventure on the same console as both DeathSpank and his trusty, magical sidekick, Sparkles the Wizard.

Dead Rising 2 Executive Producer, Keiji Inafune and Producer, Shinsaku Ohara, will be at Comic-Con in San Diego to unveil development stories and discuss the upcoming Zombrex Dead Rising Sun motion picture, with a Q&A session to follow. Their talk will take place on July 22 in Room 25ABC from 12:00-1:00 P.M. If you’re going to Comic-Con, Capcom will be in booth #4844, and the Capcom Store will offer items exclusive to Comic Con – including 10 of the Dead Rising 2 motorcycle jacket.

The Montreal International Game Summit has officially launched their 2010 site and confirmed November 7th & 8th as the date for its 7th annual event. Taking place at the Hilton Bonaventure in Montreal, MiGS offers over 80 sessions and activities, addressing continuing professional training needs, fueling the five main themes of the video game industry: business, arts and visual effects, design, programming and technical aspects. In addition to two keynote speakers, there will be an invited speaker for each of the themes. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday while we were at the grocery store, I was killing time at the checkout by perusing the magazine stand, and noticed that Mike Holmes (Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection) has a magazine. Who knew? So, being a fan of his shows and because it had an article on smart homes, I bought the magazine. (I wonder if the sales guy we’ve been dealing with for our modular home design is tired of hearing “Mike Holmes said…or…I saw on Mike Holmes’ show…”) One of the magazine’s features is a “bookmark it” blurb, and this issue’s featured bookmark was the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s home (or office) inventory tool, Know Your Stuff™. This is a very handy – and free – tool that those of us with an abundance of high-tech and high-priced equipment should use – just in case.

According to the IBC’s info page, “The Know Your Stuff™ tool will help you to build a room–by–room record of your belongings and calculate replacement costs. A home inventory will help you get the right insurance coverage and make it easier to file a claim, should you need to. And with IBC’s free, secure, online storage you will have access to your inventory anywhere, anytime.”

MaRS today launched a new commercialization program called TechStart! Consumer, following an open call for promising start-ups in the consumer digital media space. A total of 15 aspiring ventures have been chosen for the 16-week intensive boot camp program led by MaRS Advisors and subject matter experts from the industry.

The program was created in response to the growing demand of consumer-facing digital media companies seeking advisory services, mentorship and market connections from MaRS to help refine their business models and market penetration strategies. The TechStart! program combines advisory, peer-to-peer interactions and focused sector-specific education into one intensive, fast-paced program.

In the last year alone, MaRS’ client portfolio – the approximately 600 Ontario-based companies actively working with MaRS advisory services – has seen a 61 per cent increase in digital media ventures. Today, digital media companies represent 50 per cent of the broader information technologies practice area.

TechStart! Consumer is composed of 10 intensive advisory-driven sessions that cover a range of important business-building topics including: market assessment; user experience design; business modeling; consumer branding; and market launch.

“We hope that TechStart! Consumer will allow us to further our business model and refine our strategy,” says Kuhan Puvanesasingham, Co-founder of Price My Ride, one of the participating companies. “Not only will we be able to closely work with a broad group of seasoned MaRS advisors and experts, we’ll also be able to share our energy and enthusiasm amongst other participants.”

“The TechStart! Consumer program is the first of its kind in Ontario. Creating a meaningful experience for 15 companies is challenging, but the program has been designed to meet the considerable demand from entrepreneurs for this type of immersive learning experience, working closely with both advisors and other entrepreneurs,” says Krista Jones, the MaRS Practice Lead who is spearheading the program. “We have benchmarked a number of acceleration programs internationally in the design of TechStart!, and we believe that the program will help catalyze, scale-up and enrich our entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

In addition to launching TechStart! Consumer, MaRS is also renaming its ICT practice to ICE – Information technology, Communications & Entertainment – to better reflect the growth of consumer facing start-ups working with MaRS.

“Repositioning our practice name is the right response to a fast-changing marketplace,” says Jones. “It better reflects the types of clients we attract and work with today. ICE is just a more succinct, sharper and relevant way to describe our focus and expertise beyond traditional ICT to include consumer and entertainment-based ventures.”

Winnipeg’s Indigo Rose Software has released AutoPlay Media Studio 8 Personal Edition for use on Microsoft Windows 7, Vista and XP. This new version of the company’s popular visual software programming environment is being offered free for non-commercial users. The program is designed to help encourage the development of free software applications and utilities by students, hobbyists, open-source programmers and freeware developers. Read the rest of this entry »

Hot Head Games‘ justice-seeking personality DeathSpank has officially celebrated the grand opening of his auspicious new fan club and “spanking” new website, and he’s inviting everyone to join. He promises lots of announcements and pretty well anything else you will need to know before he takes his fight against evil to the realms of PSN and XBL next week. DeathSpank has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB and will sell for 1200 MS Points on the Xbox Live MarketPlace or $14.99 on the PlayStation Network.

Alien Concepts‘ newest project, At Risk: The Turtle Survivor Challenge, commissioned by the Toronto Zoo’s Adopt-A-Pond Programme is now live. A downloadable free title, this flash game is aimed primarily at kids to teach them about turtles that live within city parks.

“It has lots of educational content about the threats that face turtles and turtle conservation efforts, but it’s fed to the player, we hope, in a way that’s not pedantic or intrusive upon the gameplay. The gameplay we tried very hard to make on par with other sidescroller-type games that kids and adults alike would be familiar with, and features high-end graphics,” said Alien Concepts Studio Director Jamie Richards. “All of the animations are pre-rendered frames from fully-3D scenes constructed in Maya, and there are even several short movie clips of the player’s turtle avatar performing various actions at different points in the game.”

The Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation Programme provides teachers, students and community groups with information resources and educational opportunities to conserve, restore and create wetland habitats.

Corel Software is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a contest. Enter your best illustration, painting or photo created with Corel software and you could win an Ultimate Design Studio or other great prizes – even those who vote on entries can win prizes. All entries must be submitted in the original Corel software format and must be received by August 31, 2010. There is a limit of one (1) entry per person, and the contest is open to residents of  Canada (excluding Quebec), the UK, USA and Germany only.

Toronto social media analytics company and former MaRS client Sysomos has been acquired by Marketwire Inc. MaRS extends its congratulations to everyone at Sysomos, and is proud to have been a part of Sysomos’ success. MaRS’ influence on the “lab to market” success of the social media start-up is evidence of the centre’s ability to work with entrepreneurs to grow and scale their ventures into global market leaders.

Sysomos became a MaRS client in 2006, following its birth in 2005 as an advanced research project for content aggregation and analysis at University of Toronto’s Department of Computer Science. Spearheaded by then faculty member Nick Koudas and graduate student Nilesh Bansal, Sysomos took advantage of MaRS advisors and mentors to help with their business development and was introduced to other key Canada-based resources including Scott Vanderwel, Head of Monitor Canada’s Toronto office and volunteer advisor at MaRS; Vanderwel later joined the Sysomos board.

“We’re grateful for the work that MaRS did over the years to help us move the company forward,” said Koudas, President and Co-Founder of Sysomos. “We are also grateful for the counsel and high degree of engagement Scott demonstrated as a member of our board.” Read the rest of this entry »