Village Gamer

LONGUEUIL – D-BOX Technologies Inc. announced today that it has concluded a licensing agreement with Black Box, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. This licensing agreement will allow Black Box to integrate the unique D-BOX Motion Code(TM) technology on the soon to be released PC version of Need for Speed(TM) Undercover game. D-BOX Motion Code(TM) technology is proprietary software that powers a range of Motion systems featuring high performance actuators designed to provide real-time response to on-screen action.

“We are very pleased and thrilled about the idea of working with Electronic Arts; one of the world’s leading interactive software company” stated Claude Mc Master, President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies. It is a first significant step to integrate D-BOX Motion Code(TM) in the video game market. Through this licensing agreement, we are in a position to raise the awareness of millions of video game players worldwide to the D-BOX Motion immersive experience which is perfectly adapted to their needs and expectations.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Montreal – Interactive entertainment company Ludia Inc. will create games based on the popular television game show Press Your Luck, it was jointly announced today by Alex Thabet, Founder and CEO of Ludia Inc., and Olivier Delfosse, Senior Manager, Interactive FremantleMedia Enterprises, licensor for “Press Your Luck”. The multi-year exclusive agreement will bring the Press Your Luck game show experience to the PCs, consoles, iPods and iPhones of players worldwide.

The Press Your Luck game will retain all of the favorite elements of the classic show, rendered with a dynamic redesign, including hundreds of new trivia questions to answer, “spins” on an interactive giant game board, and the iconic Whammy providing never-before-seen animated antics. In addition, the Press Your Luck game will incorporate connected gaming elements to make it easy and entertaining for friends and family to play and interact together. Both
Read the rest of this entry »

Toronto – NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), today announced a partnership with TransGaming, Inc. to bring their award-winning City of Heroes ® franchise to the Apple® Macintosh®. The game has been enabled for the Mac by TransGaming, a leading developer of portability technologies for the electronic entertainment industry. City of Heroes for Mac will be available for public beta testing with the release of the game’s thirteenth expansion, Issue 13: Power and Responsibility later this fall. The official launch will occur pre-holiday this year with a special digital-only Mac edition of City of Heroes, available across all NCsoft West consumer territories.

“Players will soon be able to join the battle of good versus evil in the most popular comic book MMO on both the PC and Mac platforms…and in the same game world,” commented Brian Clayton, executive producer of City of Heroes for NCsoft West. “Given Mac’s fame as a platform for creative people and City of Heroes’ unprecedented character customization options, I think City of Heroes is a perfect fit for the Mac gaming community.”

Read the rest of this entry »

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Greenhouse Interactive today announced that the Nitrogen Software Development Kit (SDK) is now available free of charge to independent developers seeking to enhance their games selected for the Greenhouse digital distribution service. Major tools offered in Nitrogen include the social networking functionalities of ‘triumphs’ and ‘standings,’ which will allow developers to reward players for their in-game accomplishments and then display them for the rest of the Greenhouse gaming community.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two, scheduled to launch this Wednesday for Windows®, Mac® and Linux®, will be the first title on the service to implement the new Nitrogen SDK and offer gamers triumphs and standings to enhance their gameplay and Greenhouse community experience.

Read the rest of this entry »

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – October 24, 2008 – The boys at Meridian4 are packing their bags and making their way to Lyon to attend the Game Connection event being held from November 5th to the 7th. They are seeking out developers with unique, fun and addictive titles to publish in North America and around the world.

“The Game Connection in Lyon last year helped us obtain several titles that may have never seen the light of day. We are always amazed at the amount of talent and imagination that exists around the world in the form of small and independent developers.” said Andy Sher, CEO at Meridian4. “It’s a shame that some really exciting games never get published and never get into gamers’ hands. We hope to seek out those titles and make them available to the gaming community.”

GarageGames Looking to Fund New Studios in Austin, Vancouver, and Seattle for InstantAction.com Titles

Eugene, OR, October 14, 2008 – GarageGames, creators of InstantAction.com, the website for gamers that combines the intensity of videogames with the accessibility of the web, have announced that they are looking to fund new startup studios working on original IP for InstantAction and other platforms.

“We’re seeing a lot of larger studios cutting back on costs and thus forced to let go of great talent,” said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames. “There’s always opportunity for good developers to start anew and we’re looking to give these guys a shot to get back to their roots on a small team making games for a cutting edge platform.”

Read the rest of this entry »

VANCOUVER – Fit Brains today announced a new strategic partnership with Prevention.com, the top online health magazine site. The partnership will expand Prevention’s game offerings to include the engaging and scientifically developed brain fitness games by Fit Brains.

With more than 1.7 million unique visitors, Prevention.com is one of the top online destinations for women seeking health, fitness and beauty tips and advice. The new partnership will add to the brain training games channel of Prevention.com, offering a greater variety. Users can access the online brain exercise routine by visiting www.prevention.com/braingames.
Read the rest of this entry »

Australia’s Plastic Wax has unveiled their collaboration with leading Vancouver developer Relic to produce the first Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II trailer, which recently debuted. The trailer can be seen now on the official Dawn of War II web site.

“It was our mission to make sure gamers’ first impressions of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II was flawless,” said Owen Hurley, Director of Animations and Cinematics with Relic. “To give fans a taste of where Relic’s latest masterpiece is going, both in terms of action and visuals, we needed an extended cinematic that brought frenzied battles to life unlike anything that has ever been seen before. Plastic Wax delivered big time.”

Trailer Screenshot

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is set in the far distant future. The 41st millennium is a dark, forbidding place, ravaged by thousands of years of conflict. Across this gothic universe huge armies struggle for victory in a battle to the death. Visualizing action on this scale for two and half minutes required a depth of skill and resources rarely found at traditional animation houses.

“Bringing the amazing Warhammer 40,000 universe from Games Workshop to life was a huge honor for our studio,” said Nathan Maddams, Creative Director, Plastic Wax. “This project gave us a unique opportunity to partner with the talented folks at Relic to give gamers the first peek at what will be the premiere RTS game of the year.”

Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that it will continue in the studio’s long tradition of delivering powerful content-creations to the gaming community by releasing the Dragon Age™ Toolset. BioWare will be presenting the Dragon Age™ Toolset at the Penny Arcade Expo in the Washington State Convention & Trade Center today through Sunday. Designed specifically for the highly-anticipated Role-playing PC game Dragon Age™: Origins, the Dragon Age Toolset provides players with developer-grade tools that will allow them to produce their own content.

Attendees of the Penny Arcade Expo will be the first ever to see the new toolset in action as BioWare will provide a live demonstration of some of its exciting features and capabilities. The Dragon Age Toolset will be part of a stage demonstration during the Penny Arcade Expo at 1:30pm, August 31, on the main stage at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.

Read the rest of this entry »

Edmonton – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced that it will continue in the studio’s long tradition of delivering powerful content-creations to the gaming community by releasing the Dragon Age™ Toolset. BioWare will be presenting the Dragon Age™ Toolset at the Penny Arcade Expo in the Washington State Convention & Trade Center today through Sunday. Designed specifically for the highly-anticipated Role-playing PC game Dragon Age™: Origins, the Dragon Age Toolset provides players with developer-grade tools that will allow them to produce their own content.

Attendees of the Penny Arcade Expo will be the first ever to see the new toolset in action as BioWare will provide a live demonstration of some of its exciting features and capabilities. The Dragon Age Toolset will be part of a stage demonstration during the Penny Arcade Expo at 1:30pm, August 31, on the main stage at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.

Key features include:

Create Original Adventures – Using the rich set of Dragon Age assets and locations as starting blocks, users can modify these stunning areas by adding new quests, characters and scripting to craft their own adventures, fate-defining conversations and cut-scenes.
Read the rest of this entry »