Village Gamer

Toronto, Canada – September 9, 2008 – Today leading publisher Lighthouse Interactive, part of SilverBirch Inc.’s (SVB:TSXV) videogame division, and accomplished developer Kerberos Productions announced that A Murder of Crows, the latest expansion to their highly acclaimed 4X space strategy game Sword of the Stars (PC) is now available for Pre-order exclusively at GamersGate.com. Players are required to have either Sword of the Stars: Collector’s Edition or Born of Blood in order to play this new addition to the franchise.

GAME SUMMARY
While the four civilized races battle back the voracious Zuul and seek advantage over each other, a ghost from the past returns to the galaxy in the form of the manipulative Morrigi. Already known for their dark crow-shaped attack drones and deadly traps, this race once thought long extinct, returns looking for vengeance.

Read the rest of this entry »

SEATTLE – August 29, 2008 – Big Fish Games™, the world’s leading online destination for games and interactive entertainment, today announced the launch of Azada: Ancient Magic, developed by Big Fish Games Studios and available exclusively at BigFishGames.com. Following the success of the original hit Azada, the first puzzle-adventure game developed for online digital distribution, the sequel, Azada: Ancient Magic raises the bar for games in this emerging casual genre to new heights.

“We all agreed that we didn’t want to do a quick sequel with just more one-page puzzles; we had a responsibility to the fans to take things much further,” said Emmanuel Marty, director of Big Fish Games Studios Europe. “Where Azada had pages, Azada: Ancient Magic has entire books, over 20 of them including a secret book exclusively for players who completed the original Azada.”
“Azada: Ancient Magic uses the best elements of the original game and transports players into a much deeper experience,” said Patrick Wylie of vice president of studios at Big Fish Games. “Incorporating heroes, villains, and legends from classic stories gives the game a dramatic appeal and a feeling of familiarity.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

August 28, 2008. Toronto, Canada: The Adventure Company, a leading publisher of adventure games in North America, is pleased to announce the haunting adventure title Outcry for Windows® has shipped to retail stores across North America.

Players will take on the role of a middle-aged writer who receives a strange invitation from his brother who he hasn’t seen for years. Accepting his invitation, you are soon confronted with the discovery of his sudden disappearance and his connection to a mysterious machine which, according to your brother, can separate one’s consciousness from his body.

Read the rest of this entry »

The tenth Annual General Meeting for New Media BC will be held on Thursday September 25, 2008 at Radical Entertainment, 8th Floor – 369 Terminal Avenue in Vancouver. The doors will open for registration and networking at 3:15pm, followed by the official meeting at 4:00pm. New Media BC members will be updated on all of the activities which New Media BC has participated in over the past year, see an outline of what is planned for the coming year, go over the financial reports and elect the Board of Directors for 2009-2010. There will also be announcements regarding Digital Week 2009. After the conclusion of the AGM, members are invited to celebrate Canada’s first National Digital Media Day by mingling to catch up with old friends, make new friends, and view a Politube Shorts Screening presented by New Forms Festival. Members need to pre-register for the AGM and Mixer – if you’re not a member of New Media BC but would like more information, please check out the Membership Benefits page on the New Media BC site.

International music sensation Natasha Bedingfield was today unveiled as the featured spokesperson of Boogie™ SuperStar, the upcoming Wii™ title from the Casual Entertainment Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS). Bedingfield lends three songs to the Boogie SuperStar soundtrack, also announced today, which features a total of nearly 40 hit singles made famous by some of today’s hottest artists.

Bedingfield, who has topped the charts with number one singles and albums in both the U.S. and the U.K., has joined forces with EA to promote the game, which allows girls to perform their favourite Bedingfield songs including her current single Angel, Love Like This, and the title track from her new hit album Pocketful of Sunshine.
Read the rest of this entry »

Toronto, Canada – August 27, 2008 –Today leading computer game publisher Lighthouse Interactive, part of SilverBirch Inc.’s video game division, and developer Nitro Games, released six never-before-seen screenshots for East India Company. These print quality screenshots highlight the three basic gameplay elements: strategy, combat and trade. Scheduled to release in Q1 2009, this dynamic real-time strategy war game for Windows® PC is based on the exploits and adventures of the infamous 18th century East India Companies. It challenges players to build the World’s most powerful trading empire as they engage in fierce open sea battles in both single player and multiplayer modes.

GAME SUMMARY

In East India Company, players will assume the role of Governor Director of one of the East India Companies or other rival companies. There are eight nationalities to choose from: British, Dutch, French, Danish, Portuguese, Swedish, Italian or Spanish – with the goal of bringing new colonies and wealth such as: tea, spices, gold, diamonds and other precious cargo back to Europe, but they must dominate the other rival empires along the way. Wars will be waged and blood will be spilled. Players will also conquer the open sea and explore 40 different cities, towns and villages. Starting modestly, you will build your fleet, establish connections to far away countries, and keep the rivaling nations at bay. Choose from an array of ship classes and types of transport and military vessels: small sloops, schooners, brigantines, frigates and ship-of-the-line. Create different fleets and assign them to specific trading routes. Controlling well situated ports and upgrading them is one key to success.

Conflicts and wars are inevitable. When hostile fleets engage each other, the spectacular naval battles are fought at a real-time tactical level. Devastating broadsides are fired with a deafening roar and cannon balls tear through enemy ships and their crew. At a tactical level, you have direct command over your ship and give independent orders to each of your other fleets. Fight against the other European powers to create a trading empire that will rule above all others!

Read the rest of this entry »

Popular Canadian LAN party site LanPartyEh, which went into hiatus in July 2007 is back with a new look and new proprietors. Once a project of NeoSeeker’s Howard Ha, the site became too large and too time-consuming for Howard to maintain. Local LAN organizers Nathaniel Sabanski and James Charlton spearheaded the project, uniting two separate projects into one. James approached Howard with a proposal regarding the old LanPartyEh site, Howard agreed, and earlier this month the new site was relaunched with a new, updated look and a new sense of unity among Vancouver-area LAN organizers. The project brings together the CapLAN-LowermainLAN, C-Toan, AelatisLAN and Digital Storm events. The administration and staff of LanPartyEh hope to see the site grow into a community which effectively connects not only the BC lan community, but the lan community across Canada.

The ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver Chapter has announced the calendar of events for the upcoming SPARK Animation Festival taking place this September 10 – 14 at the Vancity and Empire Theatres. With featured speakers from Dreamworks and Pixar, along with animation pioneer Ed Hooks, movie screenings and more, SPARK promises to be an exciting event to attend. Please see the Vancouver SIGGRAPH event page for further information and to purchase tickets.

Schedule of Events:

Day 1 – September 10 at the Empire Theatre
A Night With Dreamworks

Day 2 – September 11 at the Vancity Theatre
A Night With Blue Sky Studios

Read the rest of this entry »