Village Gamer

I spent part of last evening playing through the new Firewalker DLC pack for Mass Effect 2, and overall I am very happy with it. I like once again having a vehicle to race around in, and I’m hoping that these five new missions was a test drive for more yet to come. Being able to use the Hammerhead hover tank to gather minerals and elements is much more engaging than scanning planets from the Normandy and lobbing probes at said planets.

While the new missions were not terribly interactive in regards to characters and were lacking in battle scenes, one cannot argue against there being value for the money. The Firewalker pack is free to those who have the Cerberus Network option, and really, any chance to experience more game play in Mass Effect 2 is a bonus. I am aware that some gamers felt that the Hammerhead didn’t have enough tank armour, but as far as I’m concerned, it was just fine. I am notorious for having my vehicles blow up, and I only lost my tank once – apparently it cannot hover over lava pits. Oops. The tank’s light armour simply means that the player must be smarter about picking fights and defeating the Geth, which to me adds another level of game play and strategy. I think that Bioware’s DLC mission team did a great job with this pack; now all they need to do is make it so that more planets can be visited with the tank and keep adding more DLC. I am definitely looking forward to the next pack, Stolen Memory, which will be available in just a couple of weeks.

Montréal – Ed Hooks will be presenting his one day course “Acting for Animators” at CG Con – The White Conference in Montréal on Friday, April 23rd. CG Con features 3 days of master classes by world-leading masters in film and video-game in areas such as Digital Animation, Digital Modeling and Digital Painting & Concept Art. The Early Bird conference price of $299.00 (students $239.20) is available until March 28, when ticket prices will go up to $399.00. The conference takes place April 23 – 25 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

CG Con will also be presenting The North American Roadshow in Vancouver on Saturday, May 8th. The venue and speaker list have not yet been announced, but tickets will be $100.00 each, or $80.00 for students and CG Society members.

Toronto – StyleTap Inc. today announced the release of StyleTap Platform for iPhone®, which allows over 30,000 applications originally written for Palm OS® to run on iPhone and iPod touch® devices.

“We have found that many users and businesses have made very large investments in acquiring and developing mobile applications, and these applications have been enhanced and refined to fit their needs like a glove,” said Gregory Sokoloff, CEO of StyleTap. “With all the new smartphone platforms, users are reluctant to lock themselves into one platform or to make the same investment over and over for each new platform. StyleTap’s cross-platform family of products can help make these problems go away.

“Naturally, we would prefer to be able to offer this product through the App Store, but unfortunately this is not currently possible due to Apple’s restrictive policies, and instead this version of StyleTap will run on jailbroken devices. Although there are many useful and entertaining applications available through the Apple App Store, we continue to receive a flood of emails from users telling us that they need StyleTap in order to keep running the applications, not available on the App Store, that are critical to their lives and businesses.”

StyleTap Platform for iPhone supports standard features that include TCP/IP networking, audio recording and playback, the ability to use the multi-gigabyte storage as a virtual memory card, and cut/copy/paste of text between native and Palm OS applications. It also provides innovative capabilities such as giving Palm OS applications access to the iPhone GPS by providing location information in standard GPS NMEA format. Read the rest of this entry »

Montreal – Toon Boom has released a new version of their Flip Boom Classic animation software. Version 4 now has sound recording ability, so users can add their own voices and sound effects to their animations. Flip Boom Classic 4 is designed primarily for kids who would like to learn computer animation, and today’s new release comes with Easter templates as well as a full tutorial. Flip Boom Classic 4 can be purchased online for only $39.99.

Toronto – All signs point to a digital transformation in the way we do business, our lifestyles and the global economy. As Canada tries to find its footing in the digital industry, today PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has launched Canada’s Digital Compass – a ‘crowdsourcing’ competition that will ask Canadians to help define the nation’s role in the future digital economy.

Canada’s Digital Compass will draw a community of Canadians who are passionate about digital transformation to submit and vote on ideas that could help position Canada to lead the digital economy. Weekly competitions will take place on five topic areas and winners from each competition will participate in a final showdown on May 4, 2010 where the top three ideas will be chosen. The three winners will be awarded tickets to the Canada 3.0 conference at the University of Waterloo on May 10-11, 2010 where their submissions could be presented to attendees.

“The best ideas are developed by collaborating with others and Canada’s Digital Compass is a crowdsourcing initiative which is built on this principle,” says Tracey Riley, partner and national leader of the Technology, Information, Communication and Entertainment (TICE) practice of PwC. “Canada is home to some of the brightest minds in the digital space and this program will allow a community of digital enthusiasts to contribute, critique and build upon ideas that will help Canada lead in the digital realm.”

In addition to community involvement, a panel of digital experts will also weigh in on the submissions and will assist in selecting the top three winners. Their decisions will be based on the ideas with the most community votes and how well each submission aligns with the three measures of success:  economic potential, how it fits with Canada’s capabilities and how it reflects Canada’s values.

“The panel is comprised of experts from a wide range of industry backgrounds and will play an important part in the campaign,” says Riley. “Along with feedback from the community, the panelists will inject valuable insights on the submissions based on their expertise.”

The panel of judges includes:

– Mike Kirkup, Director of Developer Relations, Research In Motion (RIM)
– Jacob Glick, Policy Counsel, Google
– Barbara Bailie, Director of Interactive, Astral Television Networks
– Olivier Vincent, President and CEO, Canpages
– Jerry Brown, Associate Partner, Consulting and Deals, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Weekly Competitions and Subjects:

– Technology – March 16 – 29, 2010
– Education – March 30 – April 5, 2010
– Media Production – April 6 – 12, 2010
– Connectivity – April 13 – 19, 2010
– Policy Development – April 20 – 26, 2010

Surrey – Best Buy Canada will be celebrating the grand opening of its new South Surrey store beginning Friday, March 26 at 15760 Croydon Drive, Surrey, B.C. (at Grandview Corners). The grand opening specials and $500 daily Gift Card giveaways are also included at all Lower Mainland Best Buy locations!

Grand Opening Weekend Schedule of Events:

Friday, March 26, 2010

– Before 9:45 am: Line up for a chance to win a $500 Best Buy gift card
– 9:45 am: Cheque presentations: $2,500 to Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver and $2,500 to Big Sisters B.C. Lower Mainland
– 9:30 am: $20,000 cheque presentation from Monster Cable to Olympic Gold Medalist Chandra Crawford for Fast & Female
– 5 – 7 pm: Iron Man meet and greet Read the rest of this entry »

First up, our congratulations to Bioware and Dragon Age: Origins for picking up a Swedish Games Industry award for RPG of the Year and to EA Burnaby for picking up Sports Game of the Year for FIFA 10. Also, a reminder that the Early Bird price deadline for GDC Canada is fast approaching. Take advantage of the ticket discounts and get your passes before March 31 for this May’s great event at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

There’s lots going on over at IUGO Mobile Entertainment as well. Earlier today the studio announced that several of their game titles will be released for the iPad. On the list are Cliffed, Zombie Attack Second Wave and Implode, along with their brand new game, Escape: Norm’s World. We also found out today that IUGO’s Director of Business Management, Sarah Thompson, will be one of two featured speakers at the upcoming Appy Hour, which is presented by The Social Agency. Appy Hour will be happening on March 26th at the Revel Room from 4 – 6pm. Also speaking at Appy Hour will be Jesse MacFayden, a developer over at Nitobi.

The Vancouver Twestival will be taking place at the CBC Vancouver Audience Lounge this March 25th, and tickets are now on sale.  The Twestival is part of a global day of fundraising which will involve thousands of Twitter-users around the world who are gathering together to raise money for Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organization dedicated to reducing suffering and ending extreme poverty.

Your $20 Twestival ticket includes:

– Admission (donation to Concern Worldwide)
– 1 Wine ticket (more available for purchase)
– 1 Raffle ticket (more available for purchase)
– Food (sushi & canapes)
– Official souvenir YVRTwestival button
– Entertainment (Rob Cottingham, live DJ, Mojave)
– Socializing with Twitter friends (although that’s priceless!)

Edmonton – Bioware has announced the release dates for the next round of new DLC for Mass Effect 2. The Firewalker pack will be available beginning on March 23, and Kasumi Goto will join the crew of the Normandy on April 6. Kasumi’s DLC expansion will be titled Stolen Memories. Also coming on March 23 are new appearances for crew members Thane, Jack and Garrus. The Alternate Appearance pack will be available for 160 MS Points. The Firewalker DLC pack will include the brand new M-57 Hammerhead Hover Tank as well as five brand-new missions and locations to explore. This expansion will be free to those gamers who have the Cerberus Network option enabled. The Cerberus Network game add-on code included free to all those gamers who purchased the game new; if you bought a previously-played version, you can add the Cerberus Network option for 1200 MS Points through the XBL Marketplace. In my opinion, the Cerberus Network offers much value in return and is well worth the points if you didn’t purchase the game new.

There are also plenty of new items over in the Bioware store. Today’s new product announcement is the “Morrigan Disapproves” Dragon Age shirt. If you have a Bioware, Mass Effect or Dragon Age fan in your house, then the Bioware store is a great place to find some cool gift items from shirts and hats to lithographs and music.

The CFTPA has made the National Digital Strategy Prime Time panel videos and several PowerPoint presentations available online. To download the presentations and speeches, scroll down through the schedule list and click on the links for the presentations you would like. I think that by making these videos and presentations available to those who were unable to make the February conference is a great way to continue a national dialogue for the development of a Canadian digital strategy, and I appreciate the efforts by those at the CFTPA for taking strides to keep those of us in the digital media industry informed and talking.

I’m going to leave you on this Friday afternoon with a music video from the young English rock group Jonny Black. Now, you may ask yourself why a Canadian digital media news site is promoting an English group, and I would answer, “because the young men who make up this group are friends of ours and they deserve some extra promotion. Plus, they’re gamers, too.”

Formerly known as Mendella, Jonny Black’s band members are among those who have a dream and work hard to forge their path in the achievement of that dream. This video in particular is an endeavour by the group to have one of their songs chosen as the UK soccer team’s anthem for the 2010 World Cup. We hope that you enjoy Jonny Black’s music as much as we do, and will help their video go viral (watch it, fave it, share it) thereby playing a part in the achievement of their goals. You can read more about our involvement with Jonny Black and learn more about these young men here, here, and in our gallery, right here.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idf_sRaRIRk]

Vancouver – Big Fish Games has released their latest social game title, My Tribe™ on Facebook. My Tribe is the second in a series of social game initiatives that Big Fish Games is launching in 2010. My Tribe was first released in 2008 as a highly addictive, immersive downloadable SIM game for Mac and PC. Now redesigned and extended to the Facebook platform by the Big Fish Vancouver studio, My Tribe offers its characteristically fun and emotionally enriching gameplay to the social gaming audience.

“Social gamers are increasingly drawn to game experiences that offer greater depth of gameplay in easily accessible, social formats,” said Will O’Brien, vice president of Social Games at Big Fish Games. “My Tribe is precisely that. What’s cool about My Tribe is that when you’re actively playing, you govern your tribe, but while you are away, your tribespeople will take matters into their own hands. Your teenage tribespeople, for example, may choose to sleep or eat instead of chopping wood!”

Players begin by selecting an island from among billions of options. Each island is unique with varying levels of natural resources and mysterious objects that are revealed through gameplay. Ryan Clark, My Tribe executive producer, provided more detail about the game: “With a player’s guidance, tribespeople develop areas of specialty – for example, construction – to help them accomplish larger tasks like building a ship or a storehouse. They grow from child to youth to adult, learn new skills, have children of their own, and eventually become respected elders. And because gameplay is continuous – your tribe is living, learning, fishing, eating and surviving even when your computer is turned off – it’s especially important for players to check in regularly on the tribe’s progress.” Read the rest of this entry »

Toronto – DreamCatcher Games and The Adventure Company have announced the highly anticipated release of the Sherlock Holmes VS. Jack the Ripper game trailer for the Xbox 360. The game will be released on April 20th, 2010 in retail stores across North America, priced at $29.99.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tawkB5bytDI]

Sherlock Holmes VS. Jack The Ripper Game Overview:

A horrible series of crimes are uncovered in the East End district of London. The police have no serious leads and the heinous murders continue. Take on the role of Sherlock Holmes as you set out to find clues in the dark, gloomy streets of London searching for the macabre trail of the one known as Jack the Ripper. During this terrifying adventure, Sherlock will attempt to shed some light on the mystery that shrouds the identity and motive of the ghastly killer.

Edmonton – The City of Edmonton is opening its doors to local software developers to improve the way information is made available to residents, and banking on market competition to spur innovation, lower costs and provide greater sustainability for the way information is processed.

“The City is committed to supporting our local software development community – some of the most innovative companies in the world are based in Edmonton,” said Chris Moore, the City of Edmonton’s Chief Information Officer. “At the same time the City is being recognized internationally for working with other municipalities to establish standards so that everyone can benefit from the solutions to the challenges we all face, from wherever they might be developed.”
Among the coming initiatives:

* The City of Edmonton is partnering with other municipalities, including the City of San Francisco, to agree on a common platform from which developers can create applications to send information to 311 call centres. The Open 311 effort means that an application developed for one city anywhere in the world could be used in other cities that have adopted the same platform.
* In late March the City will announce an Apps4Edmonton contest, with $50,000 in prizes and winners showcased at GTEC2010 in Ottawa in October 2010.
* The City of Edmonton is planning to launch an iPhone application called CityWatch, developed by local company Touchmetric. CityWatch will allow Edmontonians to report problems to 311 using an iPhone application. The message to 311 will include location information and pictures from the iPhone’s GPS and camera.

The City of Edmonton is also pursuing the development of a Code for Canada organization, which builds on similar work that is currently underway in the U.S.A. Code for Canada will help city governments become more transparent, connected and efficient by connecting the talents of innovative web developers with city departments to enable the transformative power of the web to achieve more impact with less money. Code for Canada will work with city officials and leading web development talent to identify and develop web solutions that can be shared and implemented in multiple cities.

In the last four months, the City has hosted several “Open” workshops and introduced an Open Data Catalogue, as part of its efforts to improve openness, accessibility and transparency.

“These types of efforts are also a much more effective way to develop and deliver information to residents than we might be able to undertake on our own,” added Moore. “We’re leveraging the power of the community to help our city operate more efficiently.”

Calgary – iStockphoto®, the world’s busiest online stock image marketplace, today announced a new collection of images and illustrations available free of charge to Google Blogger users as part of the new Blogger™ Template Designer.

Blogger is the leading blogging product in the world with hundreds of millions of page views per day and millions of active bloggers. The Blogger Template Designer makes it simple for bloggers to express themselves through unique and beautiful web design. It’s easy to choose a base template, customize the background image, and modify the layout to create a professional site on the web. Users can access the iStock image collection directly from the Blogger Template Designer. There they will find a diverse collection of free images from iStockphoto. With just a few clicks, people can add punch and personality to their blogs.

“The Blogger Template designer empowers everyone to create a truly unique and beautiful blog, letting people express themselves in style on the web,” said Blogger Product Manager Siobhan Quinn. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with iStock, the market leader in the global microstock industry, to bring quality imagery to bloggers and help them create compelling designs for their content.”

Blogger makes it easy for bloggers to choose iStock images from the Blogger interface. Users seeking higher quality images or more options can easily click through from Blogger to iStockphoto where they can browse and purchase additional images. iStockphoto offers millions of photos, illustrations and videos to choose from at prices as low as one dollar.

“Being a content provider for Blogger will excite iStockphoto contributors and raise iStock’s profile with several new types of users, many of whom have not used micropayment stock images before,” said Danny Martin, iStockphoto’s director of business development.

Longueuil – D-BOX Technologies Inc. has announced its sixth release with Warner Bros. Pictures to feature its unique motion technology with the studio’s latest epic tale, Clash of the Titans, in theatres April 2.

“Warner Bros. continues to be one of our greatest studio supporters,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “While this is the second 3-D motion picture release to feature the D-BOX experience, with Clash of the Titans it is on a larger scale given our North American expansion over the past months. The combination of D-BOX’s precision motion effects with the added element of 3-D cinematography enhances the movie viewing experience, creating a truly realistic, multi-dimensional event for audiences.”

Action Fantasy. In “Clash of the Titans,” the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

Montreal – Ubisoft announced that it will bring the critically acclaimed Might & Magic Clash of Heroes to the Playstation® Network (PSN) from Sony and Xbox LIVE Arcade (XBLA) from Microsoft. Developed by Capybara Games, the creators of Might & Magic Clash of Heroes for the Nintendo DS ™ system, Might and Magic Clash of Heroes XBLA/PSN will give players the opportunity to enjoy the remarkable gameplay now in high definition (HD).

“We’re very excited to bring Might & Magic Clash of Heroes to PSN and XBLA,” said Senior Producer, Romain de Waubert de Genlis. “Not only have we had the chance to adapt all of our graphics to High-Definition, but we’ve also had the opportunity to improve the game even further, both in single-player battles and in the main campaign. We took many of the community’s recurring wishes into consideration, allowing players to match their strategic skills and taking full advantage of the online capabilities of PSN and XBLA.”

Might and Magic Clash of Heroes XBLA/PSN will take advantage of the next-gen console’s capabilities to increase its visual appeal and enrich the multiplayer experience. With a unique mix of RPG and an exceptional puzzle battle system. This upcoming release will give Might & Magic fans something to look forward to this Summer 2010.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7nzkoqIjrI]

Key features include:

* Rich Might & Magic Universe
* High-definition environments with manga art design
* Five different factions and five different heroes with five different stories
* Fresh turn-based puzzle battle system with offensive & defensive combos
* Unlockable heroes
* Online Level-up & Ranking
* Multiplayer mode for 2-4 players local and online.

Edmonton – Bioware has released information about new Dragon Age Origins: Awakening baddie The Architect – the first darkspawn to develop a will of his own and an unusual outcast who seems not to be subject to the call of the Old Gods, nor to the other darkspawn compulsions. Even though he is highly intelligent, the Architect has little understanding of humanity, and treating him as anything other than the darkspawn that he is would probably be detrimental to your character’s health. Awakening will be unleashed on the gaming public this coming Tuesday.

Calgary – iPhoneDevCamp 2 (YYC), produced by Robots and Pencils Inc., is taking place this weekend at Calgary Technologies Inc. The 1 day barcamp style un-conference starts at 9am and is open to people wanting to learn more about iPhone Apps development, marketing, business models and funding.

The list of speakers confirmed for iPhoneDevCamp 2 includes:

* Jon Lam of the iPhoenix Fund 1 and BigStack Studios Inc.
* Michael Sikorsky of Robots and Pencils Inc.
* Michael Loh of iKingdom Corp.
* Stephen Gazzard of Broken Kings Inc.
* Brenden Duddridge of TapForms.com
* Trevor Doerksen of MoboVivo Inc.
* Paul Thorsteinson of Big Nerds in Disguise
* Isa Goksu of ThoughtWorks Inc. Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver – The highly anticipated expansion to Dawn of War 2 has gone live today. Chaos Rising is now available for download on Steam – although on the game’s Steam page, there is a message (as of 12 noon PST) which says the game will unlock in ten hours. Also, if you purchase the game right now for $29.99 usd, you will also get a free copy of Saints Row 2 for PC.

In Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising you will take command of the Blood Ravens and defend the sector against the Chaos Space Marines of the Black Legion. Purge the chaos filth and hold the chapter together as traitorous forces work from within to try bring down the Blood Ravens.

* New Single Player Missions – Continue your fight against the enemies of the Emperor and use your squads’ wargear, abilities, and experience to battle Chaos in 15 new missions
* New environment and Multiplayer Maps – New ice planet graphics set will increase the visual diversity and adds 7 new PVP maps
* Aspire to Glory – Build your existing squads up to level 30 and unlock even more devastating abilities
* Chaos Corruption Mechanic – New single player mechanic allows you to equip incredibly powerful equipment that corrupts your squad and will guide the story towards or away from the corrupting influence of Chaos
* New Multiplayer Race – Swear loyalty to the Chaos Gods and play as the bloodthirsty Chaos Space Marines in multiplayer battles against both Chaos Rising and Dawn of War II owners
* New Units – New units for the Space Marines, Ork, Eldar, and Tyranid armies in multiplayer.
* 2 New Last Stand Heroes – Face off against the relentless horde as either the Chaos Sorceror or Tyranid Hive Tyrant

Victoria – Nominations are now open for the 2010 VIATec Awards. Nominations close at 4:30pm on Friday March 19th. Recognizing technology companies in the Greater Victoria (BC) area, there are several award categories open:

* Technology Company of the Year
* Emerging Technology Company of the Year
* Product of the Year
* Innovative Excellence
* Online Strategy of the Year
* Executive of the Year
* Employee/Team of the Year
* The Colin Lennox Award for Technology Champion
* Environmental Excellence
* VIATeC Member of the Year
* Member’s Choice for Service Provider of the Year
* Employer of the Year Award

The VIATeC Awards Gala will be held on May 13th at the Victoria Conference Centre.

Montreal – Emmy® Award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced the upcoming release of Toon Boom Animate 2, a new version that provides professional animators with more power and flexibility for creating traditional, digital, cut-out and Flash-style animation. Toon Boom has listened to the animation community and is now delivering a new Animate version that reflects its requests. Animate is totally dedicated to animators and takes care of their needs from start to finish of their animation projects.

New feature highlights include:

• Fast distribution of character parts to layers
• Easy adjustment of velocity on multiple character parts
• Efficient creation of richer-looking ambiance
• Full-fledged SWF export with effects
• Direct import of scanned drawings (TWAIN)
• Convenient text capability

Key benefits
Whether preferring traditional or digital methods, animators will greatly benefit from Animate 2‘s superior feature set throughout their entire production process. Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver via GDC – Coming out of last week’s exciting announcement of a publishing deal with EA Partners to bring Shank to XBLA, PSN and PC this summer, Klei Entertainment has released a new video of its upcoming 2D cinematic brawler. Showcasing new levels, new moves and new bosses coming to the game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZCqzWPY7U]

This video supports its showing at this year’s Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, Calif. March 11-13, 2010. As one of the 2010 Independent Game Festival (IGF) finalists (and recognized for its excellence in “Visual Art”), Shank will be on display at the IGF Pavilion during regular Expo Hall hours.

Montreal – Ubisoft has released a new game play trailer for Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands. In Forgotten Sands, the developers are using the setting to take the Prince back to the roots which were a big part of Sands of Time. Our hero will travel to his older brother Malik’s kingdom, which is under attack by the Sand Army. Those gamers who played Sands of Time will be able to make use of the Prince’s signature moves and acrobatics in The Forgotten Sands. Using the same Anvil Engine which was built for Assassin’s Creed, The Forgotten Sands will feature a rich environment with massive battle scenes. Just from watching the trailer, I know that my Prince character will be facing certain death a good amount of the time, however – The Forgotten Sands looks to me like another beautifully crafted historic time piece with lots of room to explore and details to take in.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlowGUFT1pk] Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver – Electronic Arts has announced two new partnerships involving local studios. First, EA announced that it has inked an exclusive deal with Klei Entertainment to bring the studio’s provocative new game Shank to Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PlayStation®Network and PC this summer. Featuring a unique art style inspired by graphic novels and golden age comics, Shank blends the intensity of classic 2D side-scrolling action games with a gripping and mature storyline. The cinematic brawler is a finalist for “Excellence in Visual Art” at this year’s Independent Games Festival and will be featured at the IGF Pavilion during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week.

“Our mission at EA Partners is to work with the best talent across the game industry, and we are thrilled to extend our expertise to the leading creative developers in downloadable indie games,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners. “The team at Klei Entertainment is among the best in the world at developing fun and engaging titles for digital distribution platforms, and Shank is an amazing experience.”

“As an independent development studio, we always focus on creating great, authentic experiences for players. Working with EA Partners expands our distribution and allows us to bring Shank to a much wider audience,” said Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment. “They have been a fantastic partner and their understanding of the space is incredibly exciting.”

Taking place in a stylized, modern-Western setting, Shank tells a classic betrayal story directed through a sophisticated cinematic lens, with addictive action gameplay found in classic 2D side-scrolling games.

EA’s second announced deal today is another exclusive publishing deal, this time with Hothead Games and their newest title DeathSpank, which will be coming to Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation®Network in 2010. Developed under the vision of The Secret of Monkey Island creator and industry icon Ron Gilbert, DeathSpank blends a story filled with Gilbert’s unique humor and wit with classic and addictive action RPG gameplay. Read the rest of this entry »