Village Gamer

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada has announced the appointment of Tanya Woods as its new Vice-President, Policy and Legal Affairs. Tanya joins ESAC from Bell Canada (BCE) where she acted as Legal Counsel on regulatory and copyright matters in Ottawa.  At Bell, Tanya’s primary role was to serve as BCE’s in-house copyright expert advising senior executives on a range of policy matters such as multi-platform licensing, anti-piracy, legislative reform, international trade agreements and corporate policy. Tanya has experience dealing with government and regulatory issues, having participated in a number of multi-sectoral coalitions and working groups and has appeared as a witness at parliamentary committees reviewing legislation such as copyright reform.  Read the rest of this entry »

Pixelmatic has announced the worldwide simultaneous launch of Gem Wizard for iOS and Android devices. Gem Wizard is a new match-3 title that uniquely combines blitz gem popping gameplay with RPG item collection and crafting mechanics. In Gem Wizard, players can send free gifts and compete with their friends in a Weekly Battle tournament. Players are rewarded with gems and materials after each game, which can be combined through a simple match-3 crafting system to create mighty weapons and high level mystical gems. By socketing gems into magic wands and other fantasy themed weapons, players can completely customize their abilities to suit their style of play. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) congratulates the winners and nominees of the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards, which have been recognized for their excellence by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, and industry professionals at a series of events which culminated with last night’s gala. A total of 33 CMF-funded productions won 55 Canadian Screen Awards, including top winners such as Degrassi, Borealis, Call Me Fitz, Less Than Kind, Rick Mercer Report, and The Defector which received the Diversity Award. Read the rest of this entry »

I freely admit that I have never played a Professor Layton title, outside of preview events held at Nintendo Canada. How ironic that the first title that I played from this popular franchise is apparently its last, and the third part of a prequel trilogy. While this may cause me to lose some of the benefits of knowing how the puzzle system has kept players engaged over the years, or how the story got to the point where it is now, it did not stop me from enjoying the game, its story or the 100+ puzzles awaiting solution. The back story is easily picked up, but I do caution that Azran Legacy is reading-intensive, so I would not recommend this title for younger children, unless they have a very good command of the written word and a penchant for solving puzzles. Read the rest of this entry »

Article Written by Penka Kouneva – When I first arrived in Hollywood in 1999, I had a PhD in Music composition, a keyboard and one connection. While that might not seem like much, it was more than I had when I moved to the United States from my home in Bulgaria nine years earlier. I was extremely passionate about scoring films and games – this is what I wanted to do for life. In retrospect, while my naiveté and idealism were laughable, they were also vital in getting me as far as I am today, because if you had told me upon my arrival 15 years ago that the first time a woman (Shirley Walker) was a Lead Orchestrator on a studio feature film was 1992, I’d have been shocked. If you told me that, in the history of Hollywood, only 8 female composers would score a studio feature, I might have turned around and gone right back into academia. Read the rest of this entry »

Coming off the highly successful 3rd album release (Video Games Live: Level 3), Video Games Live continues its spearheading 13 year history of spreading the art and culture of video games and their music around the world, announcing over fifty more tour dates, kicking off this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. Some of the highlights of the ongoing groundbreaking 12 year tour include: Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has announced the factors weights for the 2014-2015 Performance Envelope (PE) calculations. This announcement reflects decisions made by the CMF’s Board of Directors following a series of consultation sessions and working groups with members of the industry, and aligns with the CMF’s strategic objectives of rewarding success, ensuring a diversity of voices and fostering industry innovation. In order to provide more meaningful access to smaller broadcasters in the PE program, projects financed through some selective programs will be included in the calculation of all PE factors specifically, the Aboriginal Program, the English POV Program, and the Francophone Minority Program. Projects funded through these programs have been eligible for the Audience Success factor credit (if aired in English or French) and will now be eligible for the other PE factors. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for Guacamelee! fans to return to fighting form as DrinkBox Studios has announced that it will bring its award-winning action-platformer to the PlayStation®4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and the Wii U™. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition – which is among the first indie titles scheduled to launch via Microsoft’s ID@Xbox program for independent game developers on Xbox One – will feature a bevy of new content, including an extended story with new game areas, a new boss character, powerful new player abilities and many other enhancements. Read the rest of this entry »

Ubisoft has just announced that the long-awaited Watch_Dogs will be available worldwide on May 27, 2014 for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. The Wii U version will be available at a later date – of course it will, because this is the version I pre-ordered.  In the meantime, you are invited to check out the all-new Story Trailer and get a deeper look into what drives Aiden Pearce.  Remember, there are some things you can’t walk away from. Read the rest of this entry »

To drive innovation in the social space, HootSuite has announced the launch of HootSuite Labs, a team focused on developing the next generation of social technologies. With origins as a ‘startup within a startup’, Labs explores emerging digital technologies and engages with HootSuite’s early adopters and select customers to shape the future of social media and digital marketing. As part of Connect via HootSuite in San Francisco, HootSuite Labs hosted an Innovator’s Breakfast where enterprise clients were invited to help shape the product roadmap and provide feedback on the latest developments. Read the rest of this entry »