Village Gamer

First, congratulations to game studios Next Level Games, Bioware and Digital Extremes for being named in the Top 100 Canadian Employers.  Research In Motion was also named to the list. Next Level is consistently named as a Top Employer by several agencies, and Bioware has also won previous awards for being a Top Employer. 

Digital Leisure’s Word Searcher puzzle game has been released on WiiWare. You’ll need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher contains fun words from multiple categories including anatomy, world cities, ancient weapons and 97 other subjects. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle everyone will enjoy. Help improve your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills with these addicting puzzles. Keep track of, and try to beat your own completion times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play. Get your thinking cap on and conquer all 100 today!

Ubisoft has announced that Hollywood actress Kristen Bell will reprise her role of Lucy Stillman in Assassin’s Creed II. Bell’s character will once again play a major role in the game’s intricate storyline. “Being a part of the first Assassin’s Creed video game was an amazing experience. Video games is such a creative entertainment medium, and to be able to see and play myself as a video game character was surreal,” said Kristen Bell. “As an actress, it’s both challenging and rewarding to play a complex character with this great mysterious background. I’m very happy to be Lucy once more, and I look forward to fans discovering more about her – they will be pleasantly surprised.”

Also available for viewing is a new video vignette showcasing the Assassination Arsenal. Media Labs is holding an AC2 film contest with a $10 000.00 first prize, but it’s only open to US residents over the age of 18.

EA Montreal has announced that renowned film composer Tyler Bates will be creating the impactful score for the highly anticipated third person co-op shooter Army of Two™:The 40th Day. The sought-after composer, best known for his work on the blockbuster films 300 and Watchmen, is crafting an immersive score that will highlight the epic co-operative battles gamers and their friends will face in the first major videogame release of 2010.

“Set in Shanghai in the middle of a major a disaster, Army of Two: The 40th Day dials up the action through a series of powerful scenes where players have to work together as a team to survive and escape the city,” said Lewis James, Audio Director at EA Montreal. “Tyler examined every part of the game and how players will move through the world to craft a score that truly represents their actions and the chaos unfolding around them.”

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IUGO Mobile Entertainment is thrilled to bring back its best-selling title, Zombie Attack! in the sequel – Zombie Attack! Second Wave. ZA! SW or ZA!2 is slated to be bigger, better and bloodier than ever before! It still keeps to the “tower defense with a twist” game play but throws in new zombies, more weapons and multiple, elaborate maps. “ZA! is our top selling game to-date,” explains IUGO’s Director of Business Development Sarah Thomson. “Tower defense is of course a hot genre, combine it with zombies and our users start salivating. This time ZA!2 will build upon all that was loved with the original and give our users more!”

ZA!2 is slated for submission with the App Store very soon. Keep an eye out (but not near a hungry zombie) for the launch of ZA!2 near the end of this month, early next month.

Not to worry though, Toy Bot is out to save the day. Recently launched on the App Store, Toy Bot Mini Missions will help you limber up those fingers prior to the Zombie onslaught which is about to happen. With 100 mini puzzles to test your Zombie preparedness, how can you help but not be prepared? Toy Bot, his friends and foes join him in 100 challenges ducking lasers, jumping obstacles and defying gravity in order to collect the big prizes.

Features:

• 100 mini games in total
• 12 characters to unlock and play with in total
• Great for short bursts of play as well as long gaming sessions
• IUGO’s new VIP program: Tell your friends, access more characters sooner!
• Your favorite 2D Toy Bot friends and new buddies in the Toy Bot universe!
• IUGO’s signature quality and polish

With IUGO’s fanbase growing, the independent mobile games developer has launched its exclusive VIP program. The offering is slated to reward users who are loyal to IUGO products, those who are heavy users and players who are able to refer their friends to grow the userbase. “We love our users and we wanted to create a vehicle in which our users could be rewarded for their loyalty, “states Director of Business Development Sarah Thomson. “The IUGO VIP program makes it easy for users to recommend our games to their friends and earn points towards in-game unlockables and other cool stuff. With the launch of this feature we have plans to grow and explore it so much more with ways that give back to IUGO fans”

The program also of course helps IUGO continue to grow its following and play upon the social networking aspects of mobile gaming. The IUGO VIP program had a soft launch in its recently released game Toy Bot Mini Missions. The VIP program will be seen in the upcoming Star Hogs update, the launch of Zombie Attack! Second Wave, Cliffed and Implode! For more information on IUGO’s new VIP program, please visit the IUGO community forums.

Welcome to Part Three of our look at Canadian women who game. This section will probably interest those of you who are developers the most and give you some clear insight about these gamers’ thoughts about the products you develop. If you missed previous entries for this series, you can find them here:

The Other Side of the Coin Part One and The Other Side of the Coin Part Two

Today’s installment will look at the benefits we gain from gaming, how we choose the titles we do, and what we’d like to see in the games we play.

Probably one of the most foremost reasons for gaming is the entertainment factor and the escapism many of us seek when we game. That said, as gaming becomes more and more social with multiplayer components, forums, groups and events, gamers are able to enter new worlds of possibility with their games. Without a doubt, one of the most-mentioned gains achieved through gaming was the social aspect, as shown in the replies below.

Question: What do you feel is your greatest gain from being a gamer (friends, community, challenges, learning)

Rachel: Definitely making new friends, and being a part of a community, but also gaming has really forced me to think differently. There’s a lot of thinking outside the box that goes on in games and I like that challenge.

Annette: I feel that the gaming community is one of the best out there. So many of the communities out there work well together and have great people.

Megan: Probably the community. I’ve benefited a lot from the gaming community, particularly GamerchiX. I’ve met a lot of great gamers and have learned a lot around the GamerchiX forums.

Chloe: Oh man, toughest question yet. Friends and community are definitely among my top gains. From my clan, I have some amazing girl friends I NEVER would have without having met them through gaming, and I have learned an INCREDIBLE amount about leadership and the challenges that come with it from the same sources at times! My best friend and I would never have met without gaming, and I can’t imagine my life now without his influence and seemingly unending ability to listen to me rant. Community is so huge though, I think it’s got to be the #1. Because it’s a result of this community that I have these experiences, that I have these friends. So having been a part of PMS Clan and helping to build the community of the GamerchiX was super important to me.

Jenny: I think the greatest gain is the ability to interact with the online community. I’ve met some really great people on Live, and it’s a blast playing with them all.

Lee: Friends and community.

Jen: I love the social aspect of gaming. I’ve made so many friends from playing on Live, some of which I feel closer to than my “real life” friends. I love sharing the sense of accomplishment of finishing a game with a co-op partner, working your team to reach that objective point, or finishing that instance with your guild. It really does enhance my gaming experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Gaming Gives Back: Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society and Vancouver Video Game Industry Team Up to Hold Halloween Fundraiser Ghoulash Bash

Vancouver – This October 29th from 7 PM to midnight, the Metropole Pub at 320 Abbott Street will be hosting Vancouver’s first annual “Ghoulash Bash“, a Halloween fundraiser to
benefit Vancouver’s hungry.

The event is organized by a group of game industry volunteers on behalf of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society (GVFBS) and is sponsored by corporate donations from members of Vancouver’s video game industry. It is being promoted as an opportunity to raise money for and awareness of the GVFBS, as a chance for Vancouver’s game industry to give back to the community, and as an opportunity for members of industry and interested parties to network with others in Vancouver’s diverse video game industry.

The theme of this year’s Ghoulash Bash is “Retro ReAnimated”. Guests are encouraged to come dressed up as their favourite “retro” video game character – zombified. Activities will include a retro game costume contest, prize giveaways, retro game competitions and
networking opportunities. Party-goers will have opportunities to win prizes contributed by video game companies, including 1-hour mentorship sessions donated by influential members of the game industry, such as Genius Factor Games‘ Ted Nugent and Ross Young,
Cowbell Games‘ James Johnson as well as Industry veteran Adrian Crook.

Guests will be able to buy tickets at their desired level of contribution. Higher-priced tickets will come with prizes, special offers, or additional drink tickets. Corporate sponsorship will also be graded, with higher contributors being offered special billing and
other benefits. Participating companies are encouraged to form employee teams to compete with each other to see who is able to raise the most money.

For more information about the Ghoulash Bash, contact Ryan Arndt at 778.988.7780, email at ryan@ghoulashbash.com or visit the event’s web site. More details will be announced soon!

Edmonton – BioWare™ has released details about special bonus content crafted for Dragon Age™: Origins to be released on launch day. The award winning developer will release several packs of downloadable content (DLC) for the highly anticipated RPG including The Stone Prisoner, the Blood Dragon Armor and Warden’s Keep.

“BioWare is dedicated to delivering at high quality for our fans, and we’ve created something quite special here, some really cool new downloadable content. A brand new party member, fresh adventures and environments to explore, plus powerful new items and abilities – together these will enrich and extend the core game experience, and enable our fans to dive even deeper into the dark, heroic fantasy universe of Dragon Age,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare and the Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group at EA.

In Dragon Age: Origins, players take the role of a Grey Warden, one of the last of an ancient order of guardians. Now, as a rising evil threatens to destroy all life, it is up to players to unite the shattered lands and slay the corrupted dragon known as the Archdemon. To restore peace, players must make ruthless decisions and be willing to sacrifice their friends and loved ones for the greater good of mankind. On this journey, players will need to make critical choices that affect the various members of their party.

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Vancouver – The thirteenth graduating class from Vancouver Film School has much to be proud of. We attended their Pitch and Play Presentation last evening, and it’s evident that they all worked very hard on their projects. I liked the new format for the show, and it was nice to see so many industry people turn out to take a look at work and put some hard questions to the development teams. We participated in five pitches, each unique in its own way. The presentations were quite well done, but something we missed that had been done in the past was the availability of game demos or other promotional materials for the projects to bring back to the office for later perusal.

The first presentation of the evening was from Fully Cooked Games, who presented their project titled HighMoon Express. This game was the first of two built using the Unity Engine. HighMoon Express was described by the development team as “a tongue-in-cheek western arcade-action game. Built on the concept of a tower defense styled game, the heroes consisted of Doc, The Priest, The Showgirl and The Gunslinger. The enemies were Trolls, Ghosts, The Cubs and The Feral. The character artwork sort of reminded me of the old Scooby Doo villains (not a bad thing), and the game play required some quick thinking on the part of the gamer. Power-ups were available in the game’s shop, and each player also had its own unique special move to defeat the onslaught of enemies.

Second to present was Team Heist with their flash-based game The Perfect Job. The presentation opened with a very humorous animated cut scene showing the game’s “hero” in his jail cell being presented with a large cake by the prison guard. Our hero has been broken out of jail by the local mob boss, and now must break into buildings to steal things for the boss, in order to pay him back for breaking the hero out of jail. In order to commit these heists, our thief must avoid security guards and cameras while picking locks, cracking safes and stealing the treasures – all within a set time limit. The player has the ability to hack the camera computers and turn them off as well as use some of his funds to bribe the guards, however there are bonuses for not adding bribery to his list of offenses. Should our thieving hero be caught, a large set of prison bars close with a clang over the screen, and the player has to start the level over again.

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If you missed Part One of this editorial, you can read it here.

In this installment, the ladies and I will be discussing gaming and families, being a gamer parent, competitive gaming and “gaming in a boys’ world.”

Our first area of conversation today will be regarding our families and video games. It’s no secret that in some families, video games are considered to be a waste of time and a bad influence; I’ve experienced that within my own family, often to our own amusement. Those who know me know that I am not one for jewelry and trinkets. My tastes are simple. I like computers, games, books and photography. My sister-in-law likes trinkets. Expensive trinkets. Two years ago, Scott bought me the Legend of Zelda limiited edition gold DS Lite for Christmas. When we were at my parents that morning, my sister-in-law was happily showing me the latest diamond and gold trinket my brother bought her for Christmas. I just as happily pulled my shiny new DS out of my hoody pocket and said “Here’s the gold I got for Christmas.” She looked at me, completely aghast, and said “You wanted that?” I replied with “well, yeah.” Plus, I have to give Scott a lot of credit – he supports my gaming activities, and has often heard the “yes, I’ll be up to bed in a bit, I just want to finish this mission. And the next one…and the next one…”

To find out about other gaming families across the country,  I put these questions to our focus group: Do you game with family members and does your gaming cause friction in the family?

Rachel responded that for her household, the majority of their family members have no problem at all with video gaming, as most of them enjoy watching game play, however there is one cousin who feels that video games are evil. He considers Rachel and her husband to be losers and bad parents, especially as they permit their son to play and often play as a family. Megan also grew up in a family that has no problem with gaming. She stated that the only time there were problems was when she and her Dad stayed up too late playing. Allyson doesn’t game with family members other than her fiance’s younger brother, but her being a gamer doesn’t cause any problems with relatives.

While Chloe doesn’t have any close relatives who game, she does play with her boyfriend and his son. While she was still living at home, she would have disagreements with her Mom over gameplay, but these days the only conflicts are when there is a single copy of a game in the house and more than one person wants to play it. I can relate to that in a big way. We have been a two-360 house for about a year now, and sometimes problems arise when there is only one copy of a game. I finally went and got a second copy of Assassin’s Creed because I got tired of rescuing it from the Cavechild’s domain.

Being a night owl, Jenny tends to game late in the evening; her husband isn’t a gamer, but she’s still coaxed him into playing a few tunes on Guitar Hero. Her parents introduced her to gaming with the Atari 2600, so there wasn’t a problem in her house when she was growing up.  Lisa’s family doesn’t have any problems with the playing of video games, and they often compete in the LIPS karaoke game. She does say that her sister can get quite competitive, though. Jen games with her daughter, and the only conflict which arises within her family is that they think she spends too much money on her hobby.

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Burnaby – NBA LIVE®10 is now available in stores for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Developed by EA Canada in Burnaby, BC, the NBA LIVE franchise has graced multiple generations of consoles for over 15 years, and has sold more than 35 million units in its lifetime according to NPD Data. NBA LIVE®10 brings an unprecedented level of user control to the long running series, putting gamers in command of dribbling, passing, shooting and driving the lane, replicating the athleticism and agility that real NBA players display on the court.

In addition to gameplay and available to online connected users only, game visuals and in-game presentation have also received an overhaul in NBA LIVE 10. 90 throwback jerseys and more than 500 shoes will update throughout the course of the year. All new player models will elevate the look of each individual player in the game to reflect their real world counterparts. Authentic lighting and design for all 30 NBA arenas, and commentary that evolves throughout the season to reflect big trades, key match-ups, and injuries, will work together to deliver the most authentic presentation in an NBA LIVE videogame to date.

Evolving on the genre-defining Dynamic DNA, NBA LIVE 10 introduces a premium service called Dynamic Season to this year’s offering. Dynamic Season allows users to play along with the regular season as it happens. Powered by Synergy Sports Technology – the premier analytics provider for more than 25 NBA teams – Dynamic Season will update your game daily with the real results, injuries, statistics, trades and tendencies that happen in the NBA. As users play each game, their results are merged with the real NBA season, giving players the opportunity to alter reality and make their own 2010 NBA Finals. Dynamic Season and Dynamic DNA is free with all new copies of NBA LIVE 10. Consumers who purchase a used copy of NBA LIVE 10 can access the service for 1200 MS Points or $14.99 on Xbox Live and the PlayStation® Network, respectively. Available to online connected users only.

The game has been rated “E” by the ESRB

Montreal – Hot off the news desk today is the announcement that Ubisoft has acquired development studio Nadeo, creator of TrackMania®, the cult multiplayer car racing video game.

Set up in 2000 in Paris and comprising a highly talented team of developers, the Nadeo studio has won acclaim for the quality of its multiplayer technology which offers one of the best available on-line gaming experiences and has already notched up 10 million registered players. Its flagship game – TrackMania® – has 700,000 unique players a month and is a pioneer in the sharing of creations (almost 15 million custom tracks created since 2008). It is also the first eSport franchise for racing games.

“The acquisition of Nadeo is an important step in our expansion within the on-line gaming sector”, said Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft. “Through Nadeo, Ubisoft will gain an expert team, one of the best on-line technologies around as well as a flagship multiplayer game that enjoys an unrivalled reputation among a loyal and committed community. We are excited about the idea of introducing TrackMania® to an ever-wider audience and sharing the expertise of Nadeo’s teams with our Group’s other developers”.

“Joining Ubisoft is a huge opportunity for us to develop and innovate and take Nadeo to new horizons”, said Florent Castelnérac, Chief Executive Officer of Nadeo. “Nadeo’s team was keen for this acquisition to happen. Like players in a community, we see ourselves as being a complementary fit with Ubisoft and believe that we can share and quickly move ahead together”.

On the home front,  Ubisoft Montreal has released a question and answer session with Avatar game script writer Kevin Shortt.

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