Village Gamer

Vancouver – New Media BC has announced that the following 12 digital media companies were selected for the Digital Springboard Mentorship Program, a 4 month free advisory service for emerging companies facing technical and business challenges in their development (listed alphabetically):

1. Arcana Studios
2. Bradfield Productions
3. Crazed Coders
4. Ecobuddies Interactive
5. Ethical Entertainment
6. Firm Applications
7. Foulplay Entertainment (Watershed Creative Inc)
8. MotionSoup
9. My Wedding Match
10. Old Skool Studios
11. Overinteractive Media Inc
12. Tactica Interactive Communications

The pilot program that was introduced last year by the National Research Council IRAP and administered by New Media BC, was able to support twice the number of companies this year due to additional support provided by Telefilm Canada. The companies were chosen out of a total of 24 applications received. Mentee companies will be matched with Mentors based on their specific technical and business problems identified in their applications. The mentorship program will last from September 2009 to January 2010.

For those among us who are awaiting the release of Thief 4 which is currently under development at Eidos Montreal, Mastertronic has released Thief – The Complete Collection for PC, which contains all three original Thief titles. Defining stealth adventures, including the ultra-rare Gold edition of the first Thief game, the Thief franchise puts the player in the silent shoes of acolyte Garrett as he prowls his way around the City, treating gamers to an astounding visual experience. Thief – The Complete Collection retails at £9.77 on Mastertronic’s retail site. I did check several Canadian game retail sites, but could not find any listings for this compilation for sale on this side of the Atlantic.

According to a statement on Eidos Montreal’s site, General Manager Stephane D’Astous says that, “Eidos Montreal is in the early development stages for Thief 4, but this is an incredibly ambitious project and a very exciting one. It’s too early for us to offer any specific game details, right now we are focused on recruiting the very best talent to join the core team at the studio and help us make, what we believe will be one of the most exciting games on the market.” To that end, there are several job openings listed on Eidos Montreal’s web site for both Thief 4 and Deus Ex 3.

By all accounts, Klei Entertainment had a very successful presence at PAX 2009, thanks in part to the promotional efforts of Carolyn Carnes of Flash Fire Communications, who conducted a unique and intriguing marketing campaign prior to the expo. There are few details being released about Klei’s upcoming game Shank, but we can tell you that it’s a 2D side-scrolling action adventure title featuring a hero named… Shank. It appears that there will be a wide variety of weaponry, moves and enemies in the game and it’s perhaps scheduled for release in 2010. Klei has not confirmed which platform or platforms the game is being developed for, but they did hint at a possible Mature rating due to levels of violence and splattering of blood which occurs during gameplay.

BattleGoat Studios has released a demo for its upcoming war strategy title, Supreme Ruler 2020 GOLD which will give players the opportunity to engage in three different scenarios including “California Dreaming”, “Ethiopian Empire”, and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Additionally, strategy fans will have the opportunity to play up to four in-game months at a time.

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Vancouver – Vancouver Film School has officially announced the dates for their very successful Game Design Expo. Version 4 of GDX will take place April 10 and 11, 2010.  GDX will again feature a day of industry sessions on April 10, followed by an open house and more sessions on the 11th at Vancouver Film School. Featuring guest speakers and panels with the leading minds in game design and development, representing some of the industry’s top companies, the Game Design Expo is a must-attend event. Last year’s sold-out event featured a very entertaining and informative keynote address given by Ubisoft Montreal’s Creative Director Clint Hocking. The entire expo is full of opportunities to learn from and meet with some of the top people in the game development industry, and GDX certainly tops our list of well-produced events.

VFS is now accepting submissions from game industry professionals wishing to present at Game Design Expo 2010, so if you have something to say and have a desire to share that knowledge with industry peers and up-and-coming talent, download this PDF form for more information.

For companies and individuals interested in becoming a sponsor of Game Design Expo 2010, please download the PDF sponsorship kit here. In my opinion, participating in the Game Design Expo as either a sponsor, speaker, volunteer or attendee is time and money well spent. GDX is an investment in the future of our game development industry, and the quality of the event’s speaker roster, topics and organization is reinforced by the fact that GDX has been completely sold out for each of its first three years.

Please contact Event Manager Shira Gordon at 604.630.3562 (local), or 1.800.661.4101 (toll-free in North America) for further information about Game Design Expo 2010.

Burnaby – EA Sports today announced that the Live Season premium service has been expanded into a new game mode for FIFA 10 enabling subscribers to feel the weekly pulse of football with dynamic updates of real-world information to make the game as close to real life as possible.

The new My Live Season premium service in FIFA 10 will feature weekly updates of player form, transfers, injuries, suspensions, fixtures, results and league standings, creating a mode that mirrors the real world, where gamers play their favourite real-world teams’ games in complete authenticity in any of the following leagues: Barclay’s Premier League, La Liga BBVA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A and Mexican Primera Division. The game mode enables you to visually track your results against real life as you progress.

“Every Wednesday is Live Season day where dynamic real-world data and analytics will be updated in FIFA 10 to match the weekly rhythm of real-world football and subscribers will have the chance to rewrite their clubs’ history,” said David Rutter, producer of FIFA 10.

My Live Season is available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The service is valued at a recommended retail price of £3.99* for the ongoing season on PlayStation Network and 400 points on Xbox Live Marketplace for each individual league. A package of all leagues will be available for the recommended retail price £7.99* for the ongoing season on PlayStation Network and 800 points on Xbox Live Marketplace.

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Vancouver – After a very busy and successful weekend at PAX 2009, independent developer Hothead Games has officially released further details about their upcoming multi-platform RPG title, DeathSpank. Scheduled for release in 2010 and created by Ron Gilbert of LucasArts adventure game fame, DeathSpank will bring to life the hilarious adventures of the game’s titular hero. Set on a wrap-around world map with a unique art style utilizing 2D elements in a 3D world, DeathSpank will roam the world on his many varied quests without ever encountering a load screen.

Gameplay is divided between uncovering the story via conversations, solving complex puzzles, equipping your character to maximize his strengths and battling anything else that moves. The single-player quest allows players to explore the world, where they can get to know the many interesting characters who inhabit the game’s environment. They will also be able to battle a large variety of enemies, collect from over 100 different types of weapons and over 100 types of armour. As he conquers his enemies, DeathSpank will be able to level up, collect loot and acquire new abilities.

The development team has been creating a unique gaming experience by focusing on humour at every turn, perpetually fun and visceral combat as well as an engaging story with deep and complex puzzles. DeathSpank will feature witty dialogue, improbable scenarios, unexpected villains and a robust collecting system for weapons, armour, items and abilities. The action is easily accessible for short bursts of fun, but the story is revealed over more than 15 hours of gameplay. In addition, players can choose to search out rare items and tackle the game’s many hearty side quests and will also have a chance to co-op with sidekicks in single-machine multiplayer.

Key Features:

•RPG Gameplay – Movement and combat is perpetually fun and visceral, making it easily approachable to many gamers. Combat stats are easy to understand and are influenced by different collectible items and abilities earned by the player throughout the game. DeathSpank will battle a large world full of interesting and challenging enemies.
•Adventure Quests – Help DeathSpank be a hero to the downtrodden. Players will enjoy deep and complex adventure game puzzle scenarios as they work to dispense justice and vanquish evil, as well as entertaining and informative dialog puzzles with the world’s many inhabitants.
•Customization – Through collectible armor, weapons, and varying abilities, players can customize DeathSpank to their liking and to suit their style of play. They can also choose from several sidekicks that will be acquired while travelling around the world.
•Charged With Humour – This game has humor everywhere. Hilarious quests, witty dialog, silly puzzles, ridiculous characters, visual gags, and over-the-top animations all contribute to the game’s humor. The elaborate storyline begins as DeathSpank searches for a mysterious artifact known as The Artifact.
•Depth of Gameplay – DeathSpank keeps track of his adventures in a Quest Log, listing both ‘Important Things I Need To Do’ and ‘Unimportant Things I Need To Do.’ Players who have completed the story mode can choose to play additional quests and will be rewarded with exclusive equipment.
•Unique Art Style – The game’s eccentric personality extends to its art style, which uses charming 2D elements in an immersive 3D world. The different areas of DeathSpank’s world are laid out on a globe, and the character is shown at an angle which gives a rolling perspective as you move about. There is an expansive world to explore and there will be no load screens.

DeathSpank has not yet been rated by the ESRB, but its target rating will be T for Teen.

Toronto – Whether pushing the envelope, or hoping to be named in one, digital media content developers across the country can now enter the 2009 Canadian New Media Awards competition.This year, the Canadian New Media Awards will take place during nextMEDIA, the new media and interactive content conference to be held in Toronto, November 30 – December 1, 2009.

“The Canadian New Media Awards have always reflected new trends in digital media,” said Mark Greenspan, Executive Producer of nextMEDIA. “And we feel that this year’s categories will reveal the very best the Canadian digital media industry has to offer, presenting Canada as a global leader in digital innovation.”

Companies and individuals across Canada can submit the names of friends, colleagues or themselves for recognition of outstanding achievements in the design, development or implementation of new media projects. A call for entries to the 2009 Canadian New Media Awards (CNMA) competition has been issued, and updated and re-energized categories for the competition have been unveiled by the event organizers.

Submissions to CNMA will be accepted online on the nextMEDIA website until October 2, 2009, with an early bird rate of $125 + GST per entry granted to those submitted prior to September 18, 2009 (Regular rate of $175 + GST for the final deadline of October 2, 2009).  Full information about Award Eligibility can also be found on the CNMA web site. Among the sponsors of this year’s event, Deloitte will sponsor the Company of the Year Award, with Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund sponsoring the Best Cross Platform Project Award.

2009 Canadian New Media Awards Categories:

Best Cross-Platform Project
Excellence in interactive enhancement of a television property on digital platforms. Eligible projects could include games, websites and/or mobile applications associated with a television program. Read the rest of this entry »

Learning Autodesk Maya 2009: The Modeling & Animation Handbook (Buy Book)

By Autodesk Maya Press

ISBN-10: 1897177526

ISBN-13: 978-1897177525

Review by: Josh Martin

I was lucky enough for Autodesk to allow me to review this book.  As an animation student myself, I wanted to continue learning through the summer while school wasn’t in session.  I’ve read many negative and positive reviews on this book and I wanted to get to the bottom of this book and of course, to further my knowledge of modeling and animation in Maya.

The first thing I noticed when I received this book was the great illustrations throughout it. With the illustrations being in full color, it is easy to follow along and find the subjects the book talks about. I was hoping there would be a DVD that came with the book. My hopes were correct! The book comes with a DVD which includes project files, textures, and even a quick video walk-through on different sections of the book. Of course, the book also has the “all important” index which lists every general term a modeler, texture artist, rigger, or animator would use so you can easily look up different techniques and terms.

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Seattle – Canadian presence will be strong at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo. Studios showing off upcoming titles will include Bioware and EA, Klei Entertainment, Ubisoft, Hot Head Games and Relic Entertainment. Other Vancouverites include Vancouver Film School and Game Design Expo, Simon Fraser University and Swell Games.

Bioware’s Senior Technical Designer Jason Booth will be presenting a session on Why Winning Sucks tonight at 7pm in the Raven Theatre, then at 9pm in the Wolfman Theatre, Tyler Black (Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, BC Children’s Hospital) will be presenting a session called Psychiatry, Video Games, and Kids – The Science, The Opinions, and the Lies. Hot Head Games’ Deirdra Kiai will be a panelist in Saturday’s Girls and Games: The Growing Role of Women in the Game Industry session, which takes place in the Unicorn Theatre at 10:30am. Bioware Co-founder Greg Zeschuk and Silicon Knights President Dennis Dyack will be participating in the Medium is the: Story Matters session at 1pm in the Serpent Theatre. Later on Saturday evening Klei Entertainment CEO Jamie Cheng will be presenting Creating an Xbox Live Arcade Game in the Wolfman Theatre at 6pm.

At 7pm, PAX goers can attend the session I’ve Just Been F#$%ing Fired”: How To Get Back Into the Industry On Your Own Terms Through Mobile Game Development, featuring a full panel of “north of the 49th” speakers: Jake Birkett (Lead Designer, Big Fish Games Vancouver), Tyler Sigman (Consulting Design Director, Big Sandwich Games), Matt Toner (CEO, Zeroes 2 Heroes Media), Nis Bojin (Program Manager, playWRITE) and Brian Zubert (Senior Application Development Consulting – Mobile Gaming, Research in Motion).

On Sunday morning, Relic Entertainment will be unveiling a new play mode for Dawn of War 2 called The Last Stand. Attendees can attend a post-mortem panel discussion in the Raven Theatre at 11:30am. At 1pm in the Serpent Theatre, Hot Head Games Programmers Nels Anderson and Deirdra Kiai will be participating in a discussion about Murder, Sex & Drugs. Art Institute Vancouver alumni Lani Blazier who is now living in Seattle and working as an Associate Producer for NCSoft’s Aion will be speaking as part of the Aion panel.

Ubisoft Montreal will be presenting a live on-stage demo for their upcoming titles Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction in the Main Theatre on Friday evening, and there are new teaser trailers up on Ubisoft’s YouTube channel featuring in-game footage.

Bioware and LucasArts will be presenting Star Wars: The Old Republic in the Main Theatre on Sunday morning at 11:00am. Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins will also have a very strong presence at PAX, and judging from their team twitters, they had a great time at the Microsoft Games for Windows event held at the Redmond Campus on Thursday. Dragon Age fans can also look forward to a new 8-part web comic from Gabe and Tycho featuring the characters of Dragon Age. The first page has already been added to the DA:O site.

Don’t forget to check out The Peregrine Gaming Glove and ZBoard’s new Aion Keyboard Set and mouse pad. As we reported earlier this week, The Pergrine was developed in Lloydminster, Alberta. ZBoard is a Canadian company which was recently purchased by SteelSeries. Co-designed with NCsoft ® Corporation, Aion’s publisher and developer, the limited edition gear provides customized functionality and original artwork from the game that allows players to battle and quest with ease into Aion’s breathtaking world of Atreia.

Victor Lucas and Scott Jones from Electric Playground will also be lurking around the conference site. Say hi if you see them, but don’t ask Victor about game recommendations – his answers usually lead to game addictions. Fable 2 is a prime example.

Village Gamer will not be attending this year’s PAX due to family commitments over on Vancouver Island, but we’re certainly looking forward to hearing the reports about this year’s expo from all of our friends who are there. Maybe they’ll even bring us some swag, just because they’re awesome friends and feel our pain in not being able to be there in person.

Vancouver – New Media BC has sent out a call for speakers for the iPhone Forum which will be taking place in Vancouver on Tuesday November 4. CBC, BCIT and New Media BC are partnering for this forum, which will bring local and international business leaders, educators, designers, and developers together to share knowledge, personal experience, and best practices for doing business on Apple’s Touch Platform. The aim is to grow awareness of the opportunities this revolutionary platform offers and to foster mobile innovation in the Canadian market.

The iPhone Forum will feature two parallel paths of concurrent sessions:

Technical sessions target developers and designers that seek a deeper understanding of how to design and develop optimized websites and native apps for Apple’s Touch Platform.

Business sessions target those that seek to leverage the business potential of Apple’s Touch platform.

The PDF request form can be downloaded from the New Media BC site, and then emailed to Jonathan Carrigan at CBC once completed. The deadline to submit forms is October 1, and only those speakers who are selected will be contacted.

WINBC and New Media BC invite their members to the MoMoVan season kick-off at the Museum of Vancouver in beautiful Vanier Park this September 14th at 5:30pm.

Collaboration, Community and Convergence have always been the core of MoMoVan. When we think about what differentiates us from other clusters, these are the words that come up again and again. And as we move towards the Olympics in February, these will be the ingredients to the success of our cluster. We have all the right pieces here to make this truly a world-class wireless and digital media centre. Product innovation from collaboration, convergence between sectors bringing new ideas and a strong and interconnected community will ensure that we stand on top of the podium in 2010 and beyond.

Come and kick-start the season with us and ignite your competitive spirit. We have a great evening planned: we will have a competition to get some ideas flowing; we will thank Amielle Lake (Tagga) for being the Face of MoMoVan and we will find the next smiling mug. Come catch-up with old friends and make new ones. There will be hats, there will be prizes and of course, there will be our legendary local beer and pizza. All this with a one of a kind panoramic view of Vanier Park, English Bay, Coast Mountains, West End, Downtown and Stanley Park. The MoMoVan registration deadline is September 11 2009.

The Art of Sales presented by Microsoft Dynamics CRM has attracted thousands of sales and marketing professionals from across Canada. On October 19th, 2009, North America’s largest sales conference is coming to Vancouver to present you with the key fundamentals and best sales practices required to ensure stability and growth for your business in a changing world. Featuring an exceptional line-up of best-selling authors, speakers, and sales visionaries focusing on newly developed methodologies for relationship development, productivity and sales strategy makes this conference a must attend. Take advantage of this limited time special offer which is not available to the general public. There is special pricing available for NMBC members – make sure to check your email for the latest event news from NMBC for details.

Wavefront is presenting the NAVTEQ Breakfast Seminar: What’s New in Fall for Location Developers in Vancouver

Date: Sept 15, 8:30 – 11 AM
Location: 2010 Commerce Center, Suite 1600 – 800 Robson Street (Lower Plaza), Vancouver, BC

Join Tom Tierney, Developer Alliance Manager at NAVTEQ describe what’s new in the fall for location developers in Vancouver. Attend this free seminar and find out recent developments with Discover Cities, MapTP, NAVTEQ Mobility Platform and how you can showcase your apps on NAVTEQ’s new developer showcase at NAVTEQ.com. Tom will also discuss additional opportunities for developers participating in the 2010 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge. Don’t miss this chance to get the latest scoop. Please also let us know if you would like to set-up a one-on-one engagement meeting with NAVTEQ when you register.

WIF Info Session at IIMA Conference

The information session is free, but for New Media BC members who want to take advantage of the full International Internet Marketing Association conference and get a wicked discount, please contact Bruce Nickson at +1 (778) 373-8785. To register for the Information Session only, please do so here.

Date: September 17, 2009
Time: 12:10pm
Location: Four Seasons Hotel , 791 West Georgia Street, Vancouver Room: TBA

This September, a representative from the Webdesign International Festival (WIF) is coming to Canada to present the WIF competition and its preselection to potential partners and sponsors. WIF’s organizers, Limousin Expansion, have selected Canada as a partner country for the event. The representative will visit Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver to meet with groups including website agencies, universities and design schools, professional communities and media groups to develop sponsorship, planning, and participation in Canada.

WIF is an international competition where the best specialists in the sector will go head to head in Limoges, France, over 24 hours non-stop. They will be chosen during pre-selections organized by WIF’s partner countries. The pre-selections will be held between mid-October 2009 and mid-February 2010. An online pre-selection is also planned for February 2010 for those participants whose countries are not partners of WIF. The 100 best candidates will go head-to-head in Limoges during the final from June 3 to 5, 2010. To apply, or for more information, visit WIF’s website.

Burnaby – Best Buy Canada has released its Report Card on Technology in Canada’s classrooms. The report card found that two-thirds of Canadian teachers surveyed believe students are being handicapped for the future by not giving them access to the latest technology. The survey, conducted by Leger Marketing between July 6 and July 19 2009, involved an online survey among 674 respondents randomly selected Canadian adults who are Leger Marketing panelists. The interviews were completed with Canadian teachers from primary to college and university level. This method simulates a probability sample which would yield a maximum margin of error of +/-3.8%, 19 times out of 20.

Best Buy Canada will contribute $300,000 in technology grants to schools in Canada through its Best in Class Fund program in 2009. The survey found that nearly all respondents believe that it is important for students to have the latest technology in order to thrive and succeed in today’s world, which underscores the importance of the Best in Class program.

The Best Buy Canada Report Card on Technology in Canada’s Classrooms, a national survey of 674 Canadian teachers, conducted by Leger Marketing, showed that:

– One-third of teachers surveyed indicated that schools lag behind in providing the best access to new technology to students
– More than half of the respondents (61%) believe that students have the best access to the latest technology at home
– Nearly three-quarters of teachers (74%) agree that having the latest technology in the classroom would foster creativity
– More than half of Canadian teachers use technology as part of their daily curriculum
– Despite the perceived importance of technology in the classroom, as many as one in five Canadian teachers report that they infrequently use technology in their classroom

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