Village Gamer

Toronto – The National Film Board of Canada is proud to present the world premiere of Chris Landreth’s The Spine, a bold new film whose dazzling artistic style pushes the limits of animation. Landreth’s latest is the eagerly awaited follow-up film to Ryan, his 2004 Oscar winner for best animated short. From the same creative team that produced Ryan, The Spine is entirely computer animated and features the voices of Gordon Pinsent and Alberta Watson. The Spine uses bizarre but strangely believable imagery to tell the story of an ordinary married couple whose lives are in turn tragic, absurd and beautiful. It premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (June 8-13) in Annecy, France and will have its North American premiere at the World Wide Short Film Festival (June 16-21) in Toronto, Canada.

For The Spine, Landreth joins forces again with producers Steve Hoban (Copperheart Animation), Mark Smith (Copperheart Animation) and Marcy Page (National Film Board of Canada), who had collaborated with him to make Ryan. The Spine is a poignant story of redemption that takes us into the relationship between a man and a woman trapped in a spiral of mutual destruction. Dan and Mary Rutherford, married 26 years, sit unhappily in a couples’ group counselling session. Angela, another troubled participant in this group, wonders why their marriage has become so lopsided, so twisted. But when Mary leaves Dan, he undergoes a beautiful transformation. What will happen when she returns? Director and scriptwriter Landreth has created an insightful and daring look at the ways individuals evolve, adapt and break.
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Vancouver – Our local ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver Chapter is very pleased to be presenting Watchmen Revealed at the VanCity Theatre on June 17. Tickets for this event will go on sale at noon on May 27.

©Images courtesy Warner Bros Pictures

Watchmen Revealed will be an evening full of inspiration, information and insight as the MPC team reveals the challenges of adapting “the greatest superhero stories ever told” (Entertainment Weekly). The evening begins at 6:30 pm with a free industry mixer where you and your friends have the opportunity to quench your thirst, nosh on some of Vancouver’s local culinary delights, catch up with your peers in the industry, and possibly meet some of the current and future decision-makers in town.

At 7:30 pm, Ben Cole, Landon Bootsma and Tim Mulvihill of MPC will reveal the pressure of recreating one of the most acclaimed comic books in history for the big screen and explore the technical hurdles they overcame to bring to life some of the more complex scenes in the film. This is a unique opportunity to gain insight into one of the biggest movies filmed in Vancouver.

This event is sponsored by: VanArts, Sophia Books, AnnexPro, Stash DVD Magazine, VEA[BC] and the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada Vancouver Chapter.

Montreal – Meridian4 and White Birds Productions are thrilled to announce that they have signed a global digital publishing agreement for their critically-acclaimed adventure title; Nikopol. After re-acquiring the rights for Nikopol from Got Game Entertainment, White Birds are excited to re-introduce the title to a new and larger audience with Canadian publisher Meridian4.

“We are very happy to work with Meridian4 on the digital distribution of Nikopol. Not only does Meridian4 have an excellent access to all major distributors, but they also have a real marketing and editorial approach, bringing a lot of added value to the title. We hope that this first partnership will be followed by new ones soon” said Michel Bams, co-founder and VP Marketing at White Birds Productions.

“Meridian4 is excited to be working with White Birds on their latest Adventure game; Nikopol. We have spoken to them many times and have always been impressed by their vision and their quality titles. We are delighted that this opportunity arose for us to work together.” said Andy Sher, CEO at Meridian4. “Nikopol is a compelling adventure title that will grip players from the outset and won’t let go till the very end.”

Toronto – DreamCatcher Games and JoWood Productions announce that a sequel to the successful SpellForce saga will be released this winter. SpellForce 2 – Faith in Destiny for the PC combines real time strategy with exciting role-play elements. Be part of the story, when all the loose ends tie up in a grandiose showdown between good and evil. Only you can conquer the shadows of the past and reveal the demonic conspiracy.

“Developing another game in the SpellForce saga is an exciting opportunity for us. Faith of Destiny is developed incorporating feedback from the community and feedback from those who have assisted in the development of previous Spellforce games,” says Clemens Schneidhofer, PR Coordinator at JoWooD Productions. “I’d like to add that we bow before the loyal fans of the brand and want to thank all of them for their amazing support.”

“SpellForce 2 – Faith in Destiny will continue the successful Spellforce brand,” adds David Skreiner, Associate Producer at JoWooD. “With its brand new multiplayer features and the countless detail improvements, SpellForce will, once more, set new revolutionary impulses to the genre.”

Toronto – Destiny Solutions Inc., the leading provider of administration software for Continuing and Professional Education announced the renaming of the Destiny OneCE Scholarship to the Mary Cone Barrie Scholarship.

Dr. Mary Cone Barrie specialized in the art and science of teaching adults as the Director of Continuing

Mary

Studies at the University of Toronto. Mary was committed to the community, learning and had a passion for the implications of technology on adult learners. “Dr. Mary Cone Barrie was an inspiration and mentor to Destiny Solutions, providing her vision and leadership during our first decade,” said Shaul Kuper, CEO of Destiny Solutions. “Destiny is honored to present this scholarship in her name as recognition of her contribution to so many during her lifetime.”

The Mary Cone Barrie Scholarship is distinctive because there are few scholarships devoted specifically to continuing education (or “non-traditional”) students. Not all employers offer financial assistance and many students are between careers.
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Montreal – Vantrix, the leading provider of content adaptation and optimization solutions for converged wireless, broadband and cable networks, today announced the opening of its new office in Dubai Media City. The rapidly growing Dubai Media City provides the perfect central location for Vantrix sales and support operations in the Middle East and African markets.

Vantrix — already working with several of the top carriers in the region — is globally recognized as a leader in delivering the best multimedia end-user experience over converged networks. With the only fully indemnified codec license, largest codec pool and best device support on the market, Vantrix is the innovation leader in delivering solutions that help these networks monetize their mobile content while encouraging consumer adoption through the highest quality experience available.
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Montreal – UpClick today launched the industry’s first free payment processing solution for online merchants. UpClick’s customers are using its platform to eliminate all processing fees while increasing revenue through the company’s unique cross-selling platform. The company also today announced early adoption of its platform by more than a dozen software publishers, including Avanquest Software, Sunbelt Software and Ashampoo.

Payment processing has become a burden for online merchants who typically pay seven to ten per cent, and sometimes as much as 15 per cent of each transaction in various fees. As a result of the high costs, credit cards have become an unpopular form of payment among all merchants, who paid an estimated $48 Billion in fees last year according to the National Retail Federation.

“Online shoppers expect to be able to pay for their goods with credit cards—it’s an extremely basic ‘must have’ for merchants. However, the high costs put online merchants such as software companies in a difficult position – by conservative estimates, they are essentially writing off a tenth of their revenues,” said Daniel Assouline, UpClick’s CEO and co-founder. “Alternative payment options such as PayPal, Google Checkout and Amazon Payments have emerged with attractive promotions, but they provide only a subset of services that software merchants need and have failed to permanently address the costly strain on a merchant’s bottom line.”
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Ottawa – MSP Partners, an alliance founded by Cisco, Ingram Micro, Intel, Level Platforms and Microsoft in conjunction with the active participation of more than 20 leading IT vendors and thousands of solution providers and Managed Service Providers (MSPs), today announced with IT industry trade association CompTIA and Everything Channel’s research division the Institute for Partner Education & Development (IPED), the availability of MSP Pro, a new third tier of membership that allows MSPs to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Managed Services best practices.

This new level of membership entitles members to take the “MSP Pro…powered by CompTIA” exam, which thoroughly tests members on Managed Services best practices in Marketing, Sales, Operations and Finance. The exam is based on the extensive IPED training and education resources available on the MSP Partners member website. Once successfully completed, MSP Pro members receive the MSP Pro logo, plaque and certificate demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of established Managed Services best practices. MSP Pro membership is available through the MSP Partners website for $399 annually or $200 for current Master members.
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Toronto – TransGaming Inc., has announced the creation of a game development studio and is partnering with Foreign Media Games (FMG) on the development of its first title, “Armin van Buuren – In the Mix” for the Nintendo Wii™ console. TransGaming specializes in the development of innovative products for the electronic entertainment industry and is working with leading publishers on many of the top global gaming franchises. The creation of a game development studio will allow TransGaming to leverage its depth of technical experience while broadening its strategic relationships with game publishers globally.

“This is an exciting time for TransGaming as we expand the company to embrace new strategic opportunities that will provide new revenue streams from core game development projects.” commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming. “It’s an absolute thrill for our first game to be a new global franchise based on the top DJ in the world, Armin Van Buuren. We are confident that “Armin van Buuren – In the Mix” will propel the highly popular music gaming genre to new heights with its innovative game play experience that embodies the creativity, energy and artistry of the ultimate DJ.”
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Toronto – The latest Delvinia INSIGHTS report on the digital behaviours and attitudes of Canadian consumers, unveiled that Canadians have a strange juxtaposition with their digital social needs and their reluctance to share information. The release of Online Communities and Information Sharing shows that there are differences between the genders as well as the ages, and how even the Net Generation (18-30) finds some activity uncomfortable in the digital space.

“While the proliferation of social networking in Canada has made the space comfortable for many, the majority of Canadians still have concerns of privacy, security and trust,” said Adam Froman, President and CEO of the Delvinia Group of Companies. “Social networking can be a formidable channel if used appropriately and for the right audience, but it’s imperative to understand a customer’s digital behaviour first. Companies just learning to integrate social networking into their digital strategies should begin by leveraging the powerful and largely populated social networks that already exist.”
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