Village Gamer

Vancouver – Research has shown that brain health begins to lag as early as age 25. However, the same research has shown that with regular brain fitness training, the brain can create new neural connections and pathways at any age.

In response to this research, Vancouver’s Vivity Labs has created FitBrains.com, a new online brain fitness platform that hosts fun, casual games developed by brain fitness experts, specifically designed to exercise the brain and improve the five major cognitive brain functions – memory, concentration, language, executive functions (logic and reasoning), and visual-spatial skills.
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Toronto – WinMagic® Data Security, the innovative leader in endpoint security, will demonstrate SecureDoc 4.6, the first comprehensive enterprise-class full-disk encryption solution for heterogeneous computing environments, at the RSA Conference 2009 (booth 831). WinMagic will show how SecureDoc 4.6 provides centrally-manageable and fully-transparent, ‘always-on’ full-disk encryption for Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac – making it simple for organizations to protect all data on all servers, desktops, laptops and removable media.

Mac computers are often not included in encryption deployments – many enterprise networks are primarily Windows-based, and Mac platforms are used by select departments or individuals (including many executives). SecureDoc offers the ability to configure, deploy and manage encryption for Mac desktops and laptops from the same console that is used to manage the Windows machines. This drives greater efficiency for IT and security staff while ensuring sensitive data is protected. Centralized escrow and management of encryption keys also ensures continued access to data for authorized users in the event of lost passwords, departing employees or other challenges.
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Ontario Venture Capital Fund Invests in Jobs of the Future

Toronto -The Ontario Venture Capital Fund is committing $20 million in EdgeStone Capital Venture Fund III (EdgeStone) to help support innovative, high-growth businesses, including high-potential companies in Ontario.

EdgeStone is an Ontario-based venture capital firm investing in early and growth stage Canadian information technology companies. EdgeStone’s track record of successful investments includes Ontario-based companies such as Workbrain, SlipStream Data, Protus IP Solutions and Varicent.

The $205-million Ontario Venture Capital Fund, managed by TD Capital Private Equity Investors, is a joint initiative between the provincial government and leading institutional investors to invest primarily in Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth equity funds.

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Ghostbusters MP Dev Diary – Written By Threewave Software

It’s Crazy Enough that it Just Might Work…

When I first heard about doing the Multiplayer for the new Ghostbusters game, I was excited but very cautious as well. Movie licensed games are not something that Threewave, being a group of mostly hardcore shooter fans, usually get excited about. We were proven wrong.

If you don’t know, Threewave Software has made great shooter content for a long time. Threewave developed the original Threewave Capture the Flag (“CTF”) mod for Quake, and followed it up with work on top brands as Quake III, Doom 3, Jedi Academy, Soldier of Fortune, Turok, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Army of Two.
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Toronto – The first trailer for the upcoming ten-episode web series, Ten Sundays, was released today on the series’ official website. Available in both standard and high definition, the trailer, which runs one minute and 11 seconds, previews the story of two roommates living in a basement apartment in Toronto, Canada.

The series, directed by Pavan Moondi, was initially conceived as a companion piece to help pitch Everyday Is Like A Sunday, a television concept the Toronto-based writer-director is actively marketing. “It started out as a short promotional piece to help pitch Everyday Is Like A Sunday, but as we developed the web series, it became its own animal in many ways. Ultimately, it’s something that can stand alone, and we’re very proud of,” said Mr. Moondi, who also co-wrote and edited the series.
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Toronto – Dolphin Digital Media, Inc. has launched Dolphin Secure – a family Internet solution developed in Canada that allows parents to tailor and manage their child’s experiences online. Dolphin Secure quickly and easily downloads onto any computer in the home; and, using an easy-to-use, on-screen dashboard and unique identification system, parental guidelines can be applied to each child whenever and wherever they go online.

Dolphin Secure provides a safer online environment for children. After registering on the website, each time an Internet browser or an Instant Messaging application is opened on a Dolphin Secure computer, a log-in page is triggered. Children simply enter their username and scan their fingerprint. The system identifies each child by matching their fingerprint to a unique number inside Dolphin Secure – no more passwords to share, steal, or even remember. Upon identification, each child’s personal, customizable home page within either “Dolphin Surf” or “Dolphin Surf Kids” (the Dolphin family of social networks) becomes promptly loaded. From there the child is free to explore the Internet and seek new friends within the parameters established for that specific child by their parent.

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Vancouver – A couple of months ago we told you about a new game called Raycatcher,  a title which syncs its gameplay with your MP3s.  Developed by Thinking Studios, Raycatcher allows the player to create custom playlists of his or her favorite music and play for as long or as short as you’d like. The goal of the game is to spin a colorful cluster of shapes to catch multi-colored rays. This causes the cluster to grow, evolve, and unlock 30 new evolutionary stages. Raycatcher is now available for purchase on Steam, Direct2Drive and Impulse.

Raycatcher Download Features

• Load in your own music: Raycatcher will accept .mp3 and .wav formats
• Beat detection technology: Changes gameplay to match your music in pleasant and creative ways.
• Make playlists of any length: Raycatcher is flexible and allows you to play for how ever long you want, and still feel like you’ve made progress.
• Original music by artist Noobie Noobinson: Music by a new up and coming band, some of which was created specifically for Raycatcher.
• 30 evolutionary stages: Complete with funny and enlightening descriptions. Raycatcher illustrates a cute and informative view of the kosmos.
• Range of difficulty: Easy to pick up, with 3 difficulty levels that range from easy-yet-challenging to insanely difficult.

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Vancouver – Do you know kids between the ages of 8 and 12 who like to play video games? If so, read the call for participation in the Play Together research project, part of Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology. Each participant will be compensated with a $10 gift certificate to iTunes or FutureShop. This project has already received SFU ethics approval and we are currently scheduling play sessions from now until June 2009.

Please contact the Play Together coordinator, Beth Aileen Lameman (beth[at]bethaileen[dot]com or 604-782-0051) for more information on the study.

More Information:
The Play Together research project is looking at and prototyping digital technologies that support cooperative team play for kids ages 8-12.
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Vancouver – I acquired Diamond Fever, the new iPhone/iPod Touch game by Ontario’s Howling Moon Games yesterday, and while the game play is very simple, putting the game down is not.

There are no special effects, no winnable power-ups, and the only options are to play – with the music on or off. This game is simply addictive, with the only challenges being to beat the game’s ten levels and best your own top score. Diamond Fever brings out the competitive nature of the player and as the difficulty of each level increases, the player is hard-pressed to keep those diamonds away from the crate of explosives in the middle of the screen. The game does save the last level which you successfully completed, and you are able to select any completed level as a starting point.

Game play is similar to that of the Collapse franchise, where the player must match groups of three or more game pieces to advance through the levels. While Diamond Fever is comprised of only ten levels, from level 4 onwards the challenges facing the player grow exponentially through the addition of more colours to match and the speed with which they are placed on the board. Eye-hand coordination and reaction time are put through vigorous testing as the player is required to keep all four corners of the mine cleared of diamonds. At a download price of only $0.99 from the App Store, Diamond Fever is a very affordable source of challenging entertainment, and as a fan of match 3 styles of games, I recommend it to others to try.

Toronto – JoWooD Productions and Canadian publisher DreamCatcher Games are pleased to announce they have signed Homegrown Games, a small independent Austrian developer, to develop the next chapter in the Painkiller brand. The new installment is called “Painkiller: Resurrection” and is set for release in Q4 2009.

Once more, it is up to the protagonist to find a way out of a grotesque world between heaven and hell, trapped between life and death. The development of Painkiller: Resurrection is based on the technology of the Painkiller engine, but with several improvements, including improved shadows, a higher texture resolution, moveable light sources, post processing, motion blur and ambient occlusion were implemented. In addition to these added features, the PK++ development team, lead by Steven “Blowfish” Wilkins, has set up a coop-multiplayer campaign mode.

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