Village Gamer

Max The Mutt Animation School knows the importance of networking for career success and as such offer students multiple opportunities to meet and showcase their work to Industry professionals in their field. The annual 1st Year Show and open house will be held at the school on April 30, 2011 from 10am – 4pm and the annual Grad Exhibition has its Grand Opening on May 21, 2011 running until June 30, 2011.

The first year show hosts the visual art work for first year students from all of Max The Mutt’s diploma programs: Classical & Computer Animation & Production, Illustration for Sequential Arts, and Concept Art for Animation & Video Games. If someone is interested in going into any of these fields this would be an excellent opportunity to see what skills are being taught at Max the Mutt. It is also a great opportunity for people to soak up the ambiance of this small, unique environment geared to give students “skills that count.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYMicXGlcA0]

The Grad Exhibition will feature work and demo reels from the graduate students from the animation, concept art, and sequential arts programs. This will be an especially exciting year as they celebrate the first group of graduates from the Concept Art for Video Games & Animation four-year diploma program. To kick off the Grad Exhibition and put the students and their work in front of potential employers, Max The Mutt hosts a private Industry Night before the opening.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BI5RaIrErI]

Marvel, DC, Darkhorse, Comic Book Illustrator and Max The Mutt Instructor Dave Ross has worked for them all, drawing and writing for Captain America, Spiderman, Batgirl, Star Trek, Daredevil, Birds of Prey, JLA: Act of God, and many more. “Last year for Industry Night we were able to bring in the traffic director of Marvel,” explains Ross, “he is the liaison with the editors to know who is going to need talent to come onto a project and suggests people. He came in to speak with the graduating class, spent a lot of time with them to help them with portfolio development and told them what Marvel would expect. We had industry people from the various publishers in town and a few of the graduate students did get jobs from that industry night so that night is hugely important.”

Event Details:

*First Year Show: Saturday April 30, 2011, 10am-4pm Max the Mutt Animation School, 952 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6J 1G8. An information session will be held at 11:30 a..m. sharp with reservations required.

*Graduation Exhibition: May 21, 2011 running until June 30, 2011. Monday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Max the Mutt Animation School

For more information and to RVSP you can email or call the school at 416-703-6877

The FIFA Interactive World Cup is set to climax with the most exciting Grand Final in the event’s seven-year history. FIFA and the event’s Partners Sony PlayStation^®and EA Sports™today announced that they will be flying the 24 finalists of the world’s largest virtual football tournament to Los Angeles, where the winner will be crowned amidst a three-day entertainment extravaganza. The Grand Final will be held from 7-9 June 2011, to coincide with the world’s largest gaming conference E3, which will be held in Los Angeles on the same dates.

Since the first of six online qualifying seasons kicked off in December 2010, over 700,000 gamers from all over the world have competed  with EA Sports FIFA 11 online via PlayStation®Network and at live qualification events held all over the world in an effort to claim a seat at the Grand Final, and ultimately be crowned the new FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion. All 24 finalists will be treated to a world-class action packed LA experience, sampling the local sights before competing in the first knock-out stage which will cut the numbers of competitors down to the final 12.

“I’m so excited to hear the news that the FIFA Interactive World Cup is coming to the United States” said 2010 FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion Nenad Stojkovic “It will be a great honour to welcome the challengers to Los Angeles and defend my title on home soil”.

The lucky remaining finalists will then participate in the final stage of the tournament, which will be held at the Home Depot Centre, home of LA Galaxy, at 4pm on June 9, 2011. US football stars will be present at the final event to cheer on the remaining contestants. The freshly crowned Champion will walk away with $20,000 USD, a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011 as well as a whole host of memories of a truly exclusive LA experience.

Earlier this week OCAD University (OCAD U) and CFC Media Lab (Canadian Film Centre) announced their partnership in the launch of a new and innovative Graduate Program in Digital Futures, with a part-time Graduate Diploma and full-time (MA, MDes, and MFA) Master’s Degrees. The program received its final approval from the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies last week, and applications for the 2011/2012 term will be accepted until Monday, May 2, 2011. Complete program details, application information, program requirements and a list of faculty members for each program may be found on OCAD U’s Graduate Studies web pages. Late applications may be considered depending on the availability of places in the program.

The graduate program is situated within the Digital Futures Initiative at OCAD University, a set of cross-disciplinary programs in practice-based research and innovation in digital media and emergent technologies. Having been at the forefront of incubating and accelerating Canadian digital media talent and companies for over a decade, CFC Media Lab is a uniquely positioned partner in this practiced-based graduate program aimed at future innovators, leaders and creators of digital media and new technologies.

“Students in the Graduate Program in Digital Futures will contribute to creative innovation and the application of new knowledge in digital technologies, practices, content, systems, and experiences, in addition providing insight into sustainable development in a technologically mediated world,” said Dr. Helmut Reichenbächer, Associate Vice-President, Research and Dean of Graduate Studies, OCAD U.

“Together, OCAD U and CFC Media Lab have created one of Canada’s leading digital media partnerships, with highly experienced faculty, interdisciplinary teams, diversified industry and cultural partnerships, as well as key cross-sector expertise,” said Ana Serrano, Director, CFC Media Lab.

A partnership with the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) Media Lab, whose established, critically-acclaimed post-graduate residency in digital media production will be integrated into both the degree and diploma programs will afford students the opportunity to participate in an Intensive Project/Prototyping Spring Institute held at the MaRS Discovery District.

Frima Studio, in conjunction with Bolt Creative, has announced that the Pygmies of Pocket God on Facebook are having a bit of a fire ant problem in Episode VI: Kiss Your Ants Goodbye. The latest expansion for the Pocket God world introduces an all new animal power, a horde of ravenous fire ants, features a new Easter-themed challenge where players will battle the legendary Chocoro, and gives the ability to send friends an Easter treat.

Since its debut in December 2010, the Facebook version of Pocket God has grown exponentially and is attracting more players every month. More than 55 million loyal, unquestioning Pygmies have met their demise over that time—that’s approximately the same amount of USD spent on Super Bowl food each year. Another two and a half million sacrifices can be attributed to friends on Facebook sacrificing other friends in a host of brutal and irreverent ways, including electrocution, shark attack, venus fly traps, tornados, tar pits, and more! Impairing means caring, right?

The new updates for Kiss Your Ants Goodbye include:

• Get Antsy: Fire Ants have burrowed their way to the island and they’re looking for pants to invade! But since Pygmies don’t wear pants (most of the time), the ants will have to settle for covering a Pygmy’s entire body instead. And, devouring them. Selectable as an animal power, Fire Ants can now be earned and used to torture Pygmies.

• Defeat Chocoro the Bunny: He’s like Cthulhu, but more chocolatey and bunny-shaped. Okay, so maybe there’s no resemblance to Cthulhu whatsoever, but Chocoro is still big and it’s up to you to help the Pygmies defeat him. How is this done, you say? By feeding him to your tribe, of course! For a limited time, coconut trees will not grow coconuts but instead will bear chocolate eggs, just feed your Pygmies as many of the chocolate halves as possible to best the chocolate monstrosity. And don’t worry, chocolate eggs still count towards your coconut-related quests. We’re not accountable for any dental work your Pygmies need after all this candy though, just saying!

• “Treat” Your Friends: Smiting your buddies is all fun and games but there comes a time when some good old-fashioned gift-giving is in order, and that time is now! For only 2 bones worth of Pocket Change, send your friends a treat by clicking on their icon and selecting “Treat.” What kind of treat will you give? That’s a surprise and we’re not going to spoil it. It could be a chick, a bunny, an egg, who knows?! Well actually, we know, but that’s beside the point. Treats will give a significant boost to devotion for your friends’ tribe, spread the love!

Here are some recent and new releases from a few of our fine Canadian studios:

SkyModo has released free and paid versions of Dog Pile on the iTunes App Store and Android Market. The free version gives a bonus of 50 dog bones for the customization of your dog pack and comes with the Easter Pack that is also available in the full 99 cent version. The paid version of Dog Pile starts gamers off with a 250 dog bone bonus. Players can spend the dog bones in the store, purchasing items with which to dress up your Dog. I have not yet played this game, but it appears to use a combination of tilt physics, pachinko-styled levels and power-ups to match your Dog to the ones in the pile – in a match 3+ kind of way. Dog Pile is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later. I have downloaded the free version of Dog Pile, but it will not load on my 2nd gen iPod touch, so I’ll have to get Scott to try it on his iPhone.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QPcqgWAmKM]

Chicken Balls (99 cents USD) by Endloop Systems has taken to the skies. You play as Crash, the bravest chicken this side of New Mexico. It’s the summer of 1947, you’ve just come back from the war and had hoped to hang up your flight cap for good. When a UFO crash lands just outside the nearby town of Roswell you knew you’d have to take to the skies – one more time. At launch, Chicken Balls features 50 levels of physics puzzles, with more levels in coming updates. The game makes use of an innovative mix of slingshot physics destruction and pachinko/breakout styled play, with the Farmaggedon power-up achieved by collecting all of the eggs on each level. Crash can also harness the power of alien technology to make himself bigger, faster and stronger. Chicken Balls is OpenFeint and GameCentre enabled. Future updates will offer more levels, more power-ups and more unlockable animals. Chicken Balls is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xSDwg4AL34]

Loud Crow Interactive has a new children’s book out on the market. The studio has released its second Sandra Boynton book, Moo Baa La La La to the iTunes Store. This interactive version of Ms. Boynton’s best selling book “will intrigue and amuse little kids and big people alike, and perhaps even elicit an appreciative snort from the occasional uninvited rhinoceros.”

Moo Baa La La La is narrated by Keith Boynton and includes Country Air, an original instrumental soundtrack composed by Michael Ford. Each of the illustrations, which have been redrawn and recoloured by Ms. Boynton allows young readers to interact with the animals through touch and sound. This young reader app also features “The Big Guy Reads It” with word highlighting to help improve reading skills or the “I want to read it myself” mode which allows children to hear individual words pronounced with the tap of a finger. Moo Baa La La La is $1.99 USD for the iPhone or iPod Touch version while the iPad version is $2.99 USD. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c8KA1uZ9F8]

The debut title from Silicon Sisters Interactive, School 26, is available now for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. School 26 takes a less-trodden path in game play and is aimed at the female tween market, although some older gamers may find this title engaging as well. I do have a copy of the game and will be sharing my thoughts on this new title with you over the weekend.

School 26 follows the efforts of a female student named Kate, who, due to having nomadic parents, is now in her 26th school. Her parents have struck a deal with her, and if she can forge new and lasting friendships with people at the school, they won’t move. School 26 makes use of conversation, mini-games, puzzles and choosing the correct most appropriate emotional responses in advancing players through the game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcirtxHZXwk]

The iPad version is $4.99 USD while the iPhone version is $2.99 USD. School 26 requires iOS 3.1.3 or later and does have a content warning with a 12+ age rating for:

• Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
• Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content or Nudity
• Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References

Gamerizon’s newest title is Chop Chop Rocket, a 99 cent (USD) game that features the adventures of lost space explorer Alexis Rocket. This fast-paced one finger tilt and play game features 18 achievements to unlock with GameCentre and OpenFeint leaderboards on which to compete for space supremacy. Chop Chop Rocket is rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later. This colourful, cartoon-styled game is the 8th title in Gamerizon’s Chop Chop franchise and requires some pretty fast reflexes to use the power-ups, change your speed and navigate through space to make it through the game.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kln1bCYHhzg]

The IGDA has put out a Call for Speakers for its two Leadership Forums. Qualified individuals are being sought who can provide insightful leadership and production-related sessions for the 5th Annual IGDA Leadership Forum US and new this year, the First Annual IGDA Leadership Forum EU, focused on advancing the state of the art in game production and management. Both forums will take place this fall, with the European forum being held in Copenhagen on October 20th and 21st. IGDA Leadership Forum US is taking place at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles on October 27th and 28th.

Toon Boom Animation Inc. has release of its initial line up of fun apps for the Apple community, from mobile devices to Mac computers. Each app has several entertaining features, these vary depending on the app and device used. The Mac AppStore now offers Flip Boom Cartoon and Flip Boom Doodle which are available internationally.

On the mobile devices front, Toon Boom has launched Flip Boom Lite for the iPhone and iPod, a free app that lets your fingertips doodle, scribble or draw fun animations. Flip Boom Lite is already available for the iPad and has received rave reviews.

“A natural synergy exists between Apple and Toon Boom Animation, as our award-winning applications are used by the largest animation studios in the world, while Apple products are the most popular devices in the world,” said Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Toon Boom Animation. “Toon Boom is an amazing example of the potential that can be unlocked by applications that can run smoothly on any Apple platform.”

Vancouver-based JAH App Development is pleased to announce the release of the fun, interactive Kids Anatomy Puzzle iPhone App is available through iTunes App Store. The Kids Anatomy Puzzle is a series (16 in Total) of body part puzzles with easy tap and swipe controls that lets your child learn the anatomy of his or her body by building each puzzle. Upon completion of each puzzle your child will see and hear the body part they have just completed.

Starting with a basic Boy or Girl head, kids can can choose a part of the face and create a puzzle to complete the face. There are audio and visual rewards upon completion of each puzzle. This game is recommended for kids aged 2 – 10.

Montreal’s realtech VR has launched its No Gravity application for iOS, Android users and is now extending the offer for iPad 2, taking advantage of the power of the new tablet from Apple, extending its support for more Android devices and adding availability for HP WebOS devices. No Gravity, originally released as a PSP game on the Playstation network, is now available for iOS and Android operating system. Players will love the fast action as they work their way through thirty-one dangerous missions in a spaceship, in an attempt to save their people. No Gravity has a history of being a popular favorite with PSP players.

PSP players will recognize the name of one of the Android Market and iTunes App Store’s newest additions. No Gravity has already been a very popular game on the Playstation Network for some time. Realtech VR has been busy, adapting this space/action game to take advantage of HD display and open the world of No Gravity to iOS and Android users. The game pits the player against evil forces who have unleashed a mind-altering sickness across thousands of colonies. It’s up to the player to try and save people, or at least prevent more damage.

[youtube:http://youtu.be/nXExAkUi_rk]

Players have thirty-one mission levels to play, can choose from six different spaceships and two levels of difficulty. To help in the fight, each ship comes equipped with six weapons, everything from lasers to ion blasters. Along the way, players will enjoy the massive explosions, first or third person views and rewards for a job well done. No Gravity is a very fast-paced, action packed game that is not for the weak at heart. Good reflexes and a calm hand go a long way to helping the player succeed.

These are some of the features offered in No Gravity:

* Incredible, fast-paced, non-stop action
* This is the iOS and Android version of the PSP for Playstation favorite
* Full frame rate
* Massive explosions and damages
* Play in first or third person view
* Select from 5 characters and 5 space ships
* Each ship available in 4 different colours
* Choose from 6 different, awesome weapons
* 31 mission levels to play
* 2 difficulty modes to test a player’s skills
* Reward system with achievements to unlock
* Multitouch and Accelerometer
* iOS Game Center (requires iOS 4.1 or better)
* Google Backup Service for ‘on the cloud’ save games
* Support for phone and tablets (Android 2.2 support for PowerVR, Tegra GPU and Adrenon GPUS including Android 3.0 support – including Motorola Xoom )
* Support for the iPad 2 new graphical processing power.

With the popularity of this game already established on the Playstation Network, No Gravity is being featured on the iTunes App Store in more than 500 places while still being a brand new launch. This should help players find yet another way to enjoy the nail-biting action offered in this all-time favorite.

No Gravity is only $2.99 (USD)  and available worldwide through the iTunes App Store, Mac App Store, Android Market and HP WebOS Application Store in the Games category.

Relic Entertainment has released it’s very popular Dawn of War II play mode The Last Stand as a new stand alone playable game. Dawn of War II Retribution: The Last Standalone is available for purchase on Steam for $9.99 USD. This latest offering in the Dawn of War world is a cooperative survival mode where you control a single hero and face off against waves of enemies along with two other teammates. You can take on the enemy in two different co-op arenas with one of the six available heroes. Gain experience points to level up and unlock new war gear and abilities for your characters. Players can also customize their character’s abilities to create the ultimate build and fight off twenty waves of increasingly devastating enemies as well as track ratings against other gamers and see how your different builds match up.

The Vancouver studio has also released a slew of new screenshots for Space Marine. Head on over to the official Facebook Fan Page to check them all out. The intense 3rd person action shooter RPG Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine chapter takes place in the brutal, science fiction setting of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe. In the 41st Millennium, humanity faces extinction at the hands of horrific aliens and demonic hordes. Only one force can offer salvation: the superhuman Space Marines. Who will come out the victor as the Imperial Forces battle against feral Orks and the powers of Chaos? Will UltraMarine Captain Titus be able to hold back the Renegade Militia, Tainted Psykers and Bloodletter Daemons? The fate of the Universe will be in the hands of gamers this summer when Space Marine launches on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC this August.

The Canadian Games Conference would like to remind you that the Early Bird ticket deadline is April 26th – don’t miss this opportunity to save $150.00 off the full ticket price. The conference has also confirmed three more sessions for this year’s event, which takes place at the Vancouver Convention Centre on May 19th and 20th:

Dee Jay Randall

* 1000s of Zombies, 1000s of Problems — The Dead Rising 2 Multiplayer Experience – Presented by Dee Jay Randall, Technical Director at Capcom Vancouver, who will discuss the challenges posed by the co-operative online play for Dead Rising 2. Find out how the studio went about creating a shared experience of killing zombies and rescuing survivors while maintaining the quality of offline single player. The whimsical violence of hitting, stabbing, shooting and crushing zombies needed to be as fluid and as responsive in co-op as it was in single player.

Attendees will be rewarded with details of the networking components developed for Dead Rising 2’s co-operative mode. We will reveal how we achieved the perception of seamless simultaneity for thousands of in-game entities. In addition, we’ll describe the criteria we used to determine which features relied on a peer-to-peer model versus a traditional client-server model. Finally, we’ll describe the in-game tools used during development and highlight improvements that can ease future development.

* 2011 Processor Graphics Profiling for Console Level Game Performance in your Lap – Presented by Yannis Minadakis from Intel Corporation

* Evolution of an App to Deliver Scalable Application Infrastructure, Matt Chilek, Vice President, Systems Development at SoftLayer Technologies, Inc.

The Canadian Games Conference will also be presenting a PechaKucha-styled closing to this year’s conference, featuring an hour’s worth of high energy game industry topics designed to leave you with the inspiration to go forth and create. Don’t forget to get your tickets for the Canadian Videogame Awards, taking place May 18th at the Centre for the Performing Arts.

Flirting entered the 21st century today with the launch of Winnipeg-based Tipping Canoe’s new mobile application, Flurt. With location-based applications surging in popularity and many people viewing their digital presence as an extension of themselves, Flurt helps avoid the awkwardness of a traditional pickup line by sending an anonymous flirt instead.

“Flurt is the digital version of passing notes during class or approaching someone at a bar,” said co-developer Varun Mehra, a 25-year-old computer science graduate from the University of Manitoba. “Flirting is an instinctual behaviour of verbal and physical cues, and this mobile app provides a new dimension to the art of flirtation.”

With 2011 being billed as the year smartphones become mainstream, the International Data Corporation reports that the global smartphone market is expected to grow four times faster than the overall mobile phone market as customers switch from basic cell phones to devices that can download apps and connect to the Internet. According to IDC Canada, more than 50 per cent of smartphones in Canadians’ hands are Android phones or iPhones.

Once Android and iPhone users download the Flurt app, they can send anonymous flurts to anyone in their current location and see all flurts sent by others within 150 metres. As Flurt is a public application, anyone can be flirted with whether they have the app or not. However, to view or respond to a flurt, the mobile app needs to be installed.

“Flirting is universal and we’ve all been in situations where we wanted to compliment or flirt with someone, but have been shy,” said Jeff Friesen, 23, Flurt app developer. “For us, it was a logical leap to create a way for people to make that first introduction more easily and reduce the risk of something we all cringe at – embarrassment or rejection.”