Village Gamer

Cackleberries, the latest online virtual world introducing children to the future of education is now open for familes to explore. This living community, full of fun learning and adventure, is the brainchild of entrepreneur Eronne Foster, a passionate mother cared so much about the future of children’s education and the promotion of a safe online environment to learn in that she assembled a team of educationalists, British Columbia’s finest animators and game developers to develop an imaginative world rich in learning and packed with entertainment.

“Information technology provides us with opportunities to make learning material more visual, interactive, and accessible,” Eronne says. “We encourage children to learn through creativity, playful thinking, social integration and computer skills. Cackleberries is designed to allow young children between the ages of 3 and 7 to play and learn. It’s not just about reading and math, but embodies life skills, social practices and cultural integration.”

Cackleberries, named after an Australian word for “egg,” reside in a live, ever changing, exciting virtual world. Aside from the wondrous characters and structures illustrated by Vancouver artist Ken Rolston, many unique features contribute to this learning environment.

“We have strived to make the learning seamless” says Eronne, “in the reading skills component, for example, it is the word bar that helps children learn. It brings together both visual and audio cues. Multimedia learning is enhanced with this combination of visual and auditory stimuli, and the beauty is that children are fast tracked into learning outcomes without even realizing they are learning. ”

A highlight of Cackleberries experience is the safety aspect. Using Adobe AIR, developers of Cackleberries are able to build and deploy rich web applications and content directly to the desktop. They have developed a proprietary “Cackleberries Desktop Safety Icon.” The safety icon takes your child into the online world of Cackleberries with no access to the wider internet and no one on the internet has access to your children. The wondrous characters children interact with are carefully crafted computer generated avatars that deliver the fun and education.

“While many parents have recognized the advantage of online supplemented early education, there is nevertheless a fear of allowing children unrestricted access to the internet,” says Eronne. “At Cackleberries we are passionate about providing the safest online environment for your children to play, explore, and learn in. We take early childhood education and online safety very seriously, and consult with some of the top experts.”

“It’s important that parents are able to engage and help direct their children’s play and learning outcomes,” continued Eronne. “We are building a growing resource centre with current information on parenting, early childhood education and child safety. To this end the Cackleberries team has developed Club C for grownups. Club C is for anyone who has a child in their life – parents, grandparents, educators and caregivers.”

In Cackleberries world children develop their own avatars, which are engagingly interactive and kick start the child’s creativity. Children participate in a growing, living world, with houses, streets and communities that evolve around them. The creators imagined a place for children where everyone is accepted, differences are never feared and innocence still exists.

“We are always developing exciting new learning delivery methods which encompass a wide skill set,” enthuses Eronne.  “As borders open between nations, ethnic diversity has become part of the mosaic of life. Cackleberries teaches acceptance, understanding and caring; and shows our young audience how to celebrate, not fear differences.”

Frima Studio and Build-A-Bear-Workshop® have announced that Bearville.com™, the online virtual world extension of the Build-A-Bear Workshop brand, has surpassed 20 million avatars. Bearville™ is a premier virtual world experience for children, families and fans of the Build-A-Bear-Workshop brand. Co-developed and maintained with Frima Studio, Bearville is a free online virtual world and entertainment destination where Guests bring their furry friends to life, interact with other users, play games, take on virtual jobs, buy virtual items and explore.

Since its launch in 2007, Bearville has entertained millions of young fans and earned a spot as one of the top children’s virtual worlds. With exciting adventures, avatar customization and mini-games, Bearville has solidified Build-A-Bear Workshop as a leader in kids interactive entertainment. With the success of Bearville, the company continues to extend its brand from retail shops into e-commerce, online virtual worlds, mobile entertainment apps, and more.

“We’re extremely proud to reach the twenty million avatar milestone with Bearville and are thankful to all of our loyal fans who visit the virtual world each day,” commented Maxine Clark, Founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear-Workshop. “This achievement reinforces our commitment to provide a fun, interactive experience for our guests.”

“Frima Studio has been a critical partner for us in developing the online world on Bearville.com. From concept to twenty million Guests, Frima has been with us every step of the way,” noted Dave Finnegan, Chief Information Bear, Build-A-Bear-Workshop. “Their strategic partnership, creative thinking and technical expertise have been essential to the success of Bearville.”

“This has been an exciting project for us from the start and we’re honored to have been a trusted partner of Build-A-Bear-Workshop for almost five years now,” remarked Steve Couture, CEO, Frima Studio. “Bearville is one of our biggest projects here at Frima, an incredible family brand and a very forward thinking entertainment company.”

Big Blue Bubble Inc. has announced that the will be releasing 5 new titles across iOS and Android devices, PC, Mac and Facebook in the next business quarter. Not all titles will be available for all platforms, please see individual titles for details.

“We’re excited to see our next round of amazing original IP be released simultaneously and across multiple platforms.  The range of genres covered will further cement our standing as Canada’s top gaming company.” said Bryan Davis, Director of Business Development of Big Blue Bubble.

Burn The Rope: WORLDS, the sequel to one of Big Blue Bubble’s most successful games, brings totally new and unique gameplay mechanics combined with the well-known gameplay and visual style.  Burn The Rope: Worlds is a challenging game where players try to burn as much rope as possible in each level, but there’s a catch – naturally. The fire only burns upwards, leaving the player to tilt and turn the phone to keep the flame alive.

As the player progresses through the levels, he will encounter bugs crawling along the rope. Different bugs have different reactions to the flame. For example, burning the ant changes the color of the flame so rope of the same color can be burned, and burning the spider shoots out a web bridge so the player can access parts of the level that were inaccessible before. Burn The Rope Worlds will launch in September 2011 for iOS, Android, PC and Mac.

Fling a Thing is a simple game where you shoot your Thing in the air and collect all the bubbles.  The player advances onto the next level when all the bubbles are collected.  The player has a limited amount of shots and when they run out, the round ends.  The Thing is shot in the air by touching and pulling it back like a slingshot.

Once released it bounces around the screen collecting bubbles and power-ups. The goal is to collect as many bubbles as possible and beat your last high score. The player needs to pay attention to the Suckies’ Hunger Meter because when it’s empty they can head on over to the “Feeding Ground”. As the player taps the bubbles, the Suckie jumps up and collects them, filling their Hunger Meter. Fling a Thing will launch in September 2011 for iOS and Android devices, PC, Mac and Facebook.

Dark Incursion is a side scrolling hack and slash game that gives the player a full stereoscopic 3D experience. It takes place in an alternate reality in the late 1800’s, amidst an industrial revolution and a world war.  The player is the character, Anya, who is one of the few who know about a secret military laboratory developing biological weaponry that could devastate the entire planet if it got out of control.

The player has a multitude of melee and ranged weapons at their disposal to eradicate the abominations from the city. Weapons and attributes are upgradable to best suit their play style. The deeper they get into the secret bunker the more advanced and powerful these monsters become. To top all of this off, the player must complete their mission before the government gives the order to send these bio-soldiers on to the battlefield where there will be no stopping them. With a vivid steam punk art style using new 3D technologies, the creatures will literally jump off the screen. Dark Incursion will be released in September 2011 for iOS and Android devices, and will be available for PC and Mac in October 2011.

Hamster Cannon is a physics-based puzzle game in which the player combines and launches various hamsters out of cannons to collect Golden Noms.  The player will select three different hamsters out of a possible eight – each with their own special skills.  The player will use angles and bouncing to navigate the levels with a myriad of different surfaces that can react differently depending on which Hamster is being used.

The points awarded for collecting Noms can be traded in the In-Game Store to unlock different upgrades. Hamsters are fired out of the cannon at a high velocity, and the player has the ability to adjust the angle of the cannon to maximize the special skills of each hamster. Hamster Cannon will be available for iOS and Android devices, PC and Mac in September 2011

iOracle is one of the most unique trivia games out there! It has players predicting actual real world events, in order to earn the admiration of their fickle followers, who come and go based on the accuracy of the player’s predictions.  The more questions they get right, the more followers they will earn. There will be new questions asked every day, with answers being supplied on the following day.

Players will have their own temple which they can decorate to attract different types of followers. Each follower type asks a different variety of questions – sports, movies, weather, etc. In-app purchasing will also be available to help players get past tougher questions, decorate their temple, or customize their avatar. This will all contribute to the players goal of accumulating more followers.  iOracle will launch in October 2011 for iOS and Android devices as well as Facebook.

Android smartphone owners are finally able to play the addictive “Cows vs. Aliens” game by XMG Studio, now available for a limited time as a free download on the Google Android Market. The aim of “Cows vs. Aliens” is to save herds of cows from invading aliens by pushing the cows safely into the barn and keeping the aliens out. It sounds simple but when waves of nasty aliens are descending on your innocent cows you will need all eleven fingers on the screen.

Launched for iOS in February 2011, “Cows vs. Aliens” has enjoyed huge success on the Apple App Store, with many players instantly falling for this easy to pick up but hard to put down game. “Cows vs. Aliens” introduces a new way of interacting with your game, using a pushing gesture to move the cows and aliens around the screen. Unlike other games, which rely on line drawing or touch and drag gestures, the pushing mechanic is a much more organic and lifelike interaction.

Like it’s iOS counterpart, “Cows vs. Aliens” for Android appeals to both to casual and serious gamers by keeping the mechanism simple and intuitive, but making it more and more challenging, when moving up the levels. The Android version also allows you to compete with other players and unlock special achievements and awards using OpenFeint’s leaderboard and achievements.

“This game launch includes another significant development for XMG,” says Ray Sharma, founder and CEO of XMG Studio Inc. “We are responding to popular request for our hit games to be available on Android. We have modified our Kanban Agile game development process to be able to more efficiently address this important community. Its important for the tens of millions of XMG users to know this is just the beginning of our Android efforts. To that end we wish Android touch screen users all the best and we hope you enjoy our free game promotion as our way of getting things started!”

IUGO is pleased to announce the launch of its next mobile social title, Animal Academy, a time/resource-management game that lets you build and customize your school for adorable animal teachers and students.

“We wanted to create a fun experience for all ages,” states IUGO’s CEO Hong-Yee Wong.  “Animal Academy is very easy to pick up, and the friendly and intuitive activities will keep you delighted for hours.”  The game launches with 20 cheery classroom themes and 23 endearing animal characters, with more being added with regular updates.

Animal Academy Description

• Customize your school – Build classrooms that will delight the students of Animal Academy. Reading, writing and arithmetic are the basics, but this ultra-fun school can also teach subjects such as paleontology, robotics, fashion and football to name but a few.
• Attract adorable animals – Each new classroom unlocks a new animal species! Cats, dogs, penguins, foxes, robo-mice and more.
• Play with friends – Pitch your students up against rival schools in friendly competitions or help out by supervising a friend’s classroom! Playing with friends earns you daily in-game rewards.
• Play the role of Principal – Build and maintain the greatest school in the land. The students at Animal Academy have been known to reward beloved Principals with heart-felt, home-made gifts.
• Expect tons of future content – IUGO is committed to keeping Animal Academy fresh with frequent and continuous updates. Check back often for new classrooms, animal species, game features and more.

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The iPhone and iPad enhanced game is available now in the Apple Appstore and is today’s free download thanks to @FreeAppADay. Animal Academy is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 3.0 or later.

With just seven weeks left until the Ontario election, Damian Sommer, a student at George Brown College, has developed a video game where the player must dodge obstacles like tuition fees, debt and apathy to tackle a ballot box. The game is part of the Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario ‘Take It Over‘ campaign and can be played online.

“Drawing on the skills of our members, this game was designed to be a fun way to engage Ontarians about voting on October 6,” said Cindy Brownlee, Director of Education and Equity for the Student Association of George Brown College. “George Brown students, like students across Ontario, are struggling to pay high tuition fees and high levels of debt, so it’s important for us to encourage students to vote.”

“As students face another year of a five per cent tuition fee increase, we decided to offer them some relief from the stress that growing student debt causes through this game,” said Sandy Hudson. “The ‘Take It Over’ campaign has several components that are interactive and we hope that Ontarians will take the  chance to tackle the ballot box through our game, and then vote in the fall.”

The Nintendo-style game launched this morning as a browser game and will be available as a mobile app in the next few weeks. To date, students have released seven videos, held actions across Ontario and talked to hundreds of students about the importance of voting and the promises being made by the political parties to reduce the costs of college and university education.

The Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario unites more than 300,000 college and university undergraduate and graduate students studying at post-secondary institutions in all regions the province.

Based on the ABC hit show Wipeout and continuing the tradition of wickedly entertaining family fun, Activision Publishing, Inc. and ABC Entertainment Group announced today at Gamescom that Wipeout 2, the latest release in the hit video game franchise will be coming this holiday season for the Nintendo DS™, Nintendo 3DS™, Wii™ from Nintendo, Kinect™ for Xbox 360®, and PlayStation®Move for Playstation®3.

Currently in development at Behaviour Interactive, Wipeout 2 will offer updated, outrageous course designs across all platforms with obstacles and effects taken straight from the show’s summer and winter seasons. Players must navigate around snow, ice, foam, and fan-favorite obstacles like the Sucker Punch Wall and Big Balls; which are making their triumphant returns alongside more than 50 others. Extended gameplay on all systems encourages even more interaction and participation with family and friends. Once again, all the wild and crazy action is narrated by the show’s hosts John Anderson and John Henson.

“I’m excited that the video game series is evolving just like our show,” said Matt Kunitz, Wipeout’s Creator and Executive Producer. “Players will experience all the fun of the new winter and summer courses without being sore in the morning!”

Particular attention is being paid to making every platform experience unique with ramped up excitement that engages gamers like never before. Freshly revised controls makes for intuitive and easy to use motion-based gameplay for Wii owners. The PlayStation Move and Kinect for Xbox 360 titles will offer gamers the ability to taunt and toss paintballs and snowballs at family and friends while they run the course.

Handheld gaming will finally become a communal experience with pass and play ‘Hot Seat’ participation for up to 4 players with Nintendo 3DS players also seeing their graphics taken to a whole new dimension. No matter how players choose to enjoy, the crazy and hilarious fun is taken to wild new heights with Wipeout 2.

“Working with ABC on the Wipeout titles has been a tremendous success,” said Nicole Armstrong, Activision Publishing. “Their integration of the game series into the show has been outstanding and their contributions to the game make it truly appealing for fans. We look forward to bringing more great Wipeout experiences to families.”

The Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS versions have been rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. The Wii, PlayStation Move and Kinect for Xbox 360 versions have been rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older by the ESRB.

Nintendo Canada says that consumers and their families soon will be able to experience even more must-play games for the Wii™ system at an excellent value. Nintendo has announced the addition of four games to the Nintendo® Selects collection, a hot-selling series of fun, family-friendly Wii games offered at a suggested retail price of $19.99 each. Starting August 28th, the Nintendo Selects lineup grows to include Super Paper Mario™, Mario Strikers™ Charged by Next Level Games, Punch-Out!!™, also by Next Level Games, and Super Mario Galaxy™, which is recognized as one of the most acclaimed Wii games of all time.

Already enjoyed by millions of players around the globe, games in the Nintendo Selects collection offer boundless fun at an enticing price for Wii users of any experience level, whether they want to expand their own game libraries or find affordable, fun-packed gifts for loved ones. The Wii console, which comes bundled with the Mario Kart™ Wii game and the Wii Wheel™ accessory, delivers extraordinary entertainment value for families and is available for a suggested retail price of $149.99.

Three of the four new additions to the Nintendo Selects collection invite players to interact with Nintendo’s iconic Mario™ character in imaginative and entertaining ways: Super Mario Galaxy is an out-of-this-world adventure in which Mario must travel through outer space to rescue Princess Peach™ from the devious Bowser™; Super Paper Mario offers classic Mario RPG action that can be switched from flat 2D worlds to a full open-world perspective; and Mario Strikers Charged finds the Mushroom Kingdom crew storming the soccer field for fast-paced athletic kicks. Also, the fan-favorite Punch-Out!! game delivers motion-controlled boxing thrills with a host of memorable characters. All four games feature multiplayer modes that let friends and family members have fun together.

Previously announced games in the Nintendo Selects collection include The Legend of Zelda™: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing™: City Folk, Mario™ Super Sluggers and Wii Sports™.

A team of seven students in the Masters of Digital Media program at The Center for Digital Media have come together to create an all-new physics-based puzzle game for iPads and iPhones within an ambitious timeline of 4 months. These students have also created Digital Touch Games, a brand new Vancouver independent studio. Crash Craving is their debut title.

Crash Craving is designed with casual gamers and non-gamers in mind, making the game easy to play but difficult to master. The game features a lovable orange chameleon fittingly named Mango. Mango is in search for food and he comes across jars of flies in a… French Cafe? That’s a classy meal right there and Mango knows how to get it. If you enjoy wreaking havoc in a fancy cafe by swinging like Tarzan with a super long sticky tongue, you’ll love this game. There are 50 levels to play through which is sure to provide hours of fun for just a single dollar on the iTunes app store.

The Masters of Digital Media program is a professional degree designed to be a practical program in which students are set up to work for real industry projects with real clients as well as some high profile companies like Electronic Arts and Microsoft. On the last semester of the 20-month program, the students are given the chance to pitch their own project ideas to the directors of the school as well as industry judges in the style of Dragons’ Den to gauge the viability and profitability of what is being proposed. Making sure that they get a shot at creating a game from concept through development and production, these students endeavoured to have a marketable, polished game within a semester’s time.

Welcome to Airways Virtual, a website that features virtual airlines for flight simulator FSX.  These include British Airways Virtual, Thai Airways Virtual, Tiger Airways Virtual, Hewa Bora Airways Virtual and many more.  If you are interested in managing a virtual airline then contact SimMiles and complete a virtual airline application form.  If you are interested in becoming a virtual airline pilot at one of these Virtual Airlines then you can click on the link that will take you to their website where you can complete a virtual airline pilot application.  Each virtual airline is independently managed and operated by the management of that specific virtual airline.

SimMiles is an airline simulation game for virtual airlines that allows real people to manage the virtual airline in an airline simulation game environment and it also allows virtual airline pilots to complete the flights for the virtual airline using Flight Simulator FSX in real time.  This way pilots also get to participate in this real time airline simulation game online in the most realistic environment.  Airways Virtual is a website that promotes virtual airlines, the airline management game genre in general and the flight simulator FSX community.

Airways Virtual features FSX Virtual Airlines that are based all over the world including countries like Canada, Singapore, United States (USA), UK (United Kingdom), Australia, Germany, France, New Zealand and Ireland.  There are many virtual airlines that you can choose from in these countries and many more.  Airways Virtual mainly features real world based virtual airlines to make the FSX Virtual Airline Management experience more realistic and fun.