Village Gamer

Today I want to share a few sites that I’ve found by following links and recommendations, usually from the Twittersphere. But first, thank you to womanzworld, Big Bad Brush, Cybele Negris, Roddie Kieley, Wojtek Kawczynski and Savant Games for the #FF today on Twitter.

Here is a reminder that Game Prototype Challenge v2 will be announcing the themes on Monday December 13th, as well as a teaser look at some of the games from version 1.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs8qETkPIOw]

If you are a professional, student or hobbyist, I recommend that you take part in the Game Prototype Challenge – because hey, you never know where that next great idea will come from.

One of my recent new followers on Twitter is Disruptive Publishers. Based in Vancouver, this group creates licensed avatar gear for platforms such as Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. They have created themes and avatars for groups such as American universities, as well as partnered with companies such as Capcom, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the NBA for personalized gear that can be purchased in the respective console marketplaces. Creating user-customization gear for avatars is a great way to get your company’s image out into the main stream, broadening its presence to areas you may not have previously considered. According to their site, Disruptive Publishers is “an end-to-end solution for all production, licensing, approval, accounting and marketing disciplines throughout the entire process.”

Toronto-based Raw Sugar PR, owned and operated by Juli Strader, is a company whose philosophy is very similar to our own, to quote their site: “Raw Sugar PR is dedicated to developing and establishing a star system of directors, producers, screenwriters and actors so that Canadians across the country will proudly boast about our talent in the film & TV industry. Film & TV publicity opportunities abound from all stages, from development to casting to production to theatrical debut and to multi-platform distribution. Each stage offers new opportunities to build industry awareness and consumer recognition of your project.”

Another Twitter-find is Vancouver’s Blatant Studio, whose specialty is animation and motion-graphics. They have done work for clients such as Piranha Games, MTV, MuchMusic, 20th Century Fox and many more. While watching their show reel, I saw something very disturbing. Scott Baio is 45? I feel really old now. Thanks, Blatant.

I followed a link posted by Toon Boom, which led me to their Christmas ecard application. A link on that page led me over to Premium Beat, a royalty free music provider founded in 2005 by father-son creatives Giles and Francois Arbour. Based in Quebec, Premium Beat offers high quality Royalty Free Music for all new and traditional media, including websites, online videos, slide shows, DVDs and CD-ROMs, television, radio and films. The company also offers a variety of Flash Media Players for websites: Flash mp3 Players, Flash Video Players and Flash Slideshow Players.

Moderation Town from Stitch Media had its premier yesterday. Airing as a web series on Showcase.ca, Moderation Town is a comedy series about a small Maritime town after the local factory folds and is replaced by an Internet moderation company. Local residents become not-so-internet-savvy content moderators, responsible for filtering the most offensive content off of the Internet.

Kelowna studio Situware has released Pigeon Drop, a kind-of-location-based game available now in the iTunes App Store for $2.99. According to the game’s info, Pigeon Drop is a revolution in interactive game play, physically integrating players into an online world where they command an army of pigeons capable of launching real-time attacks against other online players around the globe.

Pigeons have united in a worldwide effort to help humanity avoid total self-destruction. After years of practicing on statues and monuments around the world, pigeons have finally perfected the art of high altitude bombing and are ready to offer their services to humankind. It appears pigeon poop is a great alternative to weapons of mass destruction and pigeons are willing to partner with humans in an effort to avoid a worldwide disaster and offer a new way of achieving total global domination.

Today seems to be the day for finding out about games with questionable titles. New from Winnipeg’s Complex Games is Monkey Poo, available now in the iTunes store for 99 cents. This game, according to its store description, allows you to fling your way to victory by covering unwary zoo-goers with mounds and mounds of monkey poo, awarding bonus points for finishing off your targets with multiple hits, while nailing mystery celebrities brings massive rewards. Another game objective is to avoid the zookeeper, as he will apparently put your poonami to an early end.

Microsoft’s Vancouver game studio launched an online beta of their newest title last night. Neosaurs is an MMORPG free-to-play PC browser game, and it appears that there will be purchasable upgrades. I did find information about charges and charegbacks in on the game’s site, but could not find any mention of what could be purchased or any prices. Perhaps this feature will be enabled once the beta phase has concluded.

The game’s description is as follows: “deep below Earth’s surface, Inner Earth is in trouble and needs your help! Raise your very own Neosaur to be protector for the forces of good. Play with your friends and explore the extensive lore and endless adventure in the magical land beneath. You can evolve your Neosaur into a ferocious Rex, strong Cera, or agile Ptera.”

Behaviour Studios has a new title on XBLA – Doritos Crash Course is a fast-paced, funny, obstacle course game show for your Avatar to compete against your friends and family over XboxLive. Play through 15 exciting platformer levels across 3 different countries. Compete against your friends and family up to four players over XboxLive and local split-screen. Technically, this free game was developed by Wanako Studios in Chile – but – Wanako is a wholly-owned division of Quebec’s Behaviour Studio, which, in a round-about kind of way, gets it in through the Canadian Content Door.

Last evening we had the pleasure of attending Annex Pro’s Expo 2011 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, where we had a chance to catch up with a few friends as well as make new ones. The team at Annex Pro put together a great group of vendor booths – it’s a good thing that the CaveChild was not with us, or he would’ve tried to make off with the entire Avid Pro Tools display. As it was, I spent a fair bit of time talking with Bonnie from Wacom, and with a smoking hot sales deal from Annex Pro, my very dated Wacom Graphire 3 is now a medium-sized Intuos 4. Now I am just waiting on my registration emails from Wacom (how long does that take, anyway?) so that I can install the free software tools that purchasers of Wacom tablets receive, and then I can watch my Adobe PhotoShop Elements 4 upgrade to version 8 (oh wow, just learned that Adobe is now on version 9), and maybe in a few months’ time I can take advantage of the Wacom Buyer Privileges and upgrade my PhotoShop 7 to PhotoShop CS5 with the special purchase deal. Oh, and if you think my PhotoShop is outdated….I still use Bryce 5 and PaintShop Pro 8. I won a copy of Corel’s PaintIt on Twitter a few months ago, and have been playing a bit with it – watching the software’s conversion process is quite entertaining.

Scott’s interest at the Annex Pro event was tweaked both by the keynote delivered by Technicolor Creative Services’ Tom Burns and by the offerings from Atempo, Aspera, Blue Arc, G-Tech, AJA and HP because he likes to geek out over the technical side of things, which are completely out of my realm. As long as our networks connect and the computers and server are working, I’m happy – although I do want the fancy computers & screens they have on CSI and Bones, just because they look cool.

I have always liked the software tools developed by Autodesk, who was also present at the expo, but as I can’t draw and haven’t even mastered Bryce 5, Maya and Max are far beyond my capabilities – I have a healthy respect for anyone who creates product with that software. Craft Animations was also displaying their wares, and I actually have one of their products, which I won at a previous Annex Pro event. Not a clue what to do with that, either. Perhaps we should come up with a contest and offer it as a prize; I’m sure there are some indie devs out there who would benefit greatly from having it.

Transgaming Studios has released the pre-game cinematic for their upcoming title Garage Inc on the game’s Facebook page. The cinematic introduces the player to the characters and sets the mood for this 1920’s Prohibition-era game. Watch as lead character Angelo talks with his cousin Sal during a family Christmas gathering about the garage he dreams of opening.

There are two new indie titles available today – Xona Games is burning up the dev pipe, releasing their second new title this week. Score Rush has passed Peer Review and is now out on Xbox Live Indie Games for 80 MS Points. Built on the Duality ZF engine, this 4-player shoot ’em up features overwhelming firepower, trailing options, full screen bombs, tons of enemies, an intimidating final boss and hundreds of crazy bullet patterns to survive. The 60 fps adrenaline-rush experience is complemented by a hard-rocking Dragon Music soundtrack.

Also out today is RatRod Studio’s Drift Mania Canadian Championship is now available in the Android Marketplace for 99 cents. Previously released in the iTunes App Store, Android users can now get in on the racing action. Drift Mania Canadian Championships features Online Global Leaderboards with live events, variable throttle system and hydraulic handbrake with adjustable steering sensitivity, 7 uniquely spec’d vehicles, 5 different tracks, 2 acceleration modes and 3 levels of difficulty with 3 camera configurations. If you want to relive the moment, there is a highlights replay system, and you can also listen to either the included soundtrack or your own music as you tear up the track.

A post made earlier today by Frima Studios‘ Executive Producer Martin Brouard on the official PlayStation blog announced that there will be a new title released by the studio on December 21st. A Space Shooter for Two Bucks will be available for free to all PlayStation Plus subscribers, and $1.99 for everyone else. According to the blog, A Space Shooter is of the classic arcade space shooting genre (in case you couldn’t guess that from the title), and “swarms of enemies filling the screens with hazardous bullets and missiles, heaps of upgrades for your ship and its arsenal, high-paced and constant action requiring deft reflexes, and hordes of alien baddies just waiting to be blown up by your superior space-faring skills.” Plus, to add to your gaming experience, there will be a myriad of interesting characters to encounter and in some cases control.

Kitchener-Waterloo developer Footloose Games has announced that they will be releasing a beta version of their Munchies’ Lunch title on December 27th. Munchies’ Lunch is a fun adventure-puzzle PC-based game for the whole family. Simply download the game from the Footloose website to embark on an epic journey with the Munchie family as they say goodbye to their homeland and travel the world to find a peaceful place where they can settle down. Mr. & Mrs. Munchie will travel along with their children through far-away jungles, over steep mountains, and across the hot deserts in their journey. Along the way they’ll meet the ravenous Hungries, crafty bird-snakes and perhaps even a tribal tiki or two.

Vancouver developer LoudCrow has released its latest iPad book. Available now, this pop-out version of The Night Before Christmas joins LoudCrow’s previous title, Pop-out Tales of Peter Rabbit in the iTunes store. In this new release, you can see William Denslow’s masterful illustrations brought to life with innovative pull-tabs, spin-wheels, and elements that bounce and spring with the touch a finger. Listen to “O Christmas Tree” beautifully performed on piano while you read and interact with each page of the book. Explore every scene and discover the many delightful life-like interactions at your fingertips.

Bioware has released the first in a series of “Making of” videos for Dragon Age 2. Here is Part One:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8AulecgRbI]

Kobo has launched Reading Life, an industry first social eReading experience. Readers can now track their personal reading history, check-in with characters and places inside books and earn achievements and awards for simply reading. Readers can also choose to share books, favourite passages, awards and more with their friends on Facebook. Kobo Reading Life is initially available on iPad, as a part of the latest iPad update in the iTunes store now.

Kobo Reading Life for iPad provides an unparalleled experience that enables users to engage in eReading in new ways, connect with friends, and earn awards just for reading: Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best parts of being on Twitter has been learning more about the great independent developer community we have in Canada. There is an incredible camaraderie shared by these talented entities, and they are very prone to sharing their knowledge and experience with each other – something I don’t generally see with the bigger conglomerate studios, although I have seen such sharing amongst those designers who are employed by EA, Ubisoft and THQ studios (to name a few), it’s not to the same extent shared by the independents. Naturally, this could be due to contractual agreements and requirements put in place by the big studios, which is understandable for proprietary areas, but experience and knowledge never shared impedes the advancement of our digital industry.

Perhaps it is because in smaller, independent studios everyone is accountable for the success (or failure) of their creations, and this in turn leads to working at improving their publicity efforts as well as their end product. The sharing of opportunity is something else I see much of between the indies, and it’s because of this that I have been able to discover and share information about studios and Canadian-made products that I may have never found if it weren’t for the folks on Twitter passing on leads and links to me, because I, too am an independent, and appreciate the assistance I am given and battle daily to catch up on indie titles I need to play and review, as well as keep up on the news. One such discovery was sent my way yesterday by Celsius Game Studio.

Chaotic Box touts itself as a one man game making machine. The man behind the machine is Torontonian Frank Condello, and true to the independent genre, he is Chaotic Box’s developer, 2D/3D artist, music & sound designer. Chaotic Box has released four titles for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad: Flooid, Pollywog, Pinch n Pop, and his newest title, Silverfish, which is currently on sale in the iTunes App Store for $1.99 USD.

According to the game’s info page, Silverfish pits the gamer against swarms of menacing space bugs that the player must weave through and defeat with powerful detonations, combining pure arcade action with stunning visual effects. Silverfish currently offers three game modes with more on the way, leader board and achievements, Retina Display graphics, intuitive swipe-anywhere controls and an original soundtrack.

DreamCatcher Games is happy to announce the release of Learn Science for Nintendo DS™ just in time for the holiday season! Learn Science let‘s kids learn while having fun. Learn the basic principles of: Light and Sound, Physics, The human body, Biology and Geography while playing a variety of engaging mini-games. Unlock new mini-games by scoring high marks in Career Mode and then perfect your skills by mastering unlocked mini-games in Game Mode on one of 3 difficulty levels. Kids can challenge their friends in multiplayer mini-games, or they can co-operate and challenge the AI.

Features:

· Learn the basic principles of: Light and Sound, Physics, The human body, Biology and Geography
· Integrated age check with traffic light system offers gaming fun for every level of knowledge
· Two different in game guides to help with explanations and examples
· Multiplayer mode: Hot seat, Single card and Multi card for common learning with parents and friends through mini games

Learn Science is priced at $19.99 USD and is available in retail stores across North America. Rated ‘E’ for everyone.

Get Set Games has just announced that their hit title Mega Jump will be coming to Android in the next couple of weeks. Mega Jump is compatible with Android 2.0 and up and will be free to download. Mega Jump for Android makes use of OpenFeint’s great social gaming features including global high scores and unlockable achievements.

Mega Jump has been downloaded by more than 7.5 million people worldwide in the App Store, and the studio is looking forward to inviting Android gamers to join the mix. The exact release date has yet to be decided, but you can be sure that once I know, you’ll know.

Congratulations again to Vancouver start-up Ayogo Games Inc., who won the prestigious “Hottest Digital Media Company in Canada” title at nextMedia in Toronto last week.

Ayogo’s latest Facebook® game, called HealthSeeker™, was the entry that helped win the hotly-contested award. The game is built on Ayogo’s GoodLife Gamification Engine™, and aims to help people living with diabetes habituate healthier behaviour around diet and exercise. Michael Fergusson, CEO of Ayogo, was excited to accept the award.

“Gamification is touching all areas of our lives, especially online,” said Fergusson. “I’m proud that Ayogo, and our GoodLife Gamification Engine™, is being recognized for being at the forefront of this exciting new trend, and for using the power of constructive play to help make people’s lives better.”

Xona Games, that very talented and award-winning indie team who has been creating some of the most critically-acclaimed indie arcade games to date, announced today that the first of its two Xbox LIVE Indie Games launching this week, Decimation X3, is now available for only for 80 Microsoft Points ($1 USD)! Having been chosen to be a main title featured in the Indie Games Winter Uprising, Decimation X3 features intense shoot-em-up action in a ridiculously affordable package.

Decimation X3 is the thrilling sequel to one of the most popular 2D-retro shooters on Xbox LIVE Indie Games, Decimation X, which is one of the top-rated Indie Games in Japan (currently #3 out of approximately 1,500). Get ready for intense local four-player action, never-ending waves of enemies and a continual rain of power-ups to significantly improve your offensive and defensive capabilities. Featuring decidedly retro pixel art graphics, an overload of explosion particle effects, normal and challenge game modes, 60 frames per second and a hypnotic trance beat soundtrack from Imphenzia, Decimation X3 is everything an arcade junkie could wish for and will put your reflexes to the ultimate test.

The Indie Games Winter Uprising is a celebration of the best that Xbox LIVE Indie Games have to offer, and was recently expanded from just the first week of December to the entire month. Orchestrated by a group of fellow developers longing to promote the higher-quality games that can be found on the platform, the Indie Winter Games Uprising takes place during December and features 14 top-tier games that they hope will elevate the impression of the Indie Games channel.

Ubisoft has announced that Your Shape: Fitness Evolved will offer new exclusive workouts and fitness programs available on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360®.

“When we started working on the development of Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, we contacted several renowned fitness experts and trainers”, said Claudine Cézac, game’s producer for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. “Each trainer insisted on the fact that in order to keep people motivated, it would be important to consistently bring new varieties of exercise to the game. That’s why from the very start, we thought of Your Shape: Fitness Evolved as a comprehensive fitness program that players would be able to enrich at their will. There are many different ways to work out and get in shape, and that’s what we want to offer with the add-on content.”

The add-on content for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved will include personalized workouts, dance-related fitness programs, and a variety of cardio and toning exercises, expanding the overall gameplay experience. The first installment of add-on content will become available in early December 2010 and will include:

• The “Toned Body Program”, to strengthen all your muscles and get a firmer body
• “Cardio Boxing Platinum”, a new advanced level of the Cardio-Boxing class

The second installment will come shortly after and include:

• “New Year New You”, a specific program to get back in shape after Xmas and New Year’s celebrations
• “Dance Workout: Bollywood”, a high impact dance workout using popular Bollywood dance moves.

All extra workouts and programs will be offered individually or in bundle packages. In the first half of the calendar year, over 12 new fantastic workouts for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved will be released on Xbox LIVE. All of these extra workouts and programs will be offered individually or in bundle packages. In the first half of the calendar year, over 12 new pieces of add-on content for Your Shape Fitness Evolved will be released on Xbox Live. Pricing will range from 320 to 560 Microsoft points.

Dark Acre Game Development announced today that its debut title Above and Below, built with Unity 3D, is now available for those with Unity-enabled browsers. Free to play, Above and Below is a vertical-scrolling platformer designed by Christopher ‘Jack’ Nilssen.

In Above and Below, the player controls a tiny person who can jump up to the harrowing heights and fall down into the deadly depths of the game world, collecting valuable treasures, avoiding mindless minions, and defeating terrible guardians. A casual platformer, the full experience can be had in under thirty minutes and is available completely free from the developer’s website.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zJPohbhB-8]

The game’s features include:

Ascension and Descent

* End the game in the highest heights or the deepest depths of the game world.
* The world below is a different challenge from the one above.
* Experience dynamically changing visual and audio elements depending on the chosen path.

Simple Platforming Pleasures

* Fluid jumping and movement controls.
* A variety of enemies and obstacles that will challenge the player’s reflexes and timing.

Battle Persistent Adversaries

* Not all challenges are environmental. Creatures will try to thwart the player’s progress.

Try Again

* Players may choose the expanded win conditions with a time attack or high score challenge.

Above and Below is the result of eight weeks of intensive full-time work. It is delivered via the Unity 3D game engine to browsers, and represents the first in a series of free-to-play efforts from Jack’s Dark Acre.

Another Vancouver indie dev house, Big Sandwich Games, has confirmed that a major update for their critically-acclaimed downloadable dragon game HOARD™ is now live on the PlayStation®Network in North America. The v1.01 update includes new content as well as improvements to several key areas of the game.

“This update is the first step in the long-term support plan for HOARD™,” says Big Sandwich Games’ Design Director Tyler Sigman. “We’re excited that the game has been very well-received by critics and fans, but there are a few items that have been consistently flagged as in need of a bit more polish. We’ve listened to this feedback and the result is an even better game! If you haven’t checked HOARD™ out yet, now is the perfect time to do so.”

The update includes a brand new “HOARD mode” level called “Deathspin”, which allows players to try their survival skills on a spiral map filled with wizard towers and knights.

Major improvements include increasing the text size for on-screen dialogues in HD, enabling friend list leaderboard sorting, and the addition of a new persistent multiplayer lobby which allows gamers to stay grouped up after finishing a game. “The lobby improvements make keeping a good multiplayer group together five million times easier,” quips Sigman.

Other update items include the addition of a restart option within single player levels (for aid in your score-attack attempts) and the appearance of purple princesses, which appear instead of pink any time a maiden is worth 3,000 or more gold. This dress color helps a treasure-hungry dragon tell at a glance which princesses are worth prioritizing.

An innovative innovative strategy arcade game where up to four players compete as dragons, burning medieval villages, kidnapping princesses, roasting thieves, and otherwise trying to collect as much gold as possible, HOARD™ is currently available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system in North America. Upcoming releases in Europe, on the PSP® system, and on Steam will include all update items in their initial release. Local and online multiplayer play are supported for the PlayStation®3 system version, as are leaderboards and other PlayStation®Network community features.

HOARD™ is Big Sandwich Games’ innovative strategy arcade game where up to four players compete as dragons, burning medieval villages, kidnapping princesses, roasting thieves, and otherwise trying to collect as much gold as possible for their hoards. Local and online multiplayer play are supported for the PlayStation®3 system version, as are leaderboards and other PlayStation®Network community features. According to their site, Big Sandwich Games currently has two career positions open.

Big Bad Brush Inc. is pleased to announce that in collaboration with Appvent 2010, their mobile title Big Bad Flower is available for free today, December 7th. Big Bad Flower is rated Rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence.

Big Bad Flower Game Features:

*Unique Game Play
– draw circles around enemies to trap them in bubbles
– swipe flower’s face or petals to create petal spinning action to blow bubbled enemies away
– poke to trap weapons and specialized evolved enemies

*Wacky Creatures
– 15 intense chapters with lots of new creatures to battle
– 3 Different levels from the minuscule backyard to the grand scale of space itself
– 3 Bonus levels of sheer Mayhem madness

*Addictive
– Watch your flower grow and progress through each level of earthly chapters
– beautiful and colorful characters, backgrounds and illustrations

Montreal’s Savant Inc., developer and publisher of iPhone games and entertainment applications, has announced the worldwide release of “The Balls!”, their debut title for iPhone and iPod touch for the introductory price of $0.99 USD.

Hardcore sports Coach Timmins wants you to juggle as many sports balls as possible to prove your worth. Bounce different balls (soccer, basketball, bowling, and more!) a number of times until they burst! Be careful not to let them drop, or Coach Timmins will give you a verbal whipping!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_xqA2PM8MI]

The balls are physics enabled and can bounce against each other for a bigger challenge. Tap the balls to bounce them up, or flick them in a direction for more precise control. Bounce them as late as possible for a higher score and crits! And watch out, sometimes the coach will lob a grenade at you to make sure you are paying attention!

Game Features:

* Simple to pick up and play
* 2 game modes: Classic and Balls mode (no time limit, score as high as you can)
* 5 different types of balls (and more to come in future updates)
* Juggle different types of sports balls to get the highest score
* Flick them up for more control
* Open Feint Leaderboards (compete with your friends)
* Open Feint Achievements
* Game Center enabled with Achievements and Leaderboards – Seamless integration with Open Feint

The Balls is rated Rated 9+ for Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humour

Digital Leisure Inc. has launched Space Ace, the follow up title to Dragon’s Lair, designed exclusively for Nintendo’s DSiWare™ service. Available today for 800 Nintendo DSi Points, Space Ace is a fully animated classic arcade game from legendary animator Don Bluth. In this completely arcade authentic adventure, you’ll journey to rescue the beautiful Kimberly by using your Nintendo DSi™ to move and fire your lasergun. This is the first time the stunning 2D animation has been seen on a Nintendo® handheld format – No pixel graphics here!

In Space Ace you play the heroic Ace who must stop the evil Commander Borf from taking over the Earth! Borf plans to reduce all of humankind to infants and take over the planet. Only two people have the courage and strength to stop Borf and save Earth: the beautiful Kimberly and the heroic Ace. But as they approach Borf’s stronghold, Ace is hit by the Infanto Ray, changing him into a child, and Kimberly is kidnapped by the evil madman! The fate of Earth is in your hands!

Source Studio has released a demo for their space shooter game, ProtoGalaxy, on Steam for the PC ($9.99 USD). ProtoGalaxy is a multi-genre, independent game that features arcade action, smart puzzles and space exploration with a built-in level editor.

Up to four players can team up, configure their ship and upgrade their weapons in order to defend earth from powerful alien invaders. Throughout the game, players brave fierce battles, solve challenging puzzles, and explore the far reaches of the galaxy in order to end the attacks and rebuild a home for the survivors.

“ProtoGalaxy is an action game, but it has growing appeal with arcade and shooter fans,” said Alex Brown, CEO and founder of Source Studio. “The game includes a built-in editor which allows players to easily create entirely new levels. Players can share their creations online and download other people’s levels for endless game play,” Brown added.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_RwsKVdOxA]

ProtoGalaxy Game Features:

· Level editor to create new galaxies
· Single and multi-player mode (up to 4 players)
· Array of weapon choice
· Ship customization with large selection of parts
· Use physics to solve problems
· Save progress online and play from anywhere

From somewhere in Canada, Going Loud Studios is proud to announce that its debut action side-scroller game “Zombie Accountant” is now available on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace. Download it today for just 80 Microsoft Points. also available on WP7.

In 2010, a terrifying zombie outbreak threatens to consume humanity and you fall victim to the undead curse, doomed to hunger for human flesh. In a startling turn of events, the army actually manages to contain and eliminate the threat. Life quickly returns to normal.

Except you’re still a zombie. And it’s tax season. Complete tax returns as fast as possible without eating your coworkers! With any luck, you can still make it to zombie partner.

Zombie Accountant Features:

* Run to the right! With increasing speed!
* Dodge your coworkers and collect tax returns to increase your multiplier and achieve a high score
* Rise through 8 ranks on your way to becoming zombie Partner
* Wonder if a zombie working for a corporation is symbolic

Celsius Game Studios has released a new trailer for its upcoming epic inertial space shooter Red Nova, which I first told you about last week. Episode 1, First Contact, opens with the player taking on a routine mission to test a number prototype fighters destined to replace the Earth Colonial Fleet’s aging Starhawk. While on this mission, your carrier, the ECF Red Nova, comes across an unknown alien fleet preparing to stage a sneak attack on the human colonies.

In order to give the Red Nova a chance to escape and warn the rest of the fleet you have volunteered to attack the aliens head-on. With a choice of any of the fighters on deck, you have to use your wits, your guns, and your ample supply of homing missiles to survive for as long as you can.

Take a peek at the video – this game is scheduled for release on iOS this month:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7XpDXvTJRk]

Style Studio, a fashion design app from XMG Studio now has a Lite version of the only App that lets you create, customize, and share your own fashions. Tops, jackets, dresses, skirts and pants with an endless array of material and accessories. Now with both male & female models and fashions. Personalize designs with your own graphics and even use photos right from your device. The full version of Style Studio is also available on iTunes for $2.99 USD.

Style Studio: Fashion Designer has been featured by Apple as “New & Noteworthy” and a week later made the “What’s Hot!” Also featured as part of Apple’s “Fashion — Apps for the Clothes Minded” feature alongside Top Designer’s such as Chanel, D&G, Gucci, Dior, Fendi and Hugo Boss.

Have you dreamed of designing your own fashions and seeing them on a magazine cover? With Style Studio you can create your own line of custom designs from casual chic to haute couture. Dress one of the models with your designs, add some props, and lay out your very own magazine cover. Show off your talent by sending your fashions and layouts to friends on Facebook, Twitter or email.

This App Features:

* Lots of clothing items to choose from including dresses, tops, skirts and pants
* Personalize your fashions with a huge variety of materials and prints which can be customized
* Add buttons, belts, bows, pockets and more.
* Import photos and images to make one-of-a-kind designs!
* Try your design on the male and female models or dress up a photo of your friends
* Lay out your own magazine ads and covers using fashions and dressed up models
* Promote your very own fashion label by sharing your designs on Facebook, Twitter, and Email

Also related to fashion, Toronto’s ModiFace has announced the availability of “MakeUp Live” — a new iPhone application that is the world’s first Augmented Reality (AR) virtual makeover tool. MakeUp Live ($0.99 USD) creates a true virtual makeup mirror by using the iPhone camera to apply cosmetics in real time directly onto the user’s own face. The application also gives step by step instructions on how to achieve one of eight trendy beauty looks, including smoky eyes, down to the brush type and shade brand and name.

“MakeUp Live is the next best thing to having your own personal makeup artist in the room with you,” said Nikkie Gatto, mobile project manager and resident beauty expert at ModiFace. “Many magazines offer ‘how to’ guides from beauty experts around the globe, and many virtual makeover tools allow women to see different products on their own photo. However, MakeUp Live takes the beauty guide and makeover tools to an entirely different level by enabling women to work alongside the tool to get it exactly right.”

“Our goal is to consistently push the boundary of what is possible when you apply state-of-the-art computer vision technology to beauty and fashion applications. MakeUp live is a perfect example of advanced technology applied to make a virtual mirror possible right on your iPhone,” said Dr. Parham Aarabi, president and founder of ModiFace.

MakeUp Live is based on ModiFace’s patent pending facial recognition technology that powers the number one virtual makeup application on the iPhone, “MakeUp.” Originally launched in November of 2009, MakeUp is a free beauty tool that allows users to virtually try on different types of makeup, including mascara, foundation, blush and eye shadow, in hundreds of shades from leading brand names like Revlon, Cover Girl, Lancôme and Clinique. On the newest version of MakeUp, users can now use their own Facebook, iPhone album, or iPhone camera photo to test out the most popular cosmetic looks on themselves.

The Citytv video iPad app which launched earlier this fall, has released another Citytv daytime favourite LIVE on the free iPad application. As of this morning, fans of CityLine hosted by Tracy Moore, can watch CityLine LIVE on their iPad between 9am-10am ET Monday thru Friday. This new addition on the iPad is yet another first, making CityLine the only Canadian daytime talk show available LIVE on iPad. Full episodes of new and past CityLine programs will also be available on the iPad, in addition to Citytv.com. The Citytv app also includes a number of convenient features, such as a TV schedule and a notification service that allows users to be reminded when their favourite shows are available on the app and on TV. Other features include the ability to share video links on Facebook, Twitter and via email. The app also saves your viewing history and favourites.

“Giving fans of CityLine the ability to watch Tracy and her team of experts every day, LIVE while commuting or at the gym is just another way Rogers is engaging audiences on multiple screens,” says Claude Galipeau, SVP & GM, Digital Media, Rogers Media Inc. “Fans no longer have to miss their favourite morning show once they leave the house — they can take CityLine with them.”

CityLine is the longest running and most successful daytime show for women in Canadian history. Host Tracy Moore brings her energy and enthusiasm along with her charismatic personality and flare for style – making her a perfect fit for Canada’s top source for the latest in home decor, food, fashion, health and beauty. CityLine engages, entertains and informs viewers across Canada with its unique live format and daily themed approach. As familiar and trusted guest experts visit the set, viewers are treated to professional tips covering such topics as décor, entertaining, fashion, beauty, home and gardening.

Xona Games, a talented and award-winning team creating some of the most critically-acclaimed indie arcade games to date, has announced its two newest offerings to the gaming world at large: Decimation X3 and Score Rush. Both titles will be launching on the Microsoft Xbox LIVE Indie Games platform with Decimation X3 going live on Tuesday, December 7 and Score Rush on Thursday, December 9, and both will be available for purchase for 80 Microsoft Points ($1 USD).

Decimation X3 has been selected as part of the Indie Games Winter Uprising, a week-long celebration of the best that Xbox LIVE Indie Games have to offer. Orchestrated by a group of fellow developers longing to promote the higher-quality games that can be found on the platform, the Indie Winter Games Uprising takes place the first week of December and features 12 top-tier games that they hope will elevate the impression of the Indie Games channel.

Decimation X3 is the thrilling sequel to one of the most popular 2D-retro shooters on Xbox LIVE Indie Games, Decimation X, which is one of the top-rated Indie Games in Japan (currently #2 out of approximately 1,500). Get ready for intense, never-ending waves of enemies and a continual rain of power-ups to significantly improve your offensive and defensive capabilities. Featuring decidedly retro pixel art graphics, an overload of explosion particle effects, 60 frames per second and a hypnotic trance beat soundtrack from Imphenzia, Decimation X3 is everything an arcade junkie could wish for and will put your reflexes to the ultimate test.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtuiCoQBwD8]

The spiritual prequel to Duality ZF and built upon the same engine that was a semi-finalist for technical excellence in the 3rd Independent Game Developer’s Competition, Score Rush is an intense 2D, four-player, dual-stick, bullet-hell, score-running shooter. It features unlockable difficulty modes, several mid-bosses and bosses, and tons of smaller enemies. It is visually intense with a hard rocking soundtrack created by Dragon Music Productions. Collect both types of power-ups – those that upgrade the main weapon and those that add deadly appendages to your ship – to rack up insane scores. The bigger the enemies are and the faster you kill them, the more points you get.

Just in time for the holiday season, Toronto developer Big Bad Brush Inc. has announced the launch of their much anticipated second game, Kung Fu Santa, which is available now for the iPhone, iPod and iPad.

Kung Fu Santa is a unique concept with a fun factor of 100! This arcade style game features game center and retina display capabilities. Playing as the kung fu master himself, the user will have to jump between moving candy cane poles and save all the presents, while avoiding dangers such as poison goo, bombs, and evil elves!

The evil elves have stolen all of Kung Fu Santa’s presents and plans to sell them all for money. Greedy little things aren’t they? But alas, Kung Fu Santa is here with his superior Kung Fu moves!

Game Features:

* Game Center: Master the boards
* Retina Display: High Resolution Sharpness so you can see Santa’s skills
* In-Game highscores
* Collect presents and gold
* Beautiful and colorful illustrations
* Tap on candy cane poles or swipe left and right to move
* Collect presents and fill up Christmas bag!
* Avoid dangers and stop Evil Elves!

EA Mobile™, Harmonix Music Systems Inc. and MTV Games have announced that Rock Band™ Reloaded is now available on the App Store. The iPad™-exclusive HD version and the version for iPhone® and iPod touch® offers players an initial powerhouse set list of songs from artists including Nirvana, Billy Idol, No Doubt, Nine Inch Nails and Vampire Weekend. More than 20 songs will be available today with new tracks launching throughout the holidays. Plus, for the first time, Rock Band Reloaded players now have a “5th Way to Play” by singing directly into their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad utilizing new vocal recognition features.

Rock Band Reloaded is the experience fans have been waiting for, innovating on the popular franchise and bringing the entire band onto the iPad and iPhone for the first time,” said Travis Boatman, Vice President of Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile. “These games bring a deep Rock Band experience to mobile players in very cool and creative new ways. Innovative vocal recognition features, social integration connecting players to their friends and challenging gameplay modes will drive forward the mobile music genre and provide the best music experience to players.”

New vocal recognition features introduce players to a unique way to play by singing directly into their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to earn points. Players can showcase their inner rock star by picking from a setlist of songs that include “Hella Good” by No Doubt, “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down, “Your Decision” by Alice in Chains, “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, “In Bloom” by Nirvana, “A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend and many more. In addition to the songs included with the initial purchase, free (internet connection required. Data rates may apply) tracks are available in the Music Store along with Premium Packs by The All American Rejects, Third Eye Blind, Blink-182 and other top-selling artists available through In App Purchase.

For the first time on iPad, Rock Band Reloaded packs delivers device-exclusive features including a Multiplayer mode where players can challenge friends live in a head-to-head split-screen environment. Flexible controls provide for ultimate customization of all play styles. The iPad game’s new “Big Drums” layout increases the interactivity of this fan-favorite instrument. Songs are now more accessible to players with custom playlists in Quick Play and quick replay using an “Encore” feature.

Other game features include a new Expert mode for experienced players along with a World Tour mode that enables players to rock six cities and 36 events earning up to 50 awards and achievements all while living the Rock N’ Roll dream. By logging into Facebook, players have access to the News Center where they can find out when new songs launch, follow friends’ exploits and directly challenge their friends’ accomplishments with a simple touch of the screen. And for those just looking to jam, get “the band” together via local WiFi and Bluetooth and play live on guitar, bass, drums, or vocals with up to three bandmates using their own iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. (Vocals/voice feature not available on the 1st generation iPod touch. Microphone required to play vocals/voice on the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod touch. Headset required to play vocals/voice on 1st generation iPhone)

PadWorx Digital Media, Inc. is pleased to announce that you can now come face to face with a revolutionary new vision of Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future in the most immersive edition ever of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic A Christmas Carol, available now in the iPad App Store for $4.99 USD – a portion of which will be donated to charity.

“We’ve taken Charles Dickens’ most famous story and infused it with unique steampunk illustrations and animations,” said Jeffery Alan Schechter, CEO of PadWorx Digital Media, Inc. “As a visual style, steampunk conjures up images more usually associated with H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. By bringing this incredible style to ‘A Christmas Carol for iPad’ we’re giving readers and families a brand new way to experience the joy and wonder of this inspiring classic.”

Through 130 pages of lovingly abridged text, readers will help power the story forward. Whether turning the key in Scrooge’s door and watching as the door knocker changes into the deceased Jacob Marley, powering up and manipulating an assortment of wonderful steam powered devices, or just marveling at each chapter’s ‘mechanical‘ page-turning contraptions, A Christmas Carol for iPad’s animations, illustrations, original score, and sound effects will draw you into the story’s unforgettable lessons of darkness, despair, joy and life. As with PadWorx’s debut title Dracula: The Official Stoker Family Edition, A Christmas Carol for iPad includes hidden Easter eggs of bonus content: the complete 1910 silent movie version of A Christmas Carol by Thomas Edison Studios as well as the full 1938 Orson Welles radio adaptation of the holiday tale – and is fully endorsed by the Dickens family.

Oshawa indie game studio NotSoft is getting into the holiday spirit by giving away the full version of their casual game, Wytches Brew, free of charge.

Wytches Brew features five modes of play, including an epic 52 chapter quest that has the player share a year long journey with 3 Wytches as they travel around their island brewing up magical potions for those in need. With four other play modes, including timed modes and modes with relaxed rules, Wytches Brew offers something for casual gamers of every skill level.

“We don’t have much of a marketing budget, and with the game’s story mode beginning on Yuletide we thought giving it away during the holiday season would be a great way to attract new players,” said Steven J. Hill (aka bignobody), the man behind NotSoft, “Especially since people’s budgets are often tight at this time of year.”

I have been playing Wytches Brew off and on for a few months now, and while I haven’t yet completed the game, I have found it to be a different take on the match 3+ genre. I will be writing a review for this game once I have played through to the end, but as I have often confessed, I am more of a console gamer than a PC gamer – my PC is just too closely related to…work. 😉

Congratulations to Dino Dan from Sinking Ship Entertainment, winner of the prestigious $50,000 Shaw Rocket Prize for 2010 after being voted the best in Canadian kids’ programming for ages 6-12. Dino Dan is an entertaining and educational TV show about a 10-year-old boy who loves interacting with dinosaurs in his imagination and learning about them. This show was favourited by kids of all ages across Canada as well as in the US, where it recently achieved the record as the highest watched debut episode on Nick Jr. in its history. Dino Dan was judged for quality and content both for the TV show and its online content. The kids jury loved playing games and digging up dinosaurs on dinodan.com.

Other titles in the running for this year’s Rocket Prize were:

How to Be Indie (DHX Media)
In Real Life (Apartment 11)
Jimmy Two-Shoes (Breakthrough Entertainment)
League of Super Evil (Nerd Corps)

As the freemium model continues to gain momentum in the mobile gaming space, developers are looking for the best ways to apply the lucrative model to their games. Today, OpenFeint is encouraging developers sell downloadable content in their games by announcing a $1 million free-to-play mobile games challenge.

The OFX Freemium Challenge waives the revenue share on OpenFeint’s just released OFX software development kit for up to $10,000 per developer, available to the first 100 games that go live. With this challenge, developers can implement OFX and sell up to $10,000 in downloadable content in game before sharing any revenue.

“With the OFX Freemium Challenge, developers will see how easy-to-use and profitable OFX can be in their games with little commitment,” says Jason Citron, CEO of OpenFeint. “We’ve all seen that the freemium model is generating some amazing results. OFX gives developers the tools they need to take advantage of this emerging model.”

“Mega Jump has proved to us that the freemium model is a great way to earn revenue as an independent developer,” said Derek van Vliet of Get Set Games. “Since changing the game to freemium we’ve seen a 400% increase in overall revenue.”

Mega Jump celebrated 7 million downloads, and stated on their site that “hot on the heals of Update 10, Update 11 is just around the corner, featuring the astonishing new upgradable Jump Boots and a couple of new rascals who will be joining the growing Mega Jump family of characters.”

Released today, OFX is a set of client and cloud based services that help game developers sell new content in their games without having to submit full game updates to Apple. Future updates will allow game developers to offer virtual currency and virtual goods for sale in their games. OFX is completely free for game developers to download and implement in their games. OpenFeint only shares in revenue earned from the sale of paid downloadable content in games sold with OFX.

Intuit’s online personal finance service Mint.com is now available to Canadians. Mint helps people see where their money goes, keep their spending on track by creating budgets they’ll stick with, and uncovers opportunities to save them money. And it’s free.

“Canadians are global leaders when it comes to the use of online banking, social media and other online activities, so bringing Mint.com to Canada was a natural next step,” said Aaron Patzer, general manager and vice president of Intuit Personal Finance and founder of Mint.com. “A uniquely Canadian version of Mint will help Canadians make informed decisions as they plan their financial lives.”

Setting up a Mint account takes about five minutes – users register anonymously using a valid e-mail address, and then add login information for the online banking, credit card and other financial accounts they want to consolidate. Mint connects securely to more than 40 Canadian banking financial institutions, and is adding more. Users can ask Mint to add support for their favourite bank from within their account.

After users register, Mint automatically aggregates their accounts and transaction information, and provides up-to-date and accurate views of their financial life. Mint offers many ways to view and graph information, and the flexibility to scan the big picture or focus on specific details:

* Analyzes spending – Mint reveals spending patterns by automatically categorizing expenses, showing how much a user pays for gas, groceries, parking, rent, restaurants, entertainment and more.
* Makes recommendations – Mint also saves users money by providing unique, money-saving and money-making suggestions based on users’ individual spending patterns. Slowly paying down a high-interest credit card? Mint will recommend a lower-interest card. Paying more for life insurance than others of a similar age in your region? Mint can often find a better deal. Offer data for the recommendations is provided by RateSupermarket.ca, Canada’s largest independent and impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products.

In addition, Mint is available for those on the go. Users can view their Mint account from a password-protected website or check in on the go with the free Mint.com mobile applications for iPhone and Android mobile phones, available on the iTunes Canada app store and Android Market. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday cameraman Chuck Beaman and I headed over to the EA Sports campus after Village Gamer received an invite from EA Canada for a very special event. When we got to the Burnaby campus, we found out that Vancouver Canuck Alex Burrows was there playing EA Sports’ NHL Slapshot for the Wii, and he was taking on challengers. Never having been someone to back down from a virtual hockey match, I accepted his challenge and we played Peewee in NHL Slapshot.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SzioiIE2Jo]

We chatted about Alex’s favourite hockey games, his journey to the NHL and the teams he likes/doesn’t like to play against. Our match ended up being a draw but it was fun just to play. If you would like to know more about EA Sports NHL SlapShot for the Wii, check out my preview here and look for my full review coming later in the month. Thanks to Nintendo Canada, EA  Canada, Alex Burrows and the Vancouver Canucks for a great time.

Twisted Majic

Word nerds rejoice, because St. John’s, NL independent mobile entertainment developer Binary Dawn Interactive is back with their second release in the App Store. WordUs2, inspired by popular TV game shows such as Lingo and Motus is now available for download for 99 cents USD.

This word game was actually an early hit on the PalmOS and has now been updated and improved for Apple’s iOS. “In fact, there have been so many enhancements to the original game that it only made sense for us to call it WordUs2”, said Robert Reynolds, Vice-President of Binary Dawn Interactive Inc.

Forget the mumbo jumbo, WordUs2 with its focus on entertaining and educational gameplay was a top 10 game on launch in Canada and quickly rose to #1 on the iTunes ‘New & Noteworthy’ word game chart. Word slingers have been busy building up their linguistic prowess as they work to solve the various puzzles and are fast becoming fluent in the language of fun!

The idea of the game is simple: Wordsmiths test their acumen as they attempt to guess a mystery word given only the first letter. After each guess, if a letter is in the correct spot, the square will appear orange. If the letter is in the word yet in the wrong place, the letter itself will be surrounded by a yellow circle.

WordUs2 comes with a dictionary of thousands of words. There are four exciting game modes: “Calm & Collected”, “Every Guess Counts”, “Think Fast”, and the “Six Minute Sprint”. Each mode features different twists and challenges that are sure to keep players of all ages guessing for hours on end.

“We’ve focused on building a challenging app that will really give your brain a workout as we test your vocabulary,” added company president Roddie Kieley. “Even though it’s a relatively simple game, WordUs2 is amazingly fun and addictive. We believe this is our strongest effort to date.”

Another St. John’s, NL studio, Celsius Games, announced this morning that its latest title, Red Nova, has entered the review stage at the App Store. Red Nova is an inertia-based space shooter that will be released as episodes. Chapter 1, First Contact, will feature exciting survival gameplay where players must fight off an unending stream of enemy fighters in order to give their carrier, the ECS Red Nova a chance to escape and warn the rest of the fleet.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKLXABEHI1I]

According the game’s info page, once First Contact is out in the App Store, the studio will be developing a number of additional episodes and releasing them as free updates to the game. Initially these episodes will be mini-stories in the style of First Contact, however ultimately, Celsius Games is hoping to give gamers an epic mission-based story arc which follows the Red Nova’s involvement in the coming galactic war.

HB Studios Multimedia has a new game out on WiiWare. Available for 1000 Wii points, HB Arcade Disc Golf re-creates the popular disc-flinging sport in the comfort of your own living room for 1-4 players.

Playing the game is as easy as tossing a disc around on a beautiful day. The goal of the game is to put the disc in the basket in the fewest throws possible. Disc golfers have three different types of discs at their disposal when out on the course: a driver, a mid-range disc and a putter. Also, there are three different types of throws available: forehand, backhand and the hammer throw. The forehand and backhand throws change based on the handedness of the player, and can be used to draw or fade a shot, while the hammer throw is less about distance and more about height. At the end of the round, scores are tallied and the player with the lowest score is the winner. HB Arcade Disc Golf is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. It would appear that HB Studios has a few career positions open, as well. Check out their Careers Page for more information

Frima Studio is pleased to announce that its highly-rated PSP® title Young Thor has launched in Japan, marking the first time a Western mini has been translated and ported for Japanese users. Young Thor, along with Castle Crashers and Comet Crash, is part of SCEJ’s (Sony Computer Entertainment Japan) Western Game Buyer Selection initiative to promote Western games to Japanese gamers, and is now available for 500 Yen.

“While the Japanese market differs greatly from the European and North American markets that Young Thor has been so successful in, we feel strongly that a great game with solid foundational mechanics, tight gameplay and a sense of fun and adventure has universal appeal,” said Steve Couture, CEO of Frima Studio. “We’re honored to be among the first ever group of games brought over by SCEJ and we can’t wait for Japanese gamers to get their hands on one of the best and most original titles playable on their PSP systems.”

Hailed by many media outlets as one of the best minis of all-time, Young Thor casts players in the titular role, traveling through Midgard, the world of men, and Asgard, the realm of the gods, in a quest to restore balance. Unleash over a dozen different attacks and tremendous magical powers on the myriad of enemies under Hel’s command. Explore unique and vast environments in search of godly artifacts that will help you save the world. Level up, defeat Hel and her two cursed allies Ratatoskr and Nidhogg to rescue the sacred Norns.

Frima also announced on Twitter this morning that it has some new projects on the horizon, and they may be looking to add to their 3D development team. Check their careers page for more information.

Square Enix and Eidos Montreal have released special edition information for the highly anticipated Deus Ex: Human Revolution. What many of us refer to as a Collector’s or Limited Edition is being called the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition. Coming in at a price $10.00 higher than the regular edition, this AE version will feature special packaging on the outside and a 40-page art book, the game’s soundtrack, a motion graphic novel and a making-of DVD.

There are also two pre-order bonus packs available, the Explosive Mission Pack and the Tactical Enhancement Pack. Note that not all stores will be carrying both packs, so be sure you ask before you buy which Pre-Order bonus pack will arrive with your game.

The Explosive Mission Pack contains a bonus mission, Tong’s Rescue, as well as the LineBacker  G-87 Multi-Shot Grenade Launcher, an M-28 Utility Remote-Detonated Explosive Device and an Automatic Unlocking Device. The Tactical Enhancement Pack contains the Huntsman Silverback Double-Barrel Shotgun, the Longsword Whisperhead Suppressed Extreme Range Sniper Rifle and 10 000 extra credits.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is expected to be released early in 2011 at a base price of $69.99 for the console versions ($59.99 for PC) – add $10.00 for the Augmented Edition. The game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. As with Frima and HB, Eidos Montreal is hiring.

Following on from the success of Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, Dead Rising 2: Case West will extend the zombie slaying antics of Dead Rising 2 by delivering brand new content and the return of a familiar face. Intrepid photojournalist and star of the original Dead Rising, Frank West, is back from covering wars and arrives in Fortune City to investigate Phenotrans and find proof of its involvement with the zombie outbreaks.

Set immediately after the events of Dead Rising 2 and available exclusively on Xbox LIVE, Dead Rising 2: Case West sees Frank team up with Chuck Greene for some serious co-op action as the pair embarks on a brand new case set in the Phenotrans Facility on the outskirts of Fortune City.

Here Chuck and Frank will face new challenges and new enemies but will also have access to new weapons, items and the ability to create a number of new Combo weapons such as the janitor’s favourite, the ‘Zap & Shine’ and the ominous sounding ‘Reaper’. Just as in the full game, players will have the opportunity to rescue human survivors who have so far escaped the clutches of the zombie horde.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylNgIVN-6DE]

Wherever he finds himself Frank is always ready to capture the moment with his trusty camera and Dead Rising 2: Case West is no exception. Frank is able to take photographs of key evidence that will provide indisputable proof of Phenotrans’ part in the zombie outbreaks, not just in Fortune City, but across the United States. As the story unfolds expect to see cameo appearances from other characters from Dead Rising that will provide further links to the original game. If enjoyed as a solo experience, the player will take control of Chuck with Frank’s behaviour and actions controlled by AI. In this mode Frank cannot be killed.

I had a question earlier from someone on YouTube asking if T.J. Rotolo would be reprising his voice role as Frank West, but a look on the actor’s IMDB page does not list Case West on his credits, so unless there is a non-disclosure agreement in place, I think it would almost be safe to assume that T.J. will not be giving Frank his voice in this expansion. Dead Rising 2: Case West is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. Yes, following the trend above, Blue Castle is hiring.

Electronic Arts Inc. and Hothead Games® announced today that DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue™ (T.O.V.), the follow-up to the award-winning Action/RPG DeathSpank™, is now available on PC for $14.99 exclusively via Steam, Valve Corporation’s delivery and management platform. DeathSpank: T.O.V. is a fresh new adventure for the PC where players hack, slash and shoot their way through mission after mission, in search of the six mystical thongs that are corrupting the universe.

Following the PC release, DeathSpank and DeathSpank: T.O.V. will launch on Mac OSX on December 14 for $14.99 also via Steam. Included in DeathSpank: T.O.V. for PC or Mac are two free pieces of downloadable content: the Snowy Mountain Dungeon, a terrifying, ice-covered dungeon frozen in the North Pole and a new playable co-op character, Sidekick Tankko.

“With the success of the DeathSpank series, we decided that it was time to bring the added adventures and compelling story of DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue to the PC and Mac,” said Vlad Ceraldi, Director of Game Development at Hothead Games. “By branching out to new platforms we hope to share the charm and wit of DeathSpank with a wider audience.”

DeathSpank: T.O.V. puts players in the mighty boots of DeathSpank in his quest to destroy the six mystical thongs which have taken over the universe by corrupting those who wear them. Players will travel through war-torn country sides, outer space and even the North Pole to fight in an epic battle against the Evil Santa. DeathSpank: T.O.V. also includes a local co-op mode, allowing a second player to aid DeathSpank in his search for the infamous thongs as either of his two trusty sidekicks, Sparkles the Wizard or Ninjatastic Steve. Also available for download on PlayStation® Network and Xbox LIVE® Arcade, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue is rated T for Teen by the ESRB. Oh, and guess what – Hothead Games is also hiring!

MEGA Brands Inc. announced today that it has entered into a global multi-year licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. to develop construction toys based on Need for Speed™, the world’s best-selling racing video game franchise.

Mega Bloks Need for Speed construction toy sets will combine the engaging and immersive content of this award-winning franchise with the core play pattern of building vehicles. Launching Summer 2011, the Mega Bloks Need for Speed construction toy line will appeal to building fans and collectors alike with authentic vehicles and playsets that offer endless possibilities to build, race, customize and display.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with EA to create the first construction toy line based on the Need for Speed franchise,” said Vic Bertrand, Chief Innovation Officer of MEGA Brands. “Whether it’s realistic driving games or over-the-top car pursuits, Need for Speed has attracted millions of followers worldwide. We look forward to bringing this world to life through Mega Bloks by offering fans an action-packed building experience.”

“For over 16 years, Need for Speed has been at the forefront of contemporary automotive culture. We are committed to delivering unique and fun experiences to our fans whether it’s feeling the rush of a cop pursuit at 200 mph or custom building your own race machine,” said Keith Munro, Vice President of Marketing, Need for Speed. “Now, through our partnership with Mega Bloks, everyone will be able to create their own customizable Need for Speed experience.”

Need for Speed is a global brand and with 17 titles and more than 110 million copies sold worldwide is the dominant racing video game franchise. Need for Speed is known for delivering unparalleled white-knuckle racing, creative customization and street style. The Need for Speed series has generated nearly $3B in life-to-date sales and has become a powerful pop culture phenomenon.

MEGA Brands will also be holding an Open House for designers this Thursday, December 2nd.  As one of the largest design centres in Quebec, MEGA Brands is always searching for new talent to design and conceptualize new construction toys and activities for their leading brands. MEGA Brands is presently seeking applicants who are creative, passionate and innovative for the following positions: Graphic Designers, Web Designers, Industrial Designers, Model Designers, and 3D Artists.

Designers will have an opportunity to learn more about this Montreal-based toy company and the exciting job opportunities they have to offer.

Date: Thursday, December 2
Time: 4 PM to 8 PM
Location: 4505 Hickmore, Montreal, QC H4T 1K4