Village Gamer

Hopefully this is a sign that GDC Canada will also be getting an IGF added to its roster in the future

San Francisco – Think Services has announced the 1st annual Independent Games Festival China (IGF China), to be held in conjunction with the 2009 Game Developers Conference China. GDC China returns to the Shanghai International Convention Center, October 11-13 of this year.

After 11 years of the main Independent Games Festival competition being held at GDC in San Francisco, the Independent Games Festival will present itself to Shanghai, China for the first time in 2009, in a competition specifically designed to encourage innovation and showcase standout games from smaller companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

The first-ever Independent Games Festival China encompasses three main components. Firstly, an Independent Games Summit event held on the opening day of GDC China will feature multiple sessions with smaller, entrepreneurial Chinese and Asian firms showcasing their work. Secondly, the IGF Pavilion will showcase all finalists’ games on Sunday and Monday (October 11th and 12th) of GDC China, with the Independent Games Festival Awards ceremony being held on
Monday evening.
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Halifax – Following a hard-fought tournament, 23 year old Matt Wood emerged as the undisputed winner of the FIFA Soccer 2009 Pan-American Qualifier on Saturday. The Windsor, Ontario resident will represent Canada at the next WCG Pan-American Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico, from September 11-13. All expenses will be paid for by WCG (air travel, accomodation and meals on site). Also known as “Wizikakor” to his opponents, Wood defeated FijiStyler in the final. Thanks to all who participated!

WCG Canada is also pleased to announce the first qualifying tournaments for the upcoming  World Cyber Games Canada Nationals.  This year, Canada will be entering players for Guitar Hero: World Tour and Virtua Fighter 5 on the XBOX 360 console system as well as Counter-Strike 1.6.  Another official game title will be announced over the next few days.

The Eastern Canada Qualification will take place from July 24-26, in the Greater Toronto Area.  Long time WCG Canada partner, LANapalooza, will be host of this important tournament.  This qualifier allows players to move on to the WCG Canada National Finals, which will be held next August in Toronto.

Participants must be Canadian citizen and must have a valid passport to travel to China where the World Cyber Games Grand Final will take place later this year.

Register now to take part in the only live qualifier in Eastern Canada this summer.  For more details about the tournament rules and registration, please visit www.zeropingevents.com.

via DFAIT – The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), in partnership with Launch Party Vancouver, present a one-day bootcamp on September 14, 2009, for new media and wireless companies interested in pitching VCs in California.   This one-day program will feature experienced investors from both the Silicon Valley and San Diego markets, and is specifically designed to help facilitate access to the California market.

Pitch Preparation topics will include

• What are California investors looking for?
• Presenting your go to market strategy and your business model. Is your business fundable?
• How to effectively present the problem, the opportunity and the solution.
• Presenting who’s on your team, establishing credibility etc.
• How to present your evaluation of the competition.

Pitching Session to a Review Board of Investment Professionals

• 10-minute company pitch to local and California investors
• Instant pitch feedback by the Board

Networking Event
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Global – Think Services, organizer of the industry-leading Game Developers Conference (GDC) events, is pleased to announce that submissions are now open for the 2010 Independent Games Festival (IGF). Entries to the 12th annual festival are due in both Main and Student Showcase categories by November 2009, with Main Competition finalists to be announced January 4, 2010.

Games selected as finalists will be available in playable form on the GDC show floor and will compete for nearly $50,000 in prizes, including awards for Excellence in Design, Art, the Audience Award and the coveted $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Winners will be announced on stage at the prestigious Independent Games Festival Awards on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

“We’re delighted to return for our twelfth year of the Independent Games Festival,” said Simon Carless, Chairman of the IGF. “We’re really looking forward to see what the independent game community comes up with this time around. Good luck to all entrants!”

The Independent Games Festival Awards are held alongside the Game Developers Choice Awards and both award shows are part of the 2010 Game Developers Conference. GDC 2010 also includes the 2010 Independent Games Summit, which is entering its fourth year and offers two days of inspiration and practical lectures and rants from the top minds in the independent games
world.
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Vancouver – The new Vancouver Unity 3D Users Group is celebrating their official launch with a TGIF Networking Event on Friday July 24 at District 319 on Main Street.

dimeRocker.com in partnership with Unity Technologies invites all local game, web, and iPhone developers to a premiere industry Unity Networking TGIF followed the next day by a Unity Skills Workshop.

The entire initiative will be framed within a “web-ready” context, exploring how tools like Unity 3D in combination with a new breed of social gaming hives are enabling developers to create, market, and monetize console-like browser content for a growing audience of online and mobile gamers.

TGIF Schedule:

5:30pm – 6:30pm    Reception, drinks and appetizers
6:30pm – 7:30pm    Key Note followed by Q&A with Tom Higgins (Unity Evangelist, San Francisco)
7:30pm – 9:00pm+  Networking Social

Admission is $20 and includes a free drink, eats and chance to win a Unity 3D License.

The Unity Skills Workshop will be taking place on Saturday July 25 at Centre for Digital Media with Dmitry Shtainer (Unity Stealth Engineer, Vancouver). The workshop will be a day-long Unity 3D skills development event,  intended for students and professionals alike. Workshop curriculum and registration information have not yet been announced, but TGIF registrants will receive advanced email notification for the event.

Vancouver – BCTIA has announced that they will be holding a Members’ Reception on July 21 from 4 – 7pm. Tickets are $50.00, this event is open to BCTIA members only. The BCTIA Member Reception…On the Water is your opportunity to develop new business relationships in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. Join us for some west-coast style networking while enjoying the beautiful view of Vancouver’s harbour and Stanley Park from the water. Mix and mingle with fellow BCTIA members while enjoying delicious appetizers.

On July 22, BCTIA will be hosting a Business Survival Strategies Webinar. The topic will be Proven Techniques to Grow Your Business, with speaker Dr. Jim Sellner PhD., DipC. Cost is $69.00 for members and $89.00 for non-members.

Webinar Details:
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Vancouver – Several founding members of Women In Games Vancouver (WIGV), along with several women (and men) from Vancouver’s game development community will be participating in a new Leadership Development Forum taking place on July 20 in Seattle. The Forum, being held one day prior to the start of Casual Connect Seattle, will offer a variety of topics relating to business, development, careers and community. Presented in partnership with the Casual Game Association, Women In Games International and the IGDA Women In Games SIG, topics will be presented on three consecutive tracks: Business, Design and Production.

Taking place at The Triple Door, the Leadership Development Forum will begin with registration and networking at 11am. Attendees will be welcomed by Jessica Tams, Managing Director at Casual Games Association and Annie Sumi Nam of WIGV. They will be followed by keynote presenter Megan Gaiser, President and CEO of Her Interactive, who will speak on the Importance of Leadership. Please read on for information on the full schedule, and a special thank you to Kerry and Kalinka Corlett over at AnnexPro for their generous sponsorship and support of WIGV’s first official international speaking event.

Anyone who is attending Casual Connect will have full access to the Leadership Development Forum. For those who only wish to attend the Leadership Forum, tickets are $25.00 (USD) and include networking, panels, roundtables and the post-event mixer.
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Vancouver – Biz Books is offering a rather unique opportunity to learn the art and craft of directing and cinematography from two of the best filmmakers in the film industry.

Course Details
This 2-Day Directing and Cinematography Course with multi Emmy award winning director/cinematographer/producer, Michael W Watkins, featuring Emmy nominated cinematographer, Joel Ransom, will be an information filled and inspiring weekend for both novice and professional filmmakers.

In this seminar, attention will be focused on how director and cinematographer work together toward a goal in creating the ’Moment’ through exploration of scene visualization, actor staging, camera blocking, positing and movement, camera/actor choreography, color, lighting, shot size, lens choice to, ultimately, express the director’s vision for the overall look of the film.

The workshop will be beneficial to professional and amateur directors alike — film enthusiasts, cameramen, corporate and home video entrepreneurs. The course will also suit actors who want to establish their directing career.
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Tokyo – via notice from DFAIT – Japan Prize is now accepting entries for the 2009 contest and also participant registrations for CrossMedia Forum.

The Japan Prize was established in 1965 by NHK as International Educational Program Contest with the aims of improving the quality of educational programs around the world and contributing to the development and fostering of international understanding and cooperation.

Keeping these original aims, in 2008, Japan Prize reformed its content and now targets not only TV programs but also other linear contents, websites, educational games, and other interactive
products with audiovisual contents. This was to cope with circumstances facing educational media including the diffusion of information-communication technologies, the initiation of digital broadcasting and the spread of the Internet in the field of education worldwide.

We would like to further promote the Japan Prize in the game industry to receive more entries with high educational effects. Please feel free to explore our website to discover whether your productions may qualify for these prestigious awards. For more detailed information about entries, please see the rules for the Audiovisual Division on the Japan Prize site.
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Toronto – Wicked Interactive, a leading North American MMO publisher, today announced that it will launch a series of summer events for Yedang Online’s popular free to play MMORPG Priston Tale.

The Summer Events will consist of seven unique events during the month of July. Each of the events will begin on each Tuesday in July and will last for two weeks each. Priston Tale players will also receive increased experience rates throughout the month of July.

“We are excited to launch the Priston Tale Summer Events,” said Garvin Yeung, CEO of Wicked Interactive. “We hope that our players will enjoy and take advantage of the free fireworks and other great events we have lined up while they enjoy their summer playing Priston Tale.”

Event #1: Free Fireworks
The Summer Events will kick off by lighting up the night skies with free fireworks for all players of Priston Tale beginning July 1st to celebrate Canada Day, Independence Day in the U.S. and the beginning of summer.
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