29th March 2011

IGDA Vancouver Makes A Move Forward

Reminder: Early Bird Registration for Partnerships in Learning close on March 31st. Conference is being held at Dalhousie University this April 26th – 28th.

On Sale: Tickets for HackWaterloo, taking place on April 9th at the Post Rank office in Waterloo.

Panel Event: BCTIA TechForum Series presents Accelerator Programs…Do they really work? on April 19th at the Sutton Place Hotel, featuring speakers Jim Maynard, Wavefront President, Tim Jackson, Waterloo Accelerator Centre CEO, and Iain Klugman, Communitech Hub President and CEO.

Election 41: The Polaris Institute has re-launched TarNation, a popular political video game aimed at highlighting Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff’s unwillingness to take action on the environmentally destructive tar sands. Players spray oil at Conservative and Liberal party leaders to get them out of the tar sands.

Last evening the EA Canada Campus in Burnaby played host to the relaunch of IGDA Vancouver, with pizza supplied by Slant Six Games and beer provided by Granville Island Brewery. There was a pretty good turnout of people from IGDA Vancouver Relaunchthe local development community, which to me says that there is interest in breathing new life into our long-dormant local chapter. IGDA Executive Director Gordon Bellamy and IGDA Community Manager Ryan Arndt were on-hand to answer questions and bring everyone up to speed on what’s been going on with the global association, and it looks like there are some very good initiatives on the horizon.

Work Life Balance, Outsourcing and Collaboration were but some of the topics pursued throughout the course of the meeting, and I hope that as our local industry revamps itself and moves forward, the discussions will continue. As one who is unable to attend events such as GDC San Francisco or the Leadership Forum, due travel and ticket costs being rather prohibitive, I look forward to more localized and affordable events as outlined in Gordon’s preamble to the meeting. What stood out the most for me was the willingness of the IGDA to work with other groups and events, including the BC Interactive Task Force, Women In Games Vancouver, ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver, the Canadian Games Conference and Full Indie for the betterment of all aspects of the digital media industry – not just those who are artists and coders – because not all of us are talented enough to create outstanding artwork or code more than a Hello World function. I hope that the next iteration of DigiBC will also see the opportunity for collaboration, thereby adding even more strength to our local community.

For those unable to attend, Scott videotaped the information and open mic session that took place in the EA theatre, and we’ll be posting that to our YouTube channel as soon as he has a chance to process it. If you would like to find out more about our local IGDA chapter and (hopefully) get involved, please visit the IGDA Vancouver Facebook page and jump into the conversation. There are future events being planned, two of which will be hosted by Next Level Games and Radical Entertainment – I believe there was also mention of Relic Entertainment hosting an event as well.

Decapod StudiosVancouver’s Decapod Studios has updated its Slash Effect WP7 app, which is a news reader for  the Slash Dot website. The studio has also released Photo Search Free to the WP7 marketplace. With fully customizable search parametres, you will be able to search the internet from your phone to find anything from regular photos to clip art and design elements to new wallpaper backgrounds and even faces. Search results can be shared with your friends as well as saved to your phone’s Photo Library.

Bioware CorpThe final chapter of Mass Effect 2 has now landed on my Xbox 360 – and it can land on yours too, as it’s available in the XBL Marketplace today for 560 MS Points. The DLC is also available for PC (560 Bioware Points) and for the PS3 (approx. $9-10) and gives gamers the opportunity to earn three new achievements (or trophies, whichever applies to your chosen platform).  In this new game add-on, Commander Shepard is sent to the edge of the galaxy to rescue an undercover operative who may have evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion that has been looming since the very beginning of the series. Returning and playing a prominent role in Mass Effect: Arrival is fan favorite Admiral Hackett, who is voiced by legendary science-fiction actor Lance Henriksen of Alien and Terminator fame.

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So ends the current adventures of Commander Shepard. Now I can go back and try to earn 100% on the first two titles while awaiting news bits about Mass Effect 3, which Bioware will start releasing in the near future – perhaps in May.

Netflix Canada has begun offering three different viewing options to its Canadian subscribers, which is very timely for those who are concerned about User Based Billing and data transfer caps. Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer for Netflix, announced on the company’s blog today that the new options are designed to enable a 2/3 reduction in transfer usage. In short, these new options are:

  1. “Good” – The default setting with good picture quality and lowest data use per hour (about 0.3 GBytes/hour)
  2. “Better” – Better picture quality and medium data use per hour (about 0.7 GBytes/hour)
  3. “Best” – Best picture quality and highest date use per hour (generally about 1.0 GBytes/hour – or up to 2.3 GBytes/hour when streaming HD content)

Please visit the Netflix blog for complete details on how to manage your Netflix transfer usage.

dhx mediaDHX Media has signed a deal with Discovery Communication’s The Hub for the second season of its hit preschool series Animal Mechanicals. Originally commissioned by CBC in Canada, where it is one of the highest-rating preschool shows, Animal Mechanicals is produced and distributed by DHX Media. It airs around the globe on channels including the Disney Channels in the UK, Italy and Asia; Radio-Canada, Discovery Latin America, Beetle BuggyRomania’s HOP, EBS in Korea; Al-Jazeera Children Channel and Prava I Prevodi, which acquired the title for Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Josh Scherba, SVP Distribution at DHX Media, said: “Animal Mechanicals has really engaged with young audiences on The Hub since its launch last Fall; success underscored by this commitment to the second season. We continue to build the licensing programme for the show including the launch of the Animal Mechanicals app which offers a new interactive element for children and their parents.”

DHX Media has also recently launched a new iOS app based on the show. Animal Mechanicals: Beetle Buggy Race, is priced at $1.99, and available on all iTunes stores worldwide. In licensing deals, Producciones Publiexpress have been signed up for colouring and activity books in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

D-BoxD-BOX Technologies Inc. has really been on the move this week (pun intended) – the company has just announced two more Motion Seating agreements with American movie theatres.  Emagine Entertainment will equip two screens at its new Royal Oak, Michigan theatre with a total of 29 D-BOX MFX Seats when the theatre opens in May. D-Box has also signed its first agreement with RC Theatres to equip two of that company’s Pennsylvania complexes. The Hanover Movies 16 will feature 18 D-Box MFX Seats and the Wilkes Barre Movies 14 will feature 22 D-Box MFX seats. These two RC locations will soon be the first in the state to feature the immersive motion technology that completely transforms the movie viewing experience with seats that move in perfect sync with the onscreen action.

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29th March 2011

Looking Over The Horizon at Our National IT Sector Future

ictcCanada’s ICT sector, representing the country’s information, communications and technology employment base, is facing alarming skills and labour shortages in the next five years. Today’s release of Outlook for Human Resources in the ICT Labour Market, 2011-2016 by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), in partnership with the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), underscores the shortages, and paints a picture of a new job market for ICT that has radically changed. ICTC also reported that all stakeholders in the sector—industry and education, the associations that represent them, and government—recognize the looming shortages and are poised to act. itac

The new report underscores that in most regions in Canada and for most ICT occupations, demand will far exceed supply.  Employers will encounter systemic shortages when recruiting for ICT jobs that require five or more years’ experience. The severity of these shortages will increase when employers are seeking to recruit ICT people with leading edge skills such as marketing, accounting and finance competencies.

The results also show a new job market for ICT, one that has radically changed. Industry now needs workers with the leading edge package of skills, for example systems analysis and design combined with marketing, operations management and HR management, or people with particular combinations of domain experience (such as e-health, e-finance and digital media) together with ICT expertise.

Over the next five years, Canadian employers will need to hire an estimated 106,000 ICT workers. Other key Report highlights include:

  • There is a pervasive mismatch between the industry skill requirements and the available skill supply in the labour market. This mismatch affects all regions of the country;
  • Information Systems Analysts and Consultants, the largest ICT occupation in Canada, will continue to drive the shortages with demand for this complex mix of skills being much greater than the available supply;
  • Recent graduates with co-op or internships as part of their education will, for the most part, be able to obtain relevant employment. Those graduates without co-op or internships will experience prolonged frustration in finding a relevant job;
  • The gender imbalance for ICT occupations (males make up approximately 75% of all ICT employees) limits the qualified pool of employees for industry recruitment. This compounds the skills shortage in Canada.
  • Recently arrived internationally educated professionals (IEPs), who have no Canadian experience, will have considerable difficulty in securing an ICT job that is commensurate with their qualifications, unless their English or French language skills are strong. Read the rest of this entry »
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29th March 2011

KiK Founder Donates Million Dollar Startup Fund To UWaterloo

University of WaterlooThe entire digital media community is abuzz this morning with the news that 23 year old KiK founder and former Waterloo University student Ted Livingston has donated $1-million USD to the University, with the donation being earmarked to help fund VeloCity, the unique residence-based program for student entrepreneurs.

Livingston’s generous support of VeloCity has inspired the University to establish a $1-million seed fund for student startups. Over the next several years the fund will provide at least 30 student ventures with $25,000, four months of office space, incorporation services and mentoring. In addition, 75 student startups will receive $500 prizes as part of the first stage of the screening process.
kik interactive
VeloCity is a unique residence-based program for student entrepreneurs that was established at the University in 2008. The start-up incubator is a community that educates and connects talented, like-minded students with each other and with the surrounding start-up community, support and mentorship. The founder and CEO of Waterloo-based Kik Interactive Inc., Ted Livingston, studied mechatronics engineering at Waterloo between 2005 and 2009 and founded Kik (then called Unsynced) while in the VeloCity residence in Winter 2009.

“This is truly a wonderful development for our students who dream of launching their own successful startup,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president of the University of Waterloo. “Ted exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that so often defines Waterloo and the need to give back that we seek to encourage in all our students.” Read the rest of this entry »

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28th March 2011

Destiny Media Introduces Play MPE Watermarking

Registration is now open for the next momovan, which is on Monday April 4th at the Granville Island Brewery.

destiny mediaDestiny Media Technologies, Inc. has announced a new online service available to label customers to automatically extract hidden tracking information which had previously been embedded into a song distributed by Play MPE®.

When labels discover an unauthorized copy of a song which they had previously given distribution rights to, they are able to use the system to find the identity of the person that made the copy, by extracting Destiny’s proprietary watermark information.

Supporting batch processing and centralized reporting across an organization, the solution allows analysis of a large number of digital files. The new system was developed to support a detection server farm, so that an unlimited number of marks could be detected in parallel, handling many songs and label requests concurrently.

The online service features an upgraded ability to instantly detect watermarks in songs that have been cropped or padded with silence. Complex heuristics analyze the signal characteristics of the audio file to identify the locations of synchronization points, from over two million possible combinations, in a mere fraction of a second. Destiny’s solution is able to defeat a number of techniques used to circumvent other watermarking technologies. The mark survives compression to extremely low bit rates, conversion into other formats, digital filtering and analog formats, such as an on air radio broadcast.

The solution is integrated with a global anti piracy web crawler operated by the IFPI, so that the source of illegally distributed content can instantly be identified to Destiny’s servers, so the responsible party can be held accountable.

Patents are outstanding in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and China. The US provisional patent, originally filed in October 2006, is expected to be examined by the US Patent and Trademark Office in June of 2011.

iBwaveiBwave has launched iBwave Unity 2.0, the latest version of its in-building networks management platform. This latest release of the iBwave Unity platform includes improved data mining capabilities, a slew of new pre-built and customizable reports, upgraded user dashboards, advanced Google Earth capabilities, increased collaboration functionalities, stricter security/access controls and an enhanced user interface.

“The proliferation of smart-phones and tablets and the addition of thousands of new wireless data applications targeting mobile users have created significant growth for the in-building market,” says Mario Bouchard, President and CEO at iBwave. “Wireless operators worldwide are accelerating the deployment of indoor networks to offload their congested outdoor macro networks and provide additional data capacity to their mobile community.”

Targeting wireless operators, system integrators and large OEMs, iBwave Unity securely stores and archives in-building network projects on a centralized web-based server enabling collaboration between the various players within the wireless ecosystem, regardless of their geographical location. Once stored in iBwave Unity, advanced data mining capabilities convert raw project related information into actual business intelligence and KPIs allowing for proactive, knowledge-driven decisions. With iBwave Unity, wireless operators can store an unlimited number of network projects in one centralized location ensuring these in-building networks will be managed throughout their entire lifecycle.

iBwaveUnity 2.0 allows wireless operators and the wireless ecosystem to:

* Gain control over indoor network assets where over 70 % of data traffic occurs
* Obtain holistic view of in-building initiatives, expenses, and roll-outs
* Better plan for future CAPEX intensive technology upgrades
* Realize operational efficiencies by increasing productivity and reducing project costs
* Accelerate project delivery and time to market
* Extract business intelligence from in-building deployments
* Create a collaborative approach throughout the entire ecosystem

“It was essential that we offer the wireless ecosystem an advanced platform that allows them to better manage their in-building network assets, where most traffic occurs, and help them to achieve returns on the enormous infrastructure investments they’ve had to make over the years,” says Mr. Bouchard.

Since its inception in 2003, iBwave’s market leading Design suite has helped engineering teams, primarily RF engineers, better plan and design in-building networks. The iBwave Unity platform compliments this by focusing primarily on the operational aspects of in-building networks to help reduce network downtime and potential revenue losses. For Operation departments, iBwave Unity is an intelligent platform that will manage in-building assets throughout the entire lifecycle by helping take control of these assets, increase operational efficiencies, and better plan for the future.

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28th March 2011

Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Applications Available

The Canada Media Fund and Telefilm have made the following applications available for download:

CMF Telefilm Funding

To download the forms that are available, simply go to the “Create” section of the CMF Site and then choose the Convergent Funding or Experimental Funding links.

Programs are listed in the left column; click on the desired program and select “Guidelines & Application”. The application form is in the right column under “Downloads”.

To apply for funding on e-Telefilm, please visit the Telefilm site.

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28th March 2011

Strategy First Sales To Support Red Cross Japan Relief

Strategy FirstStarting today, March 28th and running until April 11th, Montreal software publisher Strategy First Inc will donate 20% of all titles sales from its online store to the Red Cross in an effort are to help with the Japan Relief Plan. Anyone who purchases one of the other over 300 titles available on the website will directly help the Red Cross provide relief to the victims in Japan.

Some of the available titles featured are, Dangerous Waters, Flat Out Ultimate Carnage, Jagged Alliance, Space Empires, Disciples, Darkness Within 2, TRAINZ, Making History II, Rise of Flight: Iron Cross Edition along with casual titles Cradle of Rome, Air Port Control Simulator and many more.

“For generations Japan has contributed and shaped the Video Game industry. We would like to do our part in giving back to a country and its people who have given us some of the greatest games of all time.” Says Strategy First Director Emanuel Wall, “By offering both Hardcore and Casual games we are hoping that we can offer games for everyone in the family in return for their generous donation.”

With your support the Red Cross can continue to provide life-saving medical care, shelter, supplies and most importantly – hope, to earthquake and tsunami survivors.

Along with Hard Core Strategy, and Casual Games other genres include, Simulation, Arcade Action, Racing, RPG, Adventure, Grand Strategy, and Train Simulator. All titles are available for your donation. The needs are great but you can make a difference. All funds raised will go to support the Red Cross.

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28th March 2011

Two New Mobile Titles Emerge From The Eastern Arctic

Note: the Canada Media Fund has extended the first closing date for the Aboriginal Program – Production to April 4th 2011.

Reminder: Round 2 of Battle of The Apps is open for submissions until April 15th 2011.
Reminder: Microsoft Blue Sky Innovation Excellence Awards are open for submissions until April 25th 2011.

game production studiosGame Production Studios has a new title on the WP7 Marketplace. Crescer is a unique Windows Phone 7 game challenges you to become the best gardener in the mobile world. Use your green thumb skills to grow the perfect plant across eight different environments while purchasing tools, upgrading your crescerplants, earning money and expanding your bounty with new plants. Bloom supremacy is not as simple as tossing a seed in the ground and hoping for the best though, because Mother Nature is not feeling overly co-operative. You must use an assortment of tools and gardening secrets to protect your plant from all manner of environmental hazards which range from weather fronts and bug infestations to volcanic eruptions.

If you manage to make your blooms flourish, and unlock all of the game’s regular achievements, you will unlock an arcade style bonus level, where you play as Sunny “The Sunflower” and defend The Moon against evil bug invaders.

glitchsoftBar Star HD time management game from Ottawa dev studio Glitchsoft has expanded to the Mac App Store. Released last summer to iTunes for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Bar Star HD puts players in the action packed role of a new bar owner, mixing high fashion drinks, serving celebrity guests, and stylizing their bar with upgrades and improvements.

Bar Star HD is a true pick-up and play game that features stunning full screen graphics, intuitive controls, and super addictive gameplay featuring dynamic player characters, Chase and Artie, a brother and sister who need your help transforming their run down bar into the best upscale lounge. barstar hdThey earn valuable tips as they mix, serve, and upgrade their way through 50 exciting levels. Tips are then used to hire new staff including bouncers and DJs, as well as to improve the style of their bar including drink selection, the dance floor, and decor. Players will experience up to 16 different customers plus 4 celebrity guests who will visit their bar, and like any entertainment and service venue, players need to impress the clientele in order to earn the maximum amount of tips.

Bar Star HD for the Mac features:

* 50 exciting levels including a Zombie Takeover
* 16 unique customers and 4 guest stars
* Mix and pour all types of delicious drinks
* Upgrades for you’re bar including a dance floor, disco ball, plants, and drinks
* Grow your staff
* Serve customers different types of draft beer, wines and mixed cocktails
* Earn points to enhance your bartending skills
* True HD graphics
* Multiple player profiles, time attack Mode and replayable missions

netflixNetflix, Inc. and Paramount Pictures (Viacom Inc.) have reached a new multi-year licensing agreement, adding hundreds of new movie titles, including the exclusive subscription television rights to all first-run films, for Canadian Netflix members to watch instantly on their computers and TVs.

Netflix members in Canada can enjoy theatrical hits from Paramount in the coming months starting with “The Last Airbender” and Marvel’s “Iron Man 2.” The five year agreement will add over 350 new movies available to watch instantly from Netflix in Canada, including epics like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Titanic,” and “Defiance,” great comedies like “Zoolander” and “Wayne’s World,” and beloved classics like “The African Queen,” “Sabrina” (1954) and “Terms of Endearment.”

dhx mediaMonster Math Squad, a new CG animated series for kids has been announced by DHX Media Ltd. The series will star loveable monsters who help children develop formative math-related skills. The preschool show has been commissioned by CBC and SRC in Canada and will be produced by DHX Media’s Halifax-based studio, further boosting DHX’s library of standout preschool properties.

“We all know that preschoolers love to learn,” says Kim Wilson, Creative Head for Children’s and Youth Programming at CBC, “so taking a concept like early numeracy and pairing it with a fantastic monster world of fun is a winning combination. DHX has a history of creating wonderful user-focused programs of the highest quality so we are thrilled. ”

D-BoxD-BOX Technologies Inc. will be expanding its presence in Chicago, Florida and Utah with the addition of four more theatre locations installing D-BOX motion technology seating. In Utah, the newly expanded Megaplex 17 at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and the brand new Megaplex 14 at Legacy Crossing in Centerville will each be equipped with 30 D-BOX MFX Seats that offer moviegoers access to a completely immersive movie experience. Meanwhile, over in the Chicago area, the Rosemont 18 theatre will soon feature 36 D-BOX MFX Seats while the Parisian 20 theatre in West Palm Beach FL will install a total of 30 seats, both scheduled to be unveiled in the coming months. Additionally, Muvico Entertainment’s Thousand Oaks movie theatre in California, which introduced D-BOX in February, is preparing to install an additional 12 D-BOX MFX Seats to keep up with the demand.

intertainment mediaIntertainment Media Inc.’s social media translation interface Ortsbo has seen a 47% growth in User Engagement Minutes since the end of February, growing from 82.3 Million minutes to 121.3 Million minutes of total engagement. Other key indicators have also grown substantially with active monthly unique users, month over month, now at 8.6 Million, a 37% increase since the end of February. In the past week, Ortsbo has generated over 10.8 Million minutes of User Engagement, 6.4 Million Page Views, 3.1 Million Online Sessions and 2.2 Million Unique Users. Ortsbo, at just over 9 months since launch is at the same levels achieved by Facebook in its first 29 months.ortsbo

With over 79% of Ortsbo users coming direct to www.ortsbo.com and www.ortsboqq.com, Ortsbo continues to experience strong viral growth as the vast majority of users are coming direct to the web sites, not using search engines or third party referrals. If you’ve never heard of Ortsbo, it supports global communications with instant translation capability, real time multi- lingual social media chat and instant Twitter translation allowing users to communicate with family, friends and colleagues around the world. Ortsbo provides users with the ability to break down language and cultural barriers through its easy to use, language centric interface. User demographics have continued to favor the BRIC countries with China remaining the number 1 usage country for Ortsbo followed by Brazil, the US, South Korea, Canada, Taiwan, Germany, Argentina, Russia and India. Ortsbo’s Top 10 user countries have a combined population of over 3.4 Billion people.

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28th March 2011

T-Virus Outbreak Pinpointed Near Granville Island

CAPCOMCapcom® has offiically announced that Resident Evil®: Operation Raccoon City, is in development at Vancouver’s Slant Six Games for the PlayStation®3, Xbox 360® and PC with a scheduled Winter 2011 release. In addition it was also confirmed that the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS™ title, Slant Six GamesResident Evil®: The Mercenaries 3D,will ship with a playable demo of Resident Evil® Revelations.

Since the launch of the first title 15 years ago the Resident Evil® series has enjoyed phenomenal success, selling over 45 million units worldwide to date. This latest offering will take the series in a completely new direction and offer a style of gameplay yet to be seen from the franchise.

Resident Evil Outbreak Zone

Resident Evil Outbreak Zone

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City delivers a true third person team based shooter experience set within the dark and sinister Resident Evil universe and a reinterpretation of the events depicted in Resident Evil® 2 and Resident Evil® 3. The setting of the Resident Evil universe not only provides a rich backdrop to the action but delivers a unique and thrilling triple threat battle. Zombies and Bio-Organic Weapons (B.O.W’s) add to the mix as players not only compete against an opposing squad but also tackle this third unpredictable element, creating a brand new style of gameplay and breaking the conventions of traditional team based shooters.

It is September 1998 and the action centers once more on the ill-fated Raccoon City and the horrific consequences of the deadly T-virus outbreak from the Umbrella facility. With a cover up required, Umbrella orders an elite team into Raccoon City to destroy all evidence of the outbreak and eliminate any survivors. Hearing of this plan, the US Government dispatches its own special forces to uncover any evidence that exposes the cause of the viral infection and Umbrella’s actions. Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Services soldier (U.S.S.), competing alone or in four player co-op in a battle against all the competing forces at play in Raccoon City.

Expect the return of original Resident Evil enemies, iconic landmarks such as the Raccoon City Police Department and fan favorite characters, including Leon S. Kennedy, who as a rookie police officer in Raccoon City is on your hit list to eliminate. Players will experience a retelling of classic moments from past titles Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 and watch the events unfolding from the menacing perspective of the Umbrella Security Service, giving fans the chance to rewrite the history of the Raccoon City outbreak. Read the rest of this entry »

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26th March 2011

How The Federal Election Will Impact The Canada Media Fund

Canada Media FundGiven that the federal budget tabled on March 22 was not adopted, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced today that it will shortly be releasing a preliminary program budget for the upcoming year which will not include the 100M$ program funding allocation that was proposed in the budget, as it cannot be confirmed at this time.

The CMF can only release a program budget based on confirmed sources of revenue. Therefore at this juncture, the program budget will include the projected monthly contributions from broadcast distribution undertakings, as well as the allocation of funding of 34.6M$ included in the budget of the Department of Canadian Heritage which is allocated to the CMF.

In the event that the CMF receives a further allocation of funding as a result of the adoption of a federal budget later this year, the CMF will release a supplementary program budget shortly thereafter.

Performance Envelopes will be calculated on the basis of the anticipated full program budget that was approved by the CMF Board including the $100 million funding allocation announced by the Government, in order to assist the industry with licensing and production planning. However, the contractually confirmed amounts of the Performance Envelopes will be based solely on the preliminary program budget described above.

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I for one am very concerned about what this election could mean to our Digital Media industry and all of the hard work so many of us have been doing to work towards a Digital Economy in this country. What ever your political affiliation, please, if you do nothing else leading up to this election, ask your candidates the hard questions – don’t let them wallow about with non-answers. Make them move beyond the finger-pointing and talk about the issues at hand. Do not let our industry fall back down between the cracks of the political landscape. Most of all, exercise your privilege – get out and vote on election day!

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25th March 2011

Follow Friday For March 25th

Reminder to all Canadian IDM developers: Take the Pixel To Product Digital Economy Survey. It’s important, and it only takes a few minutes. Follow Pixel To Product on Twitter at 49Pixels

So we are starting our weekend with a non-confidence vote in Parliament, which means we technically have no government and are headed for a Federal election. This also means that all of the Federal parties will be stepping up their campaigns of nastiness. As I said on Twitter earlier – please, please, please stop with the finger pointing. Instead of telling us why every other party is evil, tell Canadians truthfully why your party is awesome, be prepared to back it up with quantifiable proof, and let’s move on. Enough with the playground bully tactics, okay?3DS boxshot Act like the intellectual adults you’re supposed to be and take the responsibility you are asking voters to give you more seriously.

The bonus is that it’s Friday, and that means tomorrow is Nintendo 3DS Launch event day, so if you’re in Toronto or Vancouver, you can get some hands-on time with the 3DS before the midnight sales events at Future Shop. Vancouver’s pre-launch event will be taking place from 6pm until midnight at TD Square (corner of Granville & Georgia streets) and then moving over to the Robson & Granville Future Shop for the midnight opening.

The Toronto pre-launch event will be taking place at Yonge-Dundas Square also from 6pm until midnight, with the midnight sales launch at the Future Shop located at 325 Yonge Street. In support of Earth Hour between 8:30pm-Chun-Li Martini9:30pm, Nintendo Canada will turn off the lights and not draw any electrical power at its dedicated event space. Follow Nintendo on Twitter.

Last evening was the second iteration of the Women In Games Vancouver Martini Night, and while there weren’t as many ladies as at the first event, there was still a good turnout and new connections were made amongst those who attended. Last evening’s Chun Li Martini, created by our awesome Rogue bartender, also appeared to be a big hit; I was driving, so didn’t try it. Martini Night, which for now is supposed to be a ladies only social event, is intended to give women who work in the creative industry a place to network and talk about issues in the industry that are important to them. We hope you will come out for the next Martini Night in April – details to be announced. Follow Women In Games Vancouver on Twitter.

Canadian Games ConferenceThe Canadian Games Conference organizers would like you all to know that tickets are now on sale for both the conference and the Canadian Video Game Awards, and they’ve announced the first round of confirmed speakers. Follow the Canadian Games Conference and Canadian Video Games on Twitter.

The Canadian Games Conference is a two-day conference/exhibition that brings together some of the industry’s top innovators, businesses and talent responsible for the explosive growth of the gaming industry, providing a platform to share knowledge and develop industry partnerships. The Conference, which takes place at the Vancouver Convention Centre on May 19th and 20th will be preceded by the Canadian Video Game awards on May 18th, at the Centre for Performing Arts. The Awards will be hosted by Electric Playground’s Victor Lucas and will featuring a live performance by Video Games Live.  As an added bonus, tickets start at just $30 for CGC pass holders, $37 for ESAC and CIAIC members, or $45 for the general public. Tickets for the Awards show can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  Public voting for Game of the Year will start April 15th on the CVA website. Follow Electric Playground, Victor Lucas and Video Games Live on Twitter

Announcing the first round of confirmed sessions:

  • Musing About Cloud – Denis Dyak, Silicon Knights
  • How FIFA Stumbled on a New Business Model – Paul Hossack, EA
  • How MMOs Really Work – Simon Ludgate, Soulrift and Craig Morrison, Funcom
  • On-Line Everywhere – Cyrus Greenall, Ubisoft Vancouver
  • The Design Evolution of HOARD – Tyler Sigman, Big Sandwich Games
  • Use Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Studio – Matt Tanner, Snowed in Studios
  • So You Want to be a Game Programmer? – Karl Schmidt, THQ
  • Microsoft KINECT Showcase
  • How to Self Fund Development – RBC and Export Development Canada
  • Cross Platform iOS Development – Wolfgang Hamann, Koolhaus Games
  • DO Sweat the Small Stuff – Kris Piotrowski, Capybara Games

Follow Export Development Canada, RBC, EA, Funcom, Ubisoft Vancouver, Big Sandwich Games, Snowed In Studios, THQ, and Capybara Games on Twitter.

Relic EntertainmentThe news that everyone (especially The Cavechild) has been waiting for and that you all probably already know is that THQ and Relic Entertainment announced late yesterday that Triple A title Space Marine finally has a release date – or, release month, anyway.  Set in the rich Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop®, Space Marine is a single-player 3rd person campaign-styled action-shooter. This latest entry into the Warhammer 40 000 franchise will not only feature the brutal and feral Orks, but also the dark and sinister forces of Chaos.Space Marine

Space Marine puts players into the role of one of humanity’s elite soldiers, as they battle to protect an Imperial Forge World from a millions-strong Ork invasion. But this isn’t all that faces Captain Titus of the Ultramarines. When Titus makes planet-fall, he soon realizes that the forces of Chaos are lurking in the shadows pulling the strings for their own nefarious purposes.

The addition of Chaos forces adds more variety to the Space Marine single-player campaign by complementing the animalistic and horde-like Orks with a much more powerful and strategic enemy. While Titus can dispatch dozens of Orks alone, the Chaos Space Marines are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with him, especially with the support of Renegade Militia, Tainted Psykers and Bloodletter Daemons, among other units. Space Marine is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. Follow Relic and SpaceMarine on Twitter.

tiny hipposDev studio Tiny Hippos has been acquired by Research In Motion. A press release on the Tiny Hippo states that the studio is  “extremely excited about our future at RIM and continuing to grow and support Ripple. This is a great step towards our goal of providing a cross-platform mobile application development and testing tool to developers worldwide.  Specifically, we will be working to bring BlackBerry support to the Ripple product.

We also want to reassure all new and existing users that we expect that the Ripple product will continue to be offered for download and the team will continue to develop features, provide support, and help grow the mobile application developer community. We would like to extend a special thank you to all of you that have supported and believed in us.” Follow Tiny Hippos and RIM on Twitter.

Toon BoomToon Boom Animation Inc. has released the first of its first line up of fun mobile apps for the iOS App Store. Toon Boom has launched Flip Boom Lite for the iPhone and iPod, a fun app flipboom litethat lets your fingertips doodle, scribble or draw fun animations. Flip Boom Lite is already available for the iPad and has received rave reviews. Both apps are free in the App Store and let you discover the fun of animation creation. The company will be releasing more features for their apps in future updates.

“Toon Boom’s fun applications lend themselves perfectly for the iPod, iPhone and iPad. You can discover how easy creating animation can be while having coffee or waiting for a meeting,” said Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Toon Boom Animation. Follow Toon Boom on Twitter.

rock hippo productionsRock Hippo Productions Ltd is pleased to announce that after only two weeks in the open beta phase, the MicroVolts player population has soared and continues growing rapidly every day.  To celebrate its success, MicroVolts will host a number of events where players will have the opportunity to win fantastic prizes including an iPad 2.  The events start tomorrow March 26 and will continue through April 11!

To thank the active and growing community, MicroVolts will host the MicroVolts iPad 2 contest where they will be giving away two custom MicroVolts iPad 2’s.  Players who rack up 10 hours of play in one week will automatically be entered into the drawing.  The first event will take place between March 28 through April 4, and the second iPad 2 drawing for 10 hours of play will take place between April  4-11. Additionally, this weekend between March 26th and 27th, MicroVolts will give out 2,000 bonus experience points for everyone who plays at least three hours! microvolts

MicroVolts features fast paced, third person shooter action and pits players against each other in a secret battle that has been waged and going unnoticed right in our own backyard for years.  No one knows for sure when or where the first toy declared war but rumor has it that the uprising began with four original limited edition figures, code named MicroVolts. Battle lines were drawn when Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P.-the prototypes a-were soon joined by an endless number of modified versions. Now, toy figures around the world are engaged in an all-out war for valuable battery resources and supremacy of the Micro World.  All we can do now is stay out of their way and wait for a champion to be declared!

With a ton of weapons, inventive character designs, and a huge list of customization features, MicroVolts is destined to invigorate and re-energize the Free2play space. Intuitive controls and a third person view make the game easy to play and fun for both newcomers and veterans of shooter games.  Game modes include Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept. Follow Microvolts on Twitter.

Family ChannelFamily Channel is giving viewers a sneak preview of Canadian live-action tween show Debra! on the evening of April 22nd. Produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment, Debra! follows Debra Delong, an effervescent teen with a unique style and outlook on the world who is determined to start her own business. Debra’s best friend Preston is sometimes reluctant to become embroiled in Debra’s ambitious schemes but always manages to stick by her side. Debra! was created by Andrew Nicolls and Darrel Vickers (Jimmy Neutron, Fairly OddParents, Back to the Barnyard) and marks Cookie Jar Entertainment’s first live-action series for Family Channel. Follow Family Channel on Twitter.

Absolute SoftwareAbsolute® Software Corporation has announced that the company will be presenting at the Government Security Conference & Expo (GovSec) on next-generation solutions for endpoint security and management of mobile devices in Washington, DC on March 31.

Geoff Glave, senior product manager at Absolute, will discuss the growing challenges facing IT in managing and securing the endpoint. He will focus on the need for a layered approach to security, which is now, more than ever, essential to an environment that consists of multiple devices across multiple platforms.

“The mobile landscape is changing dramatically for IT organizations and they need to be prepared more than ever to mitigate the risks posed by mobile data,” states Rob Chase, chief operating officer at Absolute Software. “Absolute is uniquely positioned with cross platform and device support, persistence, and emergency response services. Our solutions provide organizations with actionable intelligence to effectively secure and manage their endpoints and the valuable data on them.” Follow Absolute on Twitter.

teletoonThe season finale of the TELETOON original series Total Drama World Tour premieres on Sunday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and TELETOON is keeping everyone in suspense – even the contestants. This season’s winner will be decided by the fans through an online vote beginning Sunday, March 27, with the winning contestant revealed during the final episode on Sunday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Before the winner is revealed, TELETOON will pay tribute to the three remaining contestants, Alejandro, Cody and Heather, with special episodes in the weeks leading up to the finale. One tribute episode will air on each of the first three Sundays in April at 8 p.m. ET/PT taking a look back at each of the finalists’ journeys from the beginning of this season all the way to the finale. On Sunday, April 24, the finale will air as part of a special four-episode marathon beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT with the three most recent episodes followed by the season finale at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

When viewers visit the Teletoon site to fill out their ballots for the winner beginning Sunday, March 27, they can also enter a contest for the chance to be animated into their very own Total Drama character and conduct an interview with animated host Chris MacLean.

Total Drama World Tour brings an international twist and musical spin to the popular Total Drama animated franchise. This season continued the series’ hilarious tradition of parodying reality shows by bringing back some of the fan-favourite past contestants and a few exciting new faces. The crew’s latest chance at fame and fortune saw them fly all over the world for a chance at another million-dollar grand prize while facing the kind of scary, embarrassing and even disgusting challenges that Total Drama fans have come to expect. Total Drama World Tour is created and produced by Toronto’s Fresh TV Inc. Follow Teletoon on Twitter.

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