Village Gamer

Digital Storm is very pleased to welcome Nexon and Combat Arms to this weekend’s event. Nexon will be sponsoring the Combat Arms Last Man Standing Tournament, which will be taking place at 1:00pm on Saturday, August 2, with preliminaries taking place on the evening of Friday, August 1. The final battle will be open to 16 finalists, all of whom will receive a Special Press Edition DVD of Combat Arms, with the tournament winners receiving Nexon Cash, which can be used for game upgrades in any Nexon game product.

Also in attendance at Digital Storm will be representatives from Nexon’s Vancouver studio, Humanature. They will be observing the tournament finals as well as discussing working in the Vancouver game development industry with event attendees.

Digital Storm LAN takes place this weekend, August 1st and 2nd at the Croatian Cultural Centre, located at 3250 Commercial Drive in Vancouver. Doors open at 4:00pm Friday, when several game tournaments and ladder scrims will begin. All World Cyber Games qualifying tournaments will take place on Saturday, August 2, and the UK rock group Mendella will be giving a 45 minute live performance at 8:00pm. Tickets for Digital Storm and Mendella’s performance will be available at the door. Tickets for Friday and Saturday are $35.00, Saturday-only tickets are $25.00, concert-only tickets are $7.50.

Government of Canada Advances Business Opportunities in Partnership With Emily Carr University of Art and Design

Vancouver, B.C. — The Government of Canada is supporting the Emily Carr University of Art and Design (ECUAD) in its efforts to promote business growth and technology commercialization through an expanded Industry Liaison Office.

Mark Warawa, Member of Parliament for Langley, announced a $100,000 investment today on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Western Economic Diversification.

“Long-term economic prosperity requires vision and leadership,” said MP Warawa. “Our government is proud to support the Emily Carr University in its efforts to increase technology commercialization, forge industrial partnerships and drive economic development.”

Funding will help ECUAD strengthen its Industry Liaison Office. The newly expanded office will develop and advance opportunities for technology commercialization across a wide range of industries. The initiative will help develop Intellectual Property (IP) policies and procedures, while an increased emphasis on mentoring will provide opportunities for faculty, staff and students to engage in entrepreneurial activities.

It is expected that the Industry Liaison Office will expand and create new partnerships and collaborative projects through an ECU/Industry partnership program and the “Entrepreneur-in-Residence” program launch. Additional outreach activities will include a feasibility study for a corporate affiliate program and a graduate internship placement magazine.

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VICTORIA – The Premier’s Technology Council has released its eleventh report, which focuses on three topics: Clean technology, regional innovation and industrial design.

Key recommendations in this report include:

Clean Technology:
Government has been proactive in addressing climate change and promoting the development
of clean technologies. Government’s regulatory reform office has also been successful in creating
effective and efficient regulatory regimes. By applying the expertise of the regulatory reform office to
some specific, green-related challenges, government can ensure B.C. remains at the forefront of clean
technology development.

• Government’s regulatory reform office should focus its efforts on the application of clean
technologies and work with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions to anticipate future
regulatory needs.
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The Impromptu Film Festival will be taking place at the Vancouver International Film Centre, Vancity Theatre on Seymour Street this coming weekend. The Festival will run from noon until 5pm, with tickets costing $15.00 for either Session A or Session B, or $20.00 for both sessions. You can purchase advance tickets at Biz Books, which is located at 302 West Cordova Street.

According to the event’s website, “featuring films from around the world, in this one day celebration of getting films seen and off the ground. This festival aims to promote filmmakers with future projects in development, showcasing what they’ve created in the past.” To date, 3 films have been added to the Festival’s schedule, 2008 Leo Award Winner Centigrade, 2007 Academy Award Winner The Danish Poet, and 2008 Academy Award nominee Madame Tutli-Putli, with more to be announced very soon.

Proceeds from the Festival will go in part to help with pre-production costs (up to $2 500.00) for independent films. One quarter of the proceeds will also go to assist in the creation of the UBC Film Production Scholarship.

The Impromptu Film Festival is sponsored in part by The Vancouver International Film Centre, Video Openhouse Tours, Spread Media Inc., Silverlight Films, Steven Nash Sports Club, Biz Books, The Celluloid Social Club, Telescopic Camera Cranes Ltd, and PS.

Last night we attended the final ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver Chapter seminar for the season, and what a treat it was. Guest speaker Sharon Calahan, Director of Photography/Lighting for Pixar Animation Studios gave a presentation on the lighting processes used in Pixar’s animated film Ratatouille, which was followed with a special screening of a 35mm print of Ratatouille.

Beginning with the research and philosophies that went into the development of Ratatouille and walking the audience through the processes she and her team implemented to achieve the rich appearance of the film, Sharon lead us on a wonderful journey of passion and challenges. Having the ability to learn from the masters in the industry always lends to more appreciation for the talent and processes behind the scenes of any digital media piece which many of the general public never get a chance to learn about.

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This summer, Nintendo Canada has teamed up with smart® canada for the Key To Summer Fun Tour, which is taking place across Canada from June 18th through to September 1. You can test out your skills for chances to win a smart fortwo coupe and a Wii or one of five Family Game Night Packs which include Wii and Nintendo DS hardware, a games library and more. The special Wii and DS equipped cars will be at the following locations this summer:

Golden Spike Days – Port Moody – June 27 – 30

Steveston Salmon Festival – Steveston – July 1

Pacific National Exhibition – August 16 – September 1

Please visit the Get Up And Play Key to Summer Fun Tour official site for full information and contest rules.

The organizers of Digital Storm 2008 are very pleased to announce that TRENDnet will be providing several items for use as prizes at this year’s LAN tournament event. Please be sure to stop by their site and check out their award-winning products.

TRENDnet is a global provider of award winning networking solutions to small and medium size business and home users. Building networking solutions since 1990, TRENDnet enables users to share broadband access, multimedia content and networked peripherals for true anywhere connectivity. TRENDnet’s diverse product line includes Wireless, Fiber, Switch, Gigabit, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Keyboard/Video/Mouse (KVM), Internet Camera, Print Server, Powerline, Bluetooth, Storage Server, Power over Ethernet (PoE), and Multimedia Accessories.

Based in Torrance, California, TRENDnet maintains branch offices in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central America, South America, and Asia. TRENDnet’s 250-plus product portfolio is distributed in over 125 countries. The TRENDnet brand is consistently recognized for high quality, exceptional performance and professional support.

Come celebrate Vancouver’s emerging centre of innovation in sustainability, arts & culture, and digital media.

Concepts for the future development of GNWC will be on display. Join us for live performances, an exhibition of works by local artists, and fun hands-on activities. Entertainment for the whole family!

Date: Saturday June 21 2008 – 10:00am – 3:00pm
Location: Great Northern Way Campus – 577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver

* Vancouver Film School will be hosting an open house on June 18th for their Film Production Programme:

VFS Film Production Open House
6pm – 8pm at the VFS Café, 390 West Hastings Street (corner of Homer and Hastings)
RSVP to openhouse@vfs.com or 604.631.3591

– See what makes the VFS Film Production program one of the best in the world.
– Meet award-winning Film Production Department Head David Hauka.
– Hear from instructors in Directing, Cinematography, Post Production & Art Design as they discuss their areas of expertise.
– Get the straight goods from students and alumni.
– Watch award-winning student films made at VFS and find out more about all the projects Film Production students tackle.

* This coming weekend, Vancouver Film School will be co-presenting the Screenwriters’ Summit, which will be taking place at the VanCity Theatre in Vancouver. Featured speakers are: Syd Field, Linda Seger, Michael Hauge, and John Truby.

The weekend will include half-day lectures with each speaker, with very little content overlap: the speakers have worked together to build their lectures to complement one another. Major topics include: character goals and desire, character arcs, the nature of conflict, universal themes and symbols, understanding your demographic, key genre conventions, deep structure, and the 7 steps to a great premise. Each half-day will culminate in a Q & A session with the speakers.

Screenwriters Summit
Saturday June 7- Sunday June 8, 2008
8:30am – 6:00pm each day
Vancouver International Film Centre @ Vancity Theatre
1181 Seymour Street
Cost: $425.00 per person – seminar seating capacity: 175

Registration and Further Information

UK rock group Mendella has officially added Digital Storm LAN to their summer tour schedule, and will be performing at 8pm on Saturday, August 2, 2008. The performance will only be open to tournament participants, invited guests, event sponsors and members of the media. Mendella is graciously appearing at the event without charge to Digital Storm. The performance is open to corporate sponsorship, and Digital Storm still has many opportunities for companies and individuals to get involved with the tournament in return for promotional considerations. This year’s Digital Storm LAN is being held at the Vancouver Croatian Cultural Centre, located at 3250 Commercial Drive and features 48 hours of gaming competition and fun. There is still some exhibit space available at the LAN, which is a great opportunity for technology vendors, game developers, publishers and others involved in the game industry to promote and sell their products.

Digital Storm LAN is a World Cyber Games qualifying location for those gamers wanting to compete at the WCG Canada Nationals and the World Cyber Games Grand Finals being held in Cologne, Germany this fall. Digital Storm is also a fund-raiser for KillaNet’s Technology Education Centre which is slated for opening in the Spring of 2009. Corporations already involved with this year’s tournament include Shaw Cable, G4 TechTV Canada, Blade Internet Radio, RedBeard, SteelSeries, Argus Cameras, VisionTek, CPU Magazine and VS Gaming Arena. Competitor’s tickets for the LAN may be purchased either online through the Digital Storm web site, or in person at VS Gaming Arena, located at 128 E. Broadway between Quebec and Main.