Village Gamer

Canadian-based Lotto IP, a company focused on developing and licensing intellectual property rights surrounding a variety of gaming and lottery processes, has announced the development of a new business method which it says may revolutionize the social and economic impacts of the online gaming sector. The company is marketing the product under the trade name Game With Us™ (GWU).

In the current North American environment, U.S. state and Canadian provincial legislatures are forbidden by federal regulation from organizing and conducting interstate online gaming sites. However they are permitted to conduct intrastate online gaming—under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). GWU allows States to operate online sites while ensuring appropriate and jurisdictionally specific revenue flows, oversight and taxation.

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Become the Ultimate Celebrity Athlete in the Must-Have Party Game for the Holidays From EA SPORTS Freestyle

Burnaby – Reach for the stars! Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that Celebrity Sports Showdown for the Wii™ is in stores worldwide today. Celebrity Sports Showdown is an all-new intellectual property from the new EA SPORTS Freestyle™ brand featuring 10

Kristi Yamaguchi

celebrities and allows up to 4 players to compete in 12 outdoor sports games. Play as your favorite celebrity such as Keith Urban, Fergie and Avril Lavigne, and athletes like Paul Pierce and Mia Hamm in the ultimate party game for the holidays. Get off the couch and get into the action with fun and easy-to-play controls designed specifically for the Wii.

Experience the fresh air of the outdoors and the thrill of competition as you battle it out in this no-holds barred entertainment spectacle. Get your feet wet and paddle through rapids in Wild Water Canoeing and hold on tight as you fly behind a speed boat for some wild Inner-Tubing! Get out of the water and onto the court as you hit away in Beach Volleyball and Smash Badminton, or take aim

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Toronto, Canada – Today, leading video game publisher Lighthouse Interactive and social platform for gamers Raptr Inc., announced a new partnership that will connect fans of Lighthouse Interactive’s games from across the world via Raptr by bundling Raptr within their games.

Founded by Xfire co-founder and world champion gamer Dennis Fong, Raptr is the first service that automatically lets you know when your friends are playing games across multiple platforms in real-time. Raptr is the only service to support thousands of games across those multiple platforms including: PC, Mac, Xbox Live, Facebook, Flash, and even a selection of games on the Wii and PS3. It is the first and only service to create a unique recommendation engine based on the games you and your friends actually own and play, and allows users to customize their profile with

Dawn of Fantasy

themed backgrounds from their favorite game.

Lighthouse Interactive’s fantasy-based MMORTS Dawn of Fantasy (PC) and real-time strategy game East India Company (PC) are among the titles that will come bundled with the Raptr application. Both of these high caliber games for Windows® will be releasing in Q1 2009. Lighthouse Interactive has published over 30 games worldwide since the company was formed in 2005.

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Track List Boasts Songs From Some of the Biggest and Most Influential Artists of All-Time Including Black Sabbath, Public Enemy, The Clash and Wu-Tang Clan

Vancouver – Black Box, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, today revealed the soundtracks that will power the award-winning Skate It and Skate 2. These two skateboarding games bring the sport’s incredible tricks, epic moves and high energy to gamers with all of the fun – and none of the bruises! The 52 featured songs are from some of music’s most influential and celebrated artists including Black Sabbath, Public Enemy, Judas Priest and Wu-Tang Clan.

Skate It NDS - PSP Screen

“The soundtracks for Skate It and Skate 2 builds upon last year’s critically acclaimed Skate soundtrack,” said Chris Parry, Associate Producer. “The songs reflect the culture of skateboarding, with some tracks picked by the pros themselves, and others coming straight out of iconic skate videos. Skateboarding today is an eclectic mix of people and influences and this is true of where we took this year’s soundtracks. Look for some old school soul and funk, a few rock anthems, some good beats and a lot of classic punk!”

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Team-up with Hercule Poirot and your Wii Remote to Solve a Mysterious Crime

The Adventure Company today released new screenshots from “Agatha Christie – Evil Under the Sun“ for Wii™. The game explores the possibilities of the intuitive controlling system, to deliver an outstanding gaming experience to Wii gamers everywhere.

Famous detective Hercule Poirot is back in typical style, turning up at just the right time to begin an investigation into the murder of a famous actress during what should have been the start of a relaxing holiday.
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Acquisition to Accelerate Autodesk?s Games Strategy; Complements Digital Entertainment and Visual Communications Offering; Lets Artists Choose their Passion

Montreal – Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) and Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID), announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Autodesk to acquire substantially all of the assets of Avid’s Softimage business unit for approximately $35 million.

Softimage was founded in 1986 by Daniel Langlois and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Softimage develops 3D technology for the film, television and games markets. Its flagship product is SOFTIMAGE|XSI, an extensible 3D animation software solution used by leading media and entertainment companies, including Digital Domain, Ubisoft, SEGA Corporation, CAPCOM, Animal Logic and The Mill. Autodesk Media & Entertainment provides animation, visual effects, editing/finishing and color grading solutions for the 3D market, including entertainment and design industries.

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This past Wednesday evening ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver members and supporters were presented with an informative and entertaining panel discussion on the Nuts and Bolts of Iron Man. The panel featured Vancouver VFX studio The Embassy, whose designers were responsible for the Iron Man Mark I suit, along with California’s The Orphanage, who designed the Mark III suit. The sold-out audience was treated to a frame-by-frame discussion on how the CG work was accomplished, along with the software used.

The SIGGRAPH board, volunteers and sponsors are to be congratulated for their efforts in continuing to provide educational platforms such as these panels. The opportunity to meet these incredibly talented developers, designers and artists who are more than willing to share their experiences and knowledge is well worth the annual membership dues and ticket prices. The Nuts and Bolts of Iron Man was sponsored by: 1337 Recruiters, VANarts, Sophia Books, Davis LLP, Stash Media, Big Fish Games and Annex|Pro.

Vancouver – Slick Entertainment has announced their next game project – Scrap Metal will be a fast-paced, top-down arcade style racing game. Judging from the game’s preview, the graphics, effects and audio are going to be top-notch. Racers will have the opportunity to not only own the track in head to head competition, there will be the option to shoot your opponent off the track or blow their vehicle into tiny little pixels. With so many destructible objects and vehicles which range from chunky to sleek, Scrap Metal looks like it will offer many playable and replayable hours of entertainment. Slick Entertainment, along with partner Metanet are the developers of the 2008 PopVox Award-winning game N+ for best Console or PC Game. No release date has been announced for Scrap Metal.

images property of Slick Entertainment

LucasArts and Alberta’s BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced the development of Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a story-driven massively multiplayer online PC game set in the timeframe of the Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ franchise. Star Wars: The Old Republic, being developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, represents an innovative approach to interactive entertainment, featuring immersive storytelling, dynamic combat and intelligent companion characters.

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy. Players can choose to play as Jedi, Sith, or a variety of other classic Star Wars roles, defining their personal story and determining their path down the light or dark side of the Force. Along the way, players will befriend courageous companions who will fight at their side or possibly betray them, based on the players’ actions. Players can also choose to team up with friends to battle enemies and overcome incredible challenges using dynamic Star Wars combat.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Oct. 21, 2008 – Anxious fans and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system owners, the wait is almost over! Hothead Games today announced that its well-received Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One will arrive on the PLAYSTATION®Network for download on October 23 in North America (other regions to follow shortly thereafter).

The PLAYSTATION Network version of Episode One features newly-implemented PLAYSTATION 3 system features such as trophies, score ranking and background music (BGM) support and

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