Village Gamer

October 28 is World Animation Day – and Canada is getting animated. The National Film Board is celebrating this special day with a 13-city tour of Get Animated!, a series of free public screenings from the NFB’s Oscar-winning animation studios. Get Animated! will showcase amazing new creations from Canada’s public producer, for young and old, from October 22 to November 9, 2008.

After celebrating the 65th anniversary of NFB animation, National Film Board studios have found a fresh burst of energy, producing works that have garnered international acclaim, including a record-setting 70th Academy Award nomination last year – more than any production company or organization outside Hollywood – as well as awards across Canada and around the world. Get Animated! is part of a broader commitment at Canada’s public producer and distributor to ensure that Canadians from coast to coast have access to outstanding NFB productions.

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Three-time Oscar winner and Director of Animation for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” Richard Williams, has now combined his best-selling book ”The Animators’ Survival Kit” with his legendary Masterclasses. He will present the 16-DVD boxed set which was filmed at Blue Sky Studios in New York, inter-cut with over 350 specially animated examples in a mini- Masterclass.

Appearing on Monday, October 27 at the VanCity Theatre in Vancouver, Richard Williams will engage in Q&A presentation with the audience, followed by a book signing (bring your copy for signing if you already have one) and a screening of the feature film ”Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The presentation will begin at 7:30pm, admittance is free, but tickets will only be available at the door on a first come, first served basis.

Gold Level Sponsor

-From VFS– Save on production time and costs by seamlessly transferring your 3D experience to Softimage|XSI in this comprehensive course in the most advanced 3D animation software for games, film, and TV. Guided by 3D expert and teacher Craig Slagel, you’ll also find out how to tap into Softimage’s powerful new ICE (Interactive Creative Environment) and get a running start on using this revolutionary platform to increase production efficiency and consistency. Learn how to code less and create more.

November 22-23, 2008
Vancouver Film School
1380 Burrard Street
9am – 6pm Sat. & Sun.

Price: $795 CAD (includes Saturday & Sunday). Only 20 spaces available and spaces limited to 2 per registrant. Contact softimage@vfs.com to enquire about group bookings.

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Toronto, CANADA-October 15, 2008- Wicked Interactive, a North American MMO publisher, has released the first official trailer for its upcoming MMORPG, Priston Tale 2: The Second Enigma. The trailer depicts the action and epic feel of the sequel to the popular Priston Tale.

A fantasy-style MMORPG for the PC, Priston Tale 2: The Second Enigma is Yedang Online’s sequel to the wildly popular Priston Tale. This fantasy-style MMORPG boasts high-quality graphics realized through a combination of realistic backgrounds, fantastical characters, and spectacular combat effects – all made possible by the Unreal 2.5 Engine. The game has experienced huge success in South Korea where only three days after it launched its open beta in South Korea, Priston Tale 2’s concurrent online players reached 40,000. The game will launch in the North America later this winter.

The trailer can be viewed at the SUBA Games site.

Renowned Digital Security Luminary & Cyber-Terrorism Expert Perry A. Pederson Joins Wurldtech™ To Direct Applied Research Activities & Facilitate International Public/Private Partnerships To Improve The Safety, Security & Reliability Of Global Critical Infrastructure

Vancouver, BC, Canada – October 15, 2008 – Wurldtech™ Security Technologies, a leading provider of cyber risk and compliance management solutions for industrial automation industries worldwide, today announced that Mr. Perry A. Pederson, former Director for the Control Systems Security Program at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), has joined the management team as Vice-President of Wurldtech™ Labs, the applied research and cyber threat intelligence division of the company.

In this newly created role, Mr. Pederson will oversee applied research contracts, manage technology partnerships, direct the Achilles™ Certification Program and expand cyber threat intelligence efforts. He will also lead international strategic initiatives to develop public/private partnerships designed to improve stakeholder communication and cooperatively address the evolving cyber-security challenges faced by the entire industrial automation industry.

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EA SPORTS Partners with Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook to Provide Team Scouting Reports In NCAA Basketball 09

University of North Carolina Tar Heels Top Rated Team In NCAA Basketball 09

Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ:ERTS) today unveiled a partnership with Blue Ribbon™ College Basketball Yearbook to provide team ratings and team scouting reports for the EA SPORTS™ college basketball videogame NCAA® Basketball 09, scheduled for release December 2 for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems.

Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook has been the leader in compiling accurate scouting reports of college basketball teams for 28 years and EA SPORTS will utilize its scouting reports and data to drive its college basketball videogame.

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Girls Sing and Dance Their Way to Stardom in the Hottest New Music Game

Montreal – The Casual Entertainment Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) provides tween girls with the ultimate superstar experience with this week’s release of Boogie™ SuperStar, exclusively for the Wii™. Boogie SuperStar shipped on October 14 in North America and Canada, and will be available October 16 in Asia and October 17 in Europe. Girls around the world will have a blast singing and dancing their way to stardom, performing today’s hottest music hits.

“Boogie SuperStar provides girls worldwide with a gaming experience that is truly for them,” said Russell Arons, Vice President of Marketing, EA Casual Entertainment. “We listened to what girls wanted in a music game and aimed to provide those elements with Boogie SuperStar including total character customization, today’s most popular songs, engaging game play, and the ability to play with their friends.”

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Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 15, 2008 – ValueThisBusiness.com announced today the launch of their online business valuation tool. The website service is ideal for anyone in the USA or Canada interested in business valuation and helps answer the question, “How much is a specific business worth?”.
Traditional Business Valuation tends to be an expensive, time consuming and complex process that is often difficult to comprehend. In just a few clicks, this internet service offers individual business valuations which take into account the “real world” business sold facts that reflect the recent buying and selling business marketplace. ValueThisBusiness.com’s extensive database is based on substantial research and actual sold comparables from research groups, valuation experts, and sold listing results of Business Brokers and M&A specialists from across North America. All data is kept current and is based on thousands of transactions from 2004 to present.
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GarageGames Looking to Fund New Studios in Austin, Vancouver, and Seattle for InstantAction.com Titles

Eugene, OR, October 14, 2008 – GarageGames, creators of InstantAction.com, the website for gamers that combines the intensity of videogames with the accessibility of the web, have announced that they are looking to fund new startup studios working on original IP for InstantAction and other platforms.

“We’re seeing a lot of larger studios cutting back on costs and thus forced to let go of great talent,” said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames. “There’s always opportunity for good developers to start anew and we’re looking to give these guys a shot to get back to their roots on a small team making games for a cutting edge platform.”

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After posting record Week 1 sales throughout Europe, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced that EA SPORTS™ FIFA Soccer 09 has shipped to stores throughout North America and Asia today, providing soccer fans with a customized gameplay experience that takes advantage of the hardware specifications of each available platform — the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, PC, PlayStation®2, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and mobile.

FIFA Soccer 09 launches in North America and Asia on the Wii™ home video game system and Nintendo DS™ on October 28, 2008.

A new premium service for FIFA Soccer 09 on PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360® and PC called adidas Live Season* is poised to redefine the soccer videogame experience by dynamically updating player form in-game on a weekly basis so that player attributes mirror real-world performances. FIFA Soccer 09 will now feel and play differently throughout the entire 2008-2009 season matching the weekly rhythm of soccer. Gameplay will change dynamically as the performance of players and football teams in the real world experience the highs and lows during their campaigns. The new service is available now for Barclay’s Premier League, La Liga BBVA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A and Mexican Primera Division.

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