Village Gamer

The 2009 Game Design Expo, hosted by Vancouver Film School, is accepting submissions from game industry professionals wishing to present at Game Design Expo on February 7-8, 2009 in Vancouver, BC.

The sold-out 2008 Expo featured speakers from Bungie, BioWare, Activision, EA, and many more, and garnered unprecedented support from the media and industry. Join the conversation: play a part in your industry’s evolution and the fostering of new talent.

The Game Design Expo organizers are looking for guest speakers with something to say and a desire to share their knowledge. In particular, we welcome talks that fall into the general categories of Pre-Production, Prototyping, and Pitching. If you are interested in becoming a guest speaker at the Game Design Expo, please contact the Event Manager, Shira Gordon at 604-631-3562.

Richmond, British Columbia – September 10, 2008 – Microsoft Corporation’s first Canadian development center officially opened today in Richmond, British Columbia. The Microsoft Canada Development Centre (MCDC) currently employs over 300 of the world’s best software developers who work on over half of Microsoft’s products including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, the Zune Media Player, Windows Mobile, Ad Platform, AD Search, Unified Communications, Exchange Server, Visual Studios, Silverlight and the Xbox 360.

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September 9, 2008. Toronto, Canada: The Adventure Company today announced the worldwide distribution of “Agatha Christie – Death on the Nile” for Windows®. With the continued success of the company’s Agatha Christie titles, the series starts again in a new genre!

Experience a thrilling Hidden Object murder mystery game aboard a paddle steamer making its way down the Nile River. Assume the role of Hercule Poirot as you investigate a savage murder and find hidden clues, interrogate suspects, and much more in Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit, Death on the Nile.

Uncover clues and evidence tied directly to the story, play mini-games along the way to help compile your evidence. When you have enough evidence, question the passengers in the salon and discover the identity of the real murderer!

Toronto, Canada – September 9, 2008 – Today leading publisher Lighthouse Interactive, part of SilverBirch Inc.’s (SVB:TSXV) videogame division, and accomplished developer Kerberos Productions announced that A Murder of Crows, the latest expansion to their highly acclaimed 4X space strategy game Sword of the Stars (PC) is now available for Pre-order exclusively at GamersGate.com. Players are required to have either Sword of the Stars: Collector’s Edition or Born of Blood in order to play this new addition to the franchise.

GAME SUMMARY
While the four civilized races battle back the voracious Zuul and seek advantage over each other, a ghost from the past returns to the galaxy in the form of the manipulative Morrigi. Already known for their dark crow-shaped attack drones and deadly traps, this race once thought long extinct, returns looking for vengeance.

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SEATTLE – August 29, 2008 – Big Fish Games™, the world’s leading online destination for games and interactive entertainment, today announced the launch of Azada: Ancient Magic, developed by Big Fish Games Studios and available exclusively at BigFishGames.com. Following the success of the original hit Azada, the first puzzle-adventure game developed for online digital distribution, the sequel, Azada: Ancient Magic raises the bar for games in this emerging casual genre to new heights.

“We all agreed that we didn’t want to do a quick sequel with just more one-page puzzles; we had a responsibility to the fans to take things much further,” said Emmanuel Marty, director of Big Fish Games Studios Europe. “Where Azada had pages, Azada: Ancient Magic has entire books, over 20 of them including a secret book exclusively for players who completed the original Azada.”
“Azada: Ancient Magic uses the best elements of the original game and transports players into a much deeper experience,” said Patrick Wylie of vice president of studios at Big Fish Games. “Incorporating heroes, villains, and legends from classic stories gives the game a dramatic appeal and a feeling of familiarity.”

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Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that it will continue in the studio’s long tradition of delivering powerful content-creations to the gaming community by releasing the Dragon Age™ Toolset. BioWare will be presenting the Dragon Age™ Toolset at the Penny Arcade Expo in the Washington State Convention & Trade Center today through Sunday. Designed specifically for the highly-anticipated Role-playing PC game Dragon Age™: Origins, the Dragon Age Toolset provides players with developer-grade tools that will allow them to produce their own content.

Attendees of the Penny Arcade Expo will be the first ever to see the new toolset in action as BioWare will provide a live demonstration of some of its exciting features and capabilities. The Dragon Age Toolset will be part of a stage demonstration during the Penny Arcade Expo at 1:30pm, August 31, on the main stage at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.

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Edmonton – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced that it will continue in the studio’s long tradition of delivering powerful content-creations to the gaming community by releasing the Dragon Age™ Toolset. BioWare will be presenting the Dragon Age™ Toolset at the Penny Arcade Expo in the Washington State Convention & Trade Center today through Sunday. Designed specifically for the highly-anticipated Role-playing PC game Dragon Age™: Origins, the Dragon Age Toolset provides players with developer-grade tools that will allow them to produce their own content.

Attendees of the Penny Arcade Expo will be the first ever to see the new toolset in action as BioWare will provide a live demonstration of some of its exciting features and capabilities. The Dragon Age Toolset will be part of a stage demonstration during the Penny Arcade Expo at 1:30pm, August 31, on the main stage at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.

Key features include:

Create Original Adventures – Using the rich set of Dragon Age assets and locations as starting blocks, users can modify these stunning areas by adding new quests, characters and scripting to craft their own adventures, fate-defining conversations and cut-scenes.
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August 28, 2008. Toronto, Canada: The Adventure Company, a leading publisher of adventure games in North America, is pleased to announce the haunting adventure title Outcry for Windows® has shipped to retail stores across North America.

Players will take on the role of a middle-aged writer who receives a strange invitation from his brother who he hasn’t seen for years. Accepting his invitation, you are soon confronted with the discovery of his sudden disappearance and his connection to a mysterious machine which, according to your brother, can separate one’s consciousness from his body.

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The tenth Annual General Meeting for New Media BC will be held on Thursday September 25, 2008 at Radical Entertainment, 8th Floor – 369 Terminal Avenue in Vancouver. The doors will open for registration and networking at 3:15pm, followed by the official meeting at 4:00pm. New Media BC members will be updated on all of the activities which New Media BC has participated in over the past year, see an outline of what is planned for the coming year, go over the financial reports and elect the Board of Directors for 2009-2010. There will also be announcements regarding Digital Week 2009. After the conclusion of the AGM, members are invited to celebrate Canada’s first National Digital Media Day by mingling to catch up with old friends, make new friends, and view a Politube Shorts Screening presented by New Forms Festival. Members need to pre-register for the AGM and Mixer – if you’re not a member of New Media BC but would like more information, please check out the Membership Benefits page on the New Media BC site.

International music sensation Natasha Bedingfield was today unveiled as the featured spokesperson of Boogie™ SuperStar, the upcoming Wii™ title from the Casual Entertainment Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS). Bedingfield lends three songs to the Boogie SuperStar soundtrack, also announced today, which features a total of nearly 40 hit singles made famous by some of today’s hottest artists.

Bedingfield, who has topped the charts with number one singles and albums in both the U.S. and the U.K., has joined forces with EA to promote the game, which allows girls to perform their favourite Bedingfield songs including her current single Angel, Love Like This, and the title track from her new hit album Pocketful of Sunshine.
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