Village Gamer

Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. today revealed that 20-year-old scoring phenom Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks will be the new face of the EA Canada developed NHL® 10 videogame from EA SPORTS™. Kane is the youngest player ever chosen for the cover of the NHL franchise and his image will be on the front of all packaging when NHL 10 is available in North American retail stores this September.

Having emerged as one of the most skilled players in the NHL in just two seasons, Kane won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 2008 and this year led the Blackhawks to the Western Conference Finals. He has scored more than 20 goals and registered more than 70 points in each of his first two seasons.

“It’s exciting to be on the cover of my favorite videogame after playing just my second year as a professional,” said Kane. “When you look back at some of the great players who have had this opportunity, it’s an honor to be a part of the EA SPORTS family and contribute to a game I’ve been playing for more than 10 years.”

EA SPORTS also announced that it has signed Canadian junior hockey scoring sensation John Tavares, expected to be the top pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, to promote the release of NHL 10. Tavares will join Kane, the first overall draft pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, as spokespersons for NHL 10.
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Calgary – Digital Alberta is pleased to announce the first in a series of upcoming workshops. These one day intensive workshops are geared to providing DA members with a unique opportunity to train directly with experts in their fields.

The First Work Shop is entitled “Digital Painting” with instructor Jaysin from the brilliant DPI Studios. He will run you through the process he uses as you follow along, creating the digital painting yourself. As an artist looking to branching into illustration, design, animation, or gaming this course offers you an opportunity to expand your portfolio and to showcase the pieces that potential employers want to see.

When: Saturday, July 18, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Where: Calgary Technologies Inc. – 100 3553 31 Street NW – Calgary, AB
What you will need: Laptop, wacom tablet, PhotoShop
Cost: $ 150+ GST for Digital Alberta Members only OR Affiliated Partners (this includes snacks, full lunch and free parking)

Online registration is now open.

FSAddon Publishing has released a completely rebuilt version of their Tongass Fjords title for Microsoft Flight Simulator X. It again is a major cooperation between Holger Sandmann and Bill Womack, including the already legendary ‘Sandmann Landscape’ and also some true-to-life regional airports such as Sitka and Petersburg, the town of Petersburg and quite a few other settlements, airports, seaplane bases and harbors.

Fully compatible with Ultimate Terrain and also with most other FSX titles for the region that have been released up till now, Tongass Fjords X brings you a whole new FS world – an addition to Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X that will turn approximately 80 000 square kilometres of Southeast Alaska and northwestern British Columbia into the beautiful piece of nature that it really is.

You get a flying environment that puts you in the pilot seat flying around some of the most stunning landscapes you may find in the real world. You not only get the actual coast lines, lakes, islands, roads, rivers and glaciers installed on your FSX, but in addition some very talented people have added “things to see and things to find” for you in that rugged area of fjords, mountains, lakes and sea.

You will be able to visit many of the US Forestry Service cabins used by hunters, fishermen and hikers hidden near the many lakes and fjords. These cabins are meticulously recreated by Bill Womack, who also recreated Sitka and Petersburg airports as well as landmark objects of Sitka and along the Sitka and Petersburg harbour front. The developers have added moving ships and boats, created by Mitsuya Hamaguchi and Larry Silsbee in many different locations, not just in harbours. Spot and then follow them with your Beaver!
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Toronto – eMixEngine officially announces the successful launch of their new music mixing service. eMixEngine.com launched on June 12, 2009 to great fanfare and success as it introduces a revolutionary way for budding musicians, bands, and singers to have their music mixed and mastered by industry leading professionals in a highly affordable manner. Before eMixEngine people either had to try to do it at home themselves, and could never get the quality results, and great sound that professionals could deliver, or they had to pay expensive recording studio fees. Now music artists all around the world have a 3rd option. They can record their tracks themselves, and have industry leading professionals make it sound world class.

eMixEngine CEO, Lawrence Tepperman, believes that the market is ripe for this industry changing business model. There are over 11 million bands and musicians on MySpace alone and now that iTunes enables budding musicians to upload their music for sale right on its site, it is clear than music has become democratized…everyone can chase the dream, and they don’t need an agent, middlemen, or have to pay expensive recording studios. With eMixEngine these artists can sound like chart topping bands while typically spending less than $25 per band member on average to do so.
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Canada and Tokyo – Did you know that Japan is the largest per capita producer and consumer of console video games and its huge 3G mobile network makes it one of the largest mobile gaming environments in the world? For Canadian mobile contents developers and publishers, as well as providers of development tools, middleware and service providers for console, mobile and online games, the Tokyo Game Show is the best possible place to conduct B to B meetings with Asian companies, and find business partners in the region.

The Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, in collaboration with the provincial governments of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, will be organising the Canadian participation to the TGS 2009. This year, the Canada Pavilion will feature an open concept with a design calling for 4 square towers, one in each corner of the Pavilion (there may be additional towers towards the centre of the Pavilion) and a centre rectangular pylon. Each tower is 2.7 meters in height with each of its four faces being one meter wide. For each face, the upper portion of roughly 1.7 metres can be used to affix either a TV monitor or a framed A1 size poster (60mm in width x 840mm in length); the bottom half of each column face comprises a counter top setting with a front panel with sliding doors.
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Toronto – Corus Entertainment’s YTV announced today a special sneak peek of the highly anticipated CGI animated comedy series, The Penguins of Madagascar, on Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, creator of the Academy Award® winning Shrek, in association with Nickelodeon, The Penguins of Madagascar will premiere on Saturday, September 12 at 9 a.m. in YTV’s Saturday morning hosted cartoon block CRUNCH.

A 26-episode series, The Penguins of Madagascar centers around the adventures of four cute unsuspecting penguins, Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private, as they carry out missions to maintain order and rule the roost in their habitat, New York’s Central Park Zoo. It’s not an easy feat for these determined little penguins as their nemesis and new party animal neighbour, King Julien and his lemur sidekicks Maurice and Mort, are always getting in their way.

Beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 26, the sneak peek event will kick off with the premiere episode iCarly: iMake Sam Girlier, starring TV tween queen Miranda Cosgrove, followed by a second episode of Nickelodeon’s iCarly and the SpongeBob SquarePants’ one-hour special, Atlantis SquarePantis at 7 p.m.
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London – From the creative minds that brought you Home Sweet Home and Masters of Mystery comes a brand new adventure! Big Blue Bubble proudly announces the release of Legacy: World Adventure!

Travel the world as Emily King, an intelligent young woman with a yearning for adventure and a craving for knowledge. Help her reclaim her family legacy in an electrifying race around the globe, to win the illustrious Grand Adventurers Expedition! Legacy: World Adventure will challenge your Match 3 abilities and heighten your World Fact knowledge with exciting clues and stunning imagery!
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Lasalle – Herobits Corp. is proud to announce the launch of its new collectible card game, Herobits, a sci-fi themed armored hero game for kids. Herobits will be available in your local game store starting on Sunday, June 21st. The Herobits card game permits friendly combat between two people, face to face, with the great personal interaction so rare in today’s world.

Herobits Series 1 consists of three complete 50 card collectible decks, each one featuring a single armored hero. This easy to learn and fast paced game is centered on a devastated future Earth where great wastelands have formed. Mechanical monsters called Reapers dig, drill, and blast to feed “the Machine”; but, inside Arcadia, one of the last remaining human enclaves, powerful armor and weaponry are being developed, and Arcadians known as Herobits are training to wield them. Working together, Herobits prepare to combat the Machine and restore the Earth.

Players can sit down, learn the rules, and be playing within 10 minutes right out of the box. There are no booster packs, eliminating the need to spend more money to truly enjoy the game. Game play requires just 2 players aged 8+, each with their own Herobits 50 card deck. New 3 character releases are scheduled at two to three-month intervals. Every new series will feature new artists and great new artistic styles. Providing entertaining games for kids and a collectible, Herobits is easy to learn, play, and enjoy for two players.
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Mississauga – Microsoft Canada Co. announced today that MuchMusic, a division of CTV Limited, has selected Microsoft® Silverlight™ browser plug-in to give people across Canada one of the best seats in the house for this Sunday’s 2009 Much Music Video Awards (MMVAs) in Toronto when the cameras start rolling at 9pm EDT.

This year, anyone watching the MMVAs on a computer running Microsoft Silverlight will have access to Backstage Live, a unique, online video experience based on Silverlight that will stream the event live in high-definition – a Canadian first. Backstage Live lets viewers select from six different views powered by 21 cameras located throughout the event venue, so they can enjoy planned live on-stage performances from the Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas, take part in exclusive behind-the-scenes celebrity interviews, peek into the VIP and press rooms, or join in the action from backstage or in the crowd.

As well, viewers can take advantage of the Alt Show cams to enjoy a “second screen” experience, letting viewers access TV footage framed in an alternate shot with different cameras. People using Backstage Live can also chat with friends live via Facebook and Twitter.
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Orby

Vancouver – Yes, I have succumbed to the pressure and opened an account for Village Gamer on Twitter. Our account name on Twitter is VillageGamer – you’ll recognize Orby as our avatar if you search us out over there. It might have had something to do with Noelle Hunt Bennett (Big Fish Games) threatening to force feed Twitter lessons to me at the Casual Connect Conference next month in July. If any of you know Noelle, you know she’ll follow through with that threat, so I figured that I would beat her to the punch. Sort of. If I figure out how to use it to full advantage before the conference.

Which brings me to another small update. The Women In Games Vancouver group is partnering with Women in Games International and the IGDA to present a Leadership Development Forum on Monday July 20th at Casual Connect Seattle. The Leadership Forum, which is still being finalized, will be held at The Triple Door. I have been invited to participate on one of the panels, and if the powers that be in the Passport Office so deem, I will have new and valid “government-issued travel documents” before the conference.

In other news, I can’t believe how much our readership has grown. In just the first six months of 2009 we have doubled what we did for all of last year. As of June 17th, we’ve logged just over 2 million hits on the site and our Alexa rank has gone from over 7 million at launch to a current ranking of 468 008. So, thank you to all of you who come and read the news on Village Gamer – we appreciate your time and your support.