Village Gamer

Ottawa – For twenty-five years the CATAAlliance Innovation and Leadership Awards Gala Dinner has been celebrating the best in Canadian innovation and outstanding achievement. This prestigious gala has become one of the most eagerly awaited events of Canada’s advanced technology community.

The Awards evening is meant to be a celebration of the award winners and of Canadian innovation. CATAAlliance and its partners will recognize industry innovation, expertise, and leadership in the Canadian high-technology sector. Criteria for each award is explained as part of the category description in the Nomination Guide. Nominations close on February 25 2010.

Awards will be presented in the following areas:

Outstanding Product Achievement (ICT)
Outstanding Product Achievement (Clean Tech)
Outstanding Product Achievement (Health Care)
Emerging Technology
Excellence in Science and Technology Reporting
Private Sector Innovation and/or Leadership in Advanced Technology
Public Sector Leadership in Advanced Technology
IT Strategic HR Management
CIO of the Year, for SME’s and Large Corporations

Special guests from industry and government will be invited to attend and the evening will feature the awards ceremony, networking and a business dinner. Co-hosts include Deloitte and Gowlings Lafleur Henderson LLP, in addition to Award sponsors for each category.

The 2010 Innovation and Leadership Awards Gala Dinner will take place May 19, 2010 at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. Paul Brent, host of CJOH TV’s Tech Now will be our guest MC. Attendees will also enjoy an informative and interactive discussion with this year’s featured panel, including:

Dan Dodge, CEO, QNX Software Systems
Derek Kuhn, Head, Alcatel-Lucent Canada
Ben Riley, Head, U.S. Defence Rapid Technology Office
Caroline Lewko, President, Wireless Industry Partnership

Banff – With 28 prestigious award categories, including the addition of four Francophone Categories, new interactive and drama categories, Best Branded Entertainment, Best Cross-Platform and Soap Operas as well as a special Green Grand Prize open to all eligible competition participants – the 2010 Rockies promise to be an exceptional competition.

The early bird nomination deadline is on February 1 with the final submission deadline on February 15, so don’t miss your opportunity to save – take advantage of the early bird discount and submit your program today! The Rockies will be presented at the 31st Banff World Television Festival at the Fairmont Banff Springs in Banff, Alberta, Canada, in June 2010.

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Vancouver – IUGO Mobile Entertainment is proud to announce its debut onto BlackBerry devices with one of its successful iPhone titles, Cliffed.

Presenting the most addictive race to the bottom with this frantic 2D scrolling racer! IUGO presents its latest iPhone sensation in casual gaming brought over to the BlackBerry. Cliffed is set to appear on BlackBerry’s App World and other gaming portals soon. IUGO has more titles set to release for your BlackBerries in upcoming weeks.

WARNING: This game will get your heart and fingers racing!

Features:

• 12 unique and playful characters to choose from
• Pick up and play! Great for all ages
• Endless game play
• Local leaderboards
• Stylized, clean graphics
• IUGO’s signature quality and polish

Coburg – Liz Walker and Ken Burgin, Partners and founders of Marketing Masters have announced the availability of a comprehensive, and easy to follow, Social Media Training Program that clears up the confusion people have about how to use social media for business. The course, called “Social Media Pro” is available as an online self-study course or as a one-on-one personally “coached” program.

Developed by internationally famous marketing “guru” John Jantsch of Kansas City, MO, author and originator of the Duct Tape Marketing System, this is a five session course delivered through the Duct Tape University web site. Walker and Burgin are the Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coaches in the Eastern Ontario area.

Says Burgin, “Social media has come a long way since the original Facebook.com site was introduced. Facebook is now a major site for businesses wanting to connect with prospects. But that’s not all, now there’s Twitter, LinkedIn, Biznik, Meetup and a host of other sites where a business must be represented. The Internet has a whole parcel of free real estate that you must claim or miss opportunity—and why would you not? …it’s FREE!”

The Social Media Pro course covers a range of topics using videos and instructions online. Participants work through the segments, delivered each week, at their own pace. They can stop, back up and review at any time—the segments remain online for at least six months.

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Toronto – Zombies are on the loose and invading your iPhone and iPod touch in the newly announced Dawn of the Dead game, created by Bytemark Games and Universal Partnerships & Licensing. Based on the smash hit movie of the same name, the Dawn of the Dead App takes you inside the legendary Crossroads Mall in a series of intense and terrifying levels as you fight to survive an onslaught of bloodthirsty zombies.

“We are thrilled to bring this hit movie to life as we challenge gamers of all levels to defeat the undead and survive by any means necessary, ” says Bytemark CEO, Jon Walsh.

“Bytemark’s reputable lineage in the interactive space is beautifully showcased by the Dawn of the Dead App with its creative use of the iPhone OS platform’s remarkable capabilities,” said Calvin Lim, Director of Mobile Sales, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “Fans of this timeless classic and zombie enthusiasts alike can now play out each terrifying moment anywhere they go.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH7RCCknzek]

A terrifying zombie plague of unknown origin has broken out in your town. You’ve escaped your zombie-infested suburb and arrived at the entrance to the Crossroads Mall. Now you must fight to reach other survivors and get out alive.

Game Features:

* Play as one of three characters, each with different attributes; the nurse, the police officer, or the salesman.
* Discover new, more powerful weapons as you make your way through the mall.
* Survive by any means necessary: find and use a variety of guns or get up close and personal with a baseball bat, golf club, axe and more.
* Visuals created from fully rendered 3D models establish an unmatched sense of realism and immersion.
* Two ways to play: Play through Story mode or test your skills in a variety of intense un-lockable Challenges.
* Multiple levels of difficulty offer a challenge for any level iPhone gamer.
* 5 unique levels that take you from the parking lot to the terrifying underbelly of the Crossroads Mall.

The Dawn of the Dead App is available for $1.99, from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch

Vancouver – Local interactive industry folks are invited to the Help Haiti Pub Night being held on Thursday January 28th from 7-11pm at Steamworks Brew Pub and Restaurant (375 Water Street Vancouver). There are plans for a silent auction, with a few items already on the block, including tickets for Casual Connect to auction off! Two winning bidders will receive 1 year conference passes to Seattle, Hamburg, and Kyiv, 1 with speaker’s dinner. If you are interested in donating items for auction, please contact Bren at 604.765.7273. Net proceeds from this event will be donated to UNICEF for the purchase of water.

According to their website, UNICEF is working to provide survivors with family water kits, water-purification tablets and other supplies aimed at mitigating the deadly effects of contaminated water.

“Aside from simply delivering these essential supplies, we must also work to promote hygiene by providing soap and issuing messages in French and Creole on preventing and treating diarrhoea, cholera and dysentery,” said UNICEF Emergency Operations Officer Ainga Razafy. “Our priority is to prevent a second wave of disaster and ensure against the outbreak of any life-threatening, water-borne diseases.”

Canada – DFAIT invites Canadian interactive companies to participate in The Canada Programme at GDC San Francisco, March 10 – 12, 2010. For further information on The Canada Programme, please contact Victoria Hayes at 604.666.1409 (for BC Companies – please contact your local digital media association or DFAIT office in other parts of Canada.) For companies in Alberta, please contact Rene Smid from Digital Alberta. The deadline for BC applications is today, while Alberta’s deadline is January 25.

Prior to GDC, the Canada Programme offers Business to Business Matchmaking – DFAIT is currently collecting company profiles to share with foreign purchasers and developers attending GDC to determine mutual meeting interests and facilitate those meetings in advance.

Two webinars are also being offered, which are geared towards Canadian attendees making the most of their time at GDC in San Francisco. The first webinar is titled “Meet the Publishers” will be held on February 2 from 1-230pm. Major publishers (yet to be announced) will discuss what’s hot and what’s not, what the want to see in 2010 and how Canadian companies can best position themselves in 2010.

The second Webinar, “Make the Right Pitch, At the Right Time” will feature experienced industry leaders who will present on how to prepare and execute an effective 30-second and 10-minute pitch to both game publishers and potential financing entities (Angels and Venture Capitalists). The air details for this webinar have not yet been finalized.

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Waterloo – Open Text™ Corporation has announced the release of Vignette Content Management 8, an enterprise-scale web content management solution that gives marketers broad new capabilities to use the Web as a strategic force to drive campaigns, customer conversion and loyalty, and ultimately profitability.

Built on more than 10 years of experience in managing the world’s most sophisticated websites, Vignette Content Management 8 introduces a new ergonomic design that makes it easy for business users to create websites, microsites and landing pages on-demand, while staying within branding and technical guidelines. The ergonomic design caters to specific personas in marketing or other departments, providing tools, designs and other resources based on their roles. This critical functionality brings speed and flexibility to marketing teams — a new level of agility that can make the difference in competitive efforts to reach customers via the Web.

“Successful enterprises embrace the Web as a critical component of revenue generation, and to provide an interactive and immersive experience that connects with customers,” said James Latham, Chief Marketing Officer of Open Text. “Vignette Content Management 8 brings together the enterprise-class capabilities customers need to gain the full value of the Web. The solution offers leading capabilities that deliver engaging, personalized content populated by video, rich media and social interaction. Its flexibility and ease of use helps marketers be more effective, allowing them to focus on the message – not the tools.”

With a focus on brand consistency and time-to-market, many marketing teams need a Web content management solution that empowers efficient communications with target audiences while managing message consistency across a complex series of websites, fueled by diverse audiences, languages and contributors. Vignette Content Management 8 offers a simple way to create and manage Web experiences by streamlining the management of Web layouts and structures. This includes page management, site and navigation management, content production, taxonomy and task management.

Adopt and Adapt

To help customers overcome the cumbersome and costly migration, training and adoption issues often found in enterprise software upgrades, Vignette Content Management 8 has been specifically designed to help users move easily to the new interface at their own pace. Users have the option of continuing to use their familiar interface or to adapt to the new interface as needed. Called Compatibility mode, the feature’s progressive upgrade options minimize training costs, risk and impact to ongoing operations. Read the rest of this entry »

Calgary – HappyUFO has released their debut title, DungeonSHIFT: Secret of the Blood Chrysanthemum. A casual game for those seeking to sink their teeth into a bit more of a challenge than the average, DungeonSHIFT combines an engaging story with a unique “Jigsaw Riddle” style of puzzling. Search through clues and create the key to opening doors that get in your way all the while following the story of Joachim, a hero who left his family behind in search of a cure that would save mankind from a mysterious plague. Unlock your way through 20 brain bending levels, featuring hand drawn environments from the artist who brought Illutia to life. DungeonSHIFT: Secret of the Blood Chrysanthemum is available for download directly from HappyUFO for $10.24 CDN.

Montreal – Ubisoft has released a bit of news and a few screenshots for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 2 iPhone title. Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery for iPhone and iPod Touch lets players discover an exciting chapter of the Assassin’s Creed® II storyline. They follow Ezio as he travels to 15th-century Spain to rescue fellow assassins being held under the guise of the Inquisition, only to uncover a Templar plot to sail west and discover the New World. ”

Montreal – On the community building front, Vanilla Forums has closed a $500,000 (CAD) Round A funding for its innovative, open source community forum software. Vanilla also released its forum hosting platform and additional premium features for its rapidly growing customer base. Both this funding and the new forum hosting platform and business oriented premium features solidify Vanilla’s position as a leading open source community forum solution.

Vanilla Forums closed a Series A funding round led by Montreal Startup, with a significant investment also made by Denver, CO based eonBusiness. Silicon Valley based Klein Venture Partners and Denver, CO based Norseman Capital also contributed to the round. Vanilla, located in Montreal, will use the investment to expand its marketing, development, and sales efforts. “Montreal has a vibrant entrepreneur community and is a hot-bed for open-source software,” said Mark O’Sullivan, Vanilla’s CEO.

Vanilla Forums also announced the immediate availability of their forum hosting platform. The Vanilla Forum hosting platform enables customers to quickly and easily deploy a community forum solution without having to write a single line of code. Vanilla also released two new premium features, custom domains and ad-removal, that enable seamless integration with a customer’s existing web presence. Vanilla plans to release additional premium features including custom css, single sign-on, and forum analytics in the near future.

“With over 19 million forums on the internet, forum software is more relevant than ever,” said John Stokes, Managing Partner at Montreal Startup. “Vanilla were the first to recognize that forum solutions must evolve into proactive tools that help businesses to both grow and interact with their customer base and we are excited to help facilitate Vanilla’s growth in this market.”

“Vanilla proves that forums are much more than the origin of social media – they’re an important and compelling part of its future,” said Jeffrey Kalmikoff, Director of Design and User Experience at Digg.com.

“It’s been amazing to watch Vanilla grow since they participated in TechStars this past summer. They’ve got great technology and are a super team. We’re thrilled to see them put together this round with some great investors.” said Brad Feld, Managing Director at Foundry Group and one of the co-founders of TechStars. “Vanilla is already one of the most popular forum solutions on the Internet, and I’m excited to watch their continued growth.”

Assassin's Creed 2

Organizers have revealed the nominees for the tenth annual Game Developers Choice Awards, the leading peer-based video game industry awards. Nominations this year are led by Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2, with seven nominations. The acclaimed title is closely followed by five nominations for Thatgamecompany’s evocative downloadable game Flower, and four nominations for Ubisoft Montreal’s well-received Renaissance action game sequel Assassin’s Creed II.

In addition to the aforementioned Uncharted 2 and Assassin’s Creed II, this year’s Game Of The Year nominations are rounded out by BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins, From Software’s Demon’s Souls, and Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham Asylum. Other multiple nominees include notably diverse titles such as PopCap’s Plants Vs. Zombies and Infinity Ward’s Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The changes in today’s game industry are well represented in the Game Developers Choice Awards this year by the inclusion of multiple iPhone titles (including Flight Control and Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor) as nominations in existing categories, as well as console

downloadable titles such as Q Games’ PixelJunk Shooter and RedLynx’s Trials HD. Organizers have also further diversified the awards by adding a Best New Social/Online Games category this year, with both Facebook and free-to-play online games competing for the new prize.

Dragon Age: Origins

The Game Developers Choice Awards are open to any video game, with no restrictions or payment for game submission, and Main Competition finalists are chosen via a combination of open game industry nominations and the votes of the leading creators in the Choice Awards Advisory Committee. Starting this year, winners are now being selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is a new invitation-only group comprised of 500 leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry. Choice Awards organizers believe that, in tandem with their goal of having the most focused, impartial awards in the game industry, this additional voting transparency will further boost the awards’ reputation.

The complete list of nominees for the 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards are as follows:

Best Game Design
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady)
Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft Montreal)
Flower (Thatgamecompany)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)

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Charlottetown – Bight Games are announcing the immediate availability of Fleeced! – Shear Terror on the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch. Early previews have been overwhelmingly positive and Pocketgamer.co.uk has included Fleeced! on their list of the 10 most anticipated games of 2010.

The somewhat bizarre premise of feuding Pseudo-Peruvian brothers, llama shearing and canons make for a truly unique tailor-made experience for the iPhone. Bight CEO Stuart Duncan says “There were times when even we thought, is this too weird? Will people get the sense of humour? I think it’s fair to say that given the great response we’ve been getting that people really love the game.”

To support the launch of Fleeced! two of Bight’s other popular games, Puzzlings and Kill All Bugs will be available for free during the launch window. Fleeced! Shear Terror is available for $3.99 USD from today.

Vancouver – Emily Carr University of Art + Design and DigiBC present Disney Stories and Games – Making Technological Innovation a Reality, a public lecture by Newton Lee and Krystina Madej.

NUS Hollywood Lab co-founder, Newton Lee will speak on the process of creating some of his most successful projects, from his work as a software engineer at Media Station, which was contracted by Disney to develop their fist CD-ROM games in the early 1990s, to his work as a technical architect and senior producer at Disney for many successful online projects. He will also present the work he’s undertaken to develop a sustainable research environment where academia and business can collaborate: his work with ACM’s online Computers in Entertainment Magazine, the Hollywood Lab, the Institute for Education, Research and Scholarships, and other new technology initiatives.

Adjunct professor at SFU SIAT, Krystina Madej, will introduce Lee and speak on Disney’s innovative use of story in new media since the early 1900s. Lee and Madej are currently collaborating on a book that presents Disney stories in new media. This event is free and is open to the general public.

Calgary – A reminder that Digital Alberta and Telefilm Canada are presenting Financing Your Digital Vision on January 26th, at a cost of only $150.00 (+GST) per person. One of the highlights of this session will be the Entrepreneur Panel including industry experts Ken Bautista, Seek Your Own Proof; Michael Sikorsky, Robots and Pencils; Trevor Doerkson, MoboVivo; and Ron Thiele, XPAN Interactive, who will also present on Bootstrapping. Also recently confirmed as presenters are: Luke Azevedo, Calgary Economic Development; Earl Hong Tai, Telefilm Canada; Henry Kutarna, Alberta Deal Generator.

Montreal – Pierre Proulx, CEO of Alliance Digital, has announced the appointment of Ms. Sylvianne Pilon  as Director of Alliance Game, the position which was left vacant by the departure of Alain Lachapelle. Ms. Pilon will be responsible for developing new strategies for Alliance Game, to lead the industry through marketing activities and networking, along with the organization and management of the International Game Summit Montreal ( MIGS).

During the announcement, Pierre Proulx said he was “pleased to have the broad expertise and network of contacts Ms. Pilon has in the gaming industry and in a broader context also for interactive entertainment. Her doctoral thesis on the genesis and development of game clusters in Montreal, Los Angeles and Lyon according to an analysis in economic geography and anthropology, along with her experience as co-founder and president of Alliance America, a firm specializing in business relationships and trade missions between Quebec and Chile, are just some examples of her achievements. In addition, her work with the SIJM09 team as Deputy Director of Alliance Gaming and Head of Business only confirms that Ms. Pilon is a powerful addition to the permanent team.”

For her part, Ms. Pilon welcomes the new challenges. “My achievements and my great desire to work for and with the Quebec video game industry, will allow me to confront these challenges headlong and thus provide outstanding service to our members.”

Edmonton – Bioware has revealed ‘The Cerberus Network’, an in-game portal in Mass Effect 2 that will keep fans engaged with the rich and dynamic Mass Effect universe through downloadable content (DLC) and news. ‘The Cerberus Network’ is activated exclusively by original purchasers of Mass Effect 2 through a single-use unlock code that comes included in retail and digital versions of the game worldwide. ‘The Cerberus Network’ is a conduit for players to receive bonus content as well as daily messages and news on upcoming releases for Mass Effect 2 for no extra charge. For players who do not buy the game new, ‘The Cerberus Network’ can be unlocked through a one-time, in-game purchase of a new activation code, which will then be tied to a specific EA Online account and is non-transferable.

Mass Effect 2 is the first blockbuster video game release of 2010, having recently been named as one of the “Most Anticipated Games of the Year” by the New York Times, IGN and Wired. The title finished in second place in our own Canadian Video Game Awards, one percentage point behind Dead Rising 2 for Most Anticipated 2010 Title.

“The Cerberus Network augments and extends the rich universe of Mass Effect 2,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. “We’re thrilled to be able to reward loyal BioWare and Mass Effect fans with ongoing, high quality content and provide a direct channel for our players to dive deeper into the intriguing lore of Mass Effect.”

Players who access ‘The Cerberus Network’ will receive the first DLC pack on January 26th (launch day in North America) featuring new missions and in-game items. Included in this pack is a mission that introduces Zaeed, a rugged and deadly gun-for-hire who is recruited to join Commander Shepard’s mission to save mankind.

After launch, BioWare will release another DLC pack for Mass Effect 2 that introduces the Hammerhead, a new vehicle in the Mass Effect universe. This agile hover tank features improved handling on rough terrain and maneuvers deftly in combat — a necessity for players traveling across harsh planetary environments throughout the galaxy. In addition to this new vehicle, BioWare will release new missions and unique in-game items, including Cerberus Assault Armor which boost shields, health and heavy weapon ammo and the M-22 Eviscerator Shotgun.

The Mass Effect trilogy is an epic science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets. In Mass Effect 2, players will step into the role of the heroic Commander Shepard, commanding a crew of the most dangerous operatives from across the galaxy on a mission so challenging that it’s potentially suicidal. Featuring intense shooter action, a rich futuristic storyline, stunning space exploration and emotionally engaging characters, the game delivers an unparalleled cinematic experience.

Mass Effect 2 is scheduled for release on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC on January 26, 2010 in North America and has been rated ‘M’ for Mature by the ESRB.