Village Gamer

Eidos Montreal is looking for programmers for its Thi4f development team and also has a few other job openings. Interested? Apply online.

Vancouver’s Klei Entertainment has entered into an agreement with Creative Artists Agency. “The CAA are quite selective in their clients, so I’m happy that they’ve agreed to represent us,” says Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment. “Klei is known to create great original properties, and the CAA will help spread that love around.” Creative Artists Agency also represents such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg and has offices around the world, with a Canadian location in Calgary.

For Cheng, their partnership with CAA signals how within the gaming industry, the importance of creative talent is becoming more important. “It’s inspiring to see the industry grow as a creative medium and this is another step in the right direction,” continues Cheng. “And with their experience and backing during negotiation, we are able to focus on building the best creative studio possible, which of course is what Klei is all about.”

Longueil’s D-BOX Technologies has announced that the next movie title to feature its immersive motion technology will be Focus Features’ new film, “9” debuting on Sept. 9, 2009. “We are proud to announce our first agreement with Focus Features and the fourth movie title to feature D-BOX Motion Code™,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “Since unveiling D-BOX motion technology in movie theatres in April, we have continued to experience steady growth and enter new markets in the U.S. and Canada. This latest film will be the first animated film to feature D-BOX’s innovative motion technology and we look forward to announcing additional movie titles and theatre locations in the near future.”

The NPD group has released stats that show EA Sports Active finished in the Number 3 spot for games, with more than 289,000 units sold in the USA last month, while Radical Entertainment’s PROTOTYPE finished in top spot for console titles.

The report continues with other important sales stats: Nintendo’s consoles and handhelds still own the markets in United States – despite reports of console and game sales falling by 31% in June. According to their figures, Americans purchased more than 424,000 Nintendo DSi systems and more than 342,000 Nintendo DS, more than all current-generation consoles combined. The Wii™ marked its 21st consecutive month as the top-selling U.S. home console, with nearly 362,000 finding new homes in America – all while experiencing a 45% sales drop. Even with the Wii’s sales figures falling and with sales increases for the Xbox 360, Microsoft still could not break Nintendo’s stranglehold on the top console spot. The Sony PS3 experienced a 59% drop in sales, once again leaving it in the dust of the other consoles. We have considered several times purchasing one, but until the price comes down, we simply can’t justify buying one just for the few PS3 exclusive titles we may or may not play.

Montreal – MyEvent.com, the leading provider of do-it-yourself event websites, announced it has reached over 10 million dollars in sales from event ticketing. Ticket sales occur on websites built using the class reunion, family reunion or any any event website builders.

All MyEvent.com websites include communication tools to help develop the website into a hub where everyone can view details of events, maps, hotel information, and much more. The website tools allow the organizer to manage guest lists, send emails, accept registrations, and sell tickets (by credit card) right on their website. There are also fun features such as photo albums, quizzes, polls, a guest book, music, video, and many other great website features.

The ability to sell tickets right on the website has been a critical part of the success of events that are being planned on MyEvent.com. In addition to being able to accept credit card payments without a merchant account, MyEvent.com allows event organizers to track all their statistics and create useful reports that are essential to managing a successful event.
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Vancouver – Recruiting software provider Talent Technology is expanding into international markets as part of its plans to maintain the continued growth it has seen since inception in 1999. Expansion plans have focused on Australia and Europe, but have seen the corporation create a client base in 12 countries.

Talent Technology is offering both its Resume Mirror technology components and its HireDesk applicant tracking system internationally. “Our range of technology enables us to provide solutions for job boards, software firms, recruiting firms and HR departments. We have great options for clients with existing recruiting software they want to improve or for those who want a complete, out of the box system” says Praj Patel, EVP of Talent Technology.

With a growing number of resellers and staff based in Europe, Talent Technology is making a long term commitment to international growth. Leveraging existing relationships with Oracle, SAP and Lawson provides access to international markets and the clients within that arena. Collaborating with these partners’ global sales teams and systems integrators to connect areas of expertise with customers forms the strategy behind these international partner relationships. “These connections have proven successful in accessing and supporting international clients”, says Jade Bourelle, CEO of Talent Technology. “We’ve found that by communicating via the client’s trusted provider we are able to demonstrate products with a greater knowledge of their needs.”
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EA Sports has announced that the release date for FIFA 10 will be available in stores internationally from October 2nd for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, Wii™ home video game system, PC, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo DS™, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and mobile.

*Volunteer Canada has harnessed the power of social media to aid in matching corporate Canada with volunteer opportunities across the country. Through the Centre for Excellence in Corporate Community Involvement, businesses and non-profits from across the country are joining the nationwide membership of Volunteer Canada in an effort to better communicate and work together in partnership as they exchange ideas, best practices, tools and resources.

“This online tool will build upon a solid foundation of corporations that have already engaged their employees to give back to their communities,” said Ruth MacKenzie, president of Volunteer Canada. “Through partnership and communication, we will ensure that this engagement meets the needs of non-profit organizations across the country.”

*Microsoft Canada is giving students (proof of enrollment required) a chance to win $5000.00 in tuition aide along with other great prizes. Beginning today and continuing until 11:59 EDT Wednesday September 30, 2009, students and their family members can buy any Microsoft hardware product and enter online to win.

“Microsoft Canada wants to help provide students with all the tools they need to succeed, from money that could be used for their tuition to hardware.” said Charles Chang, product manager, Microsoft Canada Hardware. “It’s a challenging time to be a student. With a shrinking, competitive job market and tough economy, there is added pressure to get a good education and increasingly limited options for funding. ”
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Sainte-Adele – Enzyme Testing Labs announced today the expansion of its international state-of-the art game testing facilities, with a new facility in Madrid, Spain. This 5500 square foot addition to the current facilities increases the total size of the game testing labs to over 28 000 square feet of fully equipped and secure lab space. Enzyme already has locations in Montreal, Sainte-Adele and Tokyo.

The new facility in Madrid will specialize in multilingual linguistic testing and hardware manufacturer terminology compliance pre-certification. The facility will be staffed by an additional 85 testers, dedicated technical and project management staff and a Studio Manager.

Miguel Sepúlveda will be heading up the new Madrid studio. He is a Quality Assurance veteran certified in Testing by the British Computer Society that brings with him a wealth of experience as the new Studio Manager for Enzyme Labs new Testing facility in Madrid. Before joining Enzyme Labs, Miguel held QA management positions with Lionbridge, Vodafone and EA. As a 14 year QA veteran, Miguel specializes in large scale multilingual quality assurance projects and has managed QA for software application blockbusters in a variety of different environments such as Windows, Apple, Mobile phones and most recently on all game consoles available from the major manufacturers. “I am very excited about joining such a dynamic company and dedicated team of professionals. I look forward to expanding our relationship and presence among European video game publishers and developers by continuing to deliver the highest level of game testing services to our customers which is an Enzyme Labs trademark”, said Miguel Sepúlveda about his recent appointment.
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Vancouver via Alliance For Arts – The arts and cultural sector in British Columbia is facing an imminent crisis. The Service Plans for the next two years show a 40% reduction in funding for the BC Arts Council. The BC Arts Council is the largest funding body in the province; last year, more than 224 communities throughout British Columbia depended on it for support.

“The impact to the province will be devastating,” said Amir Ali Alibhai, the Executive Director of the Alliance for Arts & Culture. “The BC Arts Council supports a sector that employs 80,000 people and generates $5.2-billion annually. It is bigger than the forestry and fishing industries combined. At a time when the government is doing everything they can to create and retain jobs, why are they implementing measures that will trigger layoffs and cause organizations to reduce programming?”

According to Ministry’s own research, for every dollar invested in the arts, the province gets back $1.38 in taxes. There are also countless studies that show that arts and culture creates healthy communities, enhances education, and helps to shape our cultural identity.
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Vancouver via NMBC – Emerging Digital Media companies are invited to submit their company profiles and proposals for the DIGITAL SPRINGBOARD, an advisory service and mentorship program being administered by New Media BC and supported by the National Research Council – IRAP.

If you are an emerging Canadian digital media company looking for a mentor to help you navigate a technical or business related challenge, please submit your proposal to Christine Lim-Labossiere, New Media BC’s Manager, Industry Development and International Partnerships by July 28, 2009.

Your proposal should include:

1. Company profile including track record and key staff (maximum 1 page),
2. Company business goals/current Projects in development (maximum 1 page),
3. Specific challenges/difficulties currently faced by company in development process or project that you require Mentorship guidance on. Please specify if it is a technical or business problem and the quantifiable targets and deliverables to be completed within a minimum period of 4 months (maximum 1 page),
4. Show reel or sample of work, if relevant (send to New Media BC, #102-577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, BC V5T 1E1 Attention: DIGITAL SPRINGBOARD).

The DIGITAL SPRINGBOARD allows at least 6 selected companies to be matched with veteran experts in the digital media industry who will act as Mentors and provide an advisory service to these companies for a minimum period of 4 months and help them achieve their specific business/technical goals.

Eligible companies include those engaged in interactive entertainment (games), interactive design and marketing, digital animation/film and mobile content. Mentors will be identified based on the specific business goals and technical targets and will guide the companies through the challenges they are facing in their early stage of development.

St. Catharine’s – Cerebral Vortex Games Inc., a multi-platform developer of casual games, will be showcasing a diverse line-up of games at Casual Connect Seattle next week. The line-up includes addictive titles for iPhone, PC downloadable and Web.

“Cerebral Vortex Games has a great line-up for fall 2009,” said Keith Makse, President of Cerebral Vortex Games, Inc. “Whether you want to solve crimes, give your brain a workout or battle ghosts, we’ve got you covered. We’re actively seeking partners to distribute our games and we encourage everyone who loves games to drop by booth B10 to see what we’ve got.”

The line-up includes live playable demos of:

Ghost Breaker (iPhone): Battle murderous phantoms using your iPhone camera, powered by a mystical artifact that drains spectres of their essence. The spookiest part is not the ghosts, but the fact that you battle them in your own home, literally!
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Canada – As always, it’s nice to start our Fridays with some cool links and information from our favourite tech info guru, Bradley Shende of MEDIA2O and ConnectedLife. Bradley appears every Friday morning on Global BC’s morning news show. Today’s cool links included BoardTracker and BoardReader – two great services for busy people. Be sure to catch his segment next week for more great info. You can view past GlobalTV ConnectedLife segments on Global’s site – just scroll down the index and choose Connected Life. Also, congratulations are in order to Bradley and Sarah, who are expecting twins in a few months’ time.

Ubisoft has launched the official dev blog for James Cameron’s Avatar The Game. There isn’t very much content up yet, but UbiGabe is working on it. The dev blog promises the latest news, links and info regarding Avatar. UbiGabe says he is also looking forward to telling some of the secrets which have been kept, well, secret about the game. Avatar is also available now for pre-order at most game store locations, and will be available for Xbox 360, PS3 PSP, DS and Wii.

Also announced by Ubisoft today is a chance to win a trip to Ubi Montreal to play Assassin’s Creed 2 with the developers. The cryptic details were released on Twitter, with a coded URL to follow. We will share the link with you right here – good luck in the contest. All you need to do is have an account on Ubi.com, grab and share the widget and hope you win. If you win, take us with you – we’d greatly appreciate it.

Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning has released their comments about the recent Ubisoft Toronto announcement.
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via DFAIT – The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), in partnership with Launch Party Vancouver, present a one-day bootcamp on September 14, 2009, for new media and wireless companies interested in pitching VCs in California.   This one-day program will feature experienced investors from both the Silicon Valley and San Diego markets, and is specifically designed to help facilitate access to the California market.

Pitch Preparation topics will include

• What are California investors looking for?
• Presenting your go to market strategy and your business model. Is your business fundable?
• How to effectively present the problem, the opportunity and the solution.
• Presenting who’s on your team, establishing credibility etc.
• How to present your evaluation of the competition.

Pitching Session to a Review Board of Investment Professionals

• 10-minute company pitch to local and California investors
• Instant pitch feedback by the Board

Networking Event
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