Village Gamer

I missed this news due to a death in the family, and I know that several other sites have already reported this development, but I feel that it would be remiss of me if I didn’t at least mention that Electronic Arts has restructured their MMORPG games development process, uniting but not merging Mythic Entertainment and BioWare Corp. under one umbrella. BioWare’s co-founders take over the leading roles, with Ray Muzyka as the Group General Manager and Greg Zeschuk as the Group Creative Officer. There will be no changes at BioWare, however Mythic’s co-founder and General Manager, Mark Jacobs parted ways with EA on June 23rd. Rob Denton, Mythic’s other co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer, has become General Manager of Mythic Entertainment, and he will report to Ray Muzyka. As a Mass Effect fan, I will be very interested to see what developments emerge from this meeting of the minds responsible for such other great titles as Dragon Age: Origins, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online.

Victoria – The TCS Bootcamp, being held on Tuesday September 15, is a full day event being offered by the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in partnership with VIATeC.  This event starts with a morning seminar that first teaches you what California investors are looking for, then helps you to polish your pitch.  The morning session is open to any individual who wants to learn how to access investors. The seminar will be held at the Vancouver Island Technology Park Conference Centre in Victoria, BC

In the afternoon you will pitch your company to a panel of California investors and local judges.  You will receive instant feedback from the panel on your product and presentation.  All ICT (Information and Communication Technology) emerging tech companies are eligible to apply for the limited number of presenter spots available. Applicants will be juried before the event.

After the presentations in the afternoon, the 6-8 Vancouver Island ICT companies who stand the best chance of success in California will be invited to the next round of presentations in Silicon Valley and San Diego.
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Toronto – A PayPal survey released today revealed that over half (56 percent) of online shoppers have abandoned their online shopping due to higher than expected shipping charges. The average cost of abandoned goods in Canadian shopping carts is C$156.

The need to be more up-front about the entire online shopping process is of critical importance since almost all the shoppers had the intention of buying the product if their needs had been met. Only three per cent of Canadians (it was the same for Americans) said they had no intention of purchasing the item online after filling up the cart and proceeding to the checkout.

“Transparency is increasingly important to buyers,” said Darrell MacMullin, country manager for PayPal Canada. “One of the main reasons people click on the checkout button is to get information that is not provided by the online merchant such as shipping costs and other important fees such as cross-border duties and handling fees. To reduce cart abandonment, merchants should provide this information sooner in the checkout process.”
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Ottawa – Media Awareness Network (MNet), Canada’s leading not-for-profit media literacy organization, is pleased to announce the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has joined the organization’s team of supporters as a Silver Sponsor.

“We are honoured that CIRA recognizes the importance of media literacy in the lives of children and youth,” said Cathy Wing, MNet’s Co-Executive Director. “These funds will help MNet to continue to develop high quality media literacy programs and resources that support the healthy development of young Canadians.”

“As the Internet becomes more integrated in our daily lives, it is now more important than ever to ensure young people are equipped to make safe decisions when using the Internet,” says Byron Holland, President and CEO of CIRA.  “The Media Awareness Network provides an important and necessary service to educators and parents and as the steward of Canada’s domain and Internet space, CIRA is proud to be a sponsor of MNet’s vital programs.”
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Toronto – Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning has been awarded a $2.3 million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada’s College and Community Innovation Program to establish a unique new research centre for screen-based industries. NSERC’s funding follows an initial $300,000 grant from the Ontario government’s Ontario Media Development Corporation.

The Digital Media Centre for Real-time Production takes a revolutionary approach to research, technology development, education and innovation, and will be located in the heart of the filmmaking industry in Toronto.

The Centre’s mission is to conduct world-class research into film, digital cinema and high definition imaging technologies in a wide variety of areas from capture to delivery and archiving. It was conceived and launched by Sheridan and will operate in partnership with creative industries and three levels of government.
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Quebec – The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), in cooperation with the Quebec-based new media association Alliance Numérique, are pleased to present an information session on the gaming industry in China. Attendees of the webinar will learn the business and revenue models in use in the operation of online video games in China; successful games in China; and criteria to meet in order to success in a video game commercialisation initiative in China.

Date: Tuesday, June 23rd
Time: 13:00 (Montreal Eastern Standard Time)
Duration: Approximately 1 hour

To participate in this live presentation, please contact Neil Swain at the Regional Office in Montreal (neil.swain-at-international-dot-gc-dot-ca) . Note that this webinar will be recorded for viewing after the live presentation.

Toronto – Interactive Ontario today announced that GameON: Finance 2009 will take place October 27 & 28 in Toronto. This two-day investment summit is designed to bring investors and video game developers together to explore financing possibilities for the Ontario games industry. This year, Jason Della Rocca, Senior Consultant for Perimeter Partners and former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association, will head up the GameON: Finance advisory board.

Event attendees will receive access to special features including case studies, business discussions, examples of successful corporate models, project financing ideas and one-on-one meetings between developers and financiers. More information can be found at www.gameonfinance.com as it becomes available.
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Toronto – Stealth.com Inc. (Stealth Computer) a leading ISO 9001 manufacturer of industrial rugged computers and peripherals has released the new Model WPC-500F, a waterproof rugged, small footprint, fanless computer for environments where ordinary computer hardware won’t survive.

WPC-500F

The new Stealth WPC-500F is a rugged PC that is completely water-tight, surviving liquids, chemicals, dust and dirt intrusion, meeting IP67/NEMA 6 environmental specifications. Designed without cooling fans the internal CPU is cooled through advanced heat pipe technology. The rugged aluminum chassis also acts as a heat sink to dissipate internal heat and provide noise free operation.

Stealth’s WPC-500F extreme environment PC offers tremendous power in a tiny package that measures only; 7.51″(W) x 11.37″(D) x 2.97″(H) or (191 x 298 x 75.5 mm) yet surpasses the performance of most industrial and embedded PCs available today. Systems utilize Intel’s latest Atom processor technology for maximum performance and power efficiency.
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Longueuil – D-BOX Technologies Inc., a leader in innovative motion technology for the entertainment industry, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Cineplex Entertainment LP, the largest motion picture exhibitor in Canada, to equip a section in one of its auditoriums at the Cineplex Odeon Queensway Cinemas located in Etobicoke, Ontario with a D-BOX Motion system.

The Canadian premiere will allow moviegoers to feel the motion and on-screen action right from their very own seat. This unmatched, realistic and immersive experience is created with breakthrough D-BOX Motion Code technology in which the movie is coded, frame-by-frame, to create customized motion effects resulting in subtle, refined movements that work in perfect sync with the action taking place on screen.

“Supported by an overwhelming level of satisfaction from moviegoers, D-BOX has partnered with Canada’s largest motion picture exhibitor to equip one of its flagship locations in the Greater Toronto Area. We are pleased to work with Cineplex Entertainment and look forward to an ongoing relationship with them,” stated Claude Mc Master, President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies Inc.
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Vancouver – Fresh from E3 and Apple’s WWDC, IUGO Mobile Entertainment is proud to announce that its free and paid iPhone apps download total has reached 2 million units! IUGO’s first breakout hit on the iPhone, Toy Bot Diaries Entry 1, was released back in August 2008. Since then IUGO has released 5 other original titles made exclusively for the iPhone. “ IUGO has proven itself to be a major player and contributor in iPhone gaming”, states Sarah Thomson, Director of Business Development for IUGO. “ We are very proud of our 2 million downloads and counting and expect this number to soar past our latest milestone with A.D.D. and Starhogs’ approaching releases.”

IUGO plans to continue blasting out premium content for the iPhone and sees 3.0 features coming to its latest games soon. Keep an eye out for Starhogs and A.D.D., IUGO’s upcoming killer games to hit the App Store! You can check out our review of IUGO’s game FreeBallin’ in the  Game Reviews section.