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  • ParetoLogic Introduces Long-Awaited Anti-Virus Feature For Gamers

24th February 2010

ParetoLogic Introduces Long-Awaited Anti-Virus Feature For Gamers

ParetoLogicVictoria – For far too long, PC video gamers faced an unpleasant dilemma: keep their anti-virus software active and suffer the loss of game performance, or disable their protection and risk infection by a myriad of online threats. PC gamers must be constantly aware of system resources, RAM usage, processor speed, as well as the added threat of malware and virus infection. An innovative feature makes this a lot easier.

Newly introduced to the PC security world, the so-called “Game Mode” gives users the ability to tweak their anti-virus activity, and thereby conserve power for gaming.ParetoLogic Anti-Virus Plus

ParetoLogic Anti-Virus PLUS added the feature with a recent program update, and users of the software can now select the unique Game Mode from the software settings page. Norman Eldridge, Technical Product Manager at ParetoLogic, explained that “a Game Mode should be a perfect balance between safety and performance – we think we’ve got that here.”

In modern gaming, visual graphics have grown incredibly, requiring more advanced memory cards and processors. Gamers are forced to squeeze their systems for every ounce of power. ”Anti-virus database updates, scheduled scans, and active protection can really be a drain on system resources,” said Mr. Eldridge. “The new Game Mode allows users to switch to a log-only state, where the program will avoid processor-intensive tasks.”

Gamers, and all PC users, can download ParetoLogic Anti-Virus PLUS from the ParetoLogic homepage. All editions of the anti-virus software are equipped with Game Mode capability.

Pug PharmVancouver – Word is out that Pug Pharm’s Snoget is now in open beta. The social networking game puts a new twist on finding and making friends on a global scale – and is dubbed by its creators as a “Web 3.0 Social Discovery Engine.”snoget

Players register for a free Snoget account, and then spend time collecting items and connecting with people who have like interests. For those who want to expand and fully experience all that Snoget has to offer, Snoget will soon include a selection of premium features and abilities that are available for purchase for those who are interested in an enhanced experience. The first 20,000 participants who sign up during this phase of the open beta will receive 20 exclusive board collection slots that will remain free even after the open beta has concluded. Read the rest of this entry »

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23rd February 2010

Incubator Games Invites Public Input for Tribes of Mexica Concept Art

TorontoIncubator Games has released new concept art for their upcoming puzzle-RPG Tribes of Mexica. In a unique effort geared towards public involvement, the studio has unveiled artwork which could represent a possible stylistic direction for the game. Incubator Games encourages site visitors to cast their vote on the styles and possibly influence future visual developments for Tribes of Mexica.

EA GamesMontreal – An all-new campaign map pack called ‘Chapters of Deceit’ for the third-person co-op shooter Army Of Two™: The 40th Day has been announced by EA Montreal. Available for download on Xbox LIVE™ and the PlayStation®Network on April 1, 2010 for $9.99 or 800 Xbox LIVE points, players will return to war-torn Shanghai where they will encounter more destruction, more devastation and enemies determined to bring the city to the brink of ruin.

Army Of Two: The 40th Day – Chapters of Deceit features two all-new co-op campaign maps. In the new chapters, players stumble upon information that could lead to ending the invasion by Jonah and his 40th Day Initiative army. However, they quickly learn that everyone is out for themselves and to trust no one but their partner. Army Of Two: The 40th Day is rated “M” by the ESRB.

Relic EntertainmentVancouverRelic Entertainment has released a developer profile for the Sorcerer, a Chaos multiplayer Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising - Sorcererhero. According to the profile, the Sorcerer is a follower of Tzeentch, the Dark God known as the Changer of Ways. These psykers are unlike those of most other factions. The Sorcerer wields death and destruction with all the fireworks and power you’d imagine from a servant of the Dark Gods. His powers can break enemy formations, his shrines fire bolts of energy that damage enemy units, and they can hide friendly units from enemy sight if Heretics are worshipping at the shrine. The Sorcerer’s tricks and abilities are many – you can check them out on the Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising dev blog.

DigiBCVancouverDigiBC has just released details for a full day seminar whose topic is Social Networking in Transmedia Hollywood: A Strategic Master Class. The seminar will take place from 9am – 5pm on March 18th at The Emily Carr Motion Capture & Visualization Studio. Featuring Los Angeles-based Social Media Specialists Mr. Darcy Jouan, Ms. Shira Lazar, Mr. Gregory Markel and Peter Huh, this session will focus on discussions and audience feedback on Transmedia trends and challenges faced by Traditional Media producers using social media techniques to cross over into the Interactive Online space. Tickets for this event are $40.00 for DigiBC members and $60.00 for non-members. Space for this seminar is limited, so early registration is recommended. Read the rest of this entry »

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18th February 2010

Debut Title Released by dadoo Games

dadoo GamesBurlington – Available now on Xbox LIVE Indie Games, Curling 2010 brings the sport of curling to a new (less-old) generation. The first release from newcomer dadoo Games hopes to blow the dust off the often mocked sport by demonstrating the strategy and skill required to curl.

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Curling 2010 features multiple game play modes, from traditional matches to target competitions to a fully featured practice mode. Most importantly, the game features a guided tutorial and detailed explanations of the rules of curling to give those new to the sport a fighting chance. Online play against up to three other players over Xbox LIVE allows curlers to compete for worldwide bragging rights. Competitive computer opponents come in three levels of difficulty to make learning to curl enjoyable for all ages. Download the free trial from the XBox marketplace today, or purchase the full game for only 240 MS points!

EA MobileMontrealEA Mobile™ has announced that it has signed an agreement with THQ Wireless, a division of THQ Inc., and independent software studio Team17 Software, which grants EA Mobile the worldwide publishing rights to the existing mobile Worms™ catalogue and the license to develop future Worms games on mobile phones. As part of the deal, the first new title in development at EA’s Romania studio is WORMS, which is now available to download for mobile phones around the world.

The classic turn-based comedy war game returns to mobile with a bang. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the original experience is being updated for 2010 with all the favourite weapons and outlandish fun of the series. WORMS also includes a host of new features such as weapons, modes, levels and enhanced graphics to keep players worming their way back for more explosive fun.

Effective immediately, the catalogue of existing games licensed to EA Mobile also includes Worms 2008, Worms 2007, Worms Forts 3D, Worms Crazy Golf and Worms 2. Team 17 retains the rights to existing and future iPhone/iPod touch versions of the Worms franchise.

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17th February 2010

Thumpies Burst Forth From Big Blue Bubble

LondonBig Blue Bubble Inc. has officially launched Thumpies, a truly original beat matching game for iPhone/iPod Touch. Special version designed for iPad will be available on the launch date. WiiWare™ and PC versions will follow up shortly.Thumpies

Thumpies is a unique rhythm based music game for players of all ages. The best way to describe Thumpies is a rhythm game crossed with juggling. Players tap the screen to match the beat of bouncing Thumpies, creating layers of a song. If the player taps the targets in time, their Thump-o-Meter slowly rises, but if the player misses or taps out of time, the meter falls. Unlike typical rhythm based games, Thumpies uses a mechanic of bouncing in time instead of just a series of notes.

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The quirky art design of Thumpies is accompanied by a unique musical score composed by award winning composer and industry veteran David Kerr. The music was crafted with game play in mind, giving the player a harmonizing experience. Players also have the chance to unlock progressively bizarre Thumpies characters by collecting different colored butterflies. But be warned, hungry Thumpies might just eat them up before you get a chance to catch them!

Beware Internet Users! The Thumpies are on the loose and have taken over their own Facebook page! They want to invite all humanoids to a very special Live Chat . . . do you dare converse with the Thumpies? Thumpies is a game that will keep people of all ages hooked with its addictive, quirky and stylistic gameplay.

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16th February 2010

Happy Anniversary Propaganda

Vancouver – With a focus on Vancouver throughout February as the world’s best athletes compete in winter sports, Propaganda Games, Disney’s Canadian video games studio, is celebrating its fifth anniversary as a key part of the thriving Vancouver interactive entertainment community. The studio is also participating in the BC Canada Pavilion, an innovative exhibit open to the public, in downtown Vancouver.

Exclusive in-game development models and images from Disney Interactive Studios’ upcoming video game TRON: Evolution are part of an interactive touch screen exhibit in BC Canada Pavilion during the Winter Games, through February 28.

The province of British Columbia is hosting the BC Canada Pavilion on the fourth floor of the Vancouver Art Gallery. As part of the province’s celebration site at Robson Square, the Pavilion features state-of-the-art exhibits and interactive displays showcasing the best of British Columbia innovation and culture. The exhibit expects to host more than 250,000 visitors from Canada and throughout the world.

Propaganda Games, located in downtown Vancouver, employs more than 200 professionals between two teams. The studio is currently developing two major video games — TRON: Evolution and Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned. Both games are scheduled to be released for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

“Propaganda Games is poised to deliver two of the industry’s prominent video games,” said Dan Tudge, vice president and general manager, Propaganda Games. “As part of Vancouver’s flourishing video games development industry, Propaganda Games has tapped into the enormous talent pool and represents Disney’s commitment to the community.”

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15th February 2010

Award Nominations, Demo Reels and Product Announcements

Orby - Proud to be Canadian

Village Gamer is Proud to Be Canadian

GO CANADA GO!


appboyEdmonton – A Smartphone as an x-ray machine? “There’s an app for that.” This phrase is starting to become as commonplace as saying “hello” when answering the phone. According to Gartner Research, Smartphone consumers are estimated to spend more than $6 billion and download over 4.5 billion mobile applications this year. With the mounting popularity of this phenomenon, AppBoy launched an easy-to-use, revolutionary social network that aims at connecting mobile app developers and users.

“AppBoy was developed to help developers get their apps discovered and to help users navigate through the thousands of available apps to find the ones they like,” says Thorren Koopmans, Director of Operations for AppBoy.

With more than 100,000 apps on the market, it’s difficult for app entrepreneurs to stand out. AppBoy gives app developers of multiple platforms (Android, iPhone, Palm and Blackberry) an opportunity to easily showcase their work and market their creations to mobile app lovers. Through personal developer profile pages created on the site, developers can share their ideas and even create their own app store. Apps sold through the social network also earn the developer a share of the profits.

AppBoy also has a lot to offer for those who aren’t building their own apps. Any user with ideas that are useful, smart or just plain entertaining can submit them to the website. Visitors to the social network have the ability to vote and comment on submissions. If the ideas generate enough votes, AppBoy rewards the user $250 and creates the app.

“We already have a great value proposition for both developers and end users, but we’re just getting started. There are big updates coming that are going to make AppBoy that much better.” Read the rest of this entry »

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10th February 2010

marblemedia Contributes to CODE

marblemediaVancouver – Demonstrating marblemedia’s gold medal talent at the 2010 Cultural Olympiad, the award-winning production company announced today that it will be a contributing artist to the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition (CODE).

“All of us at marblemedia are excited and honoured to be a part of Canadian history,” said Mark Bishop, Co-Founder and Executive Producer of marblemedia. “We want to thank CODE for allowing marblemedia to go global at the Winter Games!”

Two of marblemedia’s kids properties, This is Daniel Cook-Figure Skating; and This is Emily Yeung-Learning Ballet (co-produced with Sinking Ship Productions) and two films from the marblemedia anthology series The Art of Seduction – Electric Chairs and On Fire (co-produced with the National Film Board and Bravo!FACT) have been selected to be featured on towering high-definition screens at the Vancouver and Whistler Celebration Sites during the 2010 Olympic Games.

digital albertaCalgaryDigital Alberta invites you to come learn about Google at an event which will take place on the evening of February 23 at Mount Royal University. Come and meet some Canadian googlers at this exciting event where they will discuss some of the technical challenges faced at Google, with highlights from 3 areas of focus at Google Waterloo: Ads, ChromeOS and Mobile. Read the rest of this entry »

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10th February 2010

Canadian Innovation and New Releases

Congratulations to the teams of Assassin’s Creed 2 and FIFA 10 for making the shortlist in the BAFTA Game of the Year nominations. The public are invited to vote in this category, so I hope you’ll head over to the vote page and support our Canadian products. The Awards ceremony will take place on March 19th at the London Hilton.

IUGOVancouverIUGO‘s fantastical and ridiculously fun dual stick shooter, Daisy Mae’s Alien Buffet is now available in the App Store for the introductory price of $1.99 USD.  Daisy Mae’s peaceful, simple life in her little desert trailer park will never be the same. A full scale alien attack on earth has begun and Daisy becomes the unlikely heroine outta nowhere. Take hold of the steering wheel and help Daisy Mae shoot and blast her way to victory in this fun and quirky dual stick shooter. Aliens: you have been served!

Features:

* More aliens than you can shake a stick at!
* The baddest selection of weapons known to folks ’round these here parts
* Purty graphics and fancy sounds effects
* Sassy costumes to unlock for Daisy Mae’s alien hoedown
* Daisy Mae “taunt” moves to kill the aliens dead in their tracks
* Control options to suit every varmint’s needs
* VIP points to be earned towards an additional costume
* Global leaderboards
* Auto save

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OMDCToronto – The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) proudly announces that it has invested $2.9 M in funding support through its Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund (PDF) to leverage an additional $7.1 M from 94 partners to support 17 innovative projects.

The Partnerships Fund was designed to help Ontario’s entertainment and creative industries invest in smart ways to grow and increase their competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The industries eligible for funding include book and magazine publishing, music, film, television, interactive digital media and commercial theatre. Read the rest of this entry »

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posted in Associations, Awards, Business News, Careers, Casual, Digital Products, Early Childhood, Education, Events, Everyone, Everyone 10+, Game Dev, Government, Mature, Mobile, National News, New Releases, Peripherals, Research Studies, RPG - MMORPG, Social Media, Software, Sports, Studios, Teen By: | Print This Post Print This Post

9th February 2010

New DLC for Mass Effect 2, EA Announces Perspective 2011 Titles, VX2010

Bioware CorpEdmontonBioware has added to the Normandy’s armory. According to the Mass Effect 2 web site, the new Cerberus Assault Armour and M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun DLC are now available for free through the Cerberus Network on both the PC and Xbox 360.

Cerberus Assault ArmorCerberus Assault Armor
Cerberus assault armor is designed for shock troops, who are expected to turn the tide of battle against creatures or forces that would decimate normal soldiers. The troops demanded three things in its design: shields, armor thick enough to last against a superior foe, and a rechargeable pack to extend a heavy weapon power cell. The only drawback of the armor is its weight, which the troops carry as a point of pride. They have a saying: “Out of shape going in, in shape coming out.”
Increases heavy weapon ammo capacity by +10%
Increases shields by +10%
Increases health by +10%

M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun
The M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun is a longer-range shotgun with armor-piercing loads. This design also violates several intergalactic weapons treaties, so the M-22a is not distributed to militaries.

EA GamesEA has released their Key Titles Schedule for Fiscal Year 2011, and while this is only working schedule, there were some title announcements that mean our Canadian EA studios are going to be busy, busy, busy.

As expected, there will be new additions to the EA Sports franchises – FIFA 11, NHL 11, EA Sports Active, NBA 11, NBA Jam and of course Need For Speed – but what gave me the happy gamer warm fuzzies is the announcement that there will be a new Dragon Age chapter in Q4 2011. There will also be additions to the Monopoly family plus a few genre-only announcements, such as a news sports title. Read the rest of this entry »

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7th February 2010

BioShock 2 Launch Party At Digital Extremes

Digital ExtremesLondonDigital Extremes and 2k Games will be celebrating the launch of BioShock 2 with a party to be held at the Digital Extremes studio this coming Wednesday February 10. The Digital Extremes development team is responsible for the multi-player components of this highly anticipated sequel to the 2007 (PC and Xbox 360 versions) BioShock. Bioshock 2

The Multiplayer mode in BioShock 2 provides a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock fiction. Set during the fall of Rapture, players assume the role of a Plasmid test subject for Sinclair Solutions, a premier provider of Plasmids and Tonics in the underwater city of Rapture that was first explored in the original BioShock. Players will need to use all the elements of the BioShock toolset to survive as the full depth of the BioShock experience is refined and transformed into a unique multiplayer experience that can only be found in Rapture.

BioShock 2 was developed in partnership by 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows-based PCs. BioShock 2 is rated M by the ESRB.PODIUM Directory 2

BCTIAVancouver – The BCTIA has released an updated version of their PDF PODIUM directory. With over 140 profiled companies, PODIUM illustrates the talent and ingenuity that makes British Columbia a great place to live, work, study and invest. During the games, the BCTIA meeting concierge will help you connect with companies featured in PODIUM. To set up a meeting, simply send your request to the BCTIA and their immediate response team will take care of the rest! The BCTIA also reminds local companies that there is still time to participate. Please click the PODIUM link above to find out more information on how your company can get involved.

digital albertaCalgaryDigital Alberta has announced the program for their February SHAKER event on February 16.  Join Alberta industry leaders Jennifer Aubin, Steve Shatford and Marc Wachmann for a panel discussion of issues related to team management at technology companies: “building great teams at digital media companies”.  Questions to be pondered will include: What are the best practices to get the right people on board? How do you build and develop successful teams within digital media?

February’s SHAKER event will take place at the Seven Restolounge in Calgary from 5-7pm. Tickets are free for Digital Alberta members and $15.00 for non-members. Please contact Rene Smid to register for this event.

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