Village Gamer

Reminder: Economic Development Canada and Big Fish Games are holding a webinar on February 17th, the topic is Doing Business With Big Fish
Reminder: The Hand Eye Society Social #11 is on February 17th in Toronto and will feature speakers Jason Kaplan of Game Prototype Challenge and Damian Sommer from Griddle Jam as well as Miguel Sternberg and Andrew Pilkiw Spooky Squid Games.
Reminder: Interactive Ontario is hosting iLunch 9.04 on February 25th, when the topic will be Details of the Deal: Making Sense of Interactive Digital Media Red Tape

The Centre for Creative Communications, Centennial College, is seeking innovative and forward-thinking proposals from Canadian media, interactive, creative, technology, business and social entrepreneurs for the next wave of children’s media and multi-platform projects to qualify for $50,000 federal development grants.

The new kidsmediacentre, an industry and creative content think-tank at Centennial College, will hold an information session to interested developers, on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 5:30 pm at The Centre for Creative Communications, located at 951 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto.

Centennial College’s Applied Research and Innovation Centre (ARIC) has received ten $50,000 Federal Development grants, some of which are available to help small and medium enterprises in the kids’ technology industry launch the next big idea in children’s media. The grants are part of a coordinated strategy between the federal government and colleges to accelerate innovation and productivity in southern Ontario by asking business partners to collaborate on projects and work “hands-on” with college faculty and students in developing new and innovative technologies and services. Businesses are asked to contribute at least $25,000 towards a project in cash and/or in-kind.

“Canada has been a leader in the creation and production of internationally successful children’s entertainment properties for many years,” says Nate Horowitz, Dean of The Centre for Creative Communications. “These federal grants represent an important opportunity for entrepreneurs in the kids’ animation, gaming and interactive industries to build competitive products here and on a global scale. We’re committed to helping nurture these businesses.”

Centennial College’s School of Communications, Media and Design is currently the only college in Canada offering a post-secondary program in children’s content development and is focused on writing, production and business management in the gaming, interactive, educational, publishing, TV and film industries. A key goal of the kidsmediacentre is to act as an innovation catalyst partnering the talents of the College’s students with children’s industry entrepreneurs.

The kidsmediacentre and Applied Research and Innovation Centre will work with qualified partners to ensure their early-stage businesses have the strategic counsel and creative brand development supports to move their innovation forward.

The kidsmediacentre is exploring kids’ media futures by investing in research critical to understanding their 21st century media interactions. Working with Centennial College’s Children’s Entertainment – Writing, Production and Management program and early childhood development specialists, the kidsmediacentre’s goal is to provide a range of R&D support to cross-platform, media and entertainment content providers to ensure the kids’ media industry in Canada is vibrant, indigenous and committed to the healthy growth of children. For more details or to register for the information session, contact: Debbie Gordon, Director, kidsmediacentre, 416-289-5000, ext. 8770.

Young Canadians are invited to take part in the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) ‘Financial Fitness Challenge‘, an online contest that uses videos, Facebook and Twitter tips to help youth get financially fit. The contest is aimed at helping youth increase their financial literacy and offers them the chance to win an Apple® iPad or a grand prize of $2,000.

The Financial Fitness Challenge runs from February 15 to April 15, 2011 and uses interactive tools and scenarios to raise awareness of important financial concepts such as balancing needs versus wants, budgeting, saving and investing. This year, visitors to the site will see four new entertaining and informative videos on budgeting, credit cards, investing and investment fraud.

“With close to 60,000 youth actively participating in the challenge over the past four years, the CSA has presented financial literacy education in a format that resonates with youth,” said Bill Rice, Chair of the CSA and Chief Executive Officer of the Alberta Securities Commission. “We encourage parents and teachers to continue to develop financial literacy skills in youth by using the Challenge as a fun and informative learning tool.”

The bilingual contest is open to Canadians ages 15 to 21 and offers youth the opportunity to invite friends to join the Challenge, and to compete and engage with contest participants at a local and national level. Classroom materials including lesson plans are available to download from the Teacher and Parent Resource Centre. At the close of the contest, 13 entries – one from each province and territory – will be randomly selected from eligible participants to win an Apple® iPad, and one national grand prize winner will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship.

Vancouver-based Absolute® Software Corporation will be expanding the distribution of its consumer solution LoJack® for Laptops in partnership with SYX Distribution, a company that is an affiliate of, and provides distribution services to, TigerDirect, CompUSA and CircuitCity.com.

“Our research indicates that 40% of consumers have more than seven computer devices in their homes – many of these are treasured laptops, MacBooks and PCs. These represent a substantial investment and target for would-be thieves,” said Mark Grace, vice president of consumer business at Absolute Software. “By making our solution widely available through TigerDirect’s trusted shopping venues customers use to purchase these devices, we are making it that much more convenient for consumers to get proven anti-theft protection.”

Beginning in the first quarter of calendar 2011, LoJack for Laptops will be available to consumers as part of their computer purchasing experience at major online, B2B and retail locations including: CompUSA, TigerDirect, and Circuit City. In addition, these retailers will offer LoJack for Laptops as part of all of their computer service offerings (for example, repair services, technical support services, and software installation services). The product may also be purchased as part of Service Warranty Plans and from the TigerDirect and CompUSA’s B2B sales teams.

“LoJack for Laptops gives computer owners a degree of peace of mind that contributes to a better experience owning a computer,” said Gilbert Fiorentino, CEO of TigerDirect. “This offering is a good addition to the value we can offer our customers.”

LoJack for Laptops is the industry’s leading computer anti-theft solution for home computer users. Powered by patented Computrace® technology, LoJack for Laptops is the chosen consumer theft recovery solution of the world’s leading computer manufacturers.

Features of the subscription-based service include:

* Geolocation – For day-to-day use (in non-theft scenarios), consumers can keep track of their computer on an internet-based map.
* Device freeze – If a computer is suspected to be simply lost and not stolen, customers can freeze their computer and display a custom message for whoever finds it. In addition, an unauthorized user cannot access the content on the computer, keeping private information safe in an effort to prevent identity theft.
* Remote data delete – To protect their personal information, customers can choose to delete a pre-set group of files or all files, including the operating system.
* Managed theft recovery – If a computer is stolen, the Absolute Theft Recovery Team will work with local law enforcement to recover it.

VenCorps is proud to announce the launch of the ‘Top of Toronto’ start-up challenge. The goal of the Top of Toronto Challenge is to invest $25,000 in the best tech company in Southwestern Ontario.

Making the announcement at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Sean Wise, Founding Partner at VenCorps also revealed that the Entrepreneurship department at Ryerson University would support the competition. “Ryerson is clearly a hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship” said Wise “and we are interested in seeing which startup the Ryerson community tells us to fund.” Unlike other venture capital funds, VenCorps invests seed capital (typcially $25,000) based on the collective opinions of thousands of entrepreneurs, students, professional service providers and angel investors (whereas traditional venture funds rely on a handful of experts).

With one of the largest entrepreneurship departments in Canada, Ryerson students are taught by experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that have themselves started dozens of companies and helped hundreds of entrepreneurs raise financing.

“Our department is committed to furthering a culture of entrepreneurship and the facilitation of start-ups in Canada” said Dave Valliere, Chair of the Entrepreneurship Department at the Ted Rogers School of Management, “working with VenCorpsis directly in line with other entrepreneurial initiatives at Ryerson University including our: StartMeUp Ryerson program and of course our incubator, the Ryerson Digital Media Zone.” Wise agrees, “With everything else that Ryerson is doing, it only makes sense that Ryerson be involved with the hunt for Toronto’s Top Startup” said Wise.

Launching on February 15th, 2011 the Top of Toronto challenge gives early stage tech companies in Ontario an opportunity to showcase their products/services in order to attract community member votes. The winner, as chosen by the community, will receive a $25,000 equity investment. VenCorps will take a 5% equity position in the winner and allow them to leverage the VenCorps community to facilitate rapid growth. Top of Toronto is one of twelve challenges VenCorps plans to pursue in 2011, with future challenges focusing on: mobile software, mass collaboration and women lead startups.

Registration is now open for members of the public to become community members. Participation through comments and votes earns members virtual points. Points which can be redeemed for real and virtual prizes or even a stake in VenCorps companies.

Women In Film Toronto, with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, is pleased to announce the WIFT-T Women in Digital Media Summit & Speaker Series, a two-year initiative designed to promote and celebrate women in the digital media industry.

Divided into three parts, the project consists of an international summit in October 2011, a high profile speaker series ongoing in 2012, and a web portal designed to foster local and international collaboration, research and mentorship.

“Globally, women produce, share and consume digital and interactive content at a tremendous pace,” says Susan Ross, WIFT-T Chair. “At the same time, women remain underrepresented in the digital economy. Through knowledge transfer, networking and mentorship, this initiative will recognize and encourage the participation of women so they can continue to play a key role in innovation and leadership.”

The WIFT-T International Women in Digital Media Summit will take place October 2011 in Stratford, Ontario. Presented in partnership with the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, this three-day summit will focus on digital media content creation, implications for emerging technologies and business models, and the role of women in digital media globally.

“The Waterloo Stratford Campus is delighted to be a partner in the WIFT-T International Women’s Summit,” says Tobi Day-Hamilton, Director, Advancement. “Women are not only the leading consumers of digital media, but are also leading the field in content development and innovation. The Summit will gather visionaries from around the world to showcase talent and technologies and prepare for an exciting future in this fast-paced industry.”

The Summit will bring together traditional and digital media communities, as well as educational/research institutions from around the world, to explore innovation, skills gaps, policy and research in the content areas of gaming, mobile and social media.

At the Summit, WIFT-T will release a research report to update its 2004 study on employment trends in Canadian screen-based media. The new research will focus on the impact of digital trends and the participation of women and people from diverse backgrounds in all areas of the industry.

The Summit is made possible through the support of OMDC on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, in partnership with the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, City of Stratford, Dynamix Solutions, FITC and Rhyzome Networks.

Following the Summit, the WIFT-T Women in Digital Media Speaker Series will occur every three months in 2012. Held in downtown Toronto, these luncheons will feature influential women in digital media and provide guests with key networking opportunities.

Speakers will include national and international leaders in research, social media, entrepreneurship, digital content, publishing, aggregators and distribution. Keynote presentations will be streamed online via WIFT-T’s web portal, a virtual hub where conversations that begin at the Summit and Speaker Series can continue.

Featuring an active database of local and international professionals, the portal aims to foster international partnerships in research and link digital media professionals with academic institutions and mentors.

The Women in Digital Media Summit & Speaker Series will allow WIFT-T to explore the role that women play in digital industries globally, while providing female professionals with the tools they need to become key players. The initiative will highlight Ontario’s digital corridor and showcase our leading digital media professionals to the global community.

Being a Canadian content site, I don’t often bring in “news from the outside” but I feel that this security release is of huge importance. How many of us have received fake emails about our Blizzard accounts – not that I have one, but I still get them – and I feel that this needs to be shared.

Tacoma’s IID (Internet Identity) has released its Fourth Quarter eCrime Trends Report that revealed evidence cyber-criminals are now using domain name system (DNS) hijackings to steal critical personal information like credit card numbers. According to IID, criminals hijacked ChronoPay.com, Russia’s largest payment processor – and one of the largest payment processors in Europe – for several hours on December 25 and 26 via DNS hijacking. By redirecting the ChronoPay domain to a bogus payment site, the attackers collected at least 800 credit card numbers from customers attempting to submit payments with ChronoPay.

While we’ve been warning for years that DNS hijackings could result in financial disaster, we hadn’t seen such a well-planned and successful attack of this nature until this incident,” said IID President and CTO Rod Rasmussen. “With ChronoPay, our worst fears came true. Unlike the recent DNS hijackings of Twitter, Baidu and others, with ChronoPay we have confirmation that people’s vital information was stolen without them being aware of it.”

As the translator between domain names and IP addresses, DNS is the glue that holds everything together on the Internet, from keeping time to conducting transactions to transmitting messages to sharing corporate and consumer data. By hijacking these DNS translations, attackers can drive unsuspecting surfers and corporate users to malicious sites, making large parts of the ‘Net largely insecure. They can also intercept corporate e-mail, financial transactions, and other highly sensitive data and personal information.

Other detailed findings of IID’s report include:

* Phishing attacks impersonating gaming companies increased 489 percent from Q4 2009 to Q4 2010.
* Overall phishing attacks went up 14 percent from Q4 2009 to Q4 2010.
* Phishing attacks impersonating e-commerce companies jumped over the holiday season. In all, these attacks increased 13 percent from Q3 to Q4 2010.

Sources of data and background for the IID 2010 Fourth Quarter eCrime Trends Report include IID’s own security experts and some of the world’s leading security and Internet infrastructure organizations like ICANN and APWG.

From the SIGGRAPH 2011 Vancouver website, where you can visit for complete submission guidelines and information on all categories. Canadian digital media designers, get your submissions in – let’s show the world what Canada Creates when visitors gather on our doorstep this summer.

In 2011, SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival celebrates its 38th year as the world’s most innovative exploration of computer-generated animation and visual effects. This four-day, international event presents an eclectic array of computer animation genres and styles ranging from narrative character animation to scientific visualization.

We would like to see ANY and ALL work from the world of animation. (for example, stop motion, scientific visualization, traditional animation, among others.) All entries must be uploaded by 15 April 2011 (22:00 UTC/GMT). Only finished works will be considered for inclusion, and all submissions must be uploaded at final resolution.

Submission Categories – The festival accepts submissions in 11 distinct categories:

1. Computer Animation Shorts – All forms of animated short pieces that contain a significant percentage of computer-generated imagery and/or digital production and are not specifically suited to one of the other nine submission categories. This includes independent shorts, character animation, sponsored creative explorations, narrative and experimental works, opening sequences, game cinematics, selections and/or montages of animated television series, machinima, and new-media formats. Shorts of any length may be submitted, but the Computer Animation Festival reserves the right to show only excerpts of selected works at the jury’s discretion.

2. Music Videos – Commissioned and/or independent works that use any combination of computer animation, digital effects, and live action to illustrate, enhance, and/or complement a musical creation.

3. TV and Web Commercials – Advertisements created entirely or partially with computer animation and/or digital effects. Also promotional spots, broadcast bumpers and graphics, and public service announcements.

4. Visualizations and Simulations – Computer animations created to explain, analyze, or visualize information for applications including scientific research, architecture, engineering, systems simulations, education, and documentary projects.

5. Student Projects – Computer-animated works of all kinds produced to satisfy a school, coursework, and/or graduation requirement. Entries in this category qualify for Best Student Project Award consideration. The Computer Animation Festival requests that all student works be submitted under this category, regardless of genre.

6. Animated Feature Films – Selections and/or montages of computer animation created for animated feature films.

7. Visual Effects for Short Films and TV Programs – Selections and/or montages of visual effects created for short live-action films and/or for television programs.

8. Visual Effects for Live-Action Feature Films – Selections and/or montages of visual effects created for live-action feature films.

9. Real-Time Animation – Game, web, and mobile animations that are rendered in the same amount of time that it takes to play them back. Real-time technology demos are also encouraged! Real-time technology demos should be submitted to Real-Time Live!

10. Miscellaneous – Computer animations that do not fit in any of the above categories, including technology showcases, previz, and other cool stuff that hasn’t been invented yet.

11.Traditional and Stop Motion – Animation that takes us back to our roots. Without traditional and stop motion animation, we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing today!

The Computer Animation Festival reserves the right to place entries in the category that is most appropriate. Stereo 3D work will be considered and can be entered in any of the above categories.

Competition Entries and Invited Entries – The festival includes a Competition Section and an Invited Section. Entries submitted in any of the 11 categories above automatically participate in the Competition Section and are eligible for the corresponding Computer Animation Festival awards and recognitions. The Invited Section consists of special projects invited by the festival committee. The complete list of Competition and Invited Entries will be available on 1 June 2011.

Awards – On the first night of the festival, the Festival Jury will present the Best in Show Award, Jury Award, and Best Student Project Prize. The Best in Show Award qualifies the winner to be considered for nomination in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Best Animated Short Film category. An Audience Award will be announced on the last day of the conference.

Award Eligibility – All films screened in the Computer Animation Festival’s Competition Section are eligible for the Best in Show, Jury, and Audience Awards. Only those works in the Student Projects section are eligible for Best Student Project recognition. Pieces selected for the Invited Section are not eligible for awards.

Screenings – The festival will showcase jury-selected entries alongside invited works in a single program, in the tradition of SIGGRAPH’s original Electronic Theater. In addition, a few thematic and monographic screenings of both juried and curated material complement the Competition Section. For the third year in a row, selected screenings will be open to the general public in addition to conference and festival attendees.

Talks and Panels – The Computer Animation Festival includes presentations by experts on a variety of topics related to creation of computer animation and visual effects, as well as behind-the-scenes presentations by the creators whose works are screened at the festival. You are encouraged to submit a proposal for a Talk (single presenter) or a Panel (multiple presenters) about your project and/or additional relevant topics.

SIGGRAPH – Vancouver 2011 – Make It Home

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) will hold a webcast Wednesday, February 23, 2011, to explain the changes to the 2011-2012 Guidelines and to answer possible questions raised by the changes. This broadcast will be hosted by Stéphane Cardin (Vice President, Industry and Public Affairs) and Nathalie Clermont (Director of Program Management). The presentation will be in 2 stages: first in French from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET and then in English from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET. You are invited to review the Summary of Changes to the various Convergent and Experimental Stream programs. Comments and questions can be sent via email, asked on Twitter on the CMF Facebook page.

Please click on the following address to test drive the webcast page on your computer:

CMF-FMC Webcast

To view the webcast, Flash player from Adobe is all you need in your browser. You will be asked to provide your name and email address to access the broadcast page. (Please note that you may need to sign in again on the day of the webcast).

Vancouver-based TIO Networks Corp. has successfully launched the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) “mobile bill pay app”. This mobile payment app is an industry first by a major Utility and provides up to six million PG&E customers in Northern and Central California with the convenience of paying their utility bills on an expedited basis through their iPhones and iOS devices.

“Almost immediately from the pre-launch phase in late December 2010, we have had strong consumer interest as several thousand PG&E customers have already downloaded the App and are paying their bills” said Hamed Shahbazi, Chairman and CEO of TIO Networks. “We will be expanding the payment platform to include Android and Blackberry versions in the near future. This product was a collaborative effort with PG&E and we appreciate their strong commitment to the project.”

Millions of PG&E customers can now download the TIO mobile application from Apple’s app store for free, and enjoy the convenience of bill payment on the go, anytime and anywhere. The TIO payment application features a user-friendly interface on iOS powered devices for real-time access to a customer’s account balance and intuitive instructions, in either English or Spanish, for fast payment with Visa, Master Card or through a customer’s bank account.

Sofame Technologies Inc., a Montreal-based manufacturer of environmentally efficient industrial hot water systems and cost effective heat recovery equipment, has turned to Autodesk® to solve a pressing business need: Growing Sofame’s presence in the competitive global marketplace. Sofame’s sights are set on offering rapid delivery of its award winning industrial boiler efficiency systems.  In 2010, Sofame began a program of outsourced manufacturing, which required product redesign and standardization to speed-up manufacturing, eliminate errors, and above-all, reduce costly hours of manual work.  Autodesk Consulting will now work with Sofame to improve its engineer-to-order (ETO) business processes.  New Autodesk solutions will further reduce engineering time as well as produce vessel drawings and P&ID’s more quickly. Sofame plans to shorten sales cycles, and handle more projects with the same number of people.

Beginning Sunday April 17th HBO Canada, a multiplex channel of Astral’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada) is taking subscribers inside a land where summers span decades, winters can last a lifetime, and a bloody battle rages for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and ultimately, the Iron Throne.

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones is a 10-part epic fantasy series that follows kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and noblemen as they vie for power.

Created with active collaboration from author Martin, the series combines elements of the fantasy genre with a simultaneous focus on character and psychology. HBO shot the series primarily in Northern Ireland and worked with expert language creator David J. Peterson to develop an expansive language for the Dothraki, a race of nomadic warriors.

Featuring a vast cast set to portray the inhabitants of Westeros, Game of Thrones stars (in alphabetical order): Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon; Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy; Sean Bean as Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark; Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen; Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister; Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister; Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark; Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish (“Littlefinger”); Jack Gleeson as Prince Joffrey Baratheon; Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont; Kit Harington as Jon Snow; Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister; Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark; Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen; Richard Madden as Robb Stark; Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane (“The Hound”); Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark; and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark.

Game of Thrones is executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss; co-executive producers Carolyn Strauss, Guymon Casaday, Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza and George R.R. Martin; and producers, Mark Huffam and Frank Doelger. Directors include Brian Kirk, Tom McCarthy, Daniel Minahan, Alan Taylor and Tim Van Patten.

Reminder: There are 15 days left to get your nominations in for the Canadian Video Game Awards.
Reminder: There are 15 days left to submit entries for the 2011 Design Edge Canada Regional Design Awards
Reminder: Digital Media practitioners, don’t forget to fill in the industry survey over at Pixel to Product.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed in today’s conference call to investors that there will be a new Assassin’s Creed game this year, however we will all have to wait until May for more details.

Winnipeg studio Infinite Ammo, the co-developer of Aquaria, has posted a dev diary update for Marian and the Fantastic World of Dreams, and the game thus far looks great. In this very detailed dev diary you read about the process of meshing 2D with 3D and the trials the team has experienced thus far as the game unfolds. You can also hear a sampling of the game’s soundtrack as you read the diary post.

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

If you are unfamiliar with Infinite Ammo’s project, the game’s main character is Marian, a beautifully carved marionette who rips her strings from the grasp of ‘The Narrator’ and to become her own master. She becomes caught in the dream world between life and death, learning to her own puppet strings as a tool in her quest to discover her true identity, and in fitting with today’s universal Valentine’s Day theme, she may even find true love.

Rocket5 Studios has released the first teaser trailer for that studio’s upcoming iOS game XS Force, which the creators will be demoing at GDC 2011. XS Force is an explosive arcade shooter starring characters inspired by some of the biggest action movie stars of the 1980?s, and this trailer lets you get a glimpse of one of the XS Force heroes.

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

Rocket5’s previous titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch include Giant Moto and Holeshot Drag Racing as well as amusement apps Alien Booth and iSpoof Walken.

Source Studio has announced new DLC for the recently updated Proto Galaxy. Proto Defense, the first DLC release for Proto Galaxy, will soon be available for free via the game’s Steam page. Check out what’s coming in this expansion:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZpW8IKPG2k]

Released in October 2010, Proto Galaxy is a turrent defense game that allows up to four players to team up and save the galaxy from an alien force determined to enslave humanity. As Earth’s last line of defense, you must put an end to the attacks and rebuild a home for the survivors.

Distribution360 has acquired rights to distribute the Cartoon Network U.K. version of Skatoony to French and German-speaking Europe as well as Spain. The company will also distribute the North American version of Skatoony—produced by marblemedia—to the same territories. Skatoony (U.K.) airs on Cartoon Network U.K.; Skatoony (North America) was commissioned by TELETOON, and premiered on the Canadian kids network in English and French this past October. Skatoony is the first animated/live-action quiz show adventure that pits tweens and ‘toons against each other in four frantic, trivia-based rounds. Set in a fantastical television studio in the fictional town of Showtown, the series is anchored by the cartoon duo of host Chudd Chudders and his lounge-singing sidekick, The Earl. Each week, they attempt to put together another show, while all manner of mad happenings occur around them. Skatoony Interactive features the “Skatoony Home Game,” a multi-player game where kids play Skatoony in real-time against other kids online.

“We’re excited to be distributing both versions of Skatoony to international markets,” says Stéphanie Röckmann-Portier, Managing Director/Head of Sales, Distribution360. “We’re looking forward to offering broadcasters a library of versioned episodes in order to identify content that best suits their needs.”

“Working with Distribution360 gives us the opportunity to exploit new territories for Skatoony,” says Michael Carrington, Chief Content Officer, Turner Broadcasting. “It’s a fantastic fast-paced game show which is sure to delight new audiences across Europe.”

In addition to Skatoony, D360’s kids slate also includes Splatalot, Ambition Skatecamp, This is Daniel Cook, and This is Emily Yeung for distribution to international markets.

Communitech’s annual Tech Leadership Conference on March 2, 2011 is the place to be for anyone in high-tech — to hear keynote speakers author Geoffrey Moore and futurist Watts Wacker, share views with journalist and author Scott Berkun, and gain insights from a high-tech power panel moderated by former Global national news anchor Kevin Newman. More than 500 people are expected to attend the largest such one-day event in Southwestern Ontario.

“It’s an action-packed day that will focus on the new fundamentals of business in an era where the power of the crowd shapes everything from marketing practices to purchase consideration, and leading-edge innovation continues to drive rapid change,” said Iain Klugman, president and CEO of Communitech.

The Tech Leadership Conference will feature a ‘BIG Conversation’ between Canadian industry leaders — MKS CEO Philip Deck, Sr. VP OSI John Ruffolo, and CTO OpenText Eugene Roman with Geoffrey Moore and moderated by Kevin Newman — addressing the major shifts occurring in the tech industry. Startup companies will also pull back the curtain on latest innovations moving from stealth mode to commercialization in the annual Tech Expo staged at the conference.

Geoffrey Moore is best known as the author of the ground-breaking book “Crossing the Chasm” and is a managing director at TCG Advisors and a venture partner at MDV. Tech leadership attendees will hear from Moore how disruptive innovation can have a positive impact on their business plans. Lecturer, best-selling author, political commentator and social critic Watts Wacker will bring a futurist’s perspective to the Tech Leadership Conference, focusing on navigating the sea of change in business.

Scott Berkun — author of three best-selling books, contributor to publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian, and a blogger for Harvard Business and BusinessWeek — will investigate the myths of innovation.

Breakout sessions at the Tech Leadership Conference include the following topics and leaders:

* Myths of Innovation: Scott Berkun
* Developing Your Digital Roadmap: Dan Christian, DanoDigital
* Recruiting Trends: Sharon Rudy, SpencerStuart
* Under Construction: The Sales and Marketing Organization of the Future: John Neeson, Sirius Decisions
* Life After Exit Leadership Panel: Steve Woods, Google; Yvan Couture, Primal; Ron Neumann, Dejero Labs; moderated by Greg Barratt, Communitech.

Congratulations to Toronto-based SecureKey Technologies Inc., who has received an investment from Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization. SecureKey designs hardware and software solutions to enable the strong cryptographic capabilities of debit, credit and identity smartcards including those within NFC based phones to be used for online authentication and online purchases. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Canon Canada is launching a national print and broadcast campaign, developed with JWT Canada that is uniquely Canadian – for Canadians by Canadians. The campaign, with additional online elements to be incorporated in the next several months, aims to deepen Canon Canada’s emotional connection with its consumers through the telling of important shared moments in life.

JWT Canada undertook strategic sessions with the various business units, which resulted in the notion that people need and want Canon imaging products when the output really counts; be that a photo of your child’s graduation, a retina camera that can detect early warning signs of diabetes or print-outs for an important client presentation. The campaign takes the focus off the product attributes and shines a light on the people who use Canon products.

Last Saturday we ventured to the Grand Court at Metrotown in Burnaby to meet up with Pikachu, who was at the mall to celebrate the upcoming release of Pokémon Black and Pokémon White editions with Nintendo Canada – and the five million copies that have already sold in Japan since the game’s launch in that country two months ago. Hundreds of Pokémon fans young and old were given the opportunity to experience the game at the Nintendo DS display, where other activities included free face painting and a colouring page station.

It would seem that the Pokémon tribe has many loyal followers, as evidenced by one young lady who showed up in her own Pikachu attire, spending a good part of the afternoon at the colouring station. Eighteen year old Andrew spent quite some time exploring the game, and stated that he’s been playing since he got his first Pokemon game when he was seven. To date his favourite iteration of the franchise is Pokémon Gold.

Sisters Emma (12) and Kaitlin (9) were visiting from Kelowna, and between the two of them own ten Pokémon titles for both the DS and Wii. Their Dad will most likely be purchasing both the White and Black editions for his gaming gals, who also have many Pokémon cards that they like to read and organize.

Pokémon Black and White versions offer two different worlds, the Black City and the White Forest, with each game offering locales unique to its environment. Players will be introduced to 150 new Pokémon, and throughout the RPG style of the game will find new areas and experiences which only become available as the seasons change in the storyline. It is these new features that keep players coming back for more according to Nintendo representative Julie Gagnon, and she confirmed that she’s met many young parents who are now introducing their own children to the world and wonders of Pokémon.

The Black and White editions introduce the Unova region, which is located far away from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions – and will appear differently depending on which game edition you own. Unova is a forested region, dotted with modern cities. People in the Unova region live in harmony with many previously unseen Pokémon, and as most of the Pokémon from other regions don’t appear in the Unova region, visitors are guaranteed to meet many new and interesting characters – some of whom also differ between the two editions. In the Black edition, you will encounter Reshiram, while in Pokémon White edition you will meet Zekrom. You will also find the dastardly Team Plasma, who want to steal all of the Pokémon and aren’t very nice characters at all.

According to Nintendo, when these new game editions launch on March 6th, players can get a head start in collecting every Pokémon in the Unova region when they receive the Liberty Pass. The Liberty Pass is an item that is used in-game to hop aboard a ship and sail to a secret location the Mythical Pokémon Victini can be captured.

Victini is a Fire- and Psychic-type Pokémon—the first of its kind. And Victini has the Victory Star Ability, which raises the accuracy of all Pokémon in battle, so it’s the perfect Pokémon for the new Double Battles and Triple Battles that are introduced to game play with these new chapters in the Pokémon story. Also new is the ability for Random Matchups, where players can battle others around the globe without needing Friend Codes – however a wireless broadband Internet connection and Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection are required to battle others around the globe.

In the Black and White editions you’ll also be able to feel the beat in the Pokémon Musical! Dress Up your Pokémon with various Props, then watch it dance to the music. You can even play the Pokémon Musical with your friends! Just get up to four players together, each with their own Nintendo DS system and copy of Pokémon Black Version or Pokémon White Version.

Both Pokémon Black and White editions are available for pre-order at retail outlets including GameStop Canada, Future Shop and Best Buy, and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

DigiBC, the Digital Media and Wireless Association, announced today that its president, Michael Bidu, will leave the organization April 30, to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities in mobile health.

“I’ve enjoyed the many challenges of running our association for almost a year and a half and appreciated being able to use my entrepreneurial skills to reshape the organization, create and stage many significant industry events, and manage the successful merger of two industry associations.

“DigiBC is now a young and dynamic organization, recognized by key stakeholders at home and abroad as BC’s leading industry association for digital media and wireless. We are focused on the convergence of digital media and wireless, and represent over 1,000 companies that employ more than 16,500 well-educated employees, and generate over $3 billion in annual revenues.”

Bidu was appointed head of WINBC in September, 2007 and worked tirelessly to create greater recognition for the wireless industry, and to create innovative industry programs and events for members. In his first year, he revived Mobile Monday Vancouver – a monthly gathering of some of the leaders, entrepreneurs and best minds in the local wireless and digital media industry.

In 2009, the boards of both WINBC and New Media BC agreed that a merger – as DigiBC – would create a stronger industry and better reflect the worldwide trend to convergence. Bidu and the two boards very quickly completed the merger – with minimal disruptions to the activities of either sector.

Bidu also created and produced two Pacific Northwest Wireless Summit Conferences, plus a number of events for Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics, including the multi-million dollar public-private partnerships that led to VXperience and Showcase and the Multimedia Gallery at the BC Canada Pavilion. Both were started from scratch, only months before the Olympics. Thanks to support from more than 100 digital media and wireless companies, both events launched successfully and on time. The results were seen or experienced by more than 100,000 visitors. Bidu also architected and produced VIDWeek 2010, another first for the BC digital media and wireless industry, attracting national and international attention to our province.

“Michael accomplished a lot during his tenure, and his drive, passion and vision were instrumental in bringing about the successful merger of WINBC with New Media BC,” says DigiBC chairman Paul Lee. “We thank him for all his work and wish him all possible success in his new ventures. Wireless Health is one of the eight strategic recommendations our board made to the Government of Canada last summer to Improve Canada’s Digital Advantage. I am pleased to see that BC is leading the way.”

Bidu will continue to lead DigiBC’s activities while the association’s board seeks a suitable replacement. He will also be appointed chair of a new committee that DigiBC is setting up to focus on the convergence of wireless, digital media, and medical research and to find solutions that will reduce the cost of health care delivery while providing a better customer experience.

“My goal is to take the BC Wireless Health Initiative, which we started back in 2009, to a new level of innovation and commercialization provincially, nationally and globally,” says Bidu.

“I thank the Board of Directors of DigiBC, the members, the numerous community and industry sponsors, the supporting local, provincial and federal government organizations, the media and the many volunteers for all their past help, and for their continuing support of what we achieved together in the past three and a half years. I will seek for your support in the future and know I can count on it.”

Editor’s 2 cents’ worth: I’d like to see either Lynda Boyd or Rochelle Grayson back in the leader’s seat at DigiBC. Those two ladies know how to get things done.

Happy first anniversary to Snowed In Studios. The Ottawa studio is currently working with Eidos Montreal on the upcoming Deus Ex: Human Revolution and recently worked with Artech Studios on The Undergarden for Atari. The Snowed In team has also worked with two other studios on our Favourites List, Behaviour and TransGaming. Here’s to many more years of gaming goodness for the team at Snowed In!

Vancouver indie developer Josh Brown has released his first Android title. Vertigo Towers is a physics based 3D action puzzler with 3 game modes which requires the player to match sets of three or more bricks and create chains for huge points. Vertigo Tower is OpenFeint-enabled complete with a Leaderboard and Achievements. There is both a paid version (1.99 USD) and a lite version available in Android Marketplace. I would buy this game if it became available for iPod Touch.

Relic and THQ have opened up the Warhammer®40,000®: Dawn of War®II – Retribution™ BETA to anyone who has bought a Dawn of War game through STEAM or has registered a Dawn of War II product on their STEAM account. In addition, gamers can get access to the beta by registering on the Dawn of War Community site and following the instructions under the Beta Key giveaway tab.

Featuring all six multiplayer races including the new Imperial Guard faction, the beta will run through the end of February to test the new Steamworks network and matchmaking features and help balance the multiplayer mode. All new units for each race will be available in the beta along with the new multiplayer maps that will ship with Retribution. The Dawn of War II – Retribution multiplayer beta is currently planned to run until midnight on February 24th, at which point the developers will take all feedback into account to create a day-zero balancing patch.

The Cavechild checked out the Retribution Beta last week, and his thoughts thus far are: HOLY WTF WIN! FREAKIN’ EPIC OMG WEEEEEE. That pretty much sums it up, there is more and all but that is for another time.

Retribution is very very VERY pretty, it a new thought out army panter so that you can see what many of you squads will look like, they made it a little less shiney and more grungy like the old dawn of war which is freaking amazing! The sound in the game, the effects, ambiance, voices, yelling, gunfire, tanks, orcs and so on are very clear even in the middle of a giant war with 2 Imperial guard armies taking down Orcs, more Orcs and some weird looking Eldar.

In my opinion the Imperial Guard are just a little OP considering I was able to beat down the Orc Warboss pretty easy, same with the Eldar Farseer. The game play is the same as the two games previous so none of you have to worry about changing style and how to do things. If I remember correctly you are allowed to import everything for Last Stand mode which is you versus a ton of AI which aren’t too hard then casually grow in difficulty. Dawn of War II: Retribution is by far one of the best games for 2011 and the year has only started…

Congratulations to the Mass Effect 2 team on all of the hardware they picked up at last evening’s AIAS Awards, winning in three categories: Outstanding Achievement in Story,  Role Playing / MMO Game of the Year and Game of the Year – and of course congratulations to Bioware co-founders Doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk on their induction into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame. Congratulations also to the FIFA 2011 team over at EA Sports for picking up the Sports Game of the Year award.

Frima Studio titles Widgets Odyssey I and Widgets Odyssey II are now available in Europe as a single game bundle for the super low price of £1.74 / €1.99! As PlayStation®Mini titles, Widgets Odyssey I and Widgets Odyssey II are playable on both PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®Portable. Both titles are rated as PEGI 7 (ESRB rated E for Everyone).

In the Widgets Odyssey saga, five robots aboard their space vessel have just one simple mission…to save the universe from the tyrannical Yagor and his evil henchmen! Armed with the unique abilities of Spad, Cosmo, Bruce, Helmut, and Monk, players will guide each robot along their exciting adventures filled with puzzles, mazes, minigames and intense platforming challenges.

If you’re in the Vancouver area on March 9th, you may be interested in attending BCTIA’s TechBrew event being held at the Stanley Park Pavilion. The mega-mixer invites entrepreneurs, investors, professional service providers or anyone interested in technology companies to meet, talk, and make new connections in a casual setting. Featured companies at the March event include: D2D Campaign Solutions, Gogiro, ikamobile, Jostle, Nexterra Systems Corp., NGRAIN, REV, Rx Networks, SewerVUE, Snap Technologies, Solegear Bioplastics and Wishpond. Tickets for TechBrew are $34.95 for BCTIA members, $44.95 for Non-Members or $19.95 for Students.

bant, an iPhone based application to help adolescents improve diabetes self-management by capturing, analyzing, and sharing their blood glucose data, is being tested by teenagers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Diabetes Clinic in Toronto. The pilot program will assess the impact that social networking and rewards that encourage and reinforce self-management behaviours have on young teens as they become more independent in managing their diabetes. The pilot will run for three months.

bant was developed by University Health Network (UHN) in collaboration with SickKids and with input from patients, families, doctors, nurses and engineers. The multidisciplinary teams from SickKids’ Diabetes Clinic and Division of Adolescent Medicine worked closely with colleagues at UHN to design the application. bant is partially funded by the Saint Elizabeth Health Care ACT research grant program.

People with type 1 diabetes need to maintain their blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible to decrease diabetes-related complications, such as kidney and heart disease. Optimal blood glucose is very hard to achieve; requiring frequent measurement of levels, detailed analysis of the results, and continued adjustments of the treatment plan.

A free version of bant is already available in 10 languages at the Apple App Store. An advanced version of the application has been developed for use in the pilot which will use a LifeScan OneTouch Mini blood glucose meter to collect and wirelessly transfer readings directly into bant using a Bluetooth adapter developed by the UHN team. The data are then displayed and organized visually. Teens can customize the tool to categorize readings according to their activities and daily schedule to enable accurate decision-making and medication adjustments. They will also be able to share their experiences in a private social network within the app and earn experience points leading to rewards in the form of iTunes redemption codes to purchase music and other apps. bant is integrated with TELUS health space, Powered by Microsoft HealthVault, giving pilot participants the ability to store, review, and control the sharing of their personal health information with their care team and family members.

Sierra Wireless has unveiled a multi-purpose wireless gateway that defines next-generation intelligent machine-to-machine (M2M) networking. The powerful Sierra Wireless AirLink™ GX400 gateway offers a leading-edge combination of features, including cloud-based device management, extensive hardware and software enhancements, mil-spec ruggedness, GPS and associated location-based services, and advanced configuration options with comprehensive expandability for both hardware and software features.

Flexible and powerful enough to meet the needs of a wide range of applications in the transportation, industrial M2M and enterprise markets, the AirLink GX400 will make solution deployment faster, easier and less expensive for mobile system operators, OEMs, application service providers and end customers. With the AirLink GX400, system integrators can standardize on a single gateway platform to serve the needs of all of their customers.

Sierra Wireless also announced AirLink Management Services (AMS), which will facilitate comprehensive cloud-based device management for the AirLink GX400, as well as other AirLink intelligent gateways and routers. Based on the Sierra Wireless AirVantage™ Platform, this powerful hosted device management service means small and large deployments can affordably take advantage of the comprehensive AMS management features from any location with Internet access.

Sierra Wireless boosted processing performance five-fold, basing the AirLink GX400’s design on an ARM 11-class microprocessor architecture operating with high-capacity DDR memory. This provides a powerful foundation for exploiting existing and new features and functionality. Other hardware enhancements include external antenna connectors, Ethernet, Serial and USB “OTG” (On-the-Go), as well as an expansion slot to accommodate future integrated add-on capabilities such as additional physical interfaces and wireless local and personal area networking and communications.

via University of Alberta ExpressNews: A joint research project between the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education and the Department of Computing Science has found that, for high-school girls, the fun is in making video games, not just playing them.

Computing science professor Duane Szafron and fellow U of A researchers Mike Carbonaro, Jonathan Schaeffer and Maria Cutumisu say that women in computing science are rare, but their study shows that if you want to get more females interested in computing science, you have to rewrite the program, so to speak.

“There’s been a huge push throughout North America to try and get girls to go into computing science, but [educators are] having a lot of challenges convincing them,” said the Faculty of Education’s Carbonaro. “The findings are important, as they demonstrate a way to motivate girls’ interest in computing science”

In their study, the researchers wanted to see whether girls would gain as much interest in game development as they boys in the class control group. To facilitate the experiment, they introduced a group of local Grade 10 students to a program called ScriptEase, a tool that allowed them to develop and design their own games. A key factor in the study was having male participants who had more experience than the females in gaming.

Duane Szafron and Maria Cutumisu Photo: U of Alberta

Szafron says that there is an inherent creative component to computing science, and that having a student design and construct something using the tool is one way to allow them to investigate that aspect of computing science. “We thought we should have female students create games and see if they are just as excited about making games as male students and see whether it’s an attractor to computing science that is independent of gender,” he said.

Their findings indicated that female students enjoyed creating games as much as their male counterparts; further, they preferred game construction to activities such as story writing. Further, he noted the female students gained and used practical skills that are crucial to understanding computing science.

“The female students built games that were every bit as good as the male students made, even though the male students had more experience with playing games,” said Szafron. “In terms of the quality of the games developed and the abstraction skills that the students learned, which could translate to knowledge of competing science—and in terms of the amount of fun that they had—there was no difference between the two groups.”

According to Carbonaro, computing science teachers need to look at redesigning the types of projects and content they use in class to make them more “female-user friendly.”

“If you want more females in computing science, you need to radically change the curriculum. You need to provide activities that are more gender neutral so that they’ll be attracted to the discipline.”

The research study was recently published in Computers and Education.