Pitch Fest West gives up to five Canadian producers the opportunity to pitch projects to a distinguished panel of Canadian and International industry leaders in front of a live audience. Feature film, documentary, scripted series are eligible to apply provided cross-platform media component is included in the project.

"Last year’s Pitch Fest West was a huge success with us receiving 36 entries," says Angela Heck, Forum Manager of the Whistler Film Festival. "This year, we’ve expanded the scope to include projects that engage with creative content across multi-platforms. We expect to see some amazing pitches from Canada’s best producers." The Forum at the Whistler Film Festival features innovative industry programming by providing a full range of professional development, market and networking opportunities for Canadian filmmakers and content creators. Designed to provide industry professionals with the necessary tools and knowledge to compete in the Canadian and international film industry, the Forum offers intimate access to industry experts and key decision makers, and brings together Canadian and international delegates to form new alliances and financial partnerships. This premier three-day event features innovative panels, interactive workshops, one-on-one meetings, film showcases and invaluable networking events that connect filmmakers with commissioning editors, broadcasters, sales agents and distributors. In 2008, the Whistler Filmmaker Forum connected over 650 industry delegates with broadcasters, distributors, sales agents and commissioning editors including industry executives from China, the United States and Canada. This year, the Forum focus is on strengthening ties between the production centers of Vancouver and Los Angeles. The deadline for submissions to this year’s Pitch Fest West is Monday, November 2, 2009. Pitch Fest West 2009 will only accept projects that include multi-platform content. Pitches that team film or television producers with new media companies are highly encouraged. Producers must be Canadian residents.

For more information and Pitch Fest West application forms visit http://www.whistlerfilmfestival.com. The ninth annual Whistler Film Festival, presented by American Express, runs from December 3 to 6, 2009. The Whistler Film Festival + Forum is sponsored by Cadillac, Directors Guild of Canada, Whistler Brewing, The Vancouver Sun, Whistler Blackcomb, Dose.ca and Quick Mobile, and is supported by Telefilm Canada, BC Film and the Resort Municipality of Whistler. The Whistler Film Festival Society (WFFS) is a charitable, not for profit cultural and educational organization committed to promoting, developing and celebrating a strong film industry in Western Canada, and to showcasing the best films from Canada and around the world. WFFS offers two main programs for the international community to discover Canadian filmmakers and do business with the Canadian film industry: the Whistler Film Festival (December 3-6, 2009), and the Forum at the Whistler Film Festival, Western Canada’s premier industry event. For details, visit http://www.whistlerfilmfestival.com .

For media inquiries, please contact:
Jeanette Miller, limelitePR, Publicity Manager, Whistler Film Festival
778.786.1495 jeanette@limelitepr.com]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=bell_and_telus_will_launch_iphone Mon, 5 Oct 2009 17:46:40 -0400 bruno@newmediabc.com <bruno@newmediabc.com>
Both carriers hope the addition of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL-Q186.021.120.61%) groundbreaking smart phone to their lineups will help them sign up higher-value customers and shift the balance of power in Canada's mobile market.

Bell announced on Monday that it will launch in November, months ahead of schedule, the next-generation wireless network it has been building with Telus. The build-out extends the companies' existing 3G (third generation) network to include the same technology standard employed by Rogers, the nation's largest cellphone company.

Telus has yet to give an indication of when it will begin offering service on the new network.

Until now, Rogers has enjoyed a Canadian monopoly on that standard, known as high-speed packet access (HSPA), as well as its precursor GSM, and with it, one of the hottest products of the IT age. The iPhone, which is a GSM-based device, has helped drive the company's wireless growth through the recession by 7 per cent this year. Rogers has said its iPhone customers spend 1 1/2 more than their average wireless subscriber.

Neither Bell nor Telus would confirm that they would add the iPhone to their lineups. Apple also declined to comment. But people familiar with the matter said the two carriers will announce a working partnership with Apple as early as Tuesday or Wednesday and begin selling the device in time for the launch of their new network next month.

Apple demands strict terms from phone companies carrying the iPhone, which limit the carriers' ability to cut prices or differentiate their subscription plans significantly. But for consumers, the news will mean at the very least greater supply of the device as well as more choice in service providers and bundled offers for other services, such as home phone, Internet or television connections.

The iPhone has proved a double-edged sword for Rogers and other wireless operators around the world carrying the device. The smart phone attracts more customers, and specifically users who spend more money that the average mobile phone client. But it requires a heavy subsidy from the carriers, which eats into their profitability.

For example, Rogers' revenue from wireless data increased 40 per cent in the first six months of the year to $611-million. But the company's profitability has been squeezed by the cost of subsidizing the iPhone and other smart phones. Rogers spent $479-million on handset subsidies in the first six months, an increase of 59 per cent.

Apple's fortunes have soared with the iPhone. But the phone companies are realizing that they have to balance the cost of their subsidies with the value of the customers the device brings in.

For Bell, which has managed to cut its wireless customer acquisition costs recently, the iPhone should help spur much-needed growth. The company added only 45,000 new mobile phone customers, compared with 142,000 for Rogers and 111,000 for Telus.

For Telus, Apple's smart phone should help it bolster its average revenue per user, which declined nearly 7 per cent in the second quarter.

Bell and Telus have rushed to get their new network in place before the holiday shopping season. Bell argues that its version is more advanced than Rogers' because it uses the latest version of the standard, called HSPA+, which is capable of download speeds of up to 21 megabits per second. Rogers, which has used GSM technology since 2001, is still in the process of converting its entire national network to the HSPA+ standard. Last month it said the new technology is in place in five cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Bell and Telus announced a year ago that they would put aside their historic rivalries to build the HSPA network together. They said the partnership would allow them to split the approximate $1-billion cost and to get to market sooner.

© Copyright (c)Globe Investor
Photograph by: Reuters

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/bell-telus-to-launch-iphone-next-month/article1312692/]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=ubc_entertainment_administration_information_session Mon, 5 Oct 2009 15:14:08 -0400 diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca <diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca> 5:30pm - 6:30pm on Wednesday, October 21.
Register today at http://www.tech.ubc.ca/infosession.]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=ubc_multimedia_information_session Mon, 5 Oct 2009 15:08:30 -0400 diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca <diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca> 5:30pm - 6:30pm on Thursday, November 5.
Register today at http://www.tech.ubc.ca/infosession.]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=vcs_eye_practical_and_specific Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:03:49 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
The undisclosed investment by Yaletown Venture Partners will help it grow Partnerpedia, a new software that helps businesses that sell through partnership arrangements source, communicate with, and manage those partners.

Constructive, which first developed customized partnership management portals for very large companies that extensively used partnership sales channels, married social media technology to its traditional knowledge to develop a partnership management tool that could be used by smaller companies, as well.

Social media, designed to connect millions of consumers by their interests, makes partner management simpler and more cost effective for large and small companies that use resellers to move products, said Mark Sochan, chief executive of Constructive Media.

"Everything today is measured by sales effectiveness," he told research firm Gartner. "A partner-to-partner channel helps create sales leads. Before, companies and resellers were trying to use a variety of individual [social media] tools like Twitter and LinkedIn for leads. But these tools weren't built for those purposes, and were difficult to use. We figured we'd make social media specifically for business-to-business sales by integrating it with a company's back end."

It's a sign of the times that practical and specific technologies such as Partnerpedia are generating investment interest. There is a growing market for efficiency-producing technology among the enterprise, or B2B market. While efficiency has always been an imperative for most businesses, good times convinced many to loosen their financial grips. The recession provided a frightening wake-up call, creating a renewed focus on methodology for reducing costs or easing workflow.

As a result, the enterprise market is turning into the new hunting ground for small tech firms, which are converting products previously aimed at consumers into practical tools for businesses.

"Technology has become more practical," says Steve Hnatiuk, a Yaletown partner. "There's a growing consumerization of the enterprise market. If it reduces costs or makes conducting business easier and more efficient there's a market for it. So that's getting traction from investors."

When recessionary winds began to blow, many private investors nurtured existing investments through the downturn and it appeared new investment was drying up. But despite that sombre climate, investments are being made and any company that produces practical and useful technology will get a hearing from investors.

Certainly that's the tone in the annual round of investor gatherings that begins with the fall: The Banff Centre Forum, Oct. 1 and 2; the Fusion Forum in Vancouver, Nov. 12; the Canadian Innovation Exchange, Dec. 2 in Toronto; and the Tremblant Venture Forum in May are drawing hundreds of new technology entrepreneurs because they're putting together dozens of angel and venture capital investors looking for investments. In the past decade, these forums have grown from regional events to national stages for entrepreneurs with good ideas but needing financing to turn those ideas into viable small businesses.

Photo: Steve Hnatiuk of Yaletown Venture Partners says the tech firms that land funding or those with products that offer a practical benefit to businesses

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/small-business/succession/story.html?id=2041712#ixzz0SWmpGCVO]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=acquisitions_are_back_on_google_ceo Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:01:05 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
"Acquisitions are back on," Schmidt told reporters after an upbeat talk to students and business leaders in Pittsburgh on the eve of the G20 summit of the world's most biggest economies.

Schmidt did not go into detail on Google's major takeover targets.

But -- in a wide-ranging talk hosted by the Pittsburgh Technology Council at Heinz Field stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team -- he said the firm wanted to invest in creative new technologies.

"Google has created a venture arm called Google Ventures. It's an experiment, from our perspective. We have lots of cash, I think. As you know, we have a large cash portfolio," he said.

"We decided that we wanted to invest in the technology areas, both to get a a financial return, of course, but also to accelerate the kinds of technologies that eventually Google will benefit from," he said.

"So it's too early to say how successful it's going to be, but we're definitely investing."

Last week, Google announced that it had bought reCAPTCHA, a company that produces software to protect websites against spam and fraud, signalling that it was once again in the acquisitions market after a quiet period.

Many multinationals have scaled down their ambitions since last year's credit crunch and ensuing financial slowdown, but Schmidt's message for the G20 leaders was that new technology can drive a world economic recovery.

He also paid tribute to host city Pittsburgh, where his firm has an outpost, saying the formerly rundown steel city's reinvention of itself as a centre for high-tech business was an example to the United States and the world.

"After all, where will all the growth come from in America?" he asked.

"It's not going to come from high-volume, low-wage manufacturing jobs. It's not going to come from the service industries selling to ourselves. It's going to come from industries like advanced manufacturing," he said.

"The growth is not going to come from moving money around between banks, which we're pretty good at by the way. The growth is going come from investment decisions made here, in cities like Pittsburgh."

Schmidt called for the G20 leaders and business to be optimistic for the world economy, which he said "many people" now saw as coming out of the slump.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt speaks to the Pittsburgh Technology Council in Pittsburgh September 23, 2009.
Photograph by: Jim Young, Reuters]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=fusion_09s_best_in_show_award__a_trip_to_san_francisco_and_placement_at_plug_and_play_in_california Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:56:41 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
Saeed Amidi, CEO of the Centre, regarded as a premier accelerator for startup entrepreneurs in technology and digital media, http://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/ confirmed last week that the Centre will donate a 3-month “accelerator package” to the top presenting company at Vancouver’s 3rd Fusion Venture Forum for Digital Media, come November 12 at Robson Square, Vancouver, BC.

“New Media BC is proud to be collaborating with Telefilm Canada and Plug and Play to present the only financing forum for digital media in Western Canada”, remarked Fusion ‘09’s Director, Christine Lim-Labossière. “The caliber of talent we see each year at Fusion continues to impress us, and I am confident we'll find a deserving winner for this excellent prize”. The Plug and Play Tech Centre currently houses over 200 start ups and has collectively raised some US $750 million to date. Companies selected for this program are each assigned a relationship manager who will help them access the available resources, obtain introductions to contacts and to help them line up pitches to potential investors.

During the 3 months, rent is deferred and there are no charges for access to a multitude of resources including networking events, access to strategic and corporate partners (eg. Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Intel, Best Buy, Qualcomm, etc.), access to service partners (eg. Legal, accounting, HR, Intellectual Property, etc.), mentorship and coaching (through Plug and Play management, Executives-in-Residence and other advisors) and regular pitching opportunities with angel investors and VCs.

Placement is limited for presenting companies at Fusion ‘09, so entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply early at http://thefusionforum.com/registration/. Early Bird registration rates end Oct 5th, 2009. For more information, contact fusion@newmediabc.com
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=winbc_and_new_media_bc_announce_300k_in_funding_from_western_economic_diversification_canada Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:06:46 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
Vancouver, BC, September 22, 2009

On Friday, September 18, 2009, the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia Pacific Gateway on behalf of the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, the Honourable Mary McNeill, Minister of State for the Olympics and ActNow BC, announced federal funds of $300K for WINBC and New Media BC to support the industry-driven, community-focused and government-assisted 2010 Showcase and Service initiative. The announcement was one of five project funding announcements totaling $6.2 million designed to enable BC to take full advantage of the tremendous economic opportunities provided by the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The 2010 Showcase and Service initiative will showcase existing innovative wireless and digital media technologies in the region and provide some innovative wireless services to business visitors, media, locals and visitors. The initiative at the British Columbia's 2010 commerce, media and celebration site at Robson Square in Vancouver is a unique strategic initiative timed to coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The 2010 Showcase and Service initiative footprint at the BC Showcase in Robson Square will be programmed with an impressive array of video content featuring leaders in the mobile and digital media industries. Mobile services will be offered including mobile optimized views into the 2010 directory and matchmaking services based on made-in-BC technologies. A digital directory will bring together BC’s top wireless and digital companies with businesses and delegates from around the world. The directory’s matchmaking functions will create a point of contact for world business delegates in discovering our industry, and enable immediate and simple lead generation between visitors and BC wireless and digital companies.

Federal funding is being provided through Western Economic Diversification Canada under the Western Diversification Program, and the Western Economic Partnership Agreement, an initiative with the Province of British Columbia.

"Our Government is ensuring that Canada is poised to maximize the economic benefits this unique opportunity provides," said Minister Day. "We are ready to showcase our commercial strengths to the world, and draw more investment and business to Canada."

Michael Bidu, Executive Director of WINBC and Executive Producer of the 2010 Showcase and Services had this to say “This is by far the most ambitious product innovation through collaboration project ever conceived to promote the BC wireless and digital media industry to the world. Like the Canadian Olympic athletes it is our time to shine. Our industry is grateful for the Government of Canada's recognition – through Western Economic Diversification - of the importance of our industry for the future economic development of our province and thankful for the generous and continuous support.”

About Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD)
WD works with the provinces, industry associations and communities to promote the development and diversification of the western economy, coordinates federal economic activities in the West and represents the interests of western Canadians in national decision making.

About WINBC
Wireless Innovation Network of BC (WINBC) promotes the fast growth and sustainability of British Columbia, Canada as one of the world's best wireless technology clusters and communities. We are the industry association representing more than 250 BC wireless technology companies generating in excess of $1B in revenues.

About New Media BC
New Media BC is a federally incorporated not-for-profit full service association. Our membership is comprised of businesses, educational organizations, government agencies, and individuals whose core products and services include e-commerce, eLearning, web development, electronic games, digital animation, digital film, visual effects, software and tools, interactive products, and many more. We represent the industry at large and implement strategic projects derived from ongoing consultation with our sector.]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=parttime_multimedia_and_web_development_courses Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:30:15 -0400 diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca <diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca>
Digital Imaging with Photoshop, Level 1 - s]]>
Digital Imaging with Photoshop, Level 1 - starts Sep 9
Adobe Illustrator, Level 1 - starts Sep 14
Multimedia Technologies - starts Sep 15
User Interface Design - starts Sep 16
Fundamentals of HTML - starts Sep 17
... and more!

For more information or to register now, see http://www.tech.ubc.ca/mm or call 604.822.1420.
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=social_media_courses_at_ubc_continuing_studies Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:27:02 -0400 diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca <diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca> ]]> For more information or to register now, http://www.tech.ubc.ca/socialmedia.

Also for Fall:
Social Media for Marketing, Sept 28 - Oct 26
Managing the Blogosphere, Nov 2 - 23
Monetizing Online Communities through Social Media, Nov 18 - Dec 9

]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=ubc_certificate_in_entertainment_administration_starting_soon Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:53:12 -0400 diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca <diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca>
Program starting on September 8. Applications are still being accepted. Apply today!

More info: http://tech.ubc.ca/entertainment]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=open_school_bc_takes_the_top_prize_again Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:14:27 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
Open School BC’s production, “Will’s World” received the Award of Distinction for Best Overall Production in the media festival, a national showcase that recognizes outstanding examples of educational media. Will’s World is a graphically rich environment that allows the user to interact with William Shakespeare’s 17th century England. “Being Victorian” created on behalf of the Provincial Capital Commission, won the Award of Merit in the Government / Commercial category. Revealing the City of Victoria’s colourful and sometimes rowdy history, this resource is intended to evoke critical thinking and invites the user to reflect on why the Victorians behaved as they did.

view 'Being Victorian'
http://www.bcpcc.com/Outreach/ss10/index.htm]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=merger_makes_front_row_the_largest_entertainment_insurance_broker_in_canada Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:37:24 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com> Insurance has merged wi]]> Insurance has merged with the Entertainment Division of Toronto-based
insurance broker Jones Brown Inc. to form Front Row Insurance Brokers Inc.

Included with this are two new TECH/IT programs:

The “Tech” policy covers General Liability, Errors & Omissions and Business
Interruption (premiums starting at $500),
while “Cyber & Privacy” covers technology systems and data.

Front Row is a separate, independent company with David Hamilton as
President. Our office will remain at the present location and the Jones
Brown Vancouver Entertainment staff will work from our office.

Other than the change in the company’s operating name, there will be no
changes to your servicing teams or the handling of your insurance program.

We are very excited about our new venture. The merger will make Front Row
the largest Entertainment Insurance broker in Canada and will provide us
with additional leverage when negotiating premiums, coverage and claims
settlements for you. The combined companies, which insured over one billion
dollars in production budgets over the last 12 months, give us unmatched
entertainment insurance broking experience and negotiating strength in
Canada.

Front Row has offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal employing 18
insurance professionals servicing the needs of the Entertainment and New
Media Industries. Front Row is licensed in all ten Canadian provinces.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Edward Dardis, CAIB
Front Row Insurance Brokers Inc.
http://www.frontrowinsurance.com
604-1200 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC V6Z 2C7
P 604 684 3411
F 604 684 3437
Toll Free 1 866 690 Film (3456)]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=sfu_seeks_mentors_for_new_media_projects Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:14:01 -0400 justine@sfu.ca <justine@sfu.ca>
http://www.siat.sfu.ca/undergrad/courses/2008/3/IAT-402-403/

By mentoring a team, professionals and their companies gain an opportunity to build relationships with a group of highly talented young people, or potentially to experiment with a new project idea.

To register your interest in becoming a mentor, or to get more information, please contact Professors Lyn Bartram or Rob Woodbury, (lyn@sfu.ca or rw@sfu.ca).]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=upstart_game_studio_goes_back_to_its_roots Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:41:38 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
Andrew Petrozzi

When the curtain came down on Nexon Publishing North America (NPNA) last January, Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment Inc., was suddenly left without a publisher for his company’s new game.

With the fate of Sugar Rush in limbo, the Nexon closure could have demoralized and cut the legs out from under a young studio that had only one self-published title under its belt.

But Cheng said it had the opposite effect. Work started on Klei’s current game, Shank, the day Cheng and Klei learned of NPNA’s demise.

“Shank is an inspiring product for the people at Klei. It’s our own product.”

Drawing stylistic inspiration from the golden age of comics – high-contrast dark outlines and shadow – and a colour scheme reminiscent of western-themed films like Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado, Shank is an original intellectual property (IP) that will be accompanied by a line of toys.

“We really wanted to try something different, a little bit more ambitious,” said Cheng. “It started off as a thought in our minds of what it would be like if we could put a lot of the fun elements we see in 3-D games and back into 2-D.”

Cheng planned to shop Shank around to determine publisher interest at the Game Developers Conference Canada 2009 in May.

“We came up with this great demo and showed it off at [the conference], and we got crazy amounts of interest,” said Cheng. “That’s when we knew we had something special.”

It was also when he decided to self-publish Shank.

The decision, he said, would allow the company to “reap the best rewards” and give it more creative freedom for what would be a downloadable console title.
“We really wanted to focus on the story, for example. That’s usually a pretty hard sell especially for a game like ours.”

Cheng said Klei is still negotiating where the public will find Shank once it’s finished. Klei’s previous title, Eets: Chowdown, is available through Xbox Live Arcade or as digital download. Klei’s credits also include N+, an Xbox Live Arcade title.

“Going back to our roots in self-publishing another title was something that we wanted to do,” said Cheng. “It’s not something that I’ve ever done with such a diverse team. When I published Eets, it was basically four programmers. It was a magnitude smaller in scale, and we were four programmers eating ramen. The risk was minimal.”

He said self-publishing Shank represents Klei’s second big risk. The first was founding Klei. A release date for Shank has not been set.

Klei is also working in a support role with Alex Garden’s Small Inc. (“Corporate creative side cultivated in Garden” – issue 1026; June 23-29.)

“We built up a tech pipeline that could work for him to build these shows in quick succession. We also did some of the original concept work,” Cheng said of Garden’s new Babushkas IP.

Their relationship began when Cheng and Garden worked together at Relic Entertainment. Cheng went on to found Klei, and Garden brought Cheng and Klei into the fold with NPNA to develop Sugar Rush.

“I’ve been impressed with Jamie as a guy who doesn’t blindly charge into machine-gun fire,” said Garden. “He’s smart about how he does it, but he always sees opportunity. That’s a really unique balance. People who are that optimistic tend to get shot in the first wave. He has managed to survive, and his teams are able to produce incredible results.”

According to Cheng, building strong game prototypes and developing original IP are two ways studio startups can distinguish themselves.

“I would encourage people to build their own IP rather than to try and build a service company, especially in today’s economy,” he said. “Everybody does the same service and the price starts going to down.”

Klei, on the other hand, is known for creating original IP, which means publishers come to it. “It’s quite a unique position for us.”

apetrozzi@biv.com]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=vancouver_visual_effects_studios_manufacture_district_9s_alien_look Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:33:39 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
BY MARKE ANDREWS, VANCOUVER SUN JULY 31, 2009

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Vancouver+visual+effects+studios+manufacture+District+alien+look/1846650/story.html

However, for District 9, a Sony Pictures Entertainment sci-fi action adventure from Peter Jackson's Wingnut Films that is one of this summer's blockbuster titles, three Vancouver companies provided the majority of the 600 visual effects shots in the film, which opens Aug. 14.

Image Engine created 311 VFX shots, The Embassy did 70 and Zoic Studios provided 30. The rest were done by Weta Digital, Jackson's New Zealand company, which was prominent in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Shawn Walsh, visual effects executive producer for Image Engine, believes the Vancouver domination of District 9's visual effects comes from the fact that the film's director, Neill Blomkamp, not only lives in Vancouver, but came out of the visual effects industry here and had confidence in the talent pool.

"Neill had knowledge of our facility, having worked at other facilities and being a founder of The Embassy," says Walsh. "He mentioned to us that he saw Image Engine spike up in visibility in terms of film work.

"Neill was quite keen on bringing the work to Vancouver."

Blomkamp invited Walsh and colleague Peter Muyzers — the two started an Image Engine film division three years ago — to New Zealand to meet with producer Carolynne Cunningham and post-production supervisor Pippa Anderson, to discuss the District 9 project. Image Engine landed the main contract, and worked on the shots from May 1, 2008, to June 30 of this year. Fifty of Image Engine's 60 staffers worked on it, with another 50 people hired on freelance contracts.

Even with the heavy workload on District 9 — this is by far the largest project the studio has done — Image Engine was still able to work on other movies, including Watchmen and the just-opened Orphan.

District 9 tells the story of aliens fleeing their own planet who land on Earth as refugees and are kept at a facility in South Africa, where tensions rise.

Image Engine was responsible for the computer-generated aliens in the film, as well as visual effects involving the alien mother ship, helicopters and troop carriers. Muyzers travelled to South Africa to supervise the live cinematography, making sure that what was being shot would work with the visual effects created in Vancouver.

The artists at Image Engine and The Embassy worked closely together in collaboration.

"From a business perspective, this is a real benchmark of how you can get a major visual effects movie like this done largely in Vancouver," said Walsh, who hopes this film will not only promote what his company can do, but what can be done in the city.

"Everybody in visual effects really likes to let the work speak for itself, and visual effects companies are typically not that great at marketing [themselves]," says Walsh. "We're hoping that folks will see the work and see the level of quality and sophistication we achieved on the shots, and believe that much more in Vancouver as a centre for post-production."

Patti Gannon, creative director of Zoic Studios, concurs.

"Hopefully people will have confidence in the work done here," says Gannon.

mandrews@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=wif_2010_webdesign_international_festival_preselections_coming_back_to_canadathis_fall_ Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:51:55 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
WIF's organizers, Limousin Expansion, have selected Canada as a partner country for the event. The representative will visit Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver to meet with groups including website agencies, universities and design schools, professional communities and media groups to develop sponsorship, planning, and participation in Canada.

The WIF is five major events in one:

● An international competition where the best specialists in the sector will go head to head in Limoges, France, over 24 hours non-stop. They will be chosen during preselections organized by WIF’s partner countries. The preselections will be held between mid-October 2009 and mid-February 2010. An online preselection is also planned for February 2010 for those participants whose countries are not partners of WIF. The 100 best candidates will go head-to-head in Limoges during the final from June 3 to 5, 2010. To apply or for more information, simply visit WIF's website: http://www.webdesign-festival.com.

● An international market place where commercial exchanges and industrial partnerships can be created in the sectors of new interfaces, new uses and digital innovation.

● An international congress: conferences and workshops, training sessions, round tables, debates on innovative themes (web 3, sensorial design, home automation interfaces, web security, accessibility, ergonomics, etc.).

● Speed-meeting sessions: an original and dynamic concept for confidential and pre-arranged meetings, this job fair will allow professionals from the sector to identify young talents, and allow students and job seekers to demonstrate their creative potential.

● Events for the general public including exhibitions, discovery workshops and "mini WIF" for school children.

"We’re all familiar with the Web, we’re all familiar with design, and by putting them together we obtain a new sector which combines graphic design, ergonomics and creativity as well as video, interactivity and meaning. There is a large range of parameters that new websites and mobile interfaces must offer their visitors," says Aude Bourliataux, WIF project manager at Limousin Expansion.

Webdesign is a way of enhancing products or businesses. It is a subtle blend of simplicity and beauty, a balance between the quality of information and how well it is presented. Browsing and surfing the Web can become an enriching experience. The way we navigate the site, the originality of the links, the videos and sounds attract our attention and stimulate our senses.

"For creators the challenge is to find the balance between art and the effectiveness of a product or service on a medium/mobile support to create the biggest buzz," says Bourliataux.

Organized by Limousin Expansion, the WIF, Webdesign International Festival, is for interface design and digital content professionals or enthusiasts who want to rise to the digital innovation challenge.

About Limousin Expansion:
Limousin Expansion is the Regional Development Agency providing support, advice, and expertise to business start-ups and innovative projects. Playing a role of facilitator, supporter and expert, Limousin Expansion’s teams are present alongside professionals, offering them coaching with their project and access to new markets.

For more information, please contact: 
LIMOUSIN EXPANSION
Ms. Aude Bourliataux
WIF Project Manager
Immeuble Cassiopée
26 rue Atlantis - Parc Ester
87069 Limoges Cedex FRANCE
Tel: +33 5 87 21 21 79
E-mail: a-bourliataux@webdesign-festival.com
Web: http://www.webdesign-festival.com

or:

FRENCH TECHNOLOGY PRESS OFFICE
205 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 3740
Chicago, IL 60601
Fax: (312) 327-5261
E-mail: contact.ftpo@ubifrance.fr]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=peoplecom_and_big_fish_games_launch_exclusive_partnership Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:38:10 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
(NEW Y]]>
(NEW YORK)– July 30, 2009 – People.com, the leading celebrity news site, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Seattle-based Big Fish Games ( http://www.bigfishgames.com ), the world’s leading online destination for games and interactive entertainment. Through this partnership, People.com will offer its 10 million monthly unique users (Source: Nielsen, June 2009) direct access to Big Fish Games’ “A New Game Every Day!” ® offering, along with their catalog of more than 2,000 free online and paid premium downloadable casual games. According to Comscore Media Metrix, the online gaming segment continues to show dramatic audience growth with the category attracting 87 million U.S. visitors in May 2009, up 22 percent versus a year ago.

People.com’s partnership with Big Fish Games underscores People.com’s continuous focus on providing its visitors with differentiated and exclusive entertainment. Starting today, People.com’s main games page ( http://www.people.com/games ) showcases select online and downloadable games in categories such as Adventure, Puzzle and Time Management. Visitors will have access to the full Big Fish Games catalog of 2,000 games, including the popular episodic brands Mystery Case Files, Hidden Expedition, Azada, and Fairway Solitaire. In September, People.com visitors will have access to the debut of Drawn, Big Fish Games’ widely anticipated “Cinematic Adventure” series. In addition to new offerings from Big Fish Games, users will continue to have access to People.com favorites such as Hollywood Hangman, Celebrity News Quiz, Odd Star Out, Celebrity Concentration, Love Connection and Puzzler.

People.com will receive a share of revenues on all transactions through Big Fish Games. This serves to further People.com’s revenue diversification strategy that began with People.com’s paid iPhone application. This iPhone application launched in May and continues to experience great success.

"People.com continually looks for new and innovative ways to enhance our users' online experience beyond the celebrity genre," explains Mark Golin, editor of People.com. "We know that People.com's target demographic of women is very engaged in casual gaming. By expanding and diversifying our games channel to include casual games from Big Fish Games, we are providing our audience with an even wider variety of entertainment options.”

“This strategic partnership brings together two trusted entertainment industry leaders that share a common focus of providing the best online and downloadable casual games to the large and rapidly growing audience of women and moms,” explains Jeremy Lewis, CEO of Big Fish Games. “Together,” Lewis continued, “we will provide People.com’s visitors with world class online entertainment and unparalleled customer service, both of which are cornerstones of our respective brands.”

About PEOPLE.com
People.com is the premier web destination for the latest celebrity news, photos, style, video and more. With up-to-the-minute reporting, People.com’s content is 95% original, distinguishing itself from the weekly issue of PEOPLE. At the same time, People.com’s dedicated team of editors, reporters and writers work closely with the magazine’s staff and correspondents across the globe. People.com has been recognized for breaking some of the biggest celebrity news stories of the last few years. On August 4, 2008, People.com hit an all time daily record with 6 million unique visitors for the exclusive photos of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitts’ twins. (Source: Omniture)

About Big Fish Games
Big Fish Games is the world's leading online destination for games and interactive entertainment. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Big Fish Games offers “A New Game Every Day!” ®. Big Fish Games works with more than 500 game developers and distributes over 1.5 million games per day to consumers worldwide. Big Fish Games Studios develops and publishes some of the industry's leading brands, including Mystery Case Files®, Hidden Expedition®, Azada™ and Fairway Solitaire™. For more information, please visit http://www.bigfishgames.com and http://www.mysterycasefiles.com.]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=canadian_television_fund_launches_industry_consultation_process Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:47:10 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
"Through the consultation process, industry stakeholders will play an active role in determining the program policies of the Canada Media Fund," said Valerie Creighton, President and CEO of the CTF. "This consultation with the industry is critical to a successful launch of the CMF and we look forward to hearing the great ideas this process will generate."

On August 6, 2009, at a virtual town hall, the CTF will present briefing papers detailing the key policy issues. Stakeholders will be invited to provide written submissions with their input on these issues and, subsequently, will have the opportunity to review and comment on all of the input received.

Following the written submission process, the CTF will host provincial, territorial, and national Focus Groups in English, French, and Aboriginal languages, based on the market. The Focus Groups will provide participants with an opportunity to discuss their ideas, questions, and concerns.

"The priority is to ensure that production and broadcast cycles are not destabilized as the CMF program is developed and implemented," continued Ms. Creighton. "The result of the industry consultation will be the program guidelines for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, which will implement the policy direction from the Government. The industry will also be asked for their views on the ongoing consultation process beyond the implementation year that will continue to adapt and refine the CMF program."

For more information, please review the document, Canada Media Fund Industry Consultation, available at http://www.ctf-fct.ca. Details regarding the August 6 town hall will be provided at a later date.

Fostering the growth of television production in Canada through financial investment and industry research, the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) supports the development of Canadian talent, programs, and audiences. The Canada Media Fund, an amalgamation of the Canadian Television Fund and the Canada New Media Fund, will launch on April 1, 2010 to enable the creation of successful, innovative Canadian content for digital platforms. For more information, visit http://www.ctf-fct.ca.]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=a_prototype_of_nonstop_action Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:25:54 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com> Prototype may be one of the most frenetic experiences you will play all year; the action simply d]]> Prototype may be one of the most frenetic experiences you will play all year; the action simply does not let up for a second throughout the game.

by Sun Media
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/PDF/2007/10/10/063009.pdf

New York City is a charred and burning ruin. A virulent plague has ravaged the island, transforming the once-teeming metropolis into a grisly morgue brimming over with corpses. Any citizens infected, but still alive, have mutated into mindless beasts, driven to madness by the disease. The city streets are patrolled by the Black-watch; cold, merciless killers sent by the government to contain the spread of the infection.

Activision’s latest, eagerly anticipated action game opens on the eighteenth day of the incident that devastated the city, as the game’s hero, Alex Mercer, recounts past events and vows to uncover the sinister conspiracy behind the lethal viral outbreak and the scientists responsible for transforming him into a monster.

Alex Mercer is no ordinary man. He is the Prototype, a biologically enhanced living weapon capable of willfully shifting his body’s biomass and cellular density into different and deadly forms.

Alex’ superhuman strength, extraordinary speed and inhuman resistance to injury enables him to rend steel as though it were paper, defy the laws of physics and run along any surface including vertical walls, or brush off a direct hit from a tank shell with nary a scratch.

His unique shape-shifting abilities can transform Alex’ limbs into whip-like tendrils, razor-sharp claws or powerful hammers capable of lashing, slicing and crushing any object in his path, inanimate or otherwise.

Prototype is built much like other sandbox-oriented, non-linear titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Crackdown or the more recent PS3 title, Infamous. As such, you’re often free to take on any of the available side-missions whenever you feel like it, or just explore the city until you’re ready to take on the next episode in the main plot-line. And just like GTA or Infamous, Prototype pulls no punches when it comes to colorful language and gore.

Prototype is an extremely active and busy looking game from the outset. In fact, this may be one of the most frenetic experiences you will play all year; the action simply does not let up for a second throughout.

Thankfully, the developers at Vancouver, B.C.- based Radical Entertainment produced a marvelously flexible and powerful 3D engine for this game that can render the entire city of New York including its famous buildings and parks — all without a hint of slowdown.

Bottom Line:

If you can overcome the periodically repetitious action formula and focus on the overall package or the storyline, you will discover Prototype to be one of the best examples of action gaming to hit multiple consoles so far this year.
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=the_future_of_digital_media Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:43:19 -0400 Craig@newmediabc.com <Craig@newmediabc.com> Need for federal regulatory strategy being recognized

In recent months, there has been ]]> Need for federal regulatory strategy being recognized

In recent months, there has been growing support for a national regulatory strategy for digital media. The CRTC has explicitly identified the need for this in its new-media decision, as have leaders in the technology, elecommunications, broadcast and education communities.

By TorStar News Service

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/digital_launch.aspx?eid=b29b9d52-77b3-4c35-a712-6b5040f36639&skip=true

The need for a federal strategy stems from the realization that Canada is rapidly falling behind much of the developed world on digital issues. The gradual hollowing out of the Canadian technology sector, the absence of a strategy to digitize Canadian content, and the plummeting rankings of Canadian high-speed services point to a problem that can no longer be ignored.

A Canadian digital action plan could focus on five main issues:

1. Incentives for worldclass networks
Ensuring that all Canadians have access to highspeed networks should be a top-priority. The plan could involve funding for
rural broadband initiatives and tax incentives to promote
investment in fast fibre-to-the-home services.

2. Establish openness
The City of Vancouver recently adopted an openness policy that establishes a preference for open standards, open-source software and open government data. The federal government should do the same.

3. Modernize the law
There is seemingly universal agreement that several Canadian laws are long overdue for digital reform, including updating
privacy legislation and changing Canadian tax rules to encourage venture-capital financing and corporate investment in
new technologies.

4. Remove barriers to innovation
A Canadian digital action plan should help promote innovation by removing several long-standing barriers. This includes lifting foreign investment restrictions in the telecommunications sector and guarding against anti-competitive
behaviour.

5. Promote a Canadian Internet
Support for a Canadian Internet should extend beyond traditional funding programs. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority could use part of its forthcoming financial surplus (which could soon exceed $1 million annually)
to grant every Canadian a free domain name to encourage their participation online.

]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=crtc_extends_exemption_for_new_media_and_calls_for_a_national_digital_strategy Fri, 5 Jun 2009 13:27:43 -0400 Craig@newmediabc.com <Craig@newmediabc.com>
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?m=/index&nid=456329

“While broadcasting in new media is growing in importance, we do not believe that regulatory intervention is necessary at this time,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. “We found that the Internet and mobile services are acting in a complementary fashion to the traditional broadcasting system. Any intervention on our part would only get in the way of innovation.”

Secondly, the Commission was not presented with convincing evidence that would suggest additional support, as proposed, was needed for the creation and presentation of Canadian broadcasting content in new media.

Thirdly, given the dynamic nature of the new media environment, the Commission expects to review its approach within the next five years. In the meantime, the Commission will introduce a reporting requirement for new media broadcasting services to ensure that it has the best information available for future reviews.

Fourthly, the Commission will initiate a reference to the Federal Court of Appeal to clarify the status of Internet service providers (ISPs). The Court will be asked to determine whether the Broadcasting Act should apply to ISPs when they provide access to broadcasting content.

Finally, the scope of the Commission’s examination of the new media phenomenon was limited given its mandate under the Broadcasting Act. The digital era presents many opportunities and challenges, which can only be addressed through a holistic approach. Many countries have already developed their own plans to respond to this environment. The Commission therefore fully endorses the National Film Board’s call for a national digital strategy.

“Canada needs a comprehensive national strategy to secure its digital future,” said Mr. von Finckenstein. “Such a strategy is essential if we want to maintain a competitive advantage in this global environment.”

As the National Film Board stated, the digital era will have enormous consequences for Canada’s political, social, economic and cultural future. The Commission believes that a focused and concerted approach is warranted, and stands ready to make its contribution to the development of a national digital strategy.

Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-329
Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2009-330

The CRTC
The CRTC is an independent public authority that regulates and supervises broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada.

Reference documents:
Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2008-11
News release, “CRTC to examine broadcasting in the new media environment,” October 15, 2008
News release, “CRTC launches consultation on broadcasting in new media for future hearing,” May 15, 2008
Report on the Future Environment Facing the Canadian Broadcasting System
Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2007-13
Public Notice CRTC 1999-197


Media Relations:
MediaRelations, Tel.: 819-997-9403, Fax: 819-997-4245

General Inquiries:
Tel.: 819-997-0313, TDD: 819-994-0423, Fax: 819-994-0218
Toll-free # 1-877-249-CRTC (2782)
TDD - Toll-free # 1-877-909-CRTC (2782)

]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=fists_fly_in_classic_remake Tue, 2 Jun 2009 13:53:23 -0400 Craig@newmediabc.com <Craig@newmediabc.com>
By SUN MEDIA

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/Entertainment/2009/06/02/9645171-sun.html

With apologies to Rick James, nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

In small doses, it whisks us blissfully back to simpler times when we called video game controllers "joysticks" and happiness was measured by the number of quarters in your pocket.

But too much nostalgia is a bad thing, as seen by some of the half-assed compilations of old-school video games that have flooded store shelves in recent years, or classic 8-bit games that have been dragged kicking and screaming into the current generation. Sometimes things from the past are best left there.

Not so, it turns out, with Nintendo's Punch-Out!! (No, I'm not shouting. There really are two exclamation marks in the title.) This beloved relic from the coin-op, NES and Super NES eras is a blast from the past that comes out swinging on the Wii, landing a solid right hook to the solar plexus of joy.

Developed by Vancouver-based Next Level Games (http://www.nextlevelgames.com) and based on the old-school Punch-Out!! series, the game does what an update of a classic should do, keeping the core feel of the original intact while spiffying up the graphics, adding new bells and whistles and making us cry fresh tears of rage and frustration. Oh, but it's good rage and frustration!

For those somehow unaware of the original, Punch-Out!! is as simple a boxing game as you could ask for, at least on the surface. You play as the series' longtime protagonist Little Mac, a tiny fella with a big heart who dreams of pumelling his way through 13 opponents and claiming the championship belt.

This isn't Fight Night Round 3, though, and Punch-Out!! is no more a boxing simulator than Mario Kart is a NASCAR game. It's all about reflexes, timing, memorizing the signature "tells" that each opponent makes before busting out a powerful blow and simply having a heck of a lot of fun.

Since it's being reborn on the Wii, it's natural that Punch-Out!! makes use of the Wii's motion controls, allowing you to hold the Wii Remote and Nunchuk in your fists and swing away, similar to the boxing mini-game in Wii Sports. But you've got added control over where your blows land, and if you're feeling especially active, you can add the Wii Balance Board to the mix to register your bobs and ducks.

Or you can just sit on the couch and play the whole thing using the directional pad and buttons on the Wii Remote, with none of that calorie-burning, heart-pumping moving around required.

However you do play it, Punch-Out!! deserves to be experienced. It's a fantastically fun blast from the past, even if it's a bit disappointing that there's no online play (it's Nintendo, what do you expect?) and a few of the lesser-known fighters from the earlier games are missing (and no Mike Tyson, unsurprisingly. But at least fat Canadian boxer Bear Hugger made the cut.)

BottomLine:

A loving update of a classic Nintendo title, Punch-Out!! is a lot of fun, even if it does remind us just how tough the original game was at times. Body blow! Body blow!
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=summer_workshops_and_bootcamps Fri, 29 May 2009 14:03:44 -0400 diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca <diana.mckenzie@ubc.ca> Find more information at http://www.tech.ubc.ca/mm.

Workshops:
Introduction to Audio and Video Podcasting, June 6
Build a Website with WordPress, June 13
GarageBand and Soundtrack Pro Basics, June 20
Flash with Motion Graphics: Interactive Videos, June 27

One-Week Bootcamps:
Adobe InDesign, June 8 - 12
Dreamweaver, June 15 - 19
Flash, June 22 - 26

Three-Week Web Design Intensive, July 6 - 24.
Earlybird discount for registrations before June 8!
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=invoke_media_hopes_to_sign_on_twitterer_barack_obama Thu, 28 May 2009 15:28:34 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
BY GILLIAN SHAW, VANCOUVER SUN

U.S. President Barack Obama is known as the world’s most powerful Twitterer.
Photograph by: Jonathan Ernst, Reuters

Next on the agenda, the company hopes the world’s most powerful Twitterer Barack Obama will sign up for its service.

The Vancouver startup won best start up and best social media application at PopVox09,

The high fives that greeted those wins were only matched at the company’s Downtown Eastside offices when the White House signed up for Invoke’s social media software HootSuite to manage the White House Twitter account.

“They just started using it,” said Ryan Holmes, Invoke’s founder and president. “They signed up and starting using HootSuite to manage the White House Twitter account @WhiteHouse.

“If they also signed up @BarackObama, our application would help them manage both accounts.”

HootSuite (at http://www.hootsuite.com), which launched about five-and-a-half months ago, is a Web-based Twitter toolbox that lets individuals and businesses run their Twitter accounts more effectively. Like the micro-blogging service Twitter, it’s a free application. It has 62,000 accounts already and 1.8 million tweets have been broadcast to the Twittersphere using HootSuite. Barely two months into its release, it won best application at the first annual Shorty Awards in New York.

“We are doubling every month,” said Holmes. “If it keeps on that trend we’re looking at some big numbers coming up.”

HootSuite, dubbed the ‘Swiss army knife’ of Twitter apps, lets pro-Twitterers and organizations not only post and keep track of tweets, their network and Twitter traffic; it also has analytics that show how effective tweets are in reaching their audience, in getting a response and in generating traffic to users’ web sites.

“This shows ROI (return on investment),” said Holmes, zeroing in on a dilemma facing companies as they puzzle over the merits of using Twitter and other social media tools.

“It can show the number of visitors to your site based on Twitter; the speed, velocity of the reaction, what times of day get the best response,” said Holmes. “For example a company could compare the reaction of an offer of 25 per cent off a product versus a tweet offering free shipping and see which gets the better response.”

Holmes, recently back from New York where he met with major publishers that are among HootSuite users, said the company has plans in the works to help publications monetize on content. As for monetizing HootSuite for Invoke, the company is taking the ‘build it and the money will eventually come’ approach of the San Francisco-based Twitter.

“It is one of our products and we knew it would be a useful tool for people,” said Holmes. “Right now we are focusing on features and growing our user base.”

Holmes said a new HootSuite release slated for later this month will improve usability of the application.

The White House is only the latest of high profile Twitter users who have signed up to use HootSuite. Among others: Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, GoogleatWork and ESPN and more.

According to comScore, Twitter’s explosive growth shows no signs of abating. In its latest stats, comScore reported the micro-blogging site had 17 million US visitors in April, an 83 per cent hike over March and a 3,000 per cent jump from a year ago. comScore reported that the past two months have seen such a flood of traffic to Twitter.com that it has more than quadrupled its audience over that time.

PopVox09 part of Vancouver’s Digital Week, combine the people’s awards based on industry voting and four juried awards.

The juried award winners include:

Individual Stand Out in Industry Advocacy: Danny Robinson, managing director, Bootup Labs / co-founder, Launch Party Vancouver

Individual Stand Out in Digital Education: Gerri Sinclair, executive director, Masters of Digital Media Program

Individual Stand Out in Social Media: Kris Krug, president, Raincity Studios

Individual Stand Out for Visionary Leadership: Michael Tippett, founder / chief marketing officer, Now Public

And in the open voting categories in the people’s choice awards, winners include:

Best Digital Animation: Pride of Frankenstein, Jibber Jabber

Best Digital VFX: Inside Out, Switch Interactive

Best Digital Learning Initiative (Technology): The Film Lab, the substream

Best Digital Learning Initiative (Instructional Design): Comix 101, Zeros to Heroes Media

Best Game: A Puckoff Christmas, Switch Interactive

Best Mobile Application: Georgia Nicols 2009 Annual Forecast

Best Social Media Application: HootSuite, Invoke Media

Best User Generated/Crowd-sourced Content Site: Interactive Web Comics, Pixton

Best Company Use of Social Media: I Love Heartland, Zeros to Heroes Media

Best Viral or Digital Advertising Campaign: Zombie Singles, Noise Digital

Best User Experience (Website): Interior Designers Institute of BC web site, Switch Interactive

Best Design (Website): BC Business Online

Best Do-Gooder (Social Change Initiative): O-Vert, Switch Interactive

Best Start Up: HootSuite, Invoke Media

Best Student Project: Tiki Wiki, The Art Institute of Vancouver

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=new_doors_opening_online_for_bc_game_developers Wed, 20 May 2009 14:00:31 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
By Curt Cherewayko

The advent of new video game platforms and increased direct access to consumers is rewriting the rules in a developer-publisher relationship that has historically been the primary, if not only, model for creating video games.

And while B.C. video game developers still recognize the value of forging strong ties with publishers, many are publishing their own games to create secondary and short-term revenue streams.

This was evident last week at the Vancouver International Partnering Forum (VIPF), part of Vancouver Digital Week, where developers, publishers and a host of other companies from the video game industry gathered.

Developers were at the event to pitch new ideas to publishers, but an equal cross-section of developers were promoting titles that they are marketing independently.

“The beauty of the self-published model is that you make your own decisions,” said Brenda Bailey, COO of Vancouver’s Deep Fried Entertainment Inc. “You don’t have to rely on someone else’s relationships, timelines, expertise or ineptitude.”

Deep Fried was shopping around a demo game, hoping to pique the interest of Capcom Entertainment Inc., Electronic Arts Inc., Paramount Pictures and other major labels.

Deep Fried is also putting the final touches on a new title, inspired by Japanese game shows, it is releasing independently through Nintendo’s WiiWare store in August.

WiiWare is among a number of new online portals – others include Sony’s PlayStation Store and Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace – where developers can market their own titles, and where gamers can download games directly to game consoles.

Such online marketplaces are undermining the role of the publisher: video games that are distributed digitally don’t require the slick packaging, promotion, sales channels and other resources required to sell games in retail outlets.
But risks and limitations come attached to self-published downloadable games.

While publishers can provide steady revenue to studios, months can pass before developers see any revenue from titles they self-publish, forcing them to accept all the risk at the front-end of a project.
Downloadable games also have lower memory, which limits their speed and narrative and the fidelity of their design and sound.

But because they’re technically less-complex productions, downloadable games can be put together in months, not years.

Bailey noted that developing downloadable games is an ideal way for studios to fill in the downtime between full-feature projects and an alternative to layoffs.

Many publishers are still involved in developing and marketing downloadable games, including Capcom, which has published 14 titles through online marketplaces.

Adam Boyse, Capcom’s director of production, said publishers have the resources that can make the difference between a good downloadable game and a great downloadable game.

“A small team of eight guys can’t afford to bring in a crew of 20 focus testers every week to tweak the experience,” said Boyse.

In addition to new technologies, new lifestyle expectations are also changing the relationship between publishers and developers.

“The mentality is different – [publishers] really have to treat [developers] like peers,” said Boyse.

“For so long everyone always saw these companies as a bunch of yahoo kids that can handle working until 5 a.m.”

Local game developer Klei Entertainment Inc. learned last January that there are still risks attached to the publisher-developer model when its publisher, Humanature Studios, suddenly closed its doors, orphaning Klei’s title Sugar Rush.

Klei continues to seek a publisher for that title.

It was at VIPF to promote its third-party, or outsourced, services, which provide an additional revenue stream for Klei and feed development of its titles.

As well, Klei is developing its latest title, Shank, which it’s self-publishing.

Jeff Agala, Klei’s creative director, said that with the success of independent hits such as Braid and Penny Arcade Adventures, which was developed by Vancouver’s Hothead Games Inc., publishers are allowing developers more creative control in game development.

“[Publishers] are taking those risks to trust the smaller companies to make their games,” said Agala.

During a panel session at the Game Developers Conference last week, Tarrnie Williams, general manager of Vancouver’s Relic Entertainment Inc., said the accessibility and variety of games on online marketplaces is drawing new demographics to video games.

“There’s a whole lot of games that need to be made,” said Williams. “People don’t just want shooters, RPGs [role playing games] and driving games.” •

cgc@biv.com
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=popvox_awards_go_to_switch_interactive_invoke_media_and_others Wed, 20 May 2009 13:50:44 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
By Stephen Hui

http://www.straight.com/article-220922/popvox-awards-go-switch-interactive-invoke-media-and-others

Switch Interactive was the big winner, taking home four of the people's choice awards, including Best Game for A Puckoff Christmas.

Invoke Media won two awards (Best Social Media Application and Best Start Up) for Hootsuite, formerly known as BrightKit.

The PopVox Awards, presented by New Media B.C., were handed out at Workspace in Gastown, as part of Vancouver Digital Week.

The week, which wraps up today (May 14) with Digital Kung-Fu, included the Game Developers Conference Canada, Convergence 09, and other events.

Here’s the full list of PopVox winners:

Best Digital Animation
“Pride of Frankenstein”
Jibber Jabber

Best Digital VFX
Inside Out
Switch Interactive

Best Digital Learning Initiative (Technology)
The Film Lab
thesubstream

Best Digital Learning Initiative (Instructional Design)
Comix 101
Zeros to Heroes Media

Best Game
A Puckoff Christmas
Switch Interactive

Best Mobile Application
Georgia Nicols 2009 Annual Forecast

Best Social Media Application
Hootsuite
Invoke Media

Best User Generated/Crowd-sourced Content Site
Pixton—Interactive Web Comics

Best Company Use of Social Media
I Love Heartland
Zeros to Heroes Media

Best Viral or Digital Advertising Campaign
Zombie Singles
Noise Digital

Best User Experience (Website)
Interior Designers Institute of BC
Switch Interactive

Best Design (Website)
BC Business Online

Best Do-Gooder (Social Change Initiative)
O-Vert
Switch Interactive

Best Start Up
Hootsuite
Invoke Media

Best Student Project
Tiki Wiki
Art Institute

Individual Stand Out: Industry Advocacy
Danny Robinson, managing director of Bootup Labs and cofounder of Launch Party Vancouver

Individual Stand Out: Digital Education
Gerri Sinclair, executive director of Masters of Digital Media Program

Individual Stand Out: Social Media
Kris Krug, president of Raincity Studios

Individual Stand Out: Visionary Leadership
Michael Tippett, founder and chief marketing officer at Now Public

You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=gamers_prepare_to_invade_vancouver_next_week Sun, 10 May 2009 13:37:03 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
By Marke Andrews, Vancouver SunMay 9, 2009

Crossing the border for the first time, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) will hold its two-day event next week at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Some 600 video game developers and company executives will congregate for the event, held during Vancouver Digital Week, which features the Vancouver International Partnering Forum, also at the convention centre, where local developers can try to catch the eye of executives from such companies as Disney, Google, Nickelodeon and Nokia.

The Cossette West Convergence Conference, a digital marketing and social media event, also occurs during Vancouver Digital Week. VIDFEST, which usually runs in May, has been cancelled this year due to a funding shortage.

In all, about 2,000 people and 180 companies will attend the events, which include the People's Choice PopVox Awards, to be handed out Wednesday at Workspace on Water Street.

GDC holds several conventions each year, the last one in March in San Francisco, and another coming up in Austin, Tex., in September. In addition to debuting in Canada next week, GDC will stage events in Cologne, Germany, in August, and in Shanghai, China, in October.

"We have looked at Vancouver for a long time as a hotbed of game development globally," said Kathy Schoback, executive vice-president of global events for Think Services, and a GDC organizer. "It's a very robust community. Across Canada, there's a lot of talent in the Toronto area and the Montreal area, and ultimately we're hoping to draw that talent to Vancouver to talk about game development as Canadians."

Schoback expects 600 people and close to 100 companies will attend the Vancouver GDC.

The past year has been challenging for a lot of digital media companies, with a number of Vancouver video game studios laying off artists, developers and programmers. This year's first-quarter sales of video game software, hardware and accessories fell 8.5 per cent from the previous year, the first time that has happened since The NPD Group, which tracks sales, began following the industry.

In planning the week's events, organizers said they added later events to deal with the turmoil in the economic landscape. Although GDC is aimed at developers and focuses more on content than business, Izora De Lillard, GDC Canada event director, said two sessions, Riding the Waves of Change: Flourish During Relentless Volatility and Crunch Time: The Secrets of a CEO, will address the effects of the recession on the Vancouver scene.

The GDC has offered free attendance to the conference to all developers who were laid off from Vancouver studios.

This year's Vancouver International Partnering Forum will attract 120 participants and 80 companies from 10 countries.

For event information, go to vancouverdigitalweek.com and gdc-canada.com.

mandrews@vancouversun.com

http://www.vancouversun.com/Life/Gamers+prepare+invade+Vancouver+next+week/1578973/story.html
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=la_games_conference_2009_report Thu, 7 May 2009 14:36:54 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
April 28-29, 2009
The Historic Roosevelt Hotel
Los Angeles, California]]>
April 28-29, 2009
The Historic Roosevelt Hotel
Los Angeles, California

By: Thomas Palamides, Canadian Consulate General Los Angeles
Report Date: May 5, 2009

Introduction:
The United States is a video gaming market like no other: It is distinct from Asia and Europe. Its great diversity stems from its attitude, culture, and consumerism. From this vantage point it is suggested that the future of gaming will depend on the “three-way marriage” of mobile, massive multiplayer online gaming (MMOG) and social media networks (i.e. Facebook, MySpace…).

Market researchers, and industry experts, have a thorough understanding of why people choose to play games, but can only provide an adumbration for effective game play monetization. Take for instance the Asian market. Does it really matter that, in 2008, the virtual goods market in Asia was valued at $2 billion USD? -- This is make-believe goods, using make-believe money. From Alice in Wonderland, Alice says: “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?” No wonder numbers are like gossip.

Reviewing the latest achievements in the gaming market may unlock a better understanding as to why a video game becomes a commercial success; however, past success does not ensure future success. Much can be learned by studying the nuances of mobile, social media, music, film, and the impact of technology on these industries. Playing an equally important role is the mindset of the publisher, and digital rights management (DRM).


Report:

Top Gaming Trends – Analytics Presentations
(1) Nick Williams, Director, Media & Entertainment Insights – OTX Research

OTX Research is a video gaming market research company which has developed a real-time tracking system collecting data from on over 25,000 gamers across more than six hundred games. Web analytics are only as accurate as the editorial content the user may have making OTX’s approach, through its real-time tracking system, unprecedented. It is easy to analyze a large franchise, but within the gaming industry there are numerous niche markets that require a specialized understanding.

Most developers and publishers work with many unknowns when launching a game. A product’s market success may be characterized by a decision making funnel. A pictorial representation begins, wide at the top, with “consumer awareness”, tapering down to “positive buzz”, “purchasing intent”, “intent to rent”, and concluding with “purchase preference”. The various steps provide leverage points for the marketing team. Tie this in with real-time data, and management can arrive at a tailored solution for the lifecycle of the game.

(2) Mr. Greg Short, Executive Chairman - EEDAR

EEDAR is an independent research firm devoted one-hundred percent to gaming analytics. EEDAR uses proprietary technology to analyze its market. The company speaks of a refinement in analytics such that over 15,000 objectively quantifiable aspects of a video game are considered. The data provide information such as sales projections, risk mitigation and game feature valuation, to name a few. Statistics/trends suggested include:

a) The appeal for Action Games peaked in 2004-2005.
b) General entertainment games were up twelve percent in 2008.
c) Downloadable content has been growing exponentially presenting enormous potential.

(3) Mr. Ethan Titelman, VP Media & Entertainment Group - Penn, Schoen & Berland

Despite the recession, the state of the video gaming industry is growing. Gaming is expanding to new audiences. It also has to get away from a product-driven approach. Four key trends happening in the current gaming industry:

a) Social Interaction – people/families are again learning to play together.
b) Back to basics – simple fun interaction works best.
c) Every vote counts – this is about expanding-the-pie to bring in new customers. Hollywood film industry is doing this with the “immersive experience” and 3D.
d) Consumers are the critics – the best criticism comes from the users.

Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) gaming needs to expand well beyond niche geeky users. There has to be more of a social impact with game play.


Gaming and Music – New Business Opportunities in the Wake of The Guitar Hero and Rock Band Phenomenon
Ryan Barkan, Sr. Dir. Advertising/Video Gaming, Primary Wave Music Publishing
Alex Hackford, Head of A&R, Sony Computer Entertainment America
Michael Rubinelli, SVP, Game Development, Genius Products
Scott Scherer, VP, Product Management, Hands-on Mobile
Tommy Talerico, CEO/Executive Producer/Host, Video Game Live
Moderator – Ted Cohen, Managing Partner, TAG Strategic

Q: How has the gaming industry evolved for you over the last few years?

Tommy: The creative and technology were always separate. We are now seeing that they must now work in tandem from the beginning of the development process. Also, I think I saw a statistic recently that, that in 2008, thirty-two percent of all music industry revenues were generated by the gaming industry. Moreover, video games have become the music of choice, and the culture of choice, for this generation.

Ryan: First of all, Rock Band is an extension of the “live” experience, rather than the “recorded” experience. Our company is going beyond the typical “licensing 101” for all of our catalogues. It is the vision they saw because of the market success of Rock Band and Guitar Hero. The “big publishers” are starting to get it.

Q: What’s beyond Rock Band as far as innovation goes?

Tommy: Publishers now want to take the music game into another direction - to a new generation. They want listeners to explore the history of the band, to build a deeper relationship with the artists is the publisher’s goal.

Ryan: I think the biggest innovation is the leveraging of the copyrights for revenue generation.

Michael: What we are seeing is an evolution of thinking of the publishers and artists. They are thinking about how to extend talent to all genres. We have artificial intelligence that grades the interactive experience of the person, and the music, in the framework of a game. That is fun and interesting.

Q: How does one present new opportunities to the music publishers

Michael: [When we approached the publishers] we knew that their default response would be NO. The concepts of remix, mash-ups were dirty words to their ears. Therefore, we told them exactly what we were going to do, and how we were going to do it. Then we showed them a real demo. Something they could touch with their hands. When the publishing executives saw the actual products, they said: “Now we get it.”

Scott: We had a whole different set of challenges. How does one take a social game, like Guitar Hero, to an individual experience? Music licensing was a big challenge mainly around revenue sharing rates. Also, rapid changes in hardware and software are always a concern.

Q: What element do you need to make a music game successful in the future?

Scott: From a mobile perspective, the wireless carrier’s always wanted to see every single hand set covered [portability of content to various handsets, often three-to-four hundred models, was costly]. Going forward we are focusing on sub-groups, of ten-to-twenty handsets models, with specific capability.

Michael: The future of gaming has to be exploratory and expressive, but it also has to have rigidity, which can propel the user experience forward. Historically, in gaming, once you have a hit, everybody seems to follow, and then the genre dies. We desperately need innovation to keep this industry growing.


Gaming, Film and Television – Breaking Down the Barriers Between Hollywood and the Game Industry
Kate Connally, VP, Addicting Games, MTV Networks
Spencer Hunt, VP, Game Production & Digital Development, Sony Pictures Television
John Kavanagh, SVP, Videogames, Paramount Digital Entertainment
Bill Kispert, VP, Interactive, NBC Universal
Dave Long, CEO/Co-Founder, Exponential Entertainment, Inc.
Moderator – Steve Goldstein, Senior Counsel, Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP

Q: What has changed in the royalty pool?

Dave: Depending on the platform there was always a fixed royalty split. Now, studios better understand the time and resources needed to bring a game to market. Therefore, there is more flexibility on royalties today.

Bill: You have to spend a lot of time hashing through the creative issues. That involves speaking continuously with all interested parties [IP holders] to mitigate any problems. Every detail is looked at with respect to release date of DVD, games, and movies simultaneously.

Q: While mobile is focused on downloadable content (DLC), how are you looking at the social media space?

John: Social media has spread the word, but we have not seen the Facebook applications and the revenues. It’s probably coming soon.

Dave: Tapping into the passion that people have about film is our approach.

Spencer: We started to look at the social platforms from a promotional stand point, as well as from micro-transactional.


Gaming and Mobile Phones – What are the latest Trends in Games for the Third Screen?
Michael Chang, CEO & Co-Founder, Greystripe
Time Chang, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners
George Kurtyka, 3P Account Manager, Nokia
Kyu Lee, President, Gamevil
David Zemke, Director of Marketing, Glu Mobile
Moderator – Nicole Lazzaro, President, XEODesign, Inc.

Q: Where are we at as far as innovation? I see the iphone applications store as being a marvelous success. What is next?

George: We are seeing the “operator model” emerge. The top 10 list exists on the iphone store. We are going to see location, social networks playing a larger part of this business. For example, utilizing your contact list to see what they are playing, and what their high score was for a particular game.

Michael: Apple’s iphone store has created a mechanization issue regarding staying power. There are simple too many apps now on the store. Apps like iFart are just a fad. Pricing needs to be tiered with low, mid and high price points. Split screens may help with social discussion to find what to play.

Kyu: The iphone has set the innovation bar high. It is not coming from the game itself, but from other areas. In Korea, the micro-transactions, and the discovery, have advanced game play. How we market directly to the user will change. In the U.S. the carriers market directly, but this needs to change. Based on our market research direct with Korean users we have found working with brands, end-user products, and individual commercials for specific games, has been very effective. A few statistics from Korea are:

- Thirty percent of carrier revenues come from games.
- Three dollars USD per games is the average.
- Items are sold from ten-cents and up.
- We are seeing an up-sell of anywhere between twenty-to-eighty percent per game.
- Free play is huge, but is exclusive to the top five games.
- More and more hybrid subscription and micro-payment models are developing.

Michael: Our model is to serve ads through an aggregated portfolio of games. It is generally a full screen, pre-roll or interstitial advertisement. Mobile games are becoming more like main stream media. There are three strategies they are tracking: (1) Free, (2) Windowing Strategy – Launch for-pay for six months, and then transition to free, (3) Simultaneous free and for-pay.

Q: Where are we going with audience segmentation?

David: We look at the audience in two levels: (1) what are they actually playing, (2) what socially-enabled apps are people using. We then target ads to these groups.

Tim: Advertising was the defacto model; however, there is a proven hybrid model as we have seen in music and film. The music industry is under tremendous stress with the digital rights management issues. Also, micro-transactions are completely tied to emotional components of the games.

David: Much more robust game play apps should command a higher premium, something in the $2.99 - $4.99 range. One should have twenty-to-thirty hours of game play from one of these premium titles. But there is currently a lot of noise (clutter) on the mobile deck.

Kyu: We have seen many companies in Korea develop a hit game, but not multiple hit games. The new wall will be built by the publishers in the U.S. They own the relationship with the customer. They have replaced the carriers in the U.S.


Keynote: Finding Money in Games
Mitch Lasky, General Partner, Benchmark Capital
Interviewed by: Eric Goldberg, Managing Director, Crossover Technologies.

The future of gaming business is in electronic distribution over the next three-to-five years. I would look at Steam (http://www.steampowered.com <http://www.steampower.com/> ), or addicting Games (http://www.addictinggames.com <http://www.addictinggames.com/> ) as a great example.

The iPhone market is a great market for small developers, but for building scale, it is not.

We have learned from other industries, such as music, books, feature film, etc., that once a company has five-to-seven percent market share they have achieved success. As the company grows its business the next inflexion point emerges at the fifteen-to-eighteen percent market share. Here the investors feel that the company is a front runner.

Social gaming is more than just releasing games to social platforms like MySpace and Facebook. It is more about monetizing game play. An interesting challenge for these market leaders will come with the introduction of payment processing. These types of functionalities will create wrinkles in their communities. The companies will begin to look like operators.

I am making an observation here, but I would bet that the large gaming publishers will have a difficult time transitioning to digital distribution. Giving up the fifty-to-sixty dollar DVD game will not come easy. It is just too lucrative.

Advanced session-based games will have a profound effect on the growth of the gaming market. It will be the hard core gaming community, selling virtual goods, that will crack the revenue problem in the U.S., rather than the casual gamer.


Viral Gaming – New Ways to Promote and Distribute Games Online
Gareth David, Platform Manager, Facebook
Jim Drewry, Executive Director of marketing, Turbine
Nash Parker, Director, Emerging Technology & Media Alcatel-Lucent
Jason Oberfest, SVP of Business Development, MySpace
Dan Yue, Co-founder and CEO, Playdom
Moderator – Eric Goldber, Managing Director, Crossover Technologies.

Q: How important is the social factor in gaming?

Jim: The new generation of social gaming is now on Facebook (a community of two-hundred and fifty million registered users and growing), but originally they were Massive Multiplayers Online (MMO) and pass-along interaction. Viral marketing would occur through direct referrals and indirect referrals.

Dan: Viral means that you are going to try to introduce mechanisms into the game that you can suggest to a friend. You use the social networks to connect to their friends. Word of mouth is great, but sometime too slow. The virility mechanics are: (1) the conversation with them, (2) the “my team” effect – the bigger you are the better you are, and (3) the “collectibles route” – get your friends to collect key parts to complete the team.

Gareth: Game play must be fun. It must also use the social functionality of the platform. The top ten games on Facebook have sixty million users (aggregated) per month. The future is the shift between social activities happening not only on your social network, but what is happening in your life overall. Also, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is the age fifty-five and older. They are joining because their friends are joining.

Jason: Social is important. By creating demand for game play you are creating profitability for the developer. A few of the key components of viral marketing are that it is eminently self-expression. Also, it involves a process of discovery for new and entertaining games.

Nash: We build the telecommunications backbone. We are developing 4th generation wireless network equipment and technologies called LTE (Long Term Evolution) which will give interactive speed capacity of up to 60 Mbps download, and 20-30 Mbps upload. In the U.S., Verizon is planning to go active in 1 QTR 2010.

Q: How do we monetize the social communities?

Dan: We do not make too much money on display advertising because it is not effective for gamers. Instead, we are focused on two mechanisms: (1) Virtual goods (obsessive collectability of goods which give some minimal benefits to the virtual character in the game to show off to your friends), and (2) Game Advancement – where you can pay to advance your character through the game. For example, you can make it stronger, or provide more energy, etcetera.

Garth: The Internet has changed how companies make money because the cost of distribution is virtually zero. There are currently two ways of making money: (1) advertising – banners, sponsors… (2) Transactional - items for purchase – this is quickly becoming the primary revenue generator.


Conclusion:
Over the next decade gaming is going to permeate our lives in ways that one cannot even imagine. Just look at Korea. Though eighty percent of the South Korean population plays games, they don’t see game play as game play. Interpreting this means that game play has become so ingrained in their daily lives that it has become the norm. The North American market is not there yet, but it is headed in that direction. The importance of virtual game play, make-believe goods, and make-believe money will be a pivotal part of this societal transition.

Understanding the purchasing behavior of the broader demographic will unlock the commercial success for many publishers. Having broader band networks, both wireless and wired, will certainly facilitate the consumer acceptance of the three way marriage among mobile, MMOG and social media.


Thomas Palamides
Trade Commissioner
Canadian Consulate General
550 S. Hope Street, 9th Floor
Los Angeles, CA. 90071
Direct: (213) 346-2757
E-mail: thomas.palamides@international.gc.ca
Web: http://www.losangeles.gc.ca <http://www.losangeles.gc.ca/>
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=digital_lab_awards_10000_interactive_content_development_prize Wed, 6 May 2009 17:23:00 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
“Sex With John” takes top prize
The winner of the $10,000 CBC Development Award for 2009 is “Sex With John”; an interactive
comedy series developed by BC writers and producers Lauren Grant and Lori Lozinski. “Sex
With John” follows 32-year-old over educated and under experienced sexologist Mallory Davis
through the cyber trenches in a hunt for her own elusive relationship. The narrative engages the
audience in a ‘chose your own dating adventure’ style of storytelling.

“We are pleased to support this exciting innovative project. The award offers a great opportunity
for Lauren and Lori to develop their idea into an accessible and compelling interactive narrative
series”, said Mary Quinn, CBC Executive in Charge of Development and Production for TV Arts &
Entertainment.

Background: The Digital Development Lab
The second Digital Development Lab was made possible by the support of CBC’s Regional
Program Development Fund, British Columbia Film, New Media BC and The Centre for Digital
Media, Great Northern Way Campus.

“We were very pleased to once again support this innovative digital lab”, said Richard Brownsey,
President of British Columbia Film. “All participants presented strong concepts that were
advanced in a supportive and immersive environment.”

This year’s competition drew over 50 pitches from BC companies. Five companies were selected
to participate in an intensive interactive content lab led by industry professionals held at The
Centre for Digital Media in April. One project was selected this week for the $10,000 CBC
Development Award that will enable the team to develop a proof of concept and seek production
funding.

“We were very impressed by the quality of mentorship at this year’s Digital Development Lab.
The top caliber industry professionals were deeply immersed in each proposal and provided
valuable guidance to fine tune storytelling and audience interaction” said Kenton Low, President
of New Media BC Association. “The Centre for Digital Media also provided an inspiring
environment to help facilitate fresh ideas and creative thinking.”

"It was exciting to see such a range of innovative ideas. The quality of the pitches submitted
continues to raise the bar", said Karen Volterra, Development, Interactive Content, CBC
Television A&E


Contacts:

Mary Quinn, Executive in Charge of Development and Production, CBC A&E, 604.662.6411
Mary.quinn@cbc.ca

Karen Volterra, Development, Interactive Content, CBC A&E, 416.205.6967
Karen.Volterra@cbc.ca

Lauren Grant, Clique Pictures Inc., 604.209.4788
lauren@clique-pictures.com

Lori Lozinski, Violator Films Inc., 604.506.0167
lori@violatorfilms.com ]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=what_the_tweet Mon, 4 May 2009 16:41:25 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
Sure, the Twitter scene was already buzzing with social butterflies sending "Twe]]>
Sure, the Twitter scene was already buzzing with social butterflies sending "Tweets" before you signed on, but the moment you did, talk about a perfect example for Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

Since posting her first Tweet in mid-April, now just about everyone and their dog is tweeting.

On that day, a reported 37% of those stopping by the social networking home page were new visitors.

While it's unlikely that the spike can be entirely credited to the talk show queen, there's no denying how mighty her influence, turning everything from books and movies and even Dr. Phil into gold, a phenomenon often referred to as the Oprah Effect.

Of course Ashton Kutcher did his part to boost the website when he initiated a race against CNN to see who could snag a million followers first (Kutcher won, earning him the moniker, King of Twitter).

If you don't already know, a Tweet is a real-time message (basically like status updates on Facebook) containing 140-characters or less letting others what you're up to.

But why on earth do we need to know what everyone is up to at all times? Is being stuck in a grocery store lineup or eating a donut really that fascinating? Well, it must be. In February alone, the website clocked more than 7 million unique visitors. Not bad for a small privately-owned company who started up out of San Francisco just three years ago.

Perhaps though, the booming popularity of the site says more about our obsession with celebrity culture.

With everyone from Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, John Mayer, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Shaquille O’Neal and Lance Armstrong on the Twitter scene, it's like being part of a VIP party that we wouldn't get an invite to in real life.

Then again, it's possible the micro-blogging site simply appeals to our narcissistic tendencies in the same way continually updating one's Facebook photo seems both quaint and excessively self-involved at once.

Companies, needless to say, have also jumped on the trend like sugar-addicted kids on free candy bars.

The New York Times, The Ellen Show, and the newspaper you're currently holding in your hands have all joined the Twitter-sphere, arguably because it's one of the hottest online trends happening at the moment and it's free, and when something's free, the ears of the suit-and-tie crew tend to perk up.

But maybe, the attraction is just this: It's a world without rejection.

Unlike Facebook where users approve friendships in order to share information, with Twitter it doesn't matter whether you're a pimply-faced kid, stay-at-home mom, or famous household name, you can "follow" anyone you want as long as they're members.

Quick and easy with the modern selling point of immediacy, it takes the smallest amount of effort to let others know you're out there doing stuff.
Sure, you can post the most mundane life details like "trying to find my favorite socks" or "watching The Amazing Race" but it doesn't much matter.

Should it?
Probably not, but it's definitely something to Tweet ... err ... think about.

By Tanya Enberg / Relatively Speaking columns, http://blog.canoe.ca/tanyaenberg/2009/05/04/what_the_tweet
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=popvox_awards_voting_deadline_looms_part_of_upcoming_vancouver_digital_media_week Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:30:57 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
By GILLIAN SHAW

Showcasing some of t]]>
By GILLIAN SHAW

Showcasing some of the best and the brightest in the province’s digital media industry, PopVox is the people’s choice awards and this year – marking the third year for the awards – the number of categories has grown to 16. Open to BC companies and individuals, PopVox winners are chosen in online voting which closes at midnight tonight.

“It’s our people’s choice awards show,” said Kirstin Richter, PopVox Awards producer. “There is so much happening in BC it made sense to use PopVox as a showcase for some of what is coming out of BC.

“It is a chance for companies to show their stuff.”
The awards are part of the upcoming Vancouver Digital Week 2009 that runs from May 11 to the 14th, with much of the week hosted at the newly opened Vancouver Exhibition and Convention Centre.

PopVox winners will be announced at a May 13 awards party being held at Workspace in downtown Vancouver. Details and ticket info here.

Categories include newcomers like the ‘best do-gooder’ for nominees who have used digital media to raise awareness of social issues to traditional categories such as Best Game and Best Digital Animation.

Vancouver Digital Week boasts an important first that is a testament to the city’s rising reputation as an innovation digital media hub: the decision by the world’s largest game developer conference host to launch a Canada conference here.

The Game Developer’s Conference Canada runs May 12 and 13th in conjunction with MITACS Interactive Gaming Forum May 14.

The San Francisco-based Game Developers Conference, with the most recent one in March, is the largest annual conference in the industry. GDC hosts a few conferences in other parts of the world including Europe and China and Vancouver Digital Week's GDC conference here marks its first foray into Canada.

“GDC in San Francisco world’s largest game developers' conference,” said Richter. “To achieve that is a big deal.”

Despite the gloomy economy which has affected the digital media sector as it has other sectors, Vancouver is still building a global reputation in the field.

“The digital media industry here per capita is one of the world’s largest and there is a lot of development happening here,” said Richter.

“Vancouver companies and individuals are really taking a lead in many respects – in games we have always been known as a world leader and there have been so many offshoot companies from that.
“Vancouver tends to lead as far as the latest trends in digital media go. I feel our community really keeps up if not is one step ahead.”

Also raising the profile of Vancouver Digital Week is keynote speaker David Plough, the social media marketing guru behind US president Barrack Obama’s successful use of social media in his election bid. Plough will be speaking at Convergence 2009 May 11.

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/techsense/archive/2009/04/30/deadline-looms-for-vancouver-digital-week-popvox-awards-voting.aspx
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=bioware_founders_dr_ray_muzyka_and_dr_greg_zeschuk_to_deliver_keynote_address_at_game_developers_con Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:14:49 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, general manager and CEO of BioWare and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder and vice president, Entertainment and Miscellaneous, of BioWare will give a keynote address at the inaugural Game Developers Conference(R) Canada (GDC Canada). The keynote, entitled "Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming's New Frontier," will take place on the morning of May 13, 2009. BioWare is an award-winning development studio with locations in Edmonton and Montreal, Canada, and Austin, Texas, known for critical and commercial hit games such as Baldur's Gate(TM), Neverwinter Nights(TM), Mass Effect(TM) and many others that place storyline and emotion at the forefront. The Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications will bring GDC Canada to the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre May 12-13, 2009.

BioWare was founded in 1995 by Zeschuk and Muzyka and acquired by Electronic Arts in 2008, where both founders are now vice presidents. BioWare's games include the Baldur's Gate series, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars(R): Knights of the Old Republic(TM), Jade Empire(TM), Mass Effect and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Among the many highly-anticipated BioWare titles are the fantasy epic Dragon Age(TM): Origins as well as Mass Effect(TM) 2, the sequel to the 2007 Game of the Year, and Star Wars(R): The Old Republic(TM), a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) title. In addition to their work at BioWare and Electronic Arts, Zeschuk and Muzyka serve as directors and co-chairmen of CodeBaby Corp., a software company developing a next generation interface for digital media and the Internet.

"We couldn't have found two more appropriate speakers for the inaugural GDC Canada, as Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are two of the most esteemed members of the game development community worldwide, and certainly leaders amongst the Canadian game development community," said Izora de Lillard, event director at Think Services Game Group. "Both are also pioneers of the move towards making games that tell rich stories and affect players on a deep emotional level; we look forward to hearing how they inspire the attendees of GDC Canada to push their games into what they are rightfully calling gaming's 'new frontier.'"

The Game Developers Conference (R) Canada will feature global perspectives on cross-discipline and cross-platform content, and will serve as an opportunity for developers to share best practices for fostering excellence and quality games. GDC Canada, presented by the Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications, will cover industry leading methodologies in game design, production, programming, visual arts and writing for big-budget multiplatform videogames. Conference sessions have been announced on the GDC Canada website with speakers from Electronic Arts Black Box, Monkeyshines Entertainment and Maxis/Electronic Arts recently confirmed, and others being added continuously. To register for GDC Canada, learn about sponsorship opportunities or to view conference information, please visit http://www.gdc-canada.com.

About Reboot Communications

Reboot Communications Ltd. is a Canadian company based in British Columbia, that specializes in organizing and implementing national and international conferences focused on information technology, public safety, privacy and security, health, electronic gaming and counterterrorism. Over the past twelve years, Reboot has provided a full spectrum of conference management services to the private and public sector, including: marketing and communications, logistics, agenda development, sponsorship sales, research and intergovernmental expertise. For more information please visit: http://www.rebootconference.com/

About the Think Services Game Group

A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, the Think Services Game Group offers market-defining content, and drives community through its award winning lineup of print, online, event and research products and services. These include Game Developer Magazine, Game Developer Research, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, GameCareerGuide.com, WorldsInMotion.biz, GameSetWatch.com, GamesOnDeck.com, SeriousGamesSource.com, the Game Developers Conference(R), the Austin Game Developers Conference(R), the Paris Game Developers Conference(R), GDC Mobile, the Game Career Seminars, the Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers Choice Awards. For more information, please visit http://www.tsgamegroup.com/.

Contact: Sibel Sunar / Brian Rubin
fortyseven communications
323.658.1200 / 212.391.4707
sibel@fortyseven.com / brian@fortyseven.com

Ahmad White
Think Services Game Group
awhite@think-services.com
415-947-6207

SOURCE Think Services Game Group
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=bcit_spawns_iphone_games Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:32:38 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
By Jeffery Simpson

“It was very early in the iPhone development cycle,” Kaler—CEO of Smartful Studios, a Vancouver-based iPhone-app development studio—told the Georgia Straight. “There weren’t even textbooks available at that time.”

After working as a programmer at Slant Six Games and Relic Entertainment, Kaler founded Smartful in February 2008. He spent three months helping BCIT design the course and taught the first session.

“When I was working on the Sony PSP was when I really drank the mobile Kool-Aid,” Kaler said.

For years, even basic mobile phones have shipped with games and other applications. As handsets have become more advanced, so have the programs they run.

Now, with the rise of the iTunes App Store, anyone who develops a half-decent iPhone application can sell it to the millions of iPhone users around the world, which can be quite lucrative. With the simple artillery game iShoot earning programmer Ethan Nicholas US$800,000 in the first five months it was on sale, the iPhone is attracting a lot of attention from developers.

Students each pay $495 to enroll in BCIT’s part-time, 12-week course. The current session began this month and wraps up in July. Kaler said the students he keeps in touch with from the first session are all working in iPhone-app development.

BCIT is now in the exploratory stages of developing an entire program devoted to iPhone-software development. It was always the plan to do this, according to Laura Davie, associate dean of digital arts at BCIT’s school of business.

“We started up the iPhone course to gauge the interest,” she said in a phone interview.

The next step, Davie said, was a meeting “with an ad hoc advisory panel of gaming professionals in the city who are interested in participating and giving us information on what skills they require and that they’d be looking for in people that they’d hire”.

Michael Imai completed the course this month. He’s hoping to transition his 25-year software-development career into writing applications for the iPhone.

“I converted to an Apple user about 10 years ago,” Imai said. “I’ve been looking for work, and when I started looking at it last fall, I wanted to get up to speed on iPhone development—not necessarily in games but in iPhone development. I wanted to take these games just to learn the iPhone.”

Imai said the iPhone course is geared to those with a background in writing software. If BCIT does expand the course into a full program, it might be more accessible to students with little software-development experience.

“One of the things that I found was that, if there were other students who started the course without a programming background or without an iPhone-language programming background, most of them had dropped out and it was quickly overwhelming,” he said.

Handi Mobility is one local company that saw the potential in iPhone-app development early on. The mobile-services firm had been working with TransLink for over a year when the iPhone arrived in Canada. Handi Mobility built the regional transportation authority’s Next Bus text-messaging tool and Facebook application.

“Once the iPhone came out, it was clear that the market share in Vancouver would definitely increase, and the first thing we decided to do was the [TransLink] iPhone Web application, which allows users to access the information in a very neat and I’d say beautiful way,” said Igor Faletski, the company’s CEO.

When Apple released the software-development kit, allowing developers outside of the company to write applications for the iPhone, Handi Mobility quickly started to work on a downloadable program that users could install on the smartphone. The resulting TransLink application is available from the App Store.

Both Kaler and Faletski say there’s a lot of room for mobile-phone-app development to grow in Vancouver.

Faletski noted that Handi Mobility’s latest product, Mobify, is meant to work with all mobile platforms.

“The iPhone is just one of the many platforms that are very important to mobile,” Faletski said. “Very soon you’ll see BlackBerry, Android, and Nokia getting much better phones into customers’ hands.”

Kaler agrees that the iPhone is just one of many mobile platforms to develop software for. However, he said learning how to write applications for the iPhone will help prepare students to work with other phones.

“You need to get into that mobile-development mindset that you’re developing for a phone, which is a mission-critical device,” Kaler said, “and there are users who, when they need to make a phone call, need to make a phone call, and you’ve got to keep that in the back of your mind every single time you make an application.”
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=don_mattrick_of_microsoft_to_keynote_game_developers_conferencer_canada Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:04:22 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Don Mattrick, senior vice president, Interactive Entertainment Business, at Microsoft, will deliver a keynote address at the inaugural Game Developers Conference(R) Canada (GDC Canada). Mattrick leads the Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows businesses at Microsoft. Mattrick and his team are responsible for driving game development at Microsoft Game Studios as well as cultivating relationships with third-party game publishers and developers around the world. He will be joined onstage by Victor Lucas, creator, executive producer and co-host of "The Electric Playground" and "Reviews on the Run" for an engaging interview and discussion on the dynamic changes and growing influence of Canadian game development in a keynote titled "The Evolution of the Canadian Game Industry: A Conversation with Don Mattrick." Initial sessions have been announced on the GDC Canada website (http://www.GDC-Canada.com), with speakers from Relic Entertainment, EA, Radical Entertainment and Threewave Software confirmed, and others being added continuously. GDC Canada takes place on May 12-13, 2009 at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Previous to his work at Microsoft, Don Mattrick helped bring to life such successful game franchises as "Need for Speed," "Harry Potter" and "The Sims" during his tenure at Distinctive Software and Electronic Arts (EA). With 25 years of broad industry and game development experience, Mattrick's portfolio includes some of the most successful games in the world, including a number of series established during his time at EA, EALA, EA Tiburon, EA Canada and Distinctive Software Inc. Raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mattrick has been an active member of the province's business and educational community. He has served on several public and private boards, including the advisory board for USC School of Cinematic Arts and the Premier's Technology Council in British Columbia.

"While it's one thing to discuss the thriving game development field in Canada, it's another thing entirely to have shaped the transformation of this growing industry yourself; Don Mattrick has done just that," says Izora de Lillard, Event Director at Think Services Game Group. "The mark Don has left, and will invariably continue to leave, on Canadian game development makes him the perfect person to discuss the future role that Canadian developers will play in the industry."

The keynote will be presented in the form of an extensive on-stage interview, with games journalist Victor Lucas, creator and co-host of "The Electric Playground," asking Mattrick a series of questions exploring the changing landscape of Canadian game development and Mattrick's own role in expanding Canada's role in the industry.

GDC Canada will provide insight into the thriving Canadian game development community and will serve as an opportunity for developers to share best practices for fostering excellence and quality games within their region and distributed globally. To register for GDC Canada, learn about sponsorship opportunities or to view conference information, please visit http://www.gdc-canada.com.

About Reboot Communications

Reboot Communications Ltd. is a Canadian company based in British Columbia, that specializes in organizing and implementing national and international conferences focused on information technology, public safety, privacy and security, health, electronic gaming and counterterrorism. Over the past twelve years, Reboot has provided a full spectrum of conference management services to the private and public sector, including: marketing and communications, logistics, agenda development, sponsorship sales, research and intergovernmental expertise. For more information please visit: http://www.rebootconference.com/

About the Think Services Game Group

A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, the Think Services Game Group offers market-defining content, and drives community through its award winning lineup of print, online, event and research products and services. These include Game Developer Magazine, Game Developer Research, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, GameCareerGuide.com, WorldsInMotion.biz, GameSetWatch.com, GamesOnDeck.com, SeriousGamesSource.com, the Game Developers Conference(R), the Austin Game Developers Conference(R), the Paris Game Developers Conference(R), GDC Mobile, the Game Career Seminars, the Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers Choice Awards. For more information, please visit http://www.tsgamegroup.com/).


SOURCE Think Services Game Group
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=game_developer_preparing_to_cement_city_reputation Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:04:03 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
Andrew Petrozzi

BC’s video game development scene could soon see better days.

Consecutive months of layoffs starting in late 2008 and at least one studio closure led to hundreds of people losing their jobs as the economic downturn levelled the stock prices of some of the game industry’s largest players.

In a year marked so far by strong sales of video games generally, a definitive title has yet to capture the imagination of gamers and generate as much buzz as Vancouver-based Radical Entertainment Inc.’s Prototype, an original intellectual property (IP) scheduled for release in June. While Electronic Arts Inc.’s Skate 2, another Vancouver-developed AAA console title based on an original IP was well received when released earlier this year, Prototype could provide a needed boost to local industry morale and serve to remind the world that the city’s reputation as a top-notch development hub is well deserved.

“The reality is that when it comes to selling a game to a publisher, it deals with the fact that they are investing in a development team,” said Kelly Zmak, president of Radical Entertainment, an Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq:ATVI) company. “They are betting that the team has the ability to execute.”

It was a wager placed more than three years ago, and, with a budget that Zmak will only say is “tens of millions of dollars,” a potentially costly one.

“What we were successful in doing when communicating with our partners on the publishing side of the business was that this team has an expertise in this area of the business, in this open-world third-person action-adventure genre,” said Zmak. “When you ask them to make this level of investment into a product, it’s because they believe they are going to get their investment back plus a significant percentage more.”

Radical Entertainment senior producer Tim Bennison said he has been working on the game for the past three-and-a-half years and confirmed the Prototype team numbered more than 100 at times during its production.

“We wanted to deliver an experience that was different for the player,” he said. “Current generation boxes have a lot of capabilities, and what we wanted to do was create an experience that was different rather than a shinier version with better textures of an experience you had in the last generation,” said Bennison. “What we do are over-the-top epic action games in an open world. Our last game was the Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, so we decided to build on that experience.”

Prototype has been the biggest challenge of his 15-year career, Bennison said. For Zmak, it is the “most ambitious project” the studio has undertaken and has the “highest level of expectation,” but it also has “the greatest level of quality we managed to achieve in any product in the past,” he said.

Team focus was maintained over the lengthy development process through the use of “game-vision pillars,” according to Bennison. The project is broken down to three or four core principles that are continually reinforced through an internal PR campaign targeting the development team.

The technique “literally focuses 100 people” on the same goal throughout production, said Bennison. “We’ve used it on quite a few of our productions.”

“The top hook for Prototype is deadly shape-shifting action,” said Bennison. “We actually did a poster that had those words with a picture so people got that it is the main hook of the game.”

Zmak believes Prototype will serve as a morale-booster for the local scene and be an inspiration to those who are trying to do something unique.

“We’ve got multiple business models in Vancouver. We have some of the best developers in the world located here. We have taken some hits. We have taken some hard lumps over the last few months, but the reality is we are a rough-and-tumble city,” said Zmak. “The truth is that every success out of Vancouver is a success for the city, a success for the development community as a whole, even if that success is coming out of a specific studio, in this case Radical.”

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has modest estimates on the sales success of Prototype and its impact on Activision Blizzard’s share price.

“The stock won’t move much on the release of the game, and unless Prototype vastly exceeds expectations of two million units or so, it won’t move Activision stock at all,” he said. “Every one million units above that figure will contribute around $0.01 to earnings, so at the current P/E multiple, one million units of upside would move the stock around 1%.”

He estimates Activision’s return at two million units will be around $25 million to $30 million of operating profit, or around $0.01 per share.

“Any upside to sales will be far more profitable since R&D will have been fully amortized,” he added. “If sales are one million units, Activision will break even or lose a little bit of money. If they’re lower, that would be bad.”

Radical Entertainment is not in make-or-break mode, since it had pretty impressive results from its various Crash Bandicoot games and Scarface: The World Is Yours, he said. They have an impressive history of licensed games that fit well with Activision’s business model, according to Pachter.

“If Prototype is a surprise hit and sells four million or more, it will turn into a franchise. If it’s a disappointment at one million or less, it will probably be sent to recycling.”

-apetrozzi@biv.com
]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=winbc_and_new_media_bc_announce_the_bc_wireless_and_new_media_demo_day Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:39:26 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
Vancouver, BC, April 21, 2009--(T-Net)--WINBC and New Media BC announce the BC Wireless and New Media Demo Day taking place April 30, 2009 at the Vancity Theatre.

The initiative is designed to generate exposure for the industry before, during and after the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games next February. It will showcase existing BC wireless and new media products and services and provide some innovative wireless services to locals and visitors. The idea is to leverage the existing world stage and qualified traffic to showcase existing applications, inspire locals and visitors, and identify commercial opportunities. Vancouver has the creative capacity and talent with its 250 wireless companies and its more than 750 new media companies as well as great programming at universities and institutions to deliver an exceptional experience.

On April 30, the 50+ applicants to the Wireless and New Media Showcase and Service initiative will take the stage for 3 minutes each to showcase their most innovative applications or services. It is an opportunity for the community to take stock of its wealth of applications and services and determine how best to present them to the 30,000 business delegates and 3,000 non-accredited media that will be in Vancouver over the next year. It is also an opportunity for the community at large to see the innovative services and products being developed in BC.

For those involved, it is an opportunity to get exposure; to connect directly with the economic opportunities; to build capacity; develop new relationships, realize investment and commercialization opportunities; and to collaborate with peers from all sides of the wireless and new media community on a focused, world-class project.

Demos will include presentations from companies such as Canpages, NowPublic, Tangible Interaction, Work [at] Play, Nokia, Bardel Entertainment, Base Technology, In Motion Technology, Overinteractive Media, Novax Corporation, WebTechWireless and dozens more.

The demos will take place on April 30, 2009 at the Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour Street) in downtown Vancouver from 9:00am – 2:30pm. Networking will follow from 2:30pm-3:30pm.

For more information about the Demo Day and to register, contact Christina Chowaniec (christina@winbc.org or 604-602-5242). For more information about the Wireless and New Media Showcase and Service initiative, contact Michael Bidu (michael@winbc.org or 604-602-5237).

About WINBC
Wireless Innovation Network of BC (WINBC) promotes the fast growth and sustainability of British Columbia, Canada as one of the world's best wireless technology clusters and communities. We are the industry association representing more than 250 BC wireless technology companies generating in excess of $1B in revenues.

About New Media BC
New Media BC is the industry association representing BC’s 1,100+ digital media companies working in video games, animation, visual effects, interactive marketing & design, social media, Web 2.0 and eLearning. Based on consultation with our members, we provide professional development, business development, networking and advocacy services and promote worldwide recognition of BC’s digital media industry.

About 2010 Commerce Centre
First established with an on-line presence in 2004, the 2010 Commerce Centre informs, educates and connects businesses and communities to economic opportunities created by the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. As an initiative of the BC 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat, the 2010 Commerce Centre assists companies to develop new skills and business relationships that will lead to increased trade and investment prior to and long after the Games.

]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=nucks_fans_atwitter Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:13:18 -0400 Julia4619@yahoo.com <Julia4619@yahoo.com> ]]>
During Wednesday night's playoff opener at GM Place, Vancouver fans pushed the word "Canucks" into the top three trends being used on social networking service Twitter.

Twitter is "pretty hardcore" with Canuck fans, Virgin Radio host and online guru Buzz Bishop wrote to 24 hours.

"I was at the kitchen table with the Macbook open to Twitter and the game in the living room. Even though I was alone, there were still dozens of 'great save,' 'what a hit'... tweets going by. It gave a huge sense of community."

Community is a key word to Canucks presence on Twitter. Just ask Richard Loat, better known as mozy19 online. Loat hosted an NHL-endorsed "Tweet-Up", attracting more than a dozen rabid fans who met up and watched the game together.

"Canucks activity on Twitter has gone through the roof," he told 24 hours. "It mirrors the increased excitement you see at the games."

By MATT KIELTYKA, 24 HOURS

http://twitter.com/VanCanucks







]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=vancouver_still_leading_hub_of_canadas_digital_entertainment_industry Tue, 7 Apr 2009 15:05:09 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
BY MARKE ANDREWS, VANCOUVER SUNMARCH 27, 2009

A new report from the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) shows Vancouver still the leading hub of the industry in terms of employee numbers.

However, this city's frontrunner position may not last, as research for the survey was conducted from June to October, 2008, before the economic downturn hit the industry and a number of large Vancouver video game companies laid off staff.

And because tax incentives in British Columbia pale when compared to those in Quebec, B.C. may slip into the No. 2 spot some time this year.

The survey, prepared by Hickling Arthurs Low Corporation, points to three major hubs — Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto — that account for almost all of the 14,000 jobs in the industry. British Columbia has 44 per cent of employees in the industry, with the Vancouver area’s 61 firms providing work for 5,842 employees and 42 per cent of Canada’s workforce. Quebec is second with 37 per cent of workers in Canada (32 per cent in Montreal), followed by Ontario, a distant third at 14 per cent.

These figures do not include many of the layoffs that occurred last fall at such big B.C. outlets as Electronic Arts Canada and Propaganda Games.

Danielle LaBossiere Parr, ESAC’s executive director, maintains the industry is still doing well despite the recession. “There have been layoffs at some companies, but in a lot of cases Canadian studios haven’t been affected by the layoffs as studios elsewhere in the world,” says Parr. “Other companies are still expanding, such as Ubisoft buying Action Pants in Vancouver, and Bioware is expanding in Montreal.”

The industry generated more than $1.7 billion in annual revenues, and a further $2.2 billion in retail sales. Software and hardware sales were up 33 per cent over 2007.

Parr said the dominance of the hubs reflects the talents pools in each region.

“Vancouver is unique in that the industry has grown up without a lot of tax incentives and government help, and largely because that’s where the talent is,” says Parr.

Many leaders in the B.C. industry lobbied the provincial government — unsuccessfully — to include a tax incentive program in last month’s provincial budget. Currently, B.C. offers only a 15-per-cent labour tax credit for digital animation or visual effects.

Five other provinces offer much sweeter deals, including Quebec (30 per cent, but even higher for French-language products), Ontario (25 per cent of labour, plus further breaks on total costs), and Manitoba (40 per cent).

“It’s not all rosy for Vancouver,” says Parr. “They’ve been very successful to date, but it’s becoming increasingly competitive.”

Kenton Low, president of New Media BC, said competition from other areas with tax incentives is hurting the B.C. industry. “B.C. is no longer as competitive as it used to be,” says Low.

“Other jurisdictions are basically winning the game, and we are very concerned that British Columbia does not have an economic climate that’s as favourable as other jurisdictions for maintaining companies and attracting new companies to this province.”

Low and Parr agree that despite the economic downturn, the industry will continue to grow.

“It’s the fastest-growing entertainment industry in the world, and Canada is the third-largest producer of video games in the world behind Japan and the U.S.,” says Parr. “We have a lot of the ingredients to continue to be successful, but we can’t be complacent.”

Low concurs. “Growth is going to continue,” says Low. “The growth rate may be a little bit different, but digital entertainment is the future.”

mandrews@vancouversun.com]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=search_engine_strategies_toronto_conference_and_expo Mon, 6 Apr 2009 12:04:42 -0400 angela.man@incisivemedia.com <angela.man@incisivemedia.com>
Event Overview:

* Real-time actionable information you need to grow your business through search engine marketing
* Ins-and-outs of search engine marketing from top search experts and the search engines themselves
* A unique setting to network with fellow marketers and search engine industry professionals to discuss the trends in search engine marketing
* Access to the world's most comprehensive gathering of search engine marketing & optimization-related solutions providers and potential partners & affiliates.

What You Will Learn:

* How search engines list web sites for free and through paid placements
* How to get free "organic" traffic by building a site that pleases search engines and your visitors
* How to efficiently purchase listings guaranteed to rank your company at the top of search engine results
* How to calculate the ROI of your search marketing efforts by tracking your visitors from the time they hit your site until they buy-and get tips on improving conversion if they don't
* How to build links that generate traffic to your web site, and how to avoid the penalties of "spamming" the search engines
* What's coming next in the constantly evolving world of web search, and how you can profit from those changes.
Ticket Info: Full Day $1,295 CAD | One Day $695 CAD]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=search_engine_strategies_san_jose_conference_and_expo Mon, 6 Apr 2009 12:02:33 -0400 angela.man@incisivemedia.com <angela.man@incisivemedia.com>
Now in its 11th year, the global SES Conference and Exposition Series educates tens of thousands of delegates each year, with a 98% satisfaction rate. SES San Jose, the only major Search Marketing Conference and Expo on the West Coast, will be packed with 70+ sessions, multiple keynotes and Orion Strategy sessions, 150+ exhibitors, networking events, parties and more. We hope to see you there.

Sample Sessions include:
* Introduction to Search Marketing
* Building a Search Friendly Site
* Search Around the World
* Search Advertising 101
* Universal & Blended Search
* Igniting Viral Campaigns
* Successful Tactics for Social Media Optimization (SMO)]]> http://www.newmediabc.com/news.php?news=submissions_for_into_the_pixel_2009_open Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:31:54 -0400 philippe@newmediabc.com <philippe@newmediabc.com>
The sixteen artists that will be selected for this year’s class will join a well-regarded group of notable artists, such as Daniel Dociu, Jeremy Bennett, Ryan Church, Tyler West, Stephan Martiniere and Ryan Stevenson. The highly visible Into the Pixel collection has been featured at both national and international events including the Toronto International Film Expo, South-by-Southwest, Design-Center in Stuttgart, Germany and at AnimFX New Zealand.

Our esteemed jury members, led by Louis Marchesano of the Getty Research Institute and Kevin Salatino of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, thoroughly represent both the interactive and fine art worlds. Their knowledge and diversity will result in a very impressive collection.

We ask that you please pass on this information to anyone you know who may want to submit their art for consideration by the 2009 ITP Jury. The deadline for submitting art is April 10, 2009.

For more information on this year's jury, past years' Collections, and/or to submit art, please go to http://www.IntoThePixel.com

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for ITP 2009:

• April 10, 2009, is the deadline for submitting art.
  
• The Into the Pixel 2009 Collection will be announced and “unveiled” at the annual ITP Reception & Jury Panel discussion in June. A gallery featuring the framed 2008 art will also be featured at the event. (Date TBA)
  
• The 2009 Collection will be unveiled to game makers at the E3 Media & Business Summit June 2-4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.