Canadian Videogame Awards Taking Place In Vancouver On April 21

By Paul Hunter

O Canada. Such wonderful video games you make. To honour our great industry leaders across the land, the Canadian Videogame Awards are held annually in Vancouver, produced by Reboot Communications and Greedy Productions. The 3rd Annual Canadian Videogame Awards will be taking place on April 21st in conjunction with the very first Fan Expo Vancouver, the city's first major comicon.

Held in the Vancouver Convention Centre, the awards show will bring together talent from the best video game studios in the country. Recognition will be given to the top industry leaders in categories that span multiple platforms and many aspects of game development. The 2012 awards categories, as selected by a committee of industry veterans from across Canada, are:

* Game of the Year
* Best Console
* Best Game on the Go
* Best Downloadable Game
* Best Audio
* Best Social/Casual Game
* Best Game Design
* Best Technology
* Best Visual Arts
* Best Writing
* Innovation Award

The three new categories for 2012 are:

* Best Original Music
* Best New Character
* Best Indie Game

To provide perspective on just how important the Canadian games industry is, presently it's the third largest in the world by employment, behind the US and Japan. With over 16,000 people across Canada directly employed in the games industry, the economic impact to the Canadian economy is estimated at $1.7 billion. That's a huge revenue figure, and as we read in the news recently, video games have become one of the key drivers of national retail sales.

One of the endorsers of the awards show is the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, an organization that advocates on behalf of its members, which include Activision, EA, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, THQ and more. The ESA Canada produced a great video last year highlighting some of the reasons why Canada is recognized around the world as a tier one producer of video games, check it out:



In order to be recognized for an award, the games must have been developed within the borders of Canada. Some of the winners from past Canadian Videogame Awards shows include Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age Origins, Assassin's Creed II, Critter Crunch, DeathSpank, Prototype, ModNation Racers, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Microsoft's Kinect technology.

For more information on the Canadian Videogame Awards, be sure to check out the website: www.canadianvideogameawards.com

[This article originally appeared on the Future Shop Tech Blog]
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Free Video Game Perk "Really Happening" Says Tsilon.ca Founder

By Paul Hunter

"Are you on the list?" That's the question that was posed to me in an image that appeared in my inbox at 2:30am today. Preceding this question was a very direct message intended "for any naysayers who doubt the offer is coming", says Tsilon.ca founder Mister C.

The offer in question is one I posted on Sunday, detailing the free video game perk to every active G-List member that is supposed to be appearing on the Canadian ARG-style website www.tsilon.ca around mid-February.

The image includes a website address, http://bit.ly/ThisIsReallyHappening, which redirect back to the Tsilon.ca homepage. I'm not sure what the intent of the redirect is, other than perhaps another display of the quirky (and often times, cryptic) messaging this site is known for.

A deeper look into the background of the image shows some mysterious code snipped from one of the most popular multiplayer first-person shooters of all time. Guess what? It isn't Halo!

A quick Google search of the source code indicates it was taken from Quake III, a game that places a strong emphasis on multiplayer action.

Whether or not this source code implies a deeper meaning in the below message is not clear, however it worth noting that the Tsilon.ca "testing area" also includes code fragments from video games.

Here's the image I received (click to see a larger version):



Personally, I think the reason Mister C chose Quake III code is because he's hoping Tsilon.ca is going to sh-sh-shake things up.

We'll know whether or not this free game perk is real in just a few short weeks. Until then, cryptic images (yay!)
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Next G-List Perk Is $99 Nintendo 3DS

By Paul Hunter

$249.99? That price is so last year. It looks like the next G-List Hardware perk is about to go live in a week's time and it's a Nintendo 3DS for $99.

How do they do this? I have no idea, and it's futile to wonder anyway. I mean, I've been asking the "Misters" for several weeks how they're getting such great deals. The answer I got back? "Some organizations have been very generous to our cause".

Umm, sure. So long as these organizations are giving out Groupon-esque video game perks I won't ask any questions. Well no, that's a lie. I'll ask questions and undoubtedly get a cryptic response that will make me want to stop asking questions.
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Leaked Memo Shows Free Video Game For Every G-List Member

By Paul Hunter

UPDATE: I was just informed by a www.tsilon.ca founder that this perk is "Canada only at this time." Have fun, fellow Canucks! /UPDATE

Raise your hand if you're old enough remember the Nintendo Power free Dragon Warrior I giveaway in the early 90's. It was an incredible deal: purchase a subscription of Nintendo Power and they'll send you a free copy of Dragon Warrior I. I remember subscribing simply because this deal was too good to be true. Check out the Enix America memo, dated November 1990, announcing the promotion.

According to a leaked memo that came across my desk, the creators of Canada's "first fraternity for gamers", www.tsilon.ca, are preparing to 1-up this Nintendo Power promotion.

The promotion, which the leaked document says could roll-out in mid-February, will entitle all G-List members to one free video game with a retail value equal to or less than $60.00 CDN. The offer is valid for all current generation video game platforms including Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, PS Vita, PSP, and PC. The memo states that any game on these platforms are eligible, with the exception of limited editions and collector's editions. Gaming accessories are also excluded.

In the PDF of this memo I received, pieces of information were blacked out, including the names of the sender and receiver, the name(s) of the people who green lit this perk, and the exact location where this promotion will go live.

A request to a www.tsilon.ca rep to substantiate the contents of the memo was replied with confirmation of a "free game for any active member." Furthermore, I was told that 48-hour advance notice will be given before this promotion goes live.

Click on the leaked memo below to enlarge:

No information has been given as to what the "teaser" refers to, nor the process G-List members will need to follow to in order to redeem for their free game.

Upon asking what happens if 1,000 new members join the G-List community, a rep from the site said it's for "every active member, no joke." I started doing the math on 5,000 and 10,000 new members and couldn't believe the potential cost of this promotion.

In order to become a member of www.tsilon.ca, individuals must solve four locks that gate entry into the site. Once in the site, G-List status is obtained after "leveling up" to 10, which is done through solving video game trivia questions, answering daily trivia questions, or participating in video game challenges. As noted in the leaked memo, G-List members will be eligible for the free video game.

The Nintendo Power promotion is credited with attracting thousands of new subscribers to the monthly publication and helped launched the Dragon Warrior series in North America. According to Chris Kohler, author of Power Up, this promotion allowed Enix America to bring over the next three iterations of Dragon Warrior; moreover, Nintendo themselves profited immensely since the magazine was "essentially a 100-page monthly ad for Nintendo products".

One has to wonder if this G-List promotion will attract as much attention?
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G-List Sightings

By Max Cole

Not to get all X-Files on you, but the other day the above image landed in my inbox. It was given to me by "Mister E". That's not to be confused with the "Mister C" whom offered to meet me at the Royal Fairmont hotel downtown Toronto.

After visiting www.tsilon.ca and joining the G-List, I discovered a "Mister J" was a community member. I also heard another member of this mysterious organization also showed face at the Assassin's Creed: Revelations launch in Toronto.

While I don't have much information on who these people are, they are feeding me quite a bit of content, including these apparent G-List sightings:

Come on, an advertisement at Yonge-Dundas Square and a projection next to the C.N. Tower? Are these real...or clever photoshops?

Let me know what you think in the comments section.
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Mister E Reveals the Next G-List "Perk"...In Honour of My Birthday?

By Max Cole

Listen up G-List Members. The mysterious "Mister E" sent me an email today announcing the newest perk, apparently in honour of my birthday -- what a nice guy.

The perk is a $50 offer code for CinemaNow for G-list members who hit Level 15 XP. The codes are going to expire on February 28, 2012, which means we got lots of time! If you attempt to redeem after this date, sorry but you'll be out of luck. We're super cool though and of course we're going to redeem right away.

Once you've got the $50 in your account, now that's when you can take your time (there's no expiration once redeemed).

Each gamer will need need to enter the code at the following URL to add the credit to their account:

https://canada.cinemanow.com/GiftCardRedeem.aspx

So...who's with me? Let's get the codes! ...but first, I'm off to celebrate mah bifthday with some yummy cake. And that my friends, is no lie.

Max out.

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Giving Away "Haywire" Advance Screening Tickets for Ottawa and Halifax, Jan. 19th

By Paul Hunter

As I tweeted earlier this month, we'll be having lots more giveaways in 2012 here on NextGen Player. I'm happy to announce we have some advance screening tickets to see Haywire, starring Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, and MMA fighter Gina Carano. I have double pass tickets for Ottawa and Halifax on January 19th. Tickets will be given away on a first come, first serve basis. Tickets are VERY LIMITED!

How to enter and locations after the break.

Method #1: Enter via Twitter

1. Follow @NextGenPlayer on Twitter.
2. Simply tweet “@NextGenPlayer I want to see see Haywire in [choose Ottawa or Halifax]”

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Method #2: Enter via Facebook

1. Like NextGen Player on Facebook.
2. Simply post on the NextGen Player Facebook wall “@NextGen Player I want to see see Haywire in [choose Ottawa or Halifax]”

--
Here are the locations/times:

Halifax
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Show Time: 7:00 PM
Empire 8 Park Lane

Ottawa
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Show Time: 7:00 PM
Empire 7

Here's the movie trailer:



As a reminder, we'll be handing out tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis, so act quickly if you want to get in on this!
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Founder of Mysterious thereisnolist.ca Gamer Website Comes Forward

By Max Cole

I love discovering a good mystery. When I was younger I got hooked on The Three Investigators, Tintin and Scooby-Doo. When I was older my tastes moved on to Twin Peaks, Lost, Heavy Rain and Professor Layton. A message that is tightly wrapped in convoluted mythology has always captivated me; how did this all start? what surprises are coming next? where will this end up? More importantly, what does this all mean? These questions pique my curiosity like nothing else can.

So imagine my surprise on December 14 when I realized that a good mystery had just discovered me...

December 14, 2011
I received an email message from M.E. stating that he is a big fan of my writing and offered me a chance to join the "G-List". He explained that this group offers perks, and referenced a deal for a $95 PlayStation 3 LED 3D monitor (normally $500). As proof of the legitimacy of this offer, he points me to a highly active thread on the popular Canadian deals website RedFlagDeals:

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/sony-playstation-3d-display-bundle-95-g-list-1117360/

Check it out, 34 pages of conversation, 498 replies.  This thread is clearly on fire.  On the first page of this post a forum member named "niwdog23" posted a picture of the G-List screen which clearly shows a Hardware deal for the 3D PlayStation TV for $95.  Below there is an order confirmation showing that yes, this person snagged the TV for that exceptionally low price.

Okay, great.  Some guy got a deal.  I had a look at the website M.E. pointed me to -- http://www.thereisnolist.ca -- and it was evident after a minute of browsing that it was a password protected website.  Moreover, it appeared as though you needed to obtain multiple keys in order to gain admission.  Not to sound arrogant, but I quickly dismissed the website.  It was holiday review crunch season and getting wrapped up in a time-sucking ARG was the last thing I needed.  I'll have a look in the new year, I thought.

Although days went by, there was one section on that website that kept on replaying over and over in my head:



That guy in the video, as I'm sure many of you know, is Shaun Hatton, co-host of the Electric Playground and one of my closest friends in the video game industry.  What in the world did Shaun have to do with this? Even with that thought in my head, I was just too busy with the holiday.  I will ask in the new year.

Oh, and M.E.?  I looked at the email address and it said "mistere".  Mister E, ha!  Funny, kind of.

December 15, 2011
Mister E writes me and answers my question about what the G-List is.  Here is his description:

Our mission is simple: be the destination for gamers to congregate, share interests/stories, and get cool perks for being on the G-List.

Mister E invited me to join the G-List and take advantage of this $95 3D PlayStation TV offer, and noted that the offer expires in mere days. By this point I was interested, but I just couldn't be bothered given my tight schedule.  Sure, the TV was cheap and would have been cool to get, but I didn't want the hassle of figuring out these codes.  I asked Mister E if he could just give me the passwords.  All right, I admit it, that was lazy of me.  By this point I had already parked the idea of getting on this G-List until the new year.

January 5, 2012 
Three weeks to the day, Mister E emails me, says:

Hello Paul,

I hope you and Nextgenplayer are enjoying 2012 - Happy New Year.

Would you be interested in meeting in person to discuss our project? Mister C is happy to give you an exclusive, in-person interview.

Great!  Perhaps this is legit, as I thought.  But who is this Mister C?  I thought it was Mister E?  This was getting stranger by the minute.  After a few days of banter I finally agreed to meet Mister C on Tuesday,
January 10 at 6:00pm inside the Fairmont Royal Hotel in Toronto.

January 10, 2012
It's meet day.  I'm filled with excitement, trepidation, elation, suspense, fear, and everything in between.  I had agreed to meet a total stranger in a downtown Toronto hotel with minimal foreknowledge of what was to be discussed.  "Was I insane?", I thought.  Mister C sent me the following text message at 5:38pm:

At this point I still didn't have a first or last name, in fact the only clue I had was that it was a 778 area code which I immediately recognized as Vancouver.  Ok, so HQ is in Vancity.  That's a start. 


6:05pm
I receive a text message from Mister C to meet him at the Epic restaurant on the main floor.

Once there, the hostess asks me "Table for one?".  I chuckle and say "No, I'm actually here to meet a guy...umm I only know him as Mister C".  "Right this way", she says, and takes me straight to him.  

Mister C was not facing me when I arrived, and was wearing a jacket and hat.  He turns around, takes off his jacket and hat, and formally greets me as "Mister C".  Okay, clearly this guy has a particular distaste for first names.  He takes off his jacket and hat.  I have an image of him in my head but my description will likely be very generic: white male, around 30, brown hair, short on the sides/back and longer on top, maybe 4", on the slender side.  I know, not very descriptive.  And no, I didn't take a photo, but in retrospect I wish I had sneaked one.

Mister C explains that he's about to show me something very few people have seen.  He says "up until now we've had everyone sign a strict NDA".  Apparently I was the first person Mister C has shown this to who had not been muzzled.  Mister C was very forthcoming, informing me that I'm free to talk about our meeting to the public.  Apparently, there is a group of "Misters", more than just C and E whom I've spoken to.  Not only that, some of the Misters are in fact women, and furthermore, two of the Misters are friends with me on my personal Facebook page and follow my work closely.  (Sidenote: this is creepy).  The group of Misters met some time ago about the possibility of opening their PR door to one reporter in Canada -- Mister C said I was his "number three choice".  He elaborated, said that another Mister convinced the group that I should be their number two choice.  And then somehow I wound up being their top choice (not sure the rationale, perhaps I was distracted by the whiskey sour I had just ordered.).  Then an offer came: "Paul, we are willing to talk to you as our exclusive reporter for the next 6-12 months.  If this is something you would like, we will refuse to talk to any other media outlet," Mister C says.  An exclusive offer?  The reporter in me found this hard to say no to.

But I didn't answer him.  Mister C told me to think about it for 24 hours.  That was 48 hours ago and I still haven't given Mister C my reply.  But he knows my answer, and I know this because Mister C did his homework.

There was a point in our conversation where Mister C asked me if I liked the TV series Lost.  Of course I did, I watched all six seasons, every episode.  This show was practically a religion for me.  Drawing a parallel to the ABC show, Mister C called his creation the "Lost of video games".  Fair enough, I could see that from my brief experience on his website three weeks prior.

Not only is his creation like Lost, I'd have to say his entire demeanor is straight from the show.  Mister C knew me like a bestfriend would, it was clear from the get-go that he's been following my writing for some time.  Remember when the Lost survivors encountered the Others and were shown books containing information of their life?  Our conversation was that freakishly too-close-for-comfort.  I assumed the Misters, who are friends with me on Facebook, were funneling Mister C information on me.

We moved on to the meat of the discussion -- his website http://www.thereisnolist.ca. Finally!  Mister C showed me a screen with six codes, and said you need to unlock four of them to obtain the entrance password for the website.  Here's the website:

http://tsilon.ca/

After unlocking the password, users are then allowed to enter the site and create a community profile.  When asked what he was trying to create, Mister C called it a "fraternity of hardcore gamers".  If you recall the RedFlagDeals link at the top of this article, that was the home screen.  There were sections for Retail, Hardware, Software, Products/Services, Trade-ins, DLC, Mobile and Media.  Mister C quickly gave me some highlights:

* Ubisoft has offered a free Turkish Armour DLC outfit for Assassin's Creed: Revelations
* Victor Lucas has uploaded at least one exclusive video
* Cinema Now offered 25 free monthly rentals
* Click magazine offered a free subscription and digital download to their magazine, along with exclusive magazine covers for G-List members

Seriously?

And that's on top of the $95 3D PlayStation TV?  This is insane.

Furthermore, Mister C said there would be a perk to get a reduced price on the PlayStation Vita bundle.  I really can't divulge any more because I need more proof before I will believe this.

Every new member of this forum begins at Level 1 and are encouraged to gain levels with the promise of receiving additional perks as they rise in level.  To gain a level, members can answer gaming trivia questions. There are four tiers of questions ranging from easy to super hard, and the harder the questions you answer the more experience points you gain. Once you reach Level 10 you officially become a member of the G-List. Mister C said that there are some well known people who are members of the G-List, including a television actor and a supermodel.  I had a look at the community forum section of the website and indeed there were hardcore gamers discussing various topics (some threads had 80+ replies, indicating a fair level of activity). 

Mister C also hinted that Future Shop is involved with this project as well, as the RedFlagDeals post would corroborate.  Have a look, the guy who claimed this deal checked-out at Future Shop.  I have no idea what the nature of this relationship is, nor do I know the details of the relationship with the other apparent content providers such as Ubisoft, Click Magazine, Victor Lucas, and Cinema Now.

Our conversation concluded in a dramatic way.  Mister C looked down at his watch and said I have "5 minutes" before he "disappears".  I asked him rapid-fire questions, and when my time was up he stood up, shook my hand, and left as he promised.  I was speechless.  As you can see from the length of this post, I am typically far from speechless.

Oh, and to add to the weirdness, Mister C gave me the following bill signed using his pseudonym:

What in the world did I just experience?
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And the 3D Toshiba Laptop Winner Is...

Happy New Year everyone!

I'd like to take this opportunity to announce our winner for the 3D Toshiba Laptop (drum roll please)...and the winner is: Rebecca from Calgary, Alberta!

Congratulations Rebecca!

I'd also like to give a big thanks to everyone who participated in this contest. We received thousands of entries on Twitter and Facebook, much more than we thought would enter to say the least! Stay tuned in 2012, there will be more prizes and giveaways. We'll be announcing new contests right here on NextGen Player, as well as on our Twitter and Facebook accounts, so keep your eyes peeled.

Here's to another year of great video games and exciting movies!

Sincerely,
NextGen Player Team
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New Year, New Toshiba 3D Laptop Contest!

To celebrate the coming new year we have received a brand new Toshiba P755 3D laptop (model# PSAY3C-0CP010) valued at $1,149 and we're running a contest to give it away to a lucky reader!

The sleek P755 3D laptop is infused with Toshiba's famous quality and style, offering the power to multitask, watch movies or play games. The laptop features a generous 15.6” diagonal TruBrite HD display, a 2nd Generation Intel Core i7-2670QM processor and a 750GB hard drive for storing all your favourite content. In addition, the laptop includes an integrated webcam with Wireless-N, a Blu-ray disc reader and a wide range of ports to connect your favourite devices.

The laptop has been provided to us courtesy of Toshiba of Canada.

To enter, simply tell us what you want to "play" or to "watch" in 3D on the Toshiba laptop (it can be a real or imaginary 3D product -- be creative!), using one or both of the two methods indicated below:

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Method #1: Enter via Twitter

1. Follow @NextGenPlayer on Twitter.

2. Simply tweet (and fill in the blank): “@NextGenPlayer I want to play _______ in 3D!” or "@NextGenPlayer I want to watch _______ in 3D!"

For example: "@NextGenPlayer I want to watch Captain America in 3D!" or "@NextGenPlayer I want to play Battlefield 3 in 3D!"

Reminder: Keep your tweet under the 140 characters allowed by Twitter.

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Method #2: Enter via Facebook

1. Like NextGen Player on Facebook.

2. Simply post on the NextGen Player Facebook wall (and fill in the blank): “@NextGen Player I want to play _______ in 3D!” or "@NextGen Player I want to watch _______ in 3D!"

For example: "@NextGen Player I want to watch Captain America in 3D!" or "@NextGen Player I want to play Battlefield 3 in 3D!"

---

Only one entry per Method (Twitter/Facebook) per day will be accepted.

The contest will run from 12:01am EST on December 22, 2011 to 11:59pm EST on January 3, 2012.

One (1) randomly selected winner from all eligible entries will be drawn in Toronto at 8:00pm EST on January 4, 2012 and the winner will be contacted privately via their Method of entry (Twitter/Facebook) with prize details.

Grand Prize: One (1) Toshiba P755 3D laptop (model# PSAY3C-0CP010) valued at $1,149

To redeem the Grand Prize, the randomly selected winner must provide, after being contacted, their full name, mailing address, age and successfully answer a mathematical skill testing question.

This contest is open to all legal residents of Canada. You must be 18 years or older to enter the contest. For more details on our general contest rules, click here.

Good luck to everyone.

Cheers,
NextGen Player Team
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