Here is Your Official Canadian Gaming Calendar of Events

By Paul Hunter

Don't be shy, let's all admit together that Canada is the best country in the world for gamers. Not only is our industry on a hiring spree, but we also make some of the best games on the planet. But did you know that Canada is also home to some of the best gaming conventions out there? Oh yes, it's true. Let's have a look at some of the major events that this country has to offer.

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This article appears on the Future Shop Tech Blog where I contribute three times weekly.

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Faunasphere Closed Beta Contest

By Andrew Shin

Hello loyal NextGen Player readers.

I know it's been a while since our last contest. Well, we're excited to announce a new contest in conjunction with Big Fish Games. Recently Big Fish Games announced a closed beta for their upcoming browser-based casual MMO titled Faunasphere. This game is from the same creators that brought us the very popular Asheron's Call.

Big Fish Games describes Faunasphere as a game that engages a broad casual gamer audience through non-violent game play, rich social networking elements, and an immersive storyline. The game is free to play, and will feature micro-transactions and premium membership to enhance the game play experience.

So here are the contest deets.

Up for grabs are five (5) closed beta invites for Faunasphere. To enter the contest, all you have to do is send an email to contest@nextgenplayer.com with the subject line "Faunasphere Contest". Only one entry per email address will be accepted.

The contest will run from Friday, July 10, 2009 at 12:01am to Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 11:59pm.

Five (5) random winners will be drawn on Monday, July 20, 2009 and the winners will be contacted via email with prize details.

This contest is open to all legal residents of Canada (excluding residents in Quebec) and the United States. You must be 18 years or older to enter the contest. Only one entry per email address will be accepted. For more details on our general contest rules, click here.
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3Pod Recruitment Referral Contest - Summer 2009

By Andrew Shin

Recently I came across 3Pod's website (www.3pod.ca). 3Pod is a Montreal based gaming and entertainment recruitment company. They specialize in the video game industry and offer additional services including international recruitment and immigration specialization.

Currently they are promoting their summer recruitment contest. It's pretty simple. Refer a friend to 3Pod for any of the current listed positions on their site and if your friend gets hired, you get a gaming console of your choice.

So if you have any friends looking for work in the industry, particularly in Canada, then refer them and enter the contest. If they get hired, it's a win-win. You get a free console and your friend gets a job. Not bad.

The contest is running now and ends on August 31, 2009 at midnight.

For more details, visit the 3Pod website.
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Assassin's Creed II Dev Diary - Part 1

By Andrew Shin

If you're like me, then there's a good chance you're very excited about the second installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise - Assassin's Creed II. Even more so if you happened to view the gameplay demo during last month's E3 event. Simply fantastic and better looking than the first in many ways.

To add to the excitement and provide more insight into the game's story and development, Ubisoft has released the first dev diary for the game. This first video provides insight into the main character Ezio and his background. There's also some comments from an actual historian.

You can view the video below. Enjoy.




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Witness the Historic Ubisoft Toronto Press Conference

By Paul Hunter

On Monday, July 6 in downtown Toronto, Ubisoft made an historic announcement to open a full development studio in Toronto, Ontario.

As a treat to everyone here, I was invited down to the cozy Isabel Bader Theatre to witness this landmark announcement. The press conference lasted for a full 18 minutes and I taped every moment of it.

To see the write up and the videos I did for the Future Shop Tech Blog, check it out here:

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To just see the videos, hit the jump.

PART ONE



PART TWO


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EB Games: MGS4 Limited Edition $9.89

By Paul Hunter

All July EB Games is having a daily door crasher with some great deals.

The RedFlagDeals Forum currently has a post that updated daily around 10AM with new deals. It looks like the forum post owner may know what games will be available for the next three days, but the rest of July is still a mystery.

Perhaps the best deal I've seen in well, 2009, is Metal Gear Solid 4: Limited Edition for $9.89. That deal starts tomorrow. Here are the rumoured deals for Thursday and Friday:

09.07.09 - Star Wars The Force Unleashed - $19.89 (PS3)
10.07.09 - Tom Clancy's EndWar - $9.89 (PS3)

To see how great these deals are, here's a list of the past door crashers:

03.07.09 - Prince Of Persia - $9.89 (PS3,XBOX360)
04.07.09 - Call Of Duty 3 - $9.89 (PS3)
05.07.09 - Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2 - $4.89 (PS3,XBOX360)
06.07.09 - Animal Crossing City Folk w/WiiSpeak - $29.89 (Wii)

My advice? Check out this post on RedFlagDeals daily. Gotta love them deals!
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GameON Finance 2009 - October 27th - 28th

By Andrew Shin

Interactive Ontario will be conducting this year's GameON: Finance event on October 27th to 28th in Toronto, Ontario. GameON: Finance is an important event as it brings together game developers and investors and provides a forum to explore financing opportunities in the Ontario gaming industry.

For this year's event, the GameON: Finance advisory board will be lead by Jason Della Rocca, Senior Consultant at Perimeter Partners and former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association.

Attendees will include Canadian and international gaming companies, various investors, financial services and related companies and law firms with media and investment experience.

More details on GameON: Finance 2009 can be found here.
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Here's the Scoop on DIG London 2009

By Paul Hunter

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years (or not reading NGP), you'll know that the video game industry in Canada is a booming, multi-billion dollar economy. BC's industry is massive, Quebec's perhaps even bigger. But what about Ontario?

Well the games industry has been heating up there quite a bit as well. EA's moved into Waterloo, AMP has made a huge splash in the province the last two years with their National Gaming Tour culminating in the province, the indie scene is finally coming together, and the recent budget passed by the provincial government included many financial incentives to encourage the growth of the interactive industry.

Overall, these signs paint a nice picture for the province and it's rapid ascension to the gaming major leagues. As a further example of just how large this industry has become, Ontario will once again play host to the DIG London conference come this November. This is the second year for the show.

Last year's event included notable featured guests such as Denis Dyack, Founder and President of Silicon Knights, James Schmalz, CEO of Digital Extremes, and Jade Raymond, Senior Producer at Ubisoft Montréal. Both Denis and James are already scheduled to return for this year's event.

The conference will include some keynote speeches, panel sessions, presentations, as well as a networking and reception dinner. Expect more coverage of this event as we get closer to the date. There's also a good chance we'll be attending DIG London so stay tuned.

To have a look at what the conference will be offering this year, have a look at the DIG London 2009 website.
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