NextGen Player - Canada's Premier Gaming Blog

There Are Many 'i's In 'Wii', 'Family' And 'Skiing'

2009-11-10T10:00:00.001-05:00

By Leif Conti-Groome

I don't think it's coincidence that two of the few words that have two 'i's together are 'Wii' and 'skiing' and the good folks at Nintendo have noticed this as well. They are currently holding a contest in conjunction with CTV to send one lucky bunch of 'i's that are part of a family on vacation to Whistler Blackcomb (one of Canada's most popular ski slopes) located in British Columbia. Better get that camera ready to take a picture of junior all decked out in winter garb looking like a character from a Robert Munsch story.

The contest is a part of Nintendo's Get Up and Play promotion which encourages families to game together and share their experiences with other video game households. Teams can earn Challenge Points by performing bonding tasks like making videos of familial bliss fostered by the Wii, or a written mini-faq providing tips for different games or submitting a family portrait to show other gamers what the people behind the Miis really look like. Most activities can be done daily to encourage teams to make time for video games every day (which is something I strongly encourage). And, to round out the whole experience, families can comment and vote on each other's activities in Nintendo's virtual community.

Along with the grand prize of the Ski Vacation, there are also weekly prizes to be given out to a lucky team. The contest ends November 22nd so you'd better get Ma, Pa, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle-pa, Aunt-ma, um, Cousin Marth-a organized and snow suit up! Contest details can be found here.

Who knows, soon you might be gripping ski poles instead your wiimotes.

EA Cuts 1,500 Jobs

2009-11-09T19:28:00.004-05:00

By Andrew Shin

Today Electronic Arts announced it was cutting 1,500 jobs across the entire company with many of the cuts affecting the Burnaby, B.C. office. This is a large reduction for EA as the cuts account for 17% of the entire workforce. The other EA Canadian offices that will be hit by these cuts are in Montreal and Edmonton.

EA also reported today a second quarter loss of $391 million and that overall it expected a net loss for the fiscal year. Today's announcement of cuts are to be completed by March 31,2010 resulting in restructuring costs of between $130 to $150 million. EA expects that these cuts will also save them $100 million annually.

While this isn't the first cut made by EA to affect Canada - remember Black Box - this is a significant one. This move by EA makes sense from an operations and revenue standpoint as they want to focus their resources and efforts on game titles that yield higher margins and better profits. These would likely include popular and successful sports series such as Madden, NHL and FIFA as well as the Rock Band series of games.

For the Canadian gaming industry as a whole, this news is quite unfortunate considering all of the recent positive news that has taken place including the opening of a Ubisoft Toronto office and increased government investment federally and provincially in Ontario. That said, it's not surprising that these types of cuts occur as we're seeing consumers showing much more discretion on how they spend their money and being highly selective on what games they purchase. With these challenges, it is expected that gaming companies will look to reduce or eliminate investment into titles that are not successful. Let's just hope that both EA and the B.C. video game industry can rebound from this soon.

Future Shop Hosting National Midnight Openings for Modern Warfare 2

2009-11-08T21:20:00.001-05:00

By Paul Hunter

With the 800 lbs gorilla that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 releasing nation-wide on November 10, 2009, Future Shop have announced midnight openings across the country in celebration.

Launch parties will be held on the night of November 9, 2009, at stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Maritimes. Future Shop stores in Quebec and Sudbury, Ontario will open November 10 at 8:00 a.m. local time.

In addition, gamers in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, will be treated to special launch parties hosted by Playstation in collaboration with Future Shop. The parties will take place at the Yonge-Dundas store (Toronto), the Robson store (Vancouver), and the Northland store (Calgary). Additional street team activities will occur in the Ottawa and Winnipeg locations.

Here are all the pertinent details:

When:

Monday, November 9, 2009, 9:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.m. (Stores will be open from midnight to 1:00 a.m.)

Where:

Vancouver: 798 Granville St. (at Robson)
Toronto: 10 Dundas St. (at Yonge)
Calgary: 420 - 5111 Northland Drive NW

Future Shop has confirmed with NextGen Player that at the three launch party locations, at least 50 units of the Prestige Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be available for die-hard COD fans.

NextGen Player Review: Borderlands

2009-11-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

By Clinton Ma

Borderlands is a gamer's game. Devoid of any high-minded pretensions of offering a story, rich characterizations or original design, the game instead plunders the well of the most battle-tested formulas to produce a game that is surprisingly better than the sum of its parts.

Borderlands also shines as a case study in genre mash-ups. Developer, Gearbox Software, combines two of our most enduring genres -- the role-playing game and first-person shooters -- to amazing effect. Hybrids all too often fall flat in their balancing act, neglecting one genre while over-salting the other. I'm happy to report that Borderlands sidesteps most of these pitfalls, paying fair tribute to both shooter and RPG fans alike. To ice the cake even further, they've seemingly managed the impossible task this generation, which is to say competently offer seamless drop-in or four-player co-op. The shock!

Despite this formidable gaming recipe they've concocted on paper, Gearbox's "role-playing shooter" still runs afoul of some typical slings and arrows, keeping it just shy of earning that perfect NGP score...

Players take on the role of one of 4 selectable vault hunters dispatched onto the desolate colony world of Pandora, to seek out the fabled Vault which is home to mysterious alien technology of unspeakable power. Each character is distinct and represents a player class all their own. Roland is your standard soldier grunt; Mordecai is the classic sniper; Brick provides the requisite tank-meathead; and Lilith is the stealthy assassin. The fearsome foursome is pushed towards their goal by a remote, Cortana-like personality who occasionally pipes into your ear to relay long-term objectives or to offer generic encouragements.

The existence of classes is your first major clue of the game's RPG inspirations. The 4 playable characters are distinct in their look and character progression trees but they all share a common foundation when it comes to their proficiency in weapons. And in Pandora, the weapon of choice is almost always a gun. In fact you're given your first gun shortly after beginning the game's tutorial. Guided along by a uni-wheeled talking robot called a Claptrap, the tutorial gently introduces you to the harsh lands of Pandora, a post-apocalyptic kind of place that takes far more stylistic cues from Mad Max than Fallout 3.

From there on out, it's up to you to explore the world and pick up the pieces that will unlock your path to the Vault. Pandora is laid out as a series of interconnected hub worlds, with each one containing a balanced mix of supply depots, towns, quest givers and hostile territories. Borderlands has flashes of feeling like an open-world environment, but is fairly linear. Unlocked areas can always be revisited to finish quests or to beat up on weaker foes but the player is quite rigidly corralled from beginning point to end-game battle.

Borderlands is first and foremost a shooter. Pandora as a world is a very rich backdrop for the first-person shooting action but as a role-playing game, it falls well short of being an interesting place to be. You're supposed to be more interested in the basic trappings of an RPG: leveling, obtaining new items, customizing your character's class skills and the like. In this respect, the game strikes a fairly good balance of offering enough variety and depth without slowing the pace with minutiae or number-crunching. But it's the loot game that makes Borderlands such an addicting experience and helps draw the inevitable comparisons to Diablo. There always seems to be a better gun, shield upgrade or class-boosting artifact just around the corner and it's this sick compulsion that drives deep into any gamer's pleasure center and takes firm hold for the good 20-25 hours it takes to complete the main story quest.

As lovely as all the loot is, you are constantly awash in items. Equipment chests are scattered everywhere. Lockers contain loot, as do toilets, safes and refrigerators. Even skag vomit (a skag is the Pandora equivalent of a giant rat) holds some ammo scraps after you've picked through it. It's loot, loot all the time and it eventually gets wearying and becomes a form of visual white noise. You'll pick up a couple choice weapons that serve you well, relegating most of your loot drops to your junk pile or as merchant fodder. In a way it reminds me of Sacred 2 another loot-heavy game I reviewed earlier this year. It's as if the game is desperately afraid of losing your interest, ever so vigilant it is at dangling another shiny trinket in your face or sending you on another tiresome errand disguised as something more meaningful.

The enemies could also have been imbued with a sense of variety. Outside of a few notable boss characters, your enemies boil down to a small mix of deranged bandits and various scurrying creatures that simply charge at you, AI sophistication be damned. Quest givers and other friendly NPCs fare no better. They are pure cardboard cut-outs, not even so much as emoting when you come into their vicinity. But hey, they only serve one purpose and that is to dole out missions for you to complete for more experience, money and loot.

If that were all there was to Borderlands, I'm afraid it would be just a very average game. Thankfully, the entire package is kicked up several notches by the very capable first-person shooting mechanics, the striking art direction and the nearly seamless 4-player co-op feature. A few RPGs have attempted FPS controls in the past, most notably Fallout 3 and Deus Ex, but no one has really captured the visceral feeling of firing a big gun in the context of a stat-driven RPG system. Borderlands comes the closest to nailing this perfectly. Firing guns feels right and to appease the RPG nuts, each successful hit elicits damage numbers that float up from your target, so you know exactly how awesome your new electricity-spewing shotgun is. There's still a slight disconnect during combat especially when you're pumping clip after clip into higher level enemies, but you rarely feel like your FPS skills are getting the short end of the stick.

Now I've heaped quite a few criticism onto Borderlands already but in all honesty, most of these niggles fade far into the background once you've grouped up with 3 other friends to tackle the wastelands together. With scaled up enemies and loot, the moment-to-moment enjoyment factor ramps up considerably when you have a group working as a team. A lot of techniques common to MMOs come into play here, with mixed class tactics being one of more satisfying results. Even many skills that seem a bit pointless in solo play take on a new life when you combine them with the complementary skills of another class. Co-op is not perfect, since it's possible for greedy players to make off with the best loot and it renders the already paper-thin narrative to the distant background even more than when playing alone. Lag also rears its ugly head on occasion. It's best played using dedicated character with the same group of friends, that way you're all at the same level and moving through the world at the same pace.

In the end, Borderlands does occupy that uneasy position that hybrids usually do. While it does a solid job as both a shooter and RPG, it's not even close to giving the champions in each of those genres a run for their money. And during a busy holiday season that sees the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age: Origins, you almost have to wonder if Borderlands has enough mojo to compete.

But compete it does. The co-op is what really gives Borderlands its legs. Overall, I found the game to be quite the paradox, equally unique and derivative, addictive yet frustrating. It's something that is bound to hold your interest for at least 15 hours, and for many players, that's as good a recommendation as they'll ever need.

Pros:
- Striking, stylish art direction: like a cel-shaded version of Mad Max
- Addictive RPG-lite game play
- Procedurally generated loot
- Feels like a good shooter
- Drop-in & out 4-player co-op

Cons:
- Slightly shallow, one-note game design
- Chance of lost progress with corrupted save files
- Procedurally generated loot fatigue
- Unbalanced PvP
- Fun co-op that can feel a bit disjointed & chaotic

NextGen Player gives Borderlands a...

Gamercamp Toronto - November 21st

2009-11-08T19:34:00.005-05:00

By Andrew Shin

Gamercamp is a one day event in Toronto that is a celebration of video games. This year's event will take place on November 21st at the Lower Ossington Theatre. There will be speakers, demos, an arcade area dressed with rare and retro games and Toronto's own indie game cabinet called the Torontron.

The keynote speakers for this year are Hand Eye Society's Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns and their topic will be about approaching video game development with the rock band model. Other speakers will include Michael Todd talking about Broken Brothers Deluxe and Gerald Darcy of the Replay Arcade Museum - a Toronto based gaming museum set to open soon. In fact, Replay will be Canada's first gaming museum.

In the evening there will be a closing party hosted by Gamercamp and Replay called 1UP that will showcase 25 rare and classic arcade cabinets with unlimited freeplay. On top of all that, dinner will also be served to attendees.

Tickets for Gamercamp can be purchased for $15 and includes admission, dinner and access to the 1UP closing party. To purchase tickets, click here.

To see the complete Gamercamp schedule, click here.

PlayStation.ca Uncharted 2 Contest

2009-11-06T22:30:00.003-05:00

By Andrew Shin

It wasn't too long ago when our gaming counterparts in the US were given the opportunity to win a very limited Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition. Well PlayStation.ca is now giving us Canadians the opportunity to win as well.

Go to PlayStation.ca and you can enter to win one of 5 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition games. All you have to do is simply answer 3 Uncharted trivia questions correctly in order to access the contest entry form. The contest runs until November 23 (10:00 ET).

Best Buy Canada COD: Modern Warfare 2 Midnight Launch

2009-11-03T20:45:00.006-05:00

By Andrew Shin

Best Buy Canada announced today that they will be hosting a couple of midnight launch events for the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. On Monday, November 9th the Bay and Dundas store in Toronto and the Cambie store in Vancouver will be hosting midnight launch parties that will go on from 9pm to 11:59pm. At 12:01am, both stores will open for approx. 1 hour to allow people to purchase the game. So if you live near either areas, this will be a great opportunity to get your hands on this game before it goes on sale to the general public later that morning.

Full details for this event is as follows.

Launch party details:

From 9:00 p.m through 11:59 pm on November 9, 2009, launch parties will be held at the Bay and Dundas Best Buy store in Toronto and at the Cambie Best Buy store in Vancouver.

Launch party activities include:
- Be one of the first to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with XBOX 360 street teams
- Dress up in costume for a chance to win a $500 Best Buy gift card
- Additional Call of Duty XBOX 360 console given away on site at each launch party store
- 50 limited Prestige Edition games available at each launch party store
- Monster Hitman energy drink street teams on site

Midnight opening details:

Midnight openings for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be held on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. for approximately one hour (Quebec stores will open at 8 a.m on Tuesday, November 10, 2009)

- Enter to win one of five Call of Duty XBOX 360 consoles
- A minimum of 15 limited Prestige Edition games will be available at every store
- First 75 customers at each store receive a free four-pack Monster Hitman energy drink

Nintnedo Loses Some Steam

2009-11-01T12:50:00.004-05:00

By Andrew Shin

Earlier this week Nintendo Co. Ltd reported that quarterly profits had dropped 52% and as a result has reduced its annual earnings forecast for the year. Their operating profits fell $90 billion Yen (approx. $709 million US) in July-Sept compared to $133 billion Yen a year earlier. This has been a difficult quarter for Nintendo coupled with the declining sales trend that has hit them throughout the year.

One can't be completely surprised by this latest quarterly report as Nintendo hasn't done enough to spark new and heightened interest in their Wii console due to a lack of engaging and exciting game titles. In fact, the only big release in the last few months has been the Wii Sports Resort game that incorporates the use of the new Wii Motion Plus peripheral for the Wii Remote. The other obvious factor in all of this is the the recent price cuts to the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Sony having introduced a new slimmer PS3 for $299 CAN and the Xbox 360 Elite dropping in price to $299 as well has helped both consoles to gain more marketshare with respect to sales. In fact, for the first time since its release, Sony's PS3 outsold the Wii as the top selling console in the U.S. this past September according to NPD numbers. As a result, Nintendo responded by also dropping the price on the Wii to $219 CAN.

To have dominated as long as Nintendo has since the release of the current gen consoles, it's only expected that they would lose some of its lustre. But at the end of the day, business is business for Nintendo and if they hope to recover, many in the gaming industry - both analysts and gamers - feel that Nintendo has to deliver with a solid line up of titles and new gaming experiences that will keep both the casual and core gamers interested enough to spend their dollars.

God of War Collection Trophies Revealed

2009-10-28T22:02:00.009-04:00

By Andrew Shin

While many of us wait for the release of God of War III next year, we'll have something to hold us over when the God of War Collection launches on November 17th. The God of War Collection is a PS3 format game that includes the original God of War and God of War II, both remastered in full HD.

So here's a couple of cool things about this. One, you get to play (either again or for the first time) the previous God of War games in high definition glory. Can you visualize how sweet that would be? And two, there's full trophy support for both games. In fact, the God of War team had some fun with this and created some interesting trophies. An example is the "Speed of Jason McDonald" gold trophy achievable in God of War. Jason is the Sr. Combat Designer for God of War III and holds the office record for the best speed run for God of War. To order to gain the "Speed of Jason McDonald" trophy, you'll need to complete the game in under 5 hours.

For the complete list of trophies for both games, have a look below.

GOD OF WAR

Bronze

1.21 Gigawatts - Acquire Poseidon’s Rage
Rocking Out - Acquire Medusa’s Gaze
Bolt Action - Acquire Zeus’ Fury
Sword Man - Acquire Blade of Artemis
Soul Search - Acquire Army of Hades
Matador - Win the first Minotaur fight
Scape Goat - Win the first Satyr fight
Roll Over … and Die - Win the first Cerberus fight
Don’t They Ever Shut Up! - Defeat the Desert Sirens
Beat a Dead Horse - Complete the Centaur sacrifice to Hades
Kickboxer - Complete the Spike Room Box Puzzle
Rockin’ the Boat - Complete the Sex Mini-Game
Don’t Leave Her Hanging - Rescue the Oracle with 10 seconds to spare
Get the Ball Rolling - Complete the Challenge of Atlas
Totally Baked - Complete the Human sacrifice
Splash - Kiss the Nyad
Get Me a Beer Kid - Free yourself from the depths of Hades
Zero Health = Bronze Trophy - Open a Health Chest when your health meter is already full
Hitman - Get a 100 Hits Combo
Getting My Ass Kicked - Die enough times to get offered Easy Mode

Silver

Kratos’ Marble Collection - Collect all the Gorgon Eyes
Stick it in Your Cap! - Collect all the Phoenix Feathers
It’s the HUGE One - Retrieve the Captain’s Key
Take the Bull by the Horns - Defeat Pandora’s Guardian
God Killer - Kill Ares
Head Hunter - Obtain the head of the Architect’s wife
The Power to Kill a God - Retrieve Pandora’s Box
Hitman 2 - Get a 200 Hits Combo
Legend of the Twins - Watch the ‘Birth of the Beast’ Treasure
Seeing Red - Max out all Weapons and Magic

Gold

Prepare to be a God - Beat the Game on any Difficulty
You Got the Touch! - Climb the Spiked Column in Hades without taking damage
I’ll Take the Physical Challenge - Complete the Challenge of the Gods
Speed of Jason McDonald - Beat the game in under 5 hours on any Difficulty
Key to Success - Collect all of the Muse Keys

Platinum

Trophy of Zeus - Unlock all God of War Trophies

GOD OF WAR II

Bronze

Breaking Wind - Acquire Typhon’s Bane
Big, Tuff, Buff and Rough - Acquire Rage of the Titans
Blue Balls - Acquire Cronos’ Rage
Shiner - Acquire the Golden Fleece
Rock their World - Acquire the Head of Euryale
Learning to Fly - Acquire the Icarus Wings
Shaky Ground - Acquire Atlas Quake
Death from Above 2009 - Defeat the Dark Rider for the first time
Resurrection - Climb from the pit of Hades
Rock Hard - Defeat the Titan Minotaur inside Atlas
Pick’n on the Little Guy - Win the battle outside of the Palace of the Fates
Watcha Got on the Hot Plate? - Solve the riddle of the Fire Phoenix Statue
Whip it Good - Whip the Steeds of Time
Lift with Your Knees - Topple the Temple in the Bog of the Forgotten
Swinger - Cross the collapsing Grapple Bridge
Stoner - Stone and Shatter 30 Enemies
Super Sized - Get a 500 Hits Combo
Hitting Your Stride - Power up any item

Silver

Eye Can’t Believe it - Collect all the Gorgon Eyes
Go Make a Pillow! - Collect all the Phoenix Feathers
Eye Sore - Collect 20 Cyclops Eyes
Boss Batch 1 - Kill the Colossus of Rhodes, the Dark Rider, and Theseus
Boss Batch 2 - Kill the Barbarian King, Euryale, and Perseus
Boss Batch 3 - Kill the Kraken and all three Sisters of Fate
Daddy Issues - Defeat Zeus
Rise and SHINE - Awaken the Phoenix
Spread ‘Em - Open the wings of the Temple of the Fates
Shine King - Open the door to the Temple of Euryale
Blowin’ Your Wad - Max out all Weapons and Magic

Gold

The End Begins - Beat the Game on any Difficulty
Feel the Urn - Collect and use at least 2 Urns of Power
Bleeding Thumbs - Beat the Challenge of the Titans
15 Min Fight Scene - Battle your way to the Loom Chamber in under 10 minutes
You Know the Germans Make Good Stuff… - Collect all Uber Chests

Platinum

Trophy of Gaia - Unlock all God of War II Trophies

Win Uncharted 2 Prize Pack With Eye Crave Network and NextGen Player

2009-10-26T22:37:00.006-04:00

By Andrew Shin

Now here's a contest we at NextGen Player are excited to be a part of. Our friends at entertainment news site Eye Crave Network are giving away an Uncharted 2: Among Thieves prize pack in partnership with NextGen Player. This means you have the opportunity to win this great prize pack.

Let's just say you'll want to fine tune your acting and filming skills here.

For more details on the contest and how to enter, visit Eye Crave's Uncharted 2 contest page.

NextGen Player Review: WET

2009-10-26T22:00:00.004-04:00

By Andrew Shin

If you recall, last year we posted exclusive gameplay video footage of WET that we took at MIGS 2008. At the time, Montreal based developer Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M) did not have a publisher for their game (their initial partnership with Activision didn't work out) and so the only thing one could expect for WET was nothing more than a showcase piece longing for some publisher love.

Well, since then a lot has happened. Bethesda came along and picked up the game. As a result, A2M saw all of their hard work and ambitions come to life on retail shelves across the world. As gamers waited for this game to be released, they commented on comparisons to games such as Max Payne and Stranglehold as well as visual cues akin to the grindhouse genre. The latter description holds true, however comparisons to Max Payne and Stranglehold aren’t completely justified. In fact, after playing the game, I kept thinking a cross between Lara Croft, The Matrix and grindhouse movies.

So allow me to tell you what WET is. It’s a game that does many things well. It’s a very stylistic game that does a good job of incorporating fun and engaging gameplay with some solid voice acting and a great soundtrack. Rubi is the heroine and she’s a looker with a mean streak. To compliment her badass-ness, she has at her disposal an arsenal of very effective weaponry including pistols, shotguns, crossbows and a lethal sword. As I mentioned before, the gameplay is extremely fun due to the well balanced combat cocktail of “bullet time” slow mo gunplay and athletic acrobatics. Take it a step further to string together moves and you can execute combos (all in slow motion). The end result is a highly satisfying and visually attractive shoot em’ up that will have your eyes drooling. It's also very helpful that the overall control scheme is simple in execution and layout so that all of your focus in on the screen where it should be.

As you take out the bad guys, it’s essential to do so efficiently and in continuous fashion. During any shoot up sequence with enemies, you can build up your score multiplier by stringing together one kill after another. You’ll want to build it up as high as possible and maintain it for as long as possible so that you can rack up style points. This in turn can then be used to upgrade Rubi’s abilities and weapons. Throughout the game you will also come across a regular dose of quick time button sequences where you have to respond in time to and press the corresponding controller button that flashes on the screen. Nothing unique overall, but does add another dimension to the game.

Amongst all of the good WET brings to the table, I did have some minor knocks. For one, while the game can be addictively fun, I felt it was too linear. Yes, granted these types of game need to be linear in nature, there certainly could have been some elements of free roaming to make things more interesting. Additionally, the game’s difficulty could also have been a notch higher. Especially boss battles. The few that were in the game proved a bit too easy to conquer, especially at the end of the game which kinda made it anti-climactic.

At the end of the day, WET is a solid game. A2M has put together a good package that is entertaining and has some great visuals. But as well as it executes on many aspects, it does lack some polish that holds it back from being an even better game. All that said, I’d recommend taking the game for a spin as you’ll likely have one enjoyable ride.

Pros:
- Combat is addictively fun – slo mo gunplay combined with acrobatics
- Grindhouse style makes for great visuals
- Great soundtrack

Cons:
- Too linear
- Level of difficulty could have been higher

NextGen Player gives WET a...

Xbox Deal of the Week: Resident Evil 5 Versus Mode

2009-10-23T21:45:00.003-04:00

By Paul Hunter

When Resident Evil 5 came out many gamers complained that the versus mode wasn't included in the retail version -- it came out a few weeks later as downloadable content. It also just happened to cost 400 Microsoft Points or $5 depending on which currency you prefer.

There was even a rumour that circulated claiming the versus mode was on the disc all along and the DLC purchase was simply a key that unlocked it. This was later debunked by Capcom exec Christian Svensson who said:

"Keys are 100K or less. It is not a key. We have said in the past, it uses assets from the disc (like levels, models, audio, etc.) but the code is new and does not exist on the disc."

Still, many gamers felt a little cheated. 400 Microsoft Points just wasn't worth it.

Well, if you're in that group how does 240 points sound to you? That's equivalent to $3 in normal money and Xbox Canada Deal of the Week if you feel inclined to buy. Keep in mind that this is an exclusive offer only to Xbox Live Gold members and the deal ends October 25.

I haven't bothered to pick-up the DLC myself, but if you have, let us know what you thought of it.

Got Game Inteviews Vortex Competition's Managing Director

2009-10-23T20:15:00.005-04:00

By Paul Hunter

If you follow NextGen Player on Twitter most likely you've come across a tweet or two where I've expressed my love for the weekly video game radio show Got Game that airs on The FAN590.

Got Game's host Zack Cooper and the crew recently talked with Sari Ruda, Managing Director of the Vortex Competition about the Boot Camp and Competition taking place November 3, 4 & 5 in Toronto.

The interview covers a lot of interesting facets of the event including the over-arching goals of the competition, the learnings and opportunities registrants will receive at the Boot Camp, and the lucrative prizing available to the Vortex winner.

This is the 5th anniversary of the Vortex Competition and according to Ruda they have learned quite a bit about emerging game designers over the years and have used this knowledge to fine-tune the Vortex offering to bring out the full potential of each participant.

"One of things we discovered along the way was that people might have a great concept, but they really didn't understand the nuts and bolts of putting together a business," says Ruda, "so what we're trying to do is to help them put a realistic goal together and then when they pitch the judges with these concepts the rest of it falls into place and they'll have a good chance of having a positive outcome."

As an example of how effective the competition has been for previous winners, they will be bringing in a speaker from the 2007 competition and he'll discuss how his Vortex successes have helped him grow a 23 person business since March 2008. That sounds like quite an impressive feat in only eight-teen months.

You can listen to the full interview by clicking on the flash player below or by heading over to the Got Game homepage here and downloading the October 3rd Edition. The Vortex interview begins at the 19 minutes mark:

Capcom to Zombify Torontonians

2009-10-23T01:00:00.004-04:00

By Leif Conti-Groome

After infecting locales all over the world, the Resident Evil franchise is setting its sights on the sleepy town of Toronto, Ontario. This time, it is promising to be more of a blast than Resident Evil: Extinction.

Capcom is setting up a booth for the 7th annual Toronto Zombie Walk that will help aspiring undead be even deader. They will be promoting Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles which is slated to come out the chilly morn of November 17th. And just because they're skipping the trend of releasing horror themed games before or on Halloween (I'm looking at you Saw and Dreamkiller) doesn't mean that it won't scare the Wii Remote out your Wii Zapper.

For those unfamiliar, the Zombie Walk is a chance for zombifiles to get their shamble on in a parade like structure where everyone participating are dressed up like infected carriers. The cosplaying for this event is top notch with groups of friends setting up elaborate battles and take downs ala Left 4 Dead or tongue-in-cheek cameos (last year there was the late Ronald McDonald snacking on some McBrain sandwiches).

Not everyone is the best with white foundation and fake blood and that's where Capcom graciously comes in; their booth will feature professional make-up artists who will make you a deadite free of charge. According to the Zombie Walk website, there has been over a hundred people who are dead serious about getting assistance to become a Thriller extra.

If you live in Toronto and want to get in on the action, Capcom's booth will be in Trinity Bellwoods Park and they will exercising their mortician talents as of 12:30pm. The organizers have warned that anyone coming by the tent to get there early and bring a small make up bag just in case supplies run out. The Walk itself will be leaving at 3:30pm after opening ceremonies at 3pm where all zombies will eventually end up overrunning Bloor Street.

Capcom also helped fund some excellent advertisements done specifically for the walk. Simon Pure (which is an agency rather than a person) were the masterbrains behind these hilarious spots:

If this doesn't get you out than you do not have the heart of a true Zombie.

Canadians Are 'Impulse Game Buyers' Says NPD Group Study

2009-10-23T00:30:00.002-04:00

By Paul Hunter

The NPD Group have released a report entitled The Canadian Video Game Purchase Process which found that the Canadian video game industry has been overcome by a wave of impulse purchases fueled primarily by creative packaging and online accessibility.

Despite being in a mild recession, 40 per cent of video game buyers stated that they have purchased a game on impulse in the past six months.

Much like gamers overall, the male/female split for impulse buying is almost even and are dominated by the 13 – 17 age group (26%) and the 35 – 44 age group (23%).

“Clearly gamers are becoming much less reluctant to spend on games,” said Matthew Tattle, Group Manager, The NPD Group. “One would think it is a little unusual to see impulse purchases during a recession but it’s clear that hardcore gamers will find a way to satisfy their need for something new, different and enjoyable.”

This upswing of shoppers picking up a game on impulse is correlated with a rise in low-cost used games, which has performed exceptionally well during the recessionary months generating $65 in sales. In Canada we've recently witnessed a number of major retailers get into the used gaming market including Best Buy Canada, Rogers Plus, and Future Shop. HMV has also announced intentions to enter the used game market but specifics have not yet been made public.

Motivations behind impulse shopping include images or descriptions on game packaging (40% said this was extremely important), and in-store demonstrations of the game (25% are swayed after viewing one).

Says Tattle: “Game packaging is the most influential form of advertising for game manufacturers and retailers. Particularly among impulse shoppers, game packaging is considered a much stronger motivator than TV commercials, online ads or trailers. The graphics and images on game packages should be chosen strategically to ensure buyers are attracted to the game.”

Referrals also play a key role for retailers looking to attract impulse buyers, 1/3 of whom said they were motivated to make their last game purchase by having played the game at a friend’s house or receiving a referral from a family member or friend.

Furthermore, 19% of impulse buyers said a store clerk’s recommendation is very or extremely important to them and 21% are swayed by a recommendation from another shopper in the store.

Additional study findings include:

* Only 3% of reported purchases were pre-ordered
* Females are more likely to buy on impulse; 46% of impulse buyers are females compared to only 37% of planned buyers
* Sequels sell; almost 20% of gamers said they were motivated to buy a game that was a sequel to one they had previously enjoyed
* 43% of impulse buyers paid only $10 – $20 for their last game purchase
* Only 15% of impulse purchases were made online

The Canadian Video Game Purchase Process was conducted from Aug.10 – 21, 2009 among a population sample of 2,429 gamers (1,758 adults, 371 teens) across the country.

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Xbox Canada Invites You To Drive Your Dreams

2009-10-22T23:35:00.002-04:00

By Paul Hunter

Eager Canadian gamers will have their chance to test drive Forza Motorsport 3 before the official North American release date thanks to Xbox Canada's Drive Your Dreams event taking place this Saturday at the CNE grounds in Toronto.

They are also running a pretty sweet contest during the event and all you need to do to enter is register onsite.

The grand prize consists of an Xbox 360 Elite Console, an Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel, and a Limited Edition Forza Motorsport game, and a 12-Month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership. In addition, the winner will also receive a gift certificate for the “Thrill of a Lifetime” package at the Bridgestone Racing Academy located in Lindsay, Ontario redeemable at a time of the winners choosing and an Expedia Travel Voucher to be used for travel to Bridgestone Racing Academy. The approximately retail value of the total prize is $3,660 CAD.

There will also be ten secondary prizes which include a Limited Edition Forza Motorsport 3 game (approximately retail value of $89.99).

Here are the event details:

Toronto
October 24th 2009
12:00 – 17:00
The Better Living Centre, CNE Grounds

Click here for a map

For more information you can check out the official contest website or the event page on Facebook.

Watch Us Construct An Epic Lego Rock Band Jam Session!

2009-10-22T23:15:00.001-04:00

By Paul Hunter

Earlier this month I was welcomed to the Future Shop annual "Red Carpet" Game On which is basically a mini-E3 event for their managers so they can learn what's hot this holiday season. At the preview event were many high profile games such as Assassin's Creed 2, DJ Hero, Avatar, Forza Motorsport 3, Wii Fit Plus, and Lego Rock Band.

The highlight of the event was when I was invited on the Lego stage to perform with my long-time friend Elliott Chun, Future Shop's Communications Manager. Also joining us on-stage was CTV's well-known tech guru, Kris Abel, and Future Shop's Marketing Specialist, Kerrie Kindrat. You can check out the whole experience on that YouTube clip above.

If you're interested in reading my full impressions of the event, check out my write-up on the Future Shop Tech Blog.

DIG Lists 'Top Ten You Don't Want To Miss', Includes NGP

2009-10-21T21:00:00.002-04:00

By Paul Hunter

This year's DIG London conference is shaping up to be an amazing industry event. Momentum has been building significantly over the last month with new keynote speakers announced such as Ubisoft Montreal & Toronto's CEO, Yannis Mallat, and Electric Playground's host, Victor Lucas. They join a star-studded gaming line-up that includes senior executives at Digital Extremes, Silicon Knights, Cerebral Vortex Games, Big Blue Bubble, Antic Entertainment, EEDAR and many more.

With all these exciting event draws I was simultaneously honoured and surprised when I read on the DIG London blog today that NextGen Player has been named one of the "Top Ten You Don't Want To Miss" at the conference. Looks like we have some pretty big boots to fill. Hey, at least I have shoe size 11, that's pretty large considering my 5'6" stature.

So, want to know the top ten draws you don't want to miss? I know you do, and that's why I'm going to tell you:

10) Industry DIG 2009 VIP Party – for full conference delegates, sponsors, and speaker!

9) Industry Trade-show featuring sponsors, partners, service providers and more!

8 ) Forecast of economic trends and demographics for the gaming industry.

7) Keynote address by digital media and videogame TV pioneer Victor Lucas.

6) Explosive viral marketing opportunities with the presence of NextGen Player, the GAMES DAY Podcast, GamingUnion.net, and Backbone Magazine.

5) Interactive GameZone with international best-sellers including games by DIG London companies.

4) Game Design Post-Mortem with Big Blue Bubble.

3) Open Forum discussion with James Schmalz of Digital Extremes and Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights.

2) Ubisoft’s Yannis Mallat Keynote Address.

1) One-to-One networking opportunities through DIG’s Partnering Program.

Well, there you have it. If you're going to DIG London 2009 don't miss out on any of the above. Especially #6, I hear the staff writers at NextGen Player are incredibly handsome.

Vortex Competition 2009 Welcomes Ubisoft

2009-10-20T19:53:00.007-04:00

By Andrew Shin

Vortex has announced Ubisoft as a key sponsor for their Vortex Competition 2009. Beyond the sponsorship, the Ubisoft connection with this year's Vortex Competition goes deeper with Ubisoft CEO Yannis Mallat participating as a finals judge for the event.

The Vortex Competition takes place on November 3,4 and 5 in Toronto, Ontario. This is a prime opportunity for budding game developers and entrepreneurs to pitch their own game concept or prototype. In addition to pitching game ideas, it's also a great educational opportunity to learn from industry professionals during the one day intensive Boot Camp session (held on November 3rd).

For more details and to register, visit the Vortex website.

And here is the rest of it.

Sponsor and Advertiser Thanks

2009-10-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

By Paul Hunter

At NextGen Player we love Canada. We also happen to really love video games. It's a good thing then that Canada is a global leader in the video game industry because it sure as heck keeps us busy. All this content you see on NextGen Player we write in our spare time, and we do it all for you, our devoted readers.

Over the last couple of months, many valued sponsors and advertisers have played an integral part in our rapid growth and have really legitimized this site as Canada's Premier Gaming Blog. It's really amazing to see the original goal we set out to do coming into fruition.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors for all their support:

Montreal International Game Summit 09 - Alliance numérique

GameON: Finance 2009 - Interactive Ontario

DIG London - London Economic Development Corporation

We'd also like to thank our valued advertisers:

Taco Bell - Fill Up On Game Gear

Toshiba Gaming

Trojan Condoms

Interested in sponsorship or advertising with NextGen Player? Click here to find out more.

VFS Game Design Expo Call for Speakers in 2010

2009-10-19T08:00:00.002-04:00

By Clinton Ma

The next Vancouver Film School Game Design Expo has been scheduled to run from April 10 - 11th, 2010. Last year's event featured a host of interesting guest speakers, ranging from Far Cry 2 creative director, Clint Hocking, to Kelly Zmak, president of Prototype developers, Radical Entertainment.

The fourth annual Game Design Expo promises another round of great speakers but the line-up is still in the works. Do you know games? Do you have professional video games experience? Do you like the idea of imparting your inside knowledge to a throng of eager students, enthusiasts and fellow industry pros? Then the Game Design Expo wants you...

The 2010 Game Design Expo is now accepting proposals from game industry professionals wishing to present at the event. This is a great opportunity to share your stories from the trenches, as well as lecture the next generation of game development talent on what you think are the important lessons for success.

All proposals are due by November 6, 2009 so hurry, before next April's expo attendees are deprived of your 133t public speaking skills.

For more information on becoming a speaker, check out their submission guidelines or visit gamedesignexpo.com

Vortex Competition Registration Extended To Oct. 23

2009-10-18T19:35:00.003-04:00

By Paul Hunter

The 5th Annual Vortex Competition is set to kick-off on November 3rd where participants will have a chance to enter Boot Camp for a one-day intensive educational day where they will learn how to successfully bring a video game to market. This year's event will be taking place in Toronto, Ontario.

Registration to Boot Camp and the main Vortex Competition has recently been extended to October 23rd. Getting into both costs $100, and the Boot Camp-only costs $75.

I recently wrote a full run-down on this year's competition on the Future Shop Tech Blog. From the article:

"The Vortex Competition is Canada's preeminent forum for emerging video game designers and developers, where aspiring entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to meet experienced industry leaders, decision makers, financial advisors and mentors in a rich learning environment. The three-day competition, taking place in Toronto from November 3-5, is put on by the McLuhan International Festival of the Future, an organization dedicated to educating, edifying, and entertaining people about media and technology."

If you're interested in learning more about the competition, check out the full Future Shop article here.

NextGen Player will be in attendance at this year's Vortex Competition. Expect lots more coverage in the weeks ahead.

Borderlands Will Sell For Cheap In Canada

2009-10-18T19:10:00.002-04:00

By Paul Hunter

Canadian's who celebrated the $38.83 brand new retail price for Batman: Arkham Asylum can all collectively rejoice once again. In a rare moment of welcome déjà vu, Future Shop, Best Buy Canada and Wal-Mart will all be selling the game for the discounted price of $39.99 on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

The upcoming science fiction FPS/RPG by Gearbox releases on October 20. That still gives everyone a couple of days to save their pennies.

Source: Controller Punch

Game Boy Guerrillas Invade Nuit Blanche 2009

2009-10-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

By Paul Hunter

Earlier this month I mentioned that chiptunes artist jefftheworld was coming out to the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche for a guerrilla performance at City Hall. Well, I was there and had a great time. Above is a clip I took of an audience member rapping to the 8-bit music. What I found out at the show is that jefftheworld is one member of a group known as the Game Boy Guerrillas.

Over on the Future Shop Tech Blog I wrote a full recap of the event, and included another video of jefftheworld's performance that night. I definitely encourage you to take a look and a read, trust me chiptune music is pretty cool.

You can check out the full article here:

[Click here to read my impressions of the Game Boy Guerrillas concert]

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

Best Buy Canada Launches Game Trade In Program

2009-10-17T09:59:00.008-04:00

By Andrew Shin

It's official. Best Buy Canada is now officially in the game trade in business. In fact, NextGen Player first reported the Best Buy Canada pilot program launch a while back and it appears to have been a success. I fully expected this launch to happen anytime now as I was in my local Best Buy store last week and I noticed they had used game sections for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and PSP.

As advertised in this week's flyer and on the Best Buy Canada website, the game trade in program is available in stores all across Canada. So, how does the trade in program work? Well, much like Future Shop's trade in program, you simply bring in your used games and you will recieve the trade in amount in the form of a Best Buy gift card that can be used towards any purchases in-store.

So add another player to the used games landscape. My opinion has always been that more competitors in the used game business ultimately translates to benefits for the consumer in the form of more competitive promotions and pricing as well more choices in where to sell and buy used games. And that, my fellow gamers, is a great thing.