Toronto Thumbs

VIDEO
DJ Finish Him VS Oxvylu

If you missed the DJ Finish Him VS Oxvylu gig last month in Toronto, not to worry. Someone has uploaded a 10 minute clip of it!

It’s weird for me to see myself on video, but I suppose I’ll get used to it. In other news, I couldn’t see anything with those 3D glasses on, but they did look cool. Also: We didn’t really practice before this gig, so pretty much everything we’re doing is ad-libbed.

While a next gig has yet to be booked, we are planning on hooking up in the future for some more creative projects.

Posted in Canada, Music, TORONTO, Videos | 1 Comment »

Tribes of Mexica:
Makeover for a Cipactli

Toronto developers Incubator Games is giving its upcoming game, Tribes of Mexica, a makeover. Over at their official site, interested parties (that’s you!) can vote on a new look for the Cipactli character (that’s the green guy up top). Cipactli currently looks pretty cool, admittedly. But the poll includes some very awesome and quite different renderings from various artists – all of which are even better than the current version.

I won’t post those here, as I don’t want to unintentionally influence your vote, but I do urge you to head on over to vote. It’s not every day that a games developer asks the community for such direct feedback. How cool would it be if the design you chose made it into the game? Think of the indie cred you’ll gain!

Speaking of cred, Incubator Games is a small team comprised of former project leads from Capybara Games. They’ve worked on some titles you probably love, including Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes and the original Critter Crunch.

Posted in Art, Canada, Indie, TORONTO | 2 Comments »

Ubisoft’s Q3 Shaky,
Company Looks to New Games For Boost

Earlier today, Ubisoft released a press release addressing the company’s third fiscal quarter results as well as plans for future releases. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction is being pushed back again, this time to April, while a new Assassin’s Creed title will surprisingly be released this year. R.U.S.E, which was supposed to be released last year, now has a tentative release date of November 2010.

Ubisoft also reported lower-than-expected sales numbers for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game (not at all surprising) as well as less-than-desired sales numbers for non-casual Wii titles. Overall, the company reported expecting an operating loss for the year, which may result in some abandoned projects. However they’re looking to improve on their financial situation with upcoming titles such as the aforementioned games, a new game in the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Driver, as well as a Raving Rabbids 4.

Hopefully things will pick up for the software giant, given the Ontario government’s investment in the company opening up a Toronto studio to boost the interactive job sector in the province.

Posted in Canada, News Bytes | 5 Comments »

SWISH!
EA Announces NBA JAM for Wii

Today EA announced that its EA Sports branch is reviving the NBA JAM franchise by developing a new title in the series exclusively for the Wii. According to the publisher, EA Sports NBA JAM will feature vintage gameplay along with new features that “deliver a fresh new take on the game,” which seems akin to saying “It’s the same, but different.”

“NBA JAM is one of the most recognizable franchises in videogame history,” says EA Sports president Peter Moore. “Diehard fans of the original game have been asking for a remake for more than a decade. We’re very excited to give them their wish this year with the return of this iconic franchise.”

The company’s press release goes on to state that the new game will feature true-to-life body types, updated physics, and visible player emotion. I wonder if EA Sports realizes no one played NBA JAM for its realism.

While no screenshots have been released, the site nba-jam.easports.com is up in a somewhat bare bones state. Still, it’s nice to see the new logo still features a flaming basketball.

EA Sports NBA JAM will hit the Wii this year and is being developed by EA Canada in Vancouver, BC. As this is an EA Sports title, expect to see plenty of sequels.

Posted in Arcade, Awesome, Canada, News Bytes, Wii | 2 Comments »

Happy Holidays From DMF Comics!
Gonna Get Wasted

Here’s how the BEAR from The Bear Stories rolls when it’s the holidays. Actually, I’m pretty sure he rolls like this regardless of the time of year. The gang at DMF Comics sent this special e-card to its mailing list subscribers. This is actually the second card we’ve received from the people behind The Bear Stories; the first one was a hand-drawn olde-tyme signed card from the comic’s creators. Considering they have a lot of people to send cards to, that’s a lot of bears/messages to draw/write!

DMF’s e-card, however, also contains a link to Reindeertase with a bit of a spoiler: The game marks the first time the BEAR has appeared in a videogame. I’m hoping it won’t be the last. I’ll remain tight-lipped regarding where he is, but I will say that he tosses fireballs like a regular Ryu.

Posted in Art, Awesome, Canada, Comics | No Comments »

BARGAIN ALERT!
120 GB PS3 With Two Great Games For $299

I’m not one to usually post about gaming deals. But with this coming weekend being the start of Boxing Day sale madness here in Canada, and since a new stack of flyers were just delivered to my door, I figured, “What the heck.”

So far, I’ve only skimmed the deals briefly. But this one looks to be the biggest and best. Walmart will be selling the PlayStation 3 120 GB as a bundle with two blockbuster titles: Batman: Arkham Asylum and inFAMOUS. Considering this version of the PS3 usually sells for this same price minus the games, this deal gets the thumbs up. The only downside here is that you have to go to Walmart to get it. One could always try to price match elsewhere, though. If you’re looking for a PS3, still, this is definitely a deal to watch.

Posted in Awesome, Bargains, Canada, PlayStation 3 | 3 Comments »

MADE OF SOAP (AND WIN)!
Peter Project’s “FRESH” EP

I’m a huge fan of people doing things differently. Take Toronto-based hip-hop DJ/beat maker Peter Project, for instance. His new Fresh EP is not only fresh in the sense that the cuts are new, but also in the sense that it’s a download embedded into a bar of soap! Granted, the EP is also available sans-soap, but how cool a play on the oft-used term, “Fresh!”

I’m not sure I’d want to use the soap just to get to the download code. But this is more a reflection of my pack rat/hoarder mentality and less because I don’t like being clean. The soap itself sounds like it’s pretty awesome. It’s handmade and naturally scented. Given the fact that there are plenty of sweaty dudes at Toronto shows who don’t appear to realize how horrible they smell, getting people to clean themselves by any form of trickery seems like a great idea to me.

While I have yet to hear the entire Fresh EP, I can guarantee you it’s awesome. Considering I had nothing but praise for Peter Project’s self-titled album when I reviewed it for Popshifter earlier this year, I have the utmost confidence that the Fresh EP delivers the goods despite its short length. But don’t take my word for it; just listen to “Unorthadox,” a preview track from the EP that features More or Les throwing it down over Peter’s beats. There’s also this sampling that features a mix of sounds from the Fresh EP. Then there’s the video Peter recently posted that shows him cutting up some beats with a newly broken arm.

The Fresh EP can be purchased online at the Fuzzy Logic Recordings shop.

Posted in Art, Awesome, Canada, Indie, Music, TORONTO | 1 Comment »

ZAZZY!
PlayStation.ca Gets a New Look

For the first time since its launch a few years back, PlayStation.ca has received a major overhaul. Kyle Moffatt, Senior Public Relations Specialist, Sony Computer Entertainment Canada, announced the redesign today on the PlayStation blog.

The new PlayStation.ca has a cool new interface allowing visitors easier access to information about not only Triple-A titles, but also about various consoles, hardware, news, and special events. Each game title featured on the site is accompanied by big, bold visuals, including game screenshots and videos.

Apart from the redesign, content has now been grouped in blocks, which help connect similar pieces of connect. SCEC is also planning additional unique content for the site in the near future. With this new look and site information structure update, PlayStation.ca has become the best of the three console manufacturers’ Canadian public portals.

Posted in Canada, News Bytes, PSN, PSP, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »

LATEST MAG BETA AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
Next Beta Wave Starts Jan 4, 2010

Starting today, Canadian PS3 owners can download the latest version of MAG. The giant-scale online game kicks off its next beta wave from January 4 – 10, 2010. This time around, however, players won’t need a special code or presale voucher to participate. The download will occupy approximately 1.8 to 2.3 GB of data on your system’s hard drive

Although the MAG beta download is available now, it’s important to note that you won’t be able to actually play it until the beta servers are brought online at 5 a.m. PT on Monday, January 4, 2010. In the meantime, however, I recommend getting the download out of the way soon. This way, you won’t be trying to get it at the last minute. Full details about MAG and its next beta are up at the official PlayStation blog. The full version of the game will be available January 26 in North America.

No need to thank us for this advice; we just like helping.

Posted in Canada, PSN, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »