For what you may ask?  Why for the Great Canadian Video Game Competition of course.  Starting with 70 applicants (of the smallish developer variety) from all across Canada, who applied back on December 15th, have just been whittled down to 10 finalists that will vie for 2 million sweet Government funded Canadian dollars. 

The names of the 10 winning companies (followed by province, project name, platform and select jury comment) are:

• Big Blue Bubble, Ontario, Hobby Shop, console. "I am fast becoming a big Wii fan and Hobby Shop is something that leverages the strengths of this platform." (Moravek)
• Cerebral Vortex Games, Ontario, Ambush! Trivia, PC/Mobile/Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). "Ambush! Trivia is innovative in the way that it merges the fun of a trivia game and the ability to reach and ambush people anywhere with the XBLA platform." (Mallat)
• Dark Matter Entertainment, Ontario, Vertical Ascent, console. "Even on a well-known platform you can still create a breakthrough with controls. The concept is immediate and intuitive and could be very addictive." (Mallat)
• HB Studios & TPB Productions, Nova Scotia, Trailer Park Boys, console. "This was one of the pitches that made us laugh out loud. Trailer Park Boys was a GREAT pitch." (Zmak)
• Hop To It Productions Inc., Ontario, Create-a-date, online. "Create-a-date is exploring some totally new areas in the gaming industry that we never have seen before." (Mallat)
• Hothead Games Inc., B.C., SWARM!, PC. "I love the character development and the innovative game play in SWARM!. It's highly relevant in terms of trying to clean up the world, without being ultra violent." (Moravek)
• Humagade Ltd., Quebec, Tamano, handheld. "Here is a developer that understands the dual-screen platform. It has the right mechanics and game play and the characters are cool." (Mallat)
• LiveWires Designs Ltd., B.C., Reckless, wireless. "I love the way they take real world technology we take for granted everyday, turn it into your worst nightmare and force you to use that same technology to solve the mystery." (Zmak)
• MindHabits Inc., Quebec, MindHabits Trainer, handheld. "MindHabits Trainer is exciting because it is not only trying to do some brain training, but its also trying to have an impact on your feelings."(Moravek)
• Murmur Inc., Ontario, Echelon, wireless. "Echelon plays to the conspiracy theorist in all of us. It applies to both male and female gamers and, in forcing social interaction, adds a new dynamic." (Zmak)

http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/01/1721.asp?f=767&lang=en

This is a great move for game developers in Canada because although they are plentiful they are mostly owned by International publishers or factions of a larger international developer.  This stops these small game producers from putting anything in the pipeline that is remotely unique or creative.  So not only does it encourage growth and publicity in the Canadian gameing market but it also enriches the industry as a whole by allowing new and creatively exciting games to enter the market.  We as the consumer also benefit because we get to play the game that has to endure cruel and grueling competition.

With all that said the games listed here are still in their infancy and have yet to undergo any intensive production, the next benchmark to lookout for is in March 2007 where four games will be selected and given 250,000 big ones to create a playable prototype.  This will happen at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco so it would be totally sweet if GameSpot cover it. 

The point is this is some screwed up version of the Apprentice and it is clearly in existance for our own entertainment and betting purposes soooooo I'm giving 2:1 on Trailer Park Boys.

See ya,

Robio

Elated is the only word to describe the feeling I received when I logged onto Gamespot and saw a small news blurb about the latest progressive move Telefilm took in support of the blossoming video game industry in Canada.  This competition is set to begin in the 2007 with registration closing on the 15th of December. 

It fosters the creation of original IP from developers around the nation by injecting some money and a lot of expertise into their development cycle.  One might ask why would this be so hard? Canada has many video game developers with a depth of talent, why can't they just make something original.  The answer is easy, time is money and money is one thing many of these smaller developers are lacking in.  Also the way the Canadian market is set up, many of these developers do not have their own autonomy to pursue such creative endeavours.  Instead they are assigned tasks from the foreign Publishers that own them.  To use a crude example and relationship, Canada is  being outsourced for video games labour by the United States and other countries that have prominent Publishers (ex. EA Vancouver, Ubisoft Montreal, and the late DICE).

The GCVGC is and excellent move in the right direction for the video game industry in the Great White North.  It will foster its growth and attract new talent to our already sterling ranks.  It is also quite refreshing, as Rich Gallup noted on the November 21st edition of the HotSpot, that a government would actually support the growth of a 20 billion dollar industry instead of tabling useless and shortsighted legislation to hinder it.

The fact is that this competition can only help the Canadian Video Game industry both in profit and image.  The competitive nature of this program ensures that a quality game and IP will emerge victorious.

The Future is looking bright.

For more information on the GCVGC please visit http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/03/vgapply.asp 

Robio 

Jeff is a talented journalist and critic, he is entitled to his own opinion and should not have to be mocked and chided for simply doing his job. Jeff has given a decade of hard and outstanding effort to GameSpot and to us, it's subscribers. Although this review came well below the status quo of reviews produced on other gaming periodicals it is no less valid.

In fact one could make an argument that none of these reviews are complete and only when taken into consideration with the entire gaming critics community do you start to see the full picture of any game. Many reviews trumped on the games strengths such as its new controller scheme, story and depth of play. While other reviews concentrated on presentation and some of the things that the Zelda game was lacking in.

You should thank Jeff for pointing out some of the games shortcomings and providing GameSpot subscribers with the good and the bad (GameSpotter's ability to easily reference other gaming periodicals). This also resonates with the developers in that although they produced an amazing launch title there is still improvements to be made and places for the series to grow.

And last but not least, any critic of respectable stature stands behind his/her word completely. And as you are all stalwart in your opinions (as you should be) Jeff is equally committed to his views. The Twilight Princess review should stand as it is a viable critique of an IP that is very close to all of our hearts (and that is the hardiest thing to review in the end).

Robio

they are what can i say