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