Toronto Developers Highlight the 7th Annual Canadian Video Game Award Nominations

The nominations for the 7th Annual Canadian VideoGame Awards have been announced, and there are quite a few Toronto developers being nominated for various awards. I tooked at the local games being developed, which you can check out below.

Nominations (Local Developers Only)

Game of the Year:

• Severed
• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Console Game:

• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Mobile/Handheld Game:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)
• Loud on Planet X (Pop Sandbox Inc)

Best PC Game

• Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (Massive Damage)

Best Virtual Reality Game:

• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
• Modbox (Alientrap)

Best Animation:

• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Art Direction:

• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best Audio:

• Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft Montreal nominated)

Best Educational Game:

• Modbox (Alientrap)

Best Game Innovation:

• Modbox (Alientrap)

Best Indie Game:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best Musical Score:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best Narrative:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

Best New Character:

• Sasha - Severed (Drinkbox Studios)

Best Technology:

• Modbox (Alientrap)

Fans’ Choice Award: Best Canadian-Made Game:

• Alone With You (Benjamin Rivers)
• Severed (DrinkBox Studios)

You can check out the full nominations at the official site.

One More Story Presents: Attack Of The Killer Zombie Cats

Barrie developer One More Story Games is helping us get into Halloween mood with releasing 'Attack of the Killer Zombie Cats' as part of their Story Stylus, a program that helps authors bring their creations to digital life.

Battle to save Earth from the Killer Zombie Cats. Everyone has disappeared except you, Donald Trump aka Trumpy Cat, and his evil horde of zombie cats who have been poisoned! Can you save the world by defeating evil?

The game is actually written by 11 year old Keira Palmer, but make sure to follow One More Story Game on Twitter, and check out the rest of their catalog on their main website.

Runbow Shantae DLC Out - Retail Deluxe Slightly Delayed

A few updates on everything Runbow. First, the Shantae DLC is now avaliable as a free download. Additionally, Runbow Deluxe, the retail version that comes with the main game, all DLC and soundtrack has been pushed to November 1st:

Due to an unforeseen error at the magical video game factory, Runbow Deluxe’s official ship / street date is being moved to November 1st. We’re sorry if this caused any inconvenience but some wishes not even an all powerful half-genie can grant.

With all this fun, there is also a patch for Runbow which can be downloaded on Wii U. You can check out the patch notes on their official tumblr.

Caveman Cliff Becomes A Paid App On iOS

We've spoken about Toronto developer Shiny Talisman before, who have three releases to their name: Warp Looter, Gravtrav, and Caveman Cliff.  Gravtrav was released a few weeks ago, and now Caveman Cliff, which was originally a free to play game, but has been moved to being premium app costing $2.79.

In an email to me, developer Brad Kennedy said: 

"Without the paywall I was able to make some changes that really improved the game including taking down the difficulty early on to help ease the player in and getting them to the good stuff quicker, like the dino-might and whirlwinds."

Caveman Cliff. Ever want to battle pterodactyls with dinomight, whirlwinds and biceps as big as your head? Well now you can. Clear all the boulders off the cliff so that Cliff can make it his home. The pterodactyls want it too but you're quicker than they are! Another game by Shiny Talisman.

This paid version of the app includes no-ads, and no in-app purchases.

Caveman Cliff is a story about a caveman, named Cliff, who wants to live on a cliff. As levels are completed puzzle pieces will be earned. The revelation of the puzzles will guide the user through Cliff’s adventure as he struggles against the pterodactyls. New game mechanics will unlock in relation to what is happening in the story. Four gorgeously illustrated puzzles (30 levels) will need to be completed to find out how the tale ends for Cliff. Levels are completed by clearing the cliff of boulders. The pterodactyls want the cliff for themselves so they’re going to try and stop you. Things will go quicker if you pile boulders together creating boulder chains. These chains will also boost your abilities once they’ve been unlocked.

Caveman Cliff can be picked up on iOS right here, you can also follow the developer on Twitter.

Pirate Pop Plus Out Now On 3DS And Wii U

As previously announced, Pirate Pop Plus the game from Tokyo developer Dadako, and published by 13AM Games is out now on Wii U and 3DS. The title is cross-buy between the two platforms, which you can picked up right here.

Get ready for the bubble-popping, gravity-defying, retro-arcade action game Pirate Pop Plus! Join Pete Jr on his quest to defeat the nefarious Bubble Pirate, an evil villain who has trapped the innocent townsfolk in bubbles! Dodge and pop bubbles with your anchor while collecting power-ups and managing Bubble Pirate's constant gravity-switching mischief!

Illumination Games Releases Dawn Of Mars On iOS And Android

Illumination Games, who had previous released Ace Academy: Black Flight early in the year, have released their next title: Dawn of Mars on iOS and Android.

Space Frontiers: Dawn of Mars, is the Canada Aviation and Space Museum's latest mobile app. In this strategy-based colonization game, survival depends on your ability to gather resources, expand bases, and reach new territories. As commanding officer, you must balance colony survival with mission requirements while battling hazardous and unpredictable conditions.

Join the first-ever colony on Mars. Your survival will depend on your ability to gather resources, expand your bases, and conquer new territories.

Control a fleet of rovers and extract precious resources from the Martian soil. As commanding officer, you will need to balance colony survival with mission requirements, while battling hazardous and unpredictable conditions on the Red Planet.

You can follow the gang on Twitter, and much like Ace Academy before it, the game is in partnership with the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum. The game can be download for free on iOS and Android.

Dwarrows Reaches Kickstarter Goal - Now Onto Strech Goals

Last we spoke, Dwarrows had just launched their Kickstarter, and the gang at Lithic Entertainment were kind enough to join us on the podcast to talk about it.

Hey there! We're back and we discussed Dwarrows with the gang at Lithic Entertainment. We also talk about the Indie Series from Ubisoft, and Ballistic Tank now being out on Kickstarter. Subscribe on iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/video-game-podcast-toronto/id1025606427?mt=2

Happy to say that Dwarrows has reached its Kickstarter goal of $12,000, and are now on their way to their first stretch goal with 12 days left.  If you haven't checked out their Kickstarter yet, make sure to go do that. Let's get us some more pets!

In the meantime, make sure to follow the gang on Twitter.

GameON: Ventures - October 20th-21st

I've been in talks with the gang behind GameON Ventures, and they were nice enough to provide some copy for their event next week. They are on the Events page, but I've copied some more details below:

GameON: Ventures, Interactive Ontario's signature 2-day conference heads to MaRS Discovery District this coming October 20th and 21st.

Games (including mobile, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality) account for $3 billion of the Canadian economy, and while there is lots of event-based support for fans, GOV aims to develop and foster the business side. GameON: Ventures will provide an opportunity to meet and hear from speakers from Ubisoft, King Games (of Candy Crush), and Twitch, as well as business leaders in VC, VR and more. 

This year's keynote speaker is John Romero, widely considered the pioneer of the first-person shooter. An award-winning game designer, level designer and programmer, John's work spans over 130 games including the iconic works Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM and Quake.

We're looking forward to checking out The Interactive Digital Media Expo which will feature Canadian and International companies showcasing cutting-edge interactive products, including video games, virtual and augmented reality, eLearning and more. It will offer the attendees the opportunity to test out awesome new programs and ideas. 

A new Pitch Competition this year will invite 10 international and 10 local entrants —game developers or publishers—to pitch the next big thing in gaming/mobile—winners will receive $10,000 and in-kind support. 

Tickets to this conference are still available at www.gameonventures.io

Steel Crate Games Releases 'Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes" on PlayStation VR

PlayStation VR launched today, and while no Toronto developer was involved in the release, we only have to go as far as Ottawa to get some Ontario content. Steel Crate Games, who released Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes' on Steam last year (and came in third in our Game of the Year voting)

Happy #PlayStationVR launch day! Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is now available in the PlayStation Store! https://t.co/UeVDQSwgAB

— Keep Talking Game (@KeepTalkingGame) October 13, 2016

Available October 13, 2016 for PlayStation VR In Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, one player is trapped in a virtual room with a ticking time bomb they must defuse. The other players are the "Experts" who must give the instructions to defuse the bomb by deciphering the information found in the bomb defusal manual.

You can pick up Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes on the PlayStation Store right here, which currently has a 10% discount going.

Cuphead Delayed Again - Coming Mid-2017

Sad news coming out of Studio MDHR today. The must anticipated game Cuphead, which has been at E3 a few times now, has officially been delayed until mid-2017. Writing on their official blog:

"Hey everyone, we wanted to finish our game 80 years after 1936 but it will now be 81.

Throughout this year we discussed reducing the scope to make a 2016 release, but we made the difficult decision to delay the launch in order to ship with our vision intact. We are happy to announce that Cuphead will be coming to Xbox One, Windows 10 and Steam in Mid-2017.

We are constantly humbled by your continued support. Love you all and can’t wait to get this to you. Without further ado, we will get back to work!"

Cuphead joins 'Below' as the other Xbox One Exclusive from Toronto that has been hit with a delay this year.

Runbow Deluxe Out This Month, Runbow Pocket Delayed - 13AM Games Updates Us

Developer 13AM Games took to their Tumblr today to give us some updates on the upcoming 3DS game Runbow Pocket, and retail version Runbow Deluxe.  Do you want the good news, or the bad news first?

Good News: Runbow Deluxe will be available release October 25th in North America. It will be $29.99, and you get access to Runbow, all of Runbow's DLC, and the Runbow Soundtrack Volume 1 and 2.  Shantae will also be available as free DLC to the existing Runbow game in time for the Deluxe release.

Runbow Pocket will also include online play on new Nintendo 3DS when it releases.

Bad News: Runbow Pocket, and Runbow Pocket Deluxe has been delayed into Q1 2017.

Development on Runbow Pocket, especially the online functionality, took a few turns we didn’t quite expect. Rather than rush out a game that we didn’t feel was up to our standards, we decided a delay would be better if it meant we could focus on improving the quality of the game itself

Runbow Pocket will also not feature any sort of local multiplayer.

Now, making this system a reality meant focusing on Online connectivity over the New Nintendo 3DS’ Local connectivity. While this now means no Streetpass or local multiplayer, focusing on Online Multiplayer will allow players to have more options about where to play, when to play, and who to play with. It was important to us that Runbow Pocket players still have the option to play this crazy multiplayer game with other New Nintendo 3DS owners anywhere in the world, whenever they want.

Hopefully we won't have to wait long for Runbow Pocket, but until then you can always pick up Runbow on Wii U.

13AM Games Published Game 'Pirate Pop Plus' Releases This Month On Wii U/3DS

After announcing they'll be publishing their first game, 13AM Games have announced that the retro arcade game Pirate Pop Plus, is coming to Wii U and 3DS October 10th, and Steam November 4th. You can check out the full trailer below:

Get ready for the bubble-popping, gravity-defying, retro-arcade action game Pirate Pop Plus! Join Pete Jr on his quest to defeat the nefarious Bubble Pirate, an evil villain who has trapped the innocent townsfolk in bubbles! Dodge and pop bubbles with your anchor while collecting power-ups and managing Bubble Pirate's constant gravity-switching mischief!

Dodge and pop bubbles with your anchor while collecting power-ups and managing Bubble Pirate’s constant gravity-switching mischief! When you feel at your Piratey-est, test your skill in the ultra-challenging Hyper Mode... The game may be faster and harder, but you'll find treasures beyond your wildest dreams. Coins as far as the eye can see!

The game will be cross-buy on 3DS and Wii U, and you can add the game to your Steam wish-list by checking out the games page. Make sure to follow the Japanese developer Dadako Studios on Twitter.

For Honor Will No Longer Have Split-Screen

In a video recapping the For Honor alpha, and then later reported by IGN, Ubisoft has decided to drop split-screen from its medieval brawler For Honor. It can be heard at the 4:20 mark from producer Stephane Cardin in the video below.

We sat down with Producer Stephane Cardin to go over what we learned from the For Honor Closed Alpha. Didn't get a chance to play the Alpha? Sign up now for a chance to play the Beta: http://ubi.li/gt6rf For Honor is available Valentine's Day, February 14, 2017 on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 system, and Windows PC.

"It was a feature that we loved, but, when we looked at what needs to be done to support online co-op, for us it was critical to make a decision now so we can polish all the features at the AAA level and make sure that we have the most amazing experience."

If you didn't get a chance to play in the Alpha, you can sign up for the Beta right here.  For Honor is available February 14, 2017 on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 system, and Windows PC.

Adventure Town-Building Game 'Dwarrows' Now On Kickstarter

I've been a big fan of Dwarrows from Lithic Entertainment since coming across it earlier last year.  They have now officially launched their Kickstarter to help out with the final stretch of completing the game, which is a 3d town building adventure game.

The peaceful Wood-Elves have fled their homelands to escape a great flood. The Elf Queen Solatia, aware of their plight, has secured some lands in a far away country and an old Keep where they can rebuild.

Assigned to help these woodland folk rebuild is The Royal Company of Colonizers, an elite group of expert gatherers and builders. Three of the most storied of these colonizers have been chosen for this mission, The Dwarf: Dwilben the Gatherer, The Gnome: Gloia the Builder, and The Halfling: Horbir the Explorer.

Uploaded by Lithic Entertainment on 2016-09-07.

NOW on Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=642051488 Official Sites: http://www.dwarrows.com http://www.lithicentertainment.com https://www.facebook.com/LithicEntertainment https://twitter.com/LithicEnt Dwarrows is a peaceful town-building game that borrows from the Action Adventure genre. Take control of three uniquely skilled characters to leave the confines of the town, explore the lush forest surrounding it, and work together to solve puzzles.

You can check out the full Kickstarter here, where you can get a copy of the game for as low as $15 dollars (which will be lower than the launch price).  Make sure to also follow the developer on Twitter and FaceBook and keep an eye on this colourful, charming adventure game.

Ballistic Tanks Releases on Steam

Indie developer Kirk Lucas sent me a message on Twitter letting me know that his action tank game, Ballistic Tanks has released on Steam.  The game contains over 50 maps, and 4 player local multiplayer:

Ballistic Tanks is the best tank game you've played since the 80's. It is an intense arcade shooter where you destroy tanks in a frenzy of bullets, lasers, and explosions! Play a challenging solo/co-op arcade mode or compete with up to 4 friends in a variety of multiplayer game modes.

Ballistic Tanks is the best tank game you've played since the 80's. It is an intense arcade shooter where you destroy tanks in a frenzy of bullets, lasers, and explosions! Play a challenging solo/co-op arcade mode or compete with up to 4 friends in a variety of multiplayer game modes.

You can pick up the game right now Steam for $5.49, and follow Kirk on Twitter.

Ballistic Tanks is out! https://t.co/6QYEgxf1GR Help support by purchasing and getting the word out!! #indiedev #indiegame #gamedev pic.twitter.com/AaCU4AfXAj

— Kirk Lucas (@kirknetic) September 20, 2016