‘Axe Cop’ Animated Series Coming to Fox

http://youtu.be/4ZquaoUMfIc

Television is about to get awesome. We all know Axe Cop as the web comic that was drawn by a 29-year-old and written by his 5-year-old brother. Variety reports that the Fox network has ordered 6 15-minute episodes of Axe Cop to be shown in their Animation Domination block along with The Simpsons and Family Guy for the 2013-14 TV season. Unfortunately, the series will probably be written by adults, and in keeping with TV’s more conservative mores, will be shown on an adult schedule. Let’s all hope that they can keep the series inimitable insane logic intact! At the very least they should be able to bring that badass narrator back.

Source:Variety

Vancouver’s Iugo Mobile Entertainment Gets Funding from Japan

IUGO Mobile Entertainment, the Vancouver studio behind Daisy Mae’s Alien Buffet and Lil’ Pirates, has just announced a partnership with Gree, a mobile game conglomerate based in Tokyo. According to the Press release, Gree is particularly interested in IUGO’s proprietary technologies, the IUGO Games Library, IRender 3D Engine, and IUGO Mesh Social Game Engine. Gree is a massive company, with subsidiaries in London, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, and Beijing. Whether Gree will buy IUGO outright remains to be seen.

Source: IT Business.ca.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters at the Vancouver Art Gallery

More images from the new Percy Jackson movie have surfaced courtesy of Hollywood North on Location. The crew is shooting in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery with some temporary grass sod in place. I’m not sure which seen from the book they’re filming, but Brandon T Jackson is on hand, confirming he’s returning as Grover the Satyr. You can see the rest of the images here.

Source: Hollywood North On Location

Valve Employee Manual Revealed Online

The Valve employee handbook has been “leaked” to the internet, either through some unsecured share drive or a brilliant viral marketing campaign. The document details the company’s flat organizational structure and their dedication to promoting creativity and flexibility among their employees.

Most of the internet is ooh-ing and aah-ing over what it would be like to work in the company that makes their favourite games, but why is Valve such an exception? In this economy, with every company scrambling to get as much value as they can out of their employees, why is their so much focus on heirarchy instead of making money? Even Japan, the most heirarchic society in the world had quality control meetings where employees could contribute ideas in workplaces from warehouses to strip clubs. I’m not saying we should go so far as having desks on wheels like Valve does, but the fact that they are the exception and not the rule should drive us all to drink.

Source: Boing Boing.

Canadian Video Game Awards Winners Announced

It was a full house at the Canadian Video Game Awards last Saturday where the very best examples of Canadian video game production were honoured. Deus Ex: The Human Revolution and Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP biggest hardware haul of the show, with five awards each. It was a stroke of genius to promote the CVA’s along with FanExpo Vancouver, bringing an unprecedented amount of publicity. As time goes on, we’ll be able to showcase the unique talent that Canada brings to the video game industry. The Canadian Video game Awards will be televised on Citytv on April 28, 2012 at 8:00 pm and G4 Canada on April 28 & 29, 2012.

Winners of the 2012 Canadian Videogame Awards

Game of the year
FIFA Soccer 12 (EA Canada for EA Sports)

Console game
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal for Square Enix)

Game on the go
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capybara Games)

Downloadable game
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capybara Games)

Social/casual game
Margaritaville Online (Exploding Barrel Games for THQ)

Indie game
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capybara Games)

Audio
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal for Square Enix)

Original music
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capybara Games)

Game design
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal for Square Enix)

Technology
Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 (Ubisoft Montreal)

Visual arts
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft Montreal)

Writing
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal for Square Enix)

New character
Adam Jensen from Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal for Square Enix)

Innovation
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capybara Games)

Future Shop Gamer’s Choice Award
NHL 12 (EA Canada for EA Sports)

 

Source: The Straight.com

Fanexpo Con Report

After 17 years of entertaining in Toronto (a.k.a the center of the universe), the organizers of FanExpo decided it was time for Vancouver to have a comic convention of its very own. While Vancouver has has had many anime, sci-fi and comic conventions before, it hasn’t really been able to scale up its events for those world-famous convention centres it has down at the water front. Anime Evolution was probably the nearest contender, with well over 6,000 attendees at its 2010 outing.

The Vancouver Convention Centre is a gorgeous place to hold a fan event. It’s a shame there hasn’t been one there before. FanExpo took place on the lower level of the West building, which opened in 2009. The opportunities for cosplay photography are exquisite. You have the sails of Canada place, a clear view to the North Shore, the Olympic Torch sight, as well as Portal Park across the street. It’s got that right mix of nature and futuristic cityscapes that make for great shots.

The organizers of FanExpo were expecting to merely break even with 12,000 attendees. They blew that figure out of the water with over 20,000 attendees. People were lined up out the block to get in, and by noon they had completely sold out. And this is with almost zero promotion on the convention’s part! The Canadian Video Game awards had no problems giving out all their tickets within minutes. Last year, they had to get their audience to bunch up at the front so they would look like they had an actual crowd. Much kudos needs to go to the staff of the FanExpo and the convention centre, who were extremely professional at keeping the foot traffic moving.

The exhibitors hall was very impressive, even though they weren’t expecting this many people. The guests were positioned at the back of the hall, and were quite accessible for anyone who wanted to walk up and say hi.

Our cosplayers had a great turnout for the many first-time con-goers at the convention. The 501st legion and the Ghostbusters of BC held some great booths this year and took lots of pictures with the attendees. There wasn’t much room for any giant “hall-sweeper” type costumes, but rest assured, with a venue this size we will definitely see more elaborate costumes next year.

I can definitely say that Vancouver has really joined the big leagues of cons with FanExpo Vancouver. This town was hungry for a convention, and FanExpo delivered in spades. We’ll see more of what our fair city can do when Anime Revolution comes to the convention centre in August. I hope to see you there!

See You at Fan Expo Vancouver!

In case you haven’t noticed, Fan Expo Vancouver is coming to the Vancouver Convention Center this weekend! This will be the first Vancouver incarnation of the 17 year old Toronto Event. Guests include Lou Ferrigno, Adam West, Burt Ward, Marina Sirtis, Kevin Sorbo and a whole lot more than you can shake a phaser at! There will also be the Canadian Video Game Awards, Cosplay, and tons of exhibitors. I’ll be spending Saturday at the convention, so keep watching this space for photos and con report next week!

Video Games Live Gets Vancouver Tour Date

Video Games Live has finally acknowledged that Canadians love their symphony as much as their video games, and so they are adding a host of new Canadian Tour dates! The Concert comes to the Orpheum in Vancouver on November 6, 2012. Tickets are set to go on sale April 25. Check out the Video Games Live Website for more tour dates.

 

Source:Joystiq

MacGyver’s Houseboat Listed on eBay

The boathouse used during the Vancouver seasons of MacGyver has been posted on eBay by the owner. The house was the base of operations for Richard Dean Anderson’s gadget-building crimefighter in the 1980’s. The house has since been painted bright blue, and its Coal Harbour berthing has probably sent its value skyrocketing. Owner Dave Edmonson has refused to disclose the reserve on it, but the 2 million dollar sale of the boathouse from Sleepless in Seattle means Aunt Patty and Selma are probably have to take out 3rd and 4th mortgages to afford this baby.

Source: The Province

Continuum Trailer Reveals Vancouver of 2077

Showcase has released a new trailer for its new series Continuum. The show features Rachel Nichols as Kiera Cameron, a government agent who follows a group of terrorists from the year 2077 back to 2012. This shot of future Vancouver will probably only be seen in the pilot, but hopefully there will be more opportunity for futuristic whiz-bangery in our fair city as the series progresses.

Source: Twitter.