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MIGS06: Telefilm Canada announces the Great Canadian Video Game Competition
Wayne Clarkson, general manager of Telefilm Canada, announced an industry-led, peer-driven competition, in order to further develop the Canadian video game industry. The announcement was made at the start of the 2006 Montreal International Game Summit.
Telefilm Canada, a federal organization promoting the film industry, is investing 2 million dollars in the Great Canadian Video Game Competition, a competitive design challenge intended to "appeal to the industry's sense of excitement and opportunity."
Ten Canadian game development companies will be selected to compete, and each given up to $50,000 to develop concepts, in order to develop playable prototypes of their games.
Four finalists will then be announced at the Game Developers Conference in March 2007, each earning an additional $250,000 to further commercialize their products.
The winning company will receive $500,000, on top of the money already invested into their game's development.
The event has been devised to promote "made-in-Canada content, and made-in-Canada jobs," as Telefilm Canada hopes to foster country-wide advocacy of the industry. During his announcement, Clarkson referred to France's Minister of Culture, who recently honored game designer Shigeru Miyamoto with one of the country's highest honors.
"Call me the minister of games if you want," the French representative had said. "I am proud of this."
Mr. Clarkson also noted that in addition to the 2 million dollars being invested in the competition, Telefilm Canada is already committing 14 million dollars annually through the Telefilm New-Media Fund.
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POST:
MIGS06: Swag verdict is so-so
A branded man-purse, with brochures, stickers, pen, and an Ubisoft water bottle. OK, so the Montreal International Game Summit isn\'t exaclty *known* for its swag, but I guess I was hoping there\'d be at least a cool figurine, or some Wii-related paraphernalia.
I *did* get a Wii promo DVD, clearly labeled "NOT FOR USE IN Wii CONSOLE" (I guess that about sums up the Wii\'s DVD compatibility). My favorite giveaway, though, is the awesome MIGS06 binder thingy, with pockets, a notepad, and a velcro loop to hold my pen! (I\'m dead serious; I think it\'s awesome).
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FEATURE:
MIGS06: Tetsuya Mizuguchi\'s Keynote Pseudo-liveblogged
Tetsuya Mizuguchi, lead designer of Q Entertainment and the brain behind games like "Rez" and "Lumines," started things off at the Montreal International Game Summit with his keynote presentation. A lack of WiFi kept me from live-blogging the event (grrr), so consider this my live-blog with a several-hour lag. The transcript of Mizuguchi\'s keynote follows:
8:48\t
- Wayne Clarkson, general manager of Telefilm Canada, announces the Great Canadian Video Game Compeition.
- introduces Tesuya Mizuguchi
8:58\t
- Mizuguchi comes up on stage
- says he went to the NHL hockey match last night: "so excited about that"
- His talk is about "Inspiration led creativity"
- been in the industry 16 years: "I\'m 41 now...." ",1] ); //-->
Mr. Clarkson also noted that in addition to the 2 million dollars being invested in the competition, Telefilm Canada is already committing 14 million dollars annually through the Telefilm New-Media Fund.
