Digital Entertainment Studio adds strong mobile gaming capabilities to its offering.

Ottawa, February 3, 2013 – Canadian digital entertainment company Mercury Active, a subsidiary of independent animation house Mercury Filmworks, announced today the acquisition of mobile gaming experts Riptide Games Corp. The purchase includes Riptide’s proprietary game library (totaling over 5 million downloads) which include the “My Pet Zombie”, “Spin O Rama” and the “iLook App” franchises, along with the design and production services unit known for hits like “Bop It!” and “Bop It! Smash”.

“I’m extremely excited for the future of the properties we have created,” says Brian Robbins, Founder, Riptide Games. “I couldn’t think of a better home for our games than Mercury Active.”
Riptide Games currently maintains offices in Denver, Colorado and Ottawa, Ontario. Operations will be consolidated at Mercury Active’s Ottawa studio facilities.

Robbins will remain onboard in the short term but will be pursuing other opportunities in the gaming industry once the transition is completed. Mike Montgomery will join Mercury Active as Chief Creative Officer.

“I am thrilled to be joining Mercury Active as CCO,” says Mike Montgomery, Chief Creative Officer, Riptide Games. “This is a unique opportunity to create mobile experiences for an even broader audience.”

“We look forward to the collaboration with an extremely savvy mobile gaming team that shares our vision of producing high quality interactive experiences,” says Mercury Active President, Glenn Bakie.

Mercury Active will be attending Kidscreen Summit in New York City, February 5-8, 2013.

About Mercury Active
Mercury Active is a Canadian digital entertainment studio creating and publishing rich transmedia brand experiences. Specializing in story driven themes with resonant visual treatments, its proprietary games library boasts over 5 million downloads to date. Mercury Active is located in Ottawa, Ontario and is a subsidiary of animation powerhouse Mercury Filmworks. Among many others, Mercury Active is proud to be associated with American Greetings, Cartoon Network, Disney EMEA, eOne, Technicolor, Corel and Teletoon Canada. http://www.mercuryactive.com/

About Riptide Games
Riptide Games is a next-gen mobile game developer based in Ottawa, Ontario. It produces fun on the go by creating entertaining experiences across all mobile platforms. Riptide has created its own properties such as My Pet Zombie and Spin O Rama, as well as having the privilege or working with clients such as Backflip Studios, Haven Agency and Kid Group. http://www.riptidegames.com/

This week’s presentation was from Adam Jones, our Jr Art Director. This is what he shared with the team, along with a short explanation:

Old Family Portraits Expose Superheroes’ Roots

A mystery art studio located in Milan has created vintage portraits of the ancestors of our favourite super heros.
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/05/foto-marvellini-superheroes

Tetris Can Prevent Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
A research team from Oxford University claims that Tetris can prevent PTSD flashbacks.
Found results when letting soldiers play soon after their exposure to trauma.
It works by interfering with the brain’s ability to form and retain the traumatic memories.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/05/ptsd-tetris/

Go Right

Tribute video to old school platformers:

This brought back traumatic memories of when I used to play Super Adventure Island for hours and never making it past the third level… I should have played more Tetris.

This week’s presentation was from Bryan Dunlay, a contract Graphic Designer who works with us. This is what he shared with the team, along with a short explanation:

Nest Learning Thermostat

www.nest.com

Nest is a learning thermostat with one dial and a touchscreen that was designed by former Apple iPod and iPhone hardware developer Tony Fadell. He saw the thermostat as a piece of technology that is ugly, difficult to program and often overlooked but it does control about 50% of your energy bill.

Nest learns your habits in a week and adjusts to suit you. The screen turns red when it’s heating and blue when it’s cooling. It can even be controlled by your mobile device or online. Coming home a day early? Taking an extra day of vacation? No problem.

At a cost of $249USD, Nest claims that their thermostat will typically pay for itself well within two years since it should save you 20% of your energy bill. Pretty awesome!

The VIP (Very Important Pizza) Fridge Magnet

www.redtomato.biz/magnet

It’s a fridge magnet that connects to a pizzeria (in Dubai) through the Bluetooth connection in your phone. When you open the pizza box shaped device and push it, your favourite pizza magically appears at your door! (And I thought ordering online was high tech.)

It’s a pretty cool little device. So cool that the people at Red Tomato are having a very hard time keeping them in stock. What a great way to generate customer loyalty and to ultimately, sell more pizzas. What I find most compelling though, is the implications. What else could be done with this thing? Taxis? Groceries? Medicine?

This week’s presentation was from Jayson Flick, our Sr Project Manager. This is what he shared with the team, along with a short explanation:

First Virtual Grocery Store: Home Plus (Tesco) – South Korea:

Big Idea – “Let the store come to the People”.
Smartphone – download app – scan barcode Code – purchase and – determine home delivery schedule.
Overview & Images
http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/the-worlds-first-virtual-supermarket-opens/
Video Link for Case study
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oPM4Ui6Sjfk#!

2) The Art of Video Games Exhibition at the The Smithsonian American Art Museum – Washington

March 16, 2012 – September 30, 2012
Overview – The exhibit aims to demonstrate the influence of art and popular culture on video games, and the subsequent reflection of video games on culture with titles spanning over four decades of gaming.
The Art of Video Games is one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. It features some of the most influential artists and designers during five eras of game technology, from early pioneers to contemporary designers.
- Focus is on interplay of graphics, technology and storytelling through some of the best games for twenty gaming systems ranging from the Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3

Voting occurred in 2011:

• 80 games selected thru voting/ 240 games on the ballot
• Selection criteria: visual effects, creative use of new technologies, and how the game fit into the narrative of the exhibition.
• February 14 and April 17, 2011. More than 3.7 million votes were cast by people in 175 countries!

Main exhibition link
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9F47DB6D0F399893&feature=view_all

3) The 12 Lessons I Learned from Steve Jobs – November 2011- TEDx Conference- Guy Kawasaki -

Presentation Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=edEs4sjlmJY
Highlights:

• Design counts
• Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence
• Value is not the same as price

Guy Kawasaki is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, author and Apple Fellow. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984.

This week’s presentation was from Brian Robbins, our President. This is what he shared with the team, along with a short explanation:

Image Optim:

http://imageoptim.com/ 

As with most iOS developers, we find ourselves pushing against the Over the air download limit imposed by Apple pretty often. This free software will optimize PNGs much better than Xcode’s default setting, which should make a big difference in making sure everyone can download our games anywhere.

Draw Something:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/draw-something-free/id488628250?mt=8

It’s only been around for 6 weeks, and the creators of it (OMGPop) were bought by Zynga for $210 Million today. Highly recommended for some pictionary like fun.

Solar Events:

This year there will be two big solar events. The first is a Solar Eclipse on May 20. This annular eclipse will be visible from large parts of the US, including Denver. While it will only be a partial eclipse here in Denver it will still be a sight to see. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2012.html#SE2012May20A

Just a couple weeks later Venus will transit the Sun (pass between the Earth and the Sun): http://www.transitofvenus.org/ This is the second time in 8 years that this will happen, and the next time won’t be until 2117!

A week ago I bought some solar viewing glasses, so we’ll all get the chance to watch these rare sights.

He’s big, he’s mean and hungry for spleen. Mr. Burrito, as his family calls him, hails from a small town in Mexico that can’t be found on any map. He’s been fighting in illegal wrestling circuits since the age of 7. His claim to fame is that no one has ever seen his face, and legend has it that he was even born with his mask on!

Play Ultimate Battle Zombies today and add him to your roster of fighters. He’s the perfect counter-point to Taco De La Noche!

This week’s presentation was from Allison Allain, our Sr Game Developer. This is what she shared with the team, along with a short explanation:

As much of Riptide knows, I am constantly listening to NPR.  One of my favorite programs is called All Tech Considered.  Recently, I’ve heard two pieces that I thought were really cool.  One about a car that can drive itself, and another about a zombie-themed running app.

Having just released Ultimate Battle Zombies, I’ve had zombies constantly on the brain.  So when I heard a story about an app called “Zombies, RUN!” I was excited.  I like the exercise of running, but I get bored with it really quickly.  This app gives you a way to entertain/scare yourself into a great workout.  No need to be torn between your music and this game either, it’ll work with your normal running tracks.

Release Date: Feb. 27, 2012

NPR article:
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/19/147008041/the-new-running-game-where-zombies-chase-you

More Info about the game:
https://www.zombiesrungame.com/

Who doesn’t want a car that drives itself?  Sure driving can be fun and exciting, but spending an hour in the car every day to commute into the city can be a drag.  Now, the state of Nevada has created a driver’s license just for robotic cars, which takes effect March 1, 2012.  Cool factoid – when the cars are in testing they will have red license plates, and when they are eventually sold, the plates will be neon green.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/02/17/147006012/when-the-car-is-the-driver

I am also completely addicted to hobbies, my newest hobby is creating scenes from Super Mario World with acrylic paint.  I’m still learning to paint and these are my first couple, so be kind and remember I’m a programmer.

http://i.imgur.com/l5Tpn.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/O7q1J.jpg

Finally, one of my favorite things we did when we were in Orlando (other than going to NASA), was our trip to Medieval Times.  I am a huge fan of jousting.   So here’s to the team! Ah memories.

http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal-jousting/videos/playlists/full-episodes#full-metal-jousting-unhorsed

We are proud to announce the release of our newest Ultimate Battle Zombie, Taco De La Noche!

He is a high flying mexican wrestling machine with crazy moves like the Heado Kicko, Footo Smasho and Flying Furia!

Play Ultimate Battle Zombies today and add him to your roster, but be careful, he’s very dangeroso!