BC Film and CG Industry

[LeftCoaster]

Vancouver is a bigger industry than Montreal, but not by enough to warrant any extreme claims such as the mecca of video game design in Canada.

Vancouver has a branch of almost all the large studios; EA, blizzard/Activision, Rockstar, THQ, 2K etc... as well as a large amount of homegrown studios. Montreal on the other hand has UBisoft (prob one of the best developers out there) and Edios, in addition to a host of local studios.

Either way both are strong industries which seem to be growing quite steadily. I expect to see stong growth for the indsutry in both cities in the next few years as Montreal continues to grow and EA gets their act together.

[SpongeG]

yes it is but montreal is probably end up better off as Quebec is really giving more tax breaks incentives etc and BC isn't keeping up

[junius]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

yes it is but montreal is probably end up better off as Quebec is really giving more tax breaks incentives etc and BC isn't keeping up

Agreed. We have not moved fast enough to match them. We also do not have a very strong long term plan in this province for the digtial media economy. This could end up being a squandered opportunity and sad legacy of poor political leadership over the past decade.

[vancityrox]

Montreal also has EA, THQ and Bioware and the new Warner Bros Entertainment Headquarters.

I understand that Vancouver has Ubisoft but I guess it isn't that big here.

Quality wise I think Montreal is surperb in releasing groundbreaking games. Splinter Cell anyone? ect ect...

What has Vancouver alone released that is a big production?

[NetMapel]

Originally Posted by vancityrox

Montreal also has EA, THQ and Bioware and the new Warner Bros Entertainment Headquarters.

I understand that Vancouver has Ubisoft but I guess it isn't that big here.

Quality wise I think Montreal is surperb in releasing groundbreaking games. Splinter Cell anyone? ect ect...

What has Vancouver alone released that is a big production?

Hmmm... right off the top of my head, I can think of Need for Speed, EA's NHL series, and Bully.

[vancityrox]

Oh yes I remember Bully being from here. Are these games all made in Vancouver alone? or parts of it?

Hmmm well EA sports games and Need for speed I wouldn't be too proud of. haha

[LeftCoaster]

^ Vancouver's problems relate to it being home to EA, which has been the absolute pits for releasing quality games as of late. Vancouver has released plenty of big budget games, much more than Montreal, but they tend to be EA releases so I for the most part dont care for them. That said most EA sports games are out of the Burnaby office, which are usually among the highest grossing games, so they do some things right.

Also Rockstar Vancouver is prodcuing the next Max Payne (3) and I dont know about you guys but I thought the first two, the original in particular, were fantastic games.

That said I definitely prefer the games comming out of Montreal lately, Splinter cell, Assassins creed etc... although I think that is a prodcut of a better firm in Ubisoft than any discrepancies in designer talent.

[Yume-sama]

NHL is the only game I play, once in awhile You can tell it's made in Vancouver because they over rate the Canucks... *ahem*

The series has actually gotten progressively better, unlike their Madden franchise. NHL usually wins best sports game of the year awards.

[NetMapel]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

NHL is the only game I play, once in awhile You can tell it's made in Vancouver because they over rate the Canucks... *ahem*

They just say it like it is. Don't be such a hater

[vancityrox]

Yeah I totally agree. I love Max Payne!! I have the first 2 on my original Xbox.

The thing with EA sports games is that they are the same year after year. They might change the way you pass the puck are deke the ball but its all the same! Im really glad Rockstar is coming around for Vancouver. Max Payne is an amazing franchise. Same as in Montreal when they landed Eidos. I really hope they make some top notch Tomb Raider and Hitmn games again. Like the old days.

Montreal has some amazing talent though. Ubisoft opened a school downtown called Ubisoft Campus and it is pratically free for Quebec residents. I think it costs 80-100 a semester and the government pays the rest. I went to the open house and it was so amazing but they teach in French and that totally blew me off. Haha.

[LotusLand]

Originally Posted by junius

Agreed. We have not moved fast enough to match them. We also do not have a very strong long term plan in this province for the digtial media economy. This could end up being a squandered opportunity and sad legacy of poor political leadership over the past decade.

The digital media economy, would that include Pixar, Sony Imageworks, Digital domain and the rumour of Lucas Arts opening up here. I think we're doing just fine. Could we do better. Of course! But to say we have no long term plan is a bit off. I think the city realizes this and I think the province is slowly coming along.

Also the FIFA series is made in Burnaby, i think that is a big franchise worldwide

I did some research and Vancouver definitely makes a lot of big budget games. But as said people same to hate EA because it's associated with new versions every year of its sports franchises. Yet they've released some great games of late, that many gamers simply dismiss because its from EA. Dragon Age was made in Edmonton I believe from Bioware, a part of EA.

Also Electric Playground is filmed out here, which is a major video game show, here and my pal in San Fran says they have it there too.

[vancityrox]

Yeah I saw both of the Hosts from EP at the sneak peek showing of Clash of the Titans a couple weeks ago. Lots of industry people in the house. Spoke to Victor Lucas for a minute. I didn't know pior to speaking to him that they filmed in Vancouver.

[gillty]

metro vancouver vg studios of the top of my head:

EA Canada (NHL, SKATE, Need for Speed, FIFA, SSX, NBA Street, NBA Live etc...) self explanatory
Relic Games (Dawn of War Franchise/ Company of Heroes - THQ) DoW & CoH have pretty much won RTS game of the year every year during the past decade with the exception of Warcraft 3 years
Rockstar Vancouver (Bully/ Max Payne 3 - Take 2) Bully = cult favourite, Max Payne huge beloved action franchise

Blue Castle (The Bigs - Take 2 / Dead Rising 2 - CAPCOM) Dead Rising is one of Capcom's most important franchises
Iron Clad (Sins of Solar Empire - Stardock) award winning strategy game
Next Level (Mario Strikers/ Punch Out reboot - Nintendo)

Radical (Prototype - Activision) one of Activision's most notable games in 09
Piranha (Need for Speed Shift - EA/ MechWarrior reboot - Microsoft) NFS Shift was part of the Need for Speed reboot, MechWarrior is a huge 90's franchise
Slant Six (PSP & PS3 SOCOM games - Sony) huge Sony franchise from PS2 era

Propaganda (Turok reboot - Touchstone & CAPCOM)
Hothead (Penny Arcade adventure games/ Deathspank) Deathspank received lots of hype at PAX 09 also headed by Ron Gillbert of LucasArts classic adventure games fame
Klei (Shank - EA) standout game/fan favourite at PAX 09

and a million more

[SpikePhanta]

@leftcoaster

In EA's defence they have improved greatly in the past three years i would say.

Heck many gamers consider them less evil than Activision, who are milking COD and HERO games to deathhh, actually the Hero games are dead.

[Smooth]

Check out the Vancouver shots starting at about a minute in.

• Video Link

[NetMapel]

Some bad news, guys.

Disney Interactive cuts Vancouver staff, kills Pirates of Caribbean game

VANCOUVER - Disney Interactive Studios has laid off staff and cancelled the much-anticipated game Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned at its Vancouver studio Propaganda Games.

A laid-off employee, who wished to be anonymous, said that close to 100 people lost their jobs Thursday. Calls and e-mails to Disney Interactive were not returned, but web magazine Kotaku quoted Angela Emery, Disney Interactive Studios vice-president of communications, as saying the studio’s big title for 2011 is off the books.

“Disney Interactive Studios confirms the cancellation of the Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned video game, which was scheduled to be released in 2011,” Emery said. “As a result of this decision, Disney Interactive Studios completed a restructuring of Propaganda Games, its Vancouver, B.C., internal studio, affecting one of the studio’s two development teams.”

“Restructuring” means lost jobs, and the laid-off employee said close to half the workforce is gone.

The company still plans a Dec. 7 release of Tron: Evolution, another Propaganda game tied to a Disney movie release, the shot-in-Vancouver Tron: Legacy.

Cancellation of the Pirates game comes as a surprise, because it was timed to coincide with the 2011 release by Walt Disney Pictures of the fourth film in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. But the game had nothing to do with the 2011 film, and was more closely tied to the first Pirates movie.

Pretty sad

[agrant]

Originally Posted by vancityrox

Yeah I totally agree. I love Max Payne!! I have the first 2 on my original Xbox.

The thing with EA sports games is that they are the same year after year. They might change the way you pass the puck are deke the ball but its all the same! Im really glad Rockstar is coming around for Vancouver. Max Payne is an amazing franchise. Same as in Montreal when they landed Eidos. I really hope they make some top notch Tomb Raider and Hitmn games again. Like the old days.

Montreal has some amazing talent though. Ubisoft opened a school downtown called Ubisoft Campus and it is pratically free for Quebec residents. I think it costs 80-100 a semester and the government pays the rest. I went to the open house and it was so amazing but they teach in French and that totally blew me off. Haha.

Not exactly the same, but close. I've worked for them for about 9 years... Started with FIFA 95 for the Sega Genesis/Nintendo, and ended with FIFA 2003 PC/PS2/Xbox/Gamecube. In that time, it's changed a hell of a lot. Tough to really blame them if one PS3 version looks similar to the previous years PS3 version - It comes down to revenue. The simple fact is they make money for each release. Trust me, they wrack their brains every year trying to think of things that'll add something new. It's a sports game, so they can't really alter a whole lot like you would with an adventure game. They do manage to tweak it enough, usually. When you play FIFA 08, and compare it to 10 or 11, you'd know the difference. Graphically, it'll always look pretty similar to the previous year.


This might help illustrate the changes.

• Video Link

[NetMapel]

Rhythm & Hues coming to Vancouver - http://www.rhythm.com/about/location...uver/overview/

One of the visual effects studios behind X-Men: First Class, Golden Compass and more is coming to Vancouver in 2012

They are also a rare breed of vfx studios that is now getting into content/IP creations. As such, they are really strategically positioning themselves for a good future. This is great news that another major vfx studio is coming to Vancouver, especially one that seems like it'll be here for the long haul

Furthermore, there have been some job posting rumours about ILM (vfx maker of Star Wars, Iron Man... etc) in Vancouver as well. Will be excellent if they expand here as well

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Rhythm & Hues coming to Vancouver - http://www.rhythm.com/about/location...uver/overview/

One of the visual effects studios behind X-Men: First Class, Golden Compass and more is coming to Vancouver in 2012

They are also a rare breed of vfx studios that is now getting into content/IP creations. As such, they are really strategically positioning themselves for a good future. This is great news that another major vfx studio is coming to Vancouver, especially one that seems like it'll be here for the long haul

Furthermore, there have been some job posting rumours about ILM (vfx maker of Star Wars, Iron Man... etc) in Vancouver as well. Will be excellent if they expand here as well

this is awesome news!

[NetMapel]

LOOK Effects Opens Vancouver Location
Visual Effects Company now Has Facilities in Three Cities

LOS ANGELES, CA, October 18, 2011 - LOOK Effects announced today that they have opened a production facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. By establishing a presence in Vancouver’s Gas Town, LOOK offers visual effects supervision and production in three locations: Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver. LOOK’s newest studio is located at 1 Alexander Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1E9, Canada. The new studio’s first project will be Summit Entertainment’s "Warm Bodies."

More here at their website: http://www.lookfx.com/hype.html#

They previously worked on Black Swan, The King's Speech and more. Sounds like another solid move for the Vancouver VFX industry !