It looks like layoffs are the "in" thing these days. While NCSoft lost less people than rumors previously said, Radical Entertainment was not so lucky. According to the Vancouver Sun, the studio's staff has been cut roughly in half. More in the full article.

Just how rough a year was 2007 for the Need for Speed franchise? Well, things with Need for Speed ProStreet (PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, Wii) got so bad that it forced EA's hand to reform the distribution of manpower in its Vancouver studios. There will be twice the staff and longer development periods to allow devs to increase quality on their projects. More in the full story up ahead.

Chances are, you've heard of how moms love the Nintendo Wii. If not, EA Sports president Peter Moore can let you know that it easily could be the first console your mom would ever like. To build on that, the recently established EA Sports Freestyle took up the Wii balance board and is now working on a game for said moms and everyone who want a fun workout. Just see the full article to learn more.

When you're intent on promoting sports video games to an evolving market, which console would you employ to help you out? For EA Sports, it would be the Nintendo Wii. The company is very much aware of the fact that older gamers and female gamers have flocked to the machine, and it's hoping to work with that. More on the EA Sports initiative in the full article after the jump.

 

Bully would have to be one of the most innovative games we've seen last year. It's a sandbox action game - along with many others - but being set in the fictional Bullworth Academy is pure genius. For those who missed it on the PS2, Rockstar Games just announced that Bully: Scholarship Edition will be hitting the Xbox 360 and Wii.

The game puts players in the shoes of Jimmy Hopkins, a 15-year old suffering from a broken family . After his mother married his fifth stepfather, Jimmy was thrown to a new school while his folks enjoy their honeymoon. Thing is, Bullworth Academy's alma matter seems to be about turning students into criminals and corrupted politicians.

We aren't going to mislead anyone tough: Jimmy doesn't just bully everyone. In fact, he's more on protecting weaker guys that get harassed by preppies, greasers, and jocks. Of course, nerds with their ingenious weapons (rocket bottles, potato cannons), can be troublesome too.

Set for a winter release, expect Bully: Scholarship Edition to take you on a ride through the joys and "torments" of high school. New content were added to enhance the fantastic experience Bully delivered. With smart humor each turn and very realistic yet comical characters, this "T" rated title developed by Rockstar Vancouver is bound to win hearts of teens and teens at heart.

 

While "Canuck" sounds like a cross between a cough and a hiccup (now don't hurt yourself trying to reproduce it), the second Annual Canuck Awards is more affectionately known as the Elan Awards. This new awards event held in Canada annually will honor the best artistic productions in electronics: anything and everything in games.

While being just another awards ceremony to add to the countless ones coming out each year, the Elans is slated to honor any and all platform titles, including casual, arcade and mobile games. It will also honor story and concept writing in games, a dedicated Hall of Fame for games that make the cut, and even animation and voice-over productions. Everything art, they've got just the fart part (pardon our French).

The awards categories will each have their own panel of five judges (no judge sits on more than one panel) to decide on the criteria for choosing the winner among qualifying nominees. Judges only qualify in the panel if they are respected minds in the industry. Other strict procedures are as follows:

• All Companies/Institutions providing Jurors may provide more than one.
• No two representatives from one Company/Institution will be selected to sit on the same Panel.
• Every Juror must sign a non-conflict contract to be approved by the CAEAA.
• Each CAEAA Category is judged by Panels from outside of Canada.
• Each International Category is judged by Panels from within Canada.
• All Nomination and Winning Ballots will be handled directly by the Elans Auditing Firm, Buckley Dodds.

Click on Full Article to view the complete listing of categories plus a few more details.

The Vancouver Film School in cooperation with Evergreen events will hold a day long lecture and seminar session called "Career Discovery: Games" on March 24 in Bellevue, Washington to teach interested students the keys to getting in and making it big in the game industry.

The event aims to cater to everyone who seeks the path to a career in one of the most sought-after industries in this day and age. Evergreen and VFS are pulling out all the stops to gather necessary funding in order to support even those students who cannot afford the fee for the learning experience.

The VFS is committed to making things happen in order to help deserving learners get aboard the interactive entertainment business. "VFS is excited to be working with Evergreen Events and the Career Discovery group as an AAA scholarship sponsor. We're eager to support the development of the future creative minds in the video game industry," said Stephen Webster, School Director for VFS.

The event aims to draw in middle-and high school students who have the genuine interest and raw drive to be in the line of work where they show passion. Registration is at US$ 25. Visit www.evergreenevent.org for all the details if you want to sign up.

Last September, Ubisoft kicked off the first unique Canada-wide recruitment initiative, "Too Much Imagination", that was meant to pool in potential candidates that are interested in game development. Three months later, they have now narrowed down the search, and has come up with the winners.

Mart Lume, an international graduate of the Art Institute of Vancouver bagged the game design contest, with Nicolas Yur and Guillaume Couture from Montreal taking the runners-up place. And we're pretty sure they all went home definitely feeling like winners.

The prizes included Mac laptops, Ubisoft Game and Game Design book libraries, and HDTV, and iPods. You might want to check out their submitted designs over at  the Ubisoft site, although as of press time, they have yet to be posted.

To win the challenge, participants had to deal with 25 multiple-choice and three essay questions that will evaluate their comprehension of game-design theory, as well as their familiarity with game philosophy, and practical know-how of issues that game designers have to contend with in their daily existence.

Well, that seems really tough. Kudos to the winners!

Whenever a developer comes up with a good title, fans are immediately drawn not only to the game but to the developer itself. Take for example Rockstar Games' GTA series. We're pretty sure the moment Rockstar deviates from GTA and develops a totally new title, all fans will be sure to give it a second look.

Vancouver-based Relic Entertainment on the other hand, has always been known for real time strategy titles such as Company of Heroes and Homeworld among others. Earlier this year, the company made an exception when it developed The Outfit, an action strategy game for the Xbox360. Unfortunately for the developer, their first attempt didn't quite generate a lot of attention.

However, it seems that the company is not a bit disappointed with this (at least according to THQ). In its own section at their official site, Relic Entertainment is looking for developers and designers to work on a secret RPG game, as well as a new MMO title. While the MMO title signals Relic's first entry to the genre, there is no mention as to what console the RPG game would appear.

Going back to Homeworld, it would be remembered that the developer lost the copyrights of the series to Vivendi SA is a video game developer; formerly known as Vivendi Universal">Vivendi. In relation to this, there have been a lot of hushed talks surrounding the industry that Relic is taking some steps to take the game back.

Need For Speed Carbon is definitely making sure you'd get the paramount street-racing experience as it gets ready to invade the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, Nintendo DS, GBA, PSP, PC and mobile.

Whew! Those sure are a lot of grounds to cover!

No worries, though: EA earlier revealed more cars from the handsome list of wheels featured in the game. From the vintage to the newest models, the cars in NFS Carbon will definitely make your heads spin with its cool collections.

The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, together with the 1967 Shelby GT500, makes an appearance side by side the 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG and the 2006 Corvette Z06. The 2005 Monaro Vauxhall VXR is also available for you to let rip across the treacherous canyon roads. And those are but a few of what NFS Carbon has stashed in its garage.

Check out these screens to pick your ride.