New CMF Unveiled Today

info@blackcherrydm.com — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The long awaited new guidelines for the Canada Media Fund were unveiled today. Heritage Minister James Moore and Valerie Creighton President and CEO of the CMF made the announcement today to a packed room of television and new media producers. You can see the new guidelines here. The fund represents $350 Million of funding for television and new media production.

This fund represents a significant change in philosophy for media funding in Canada. It merges the previous Canadian T [...]

Join the Conversation on Digital Game Based Learning

info@blackcherrydm.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

I highly recommend you check out Collette Jackson's blog related to Digital Game Based Learning and our soon to be launched educational site for Aboriginal youth ‘On the Path of the Elders'. Collette recently joined the BlackCherry team as our Content and Marketing Specialist. She provides some fresh insight into the motivations, philosophies and approaches employed to create this unique resource.

You can find the blog here:

Path of the Elders Blog< [...]

The Brave New World

info@blackcherrydm.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

At the recent GameON Finance event I met Karen Lee Hall of Heroic Interactive. We had a brief but interesting discussion of the work both our companies were engaged in regarding kids and virtual worlds. Karen Lee's company is working in 2D FLASH while BlackCherry's direction is in the area of 3D immersive experiences.

GameON was a great event, if somewhat lacking in investor interest. One thing that did surprise me about the IO event was the general lack of discuss [...]

A Business Case for Virtual Worlds

akaadan@blackcherrydm.com — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

!Xabbu was silent for a long moment. They hung side by side, twin stars floating in an empty black sky, two angels gazing down from heaven at the immensity of humankind’s commercial imagination.

Otherland: The City of the Golden Shadow, Tad Williams

For anyone not familiar with Virtual Worlds, they are massive, online environments where people can meet, interact and play. Any definition is inevitably a simplification [...]

Microsoft XBox Project Natal vs Playstation Magic Eye + Wand

rdupuis@blackcherrydm.com — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Microsoft XBox Project Natal:
Using new 3D motion capturing technologies, Microsoft claims it can turn your body into the new style of video game controller. Nevermind those old quickcam games where you just end up flaying your arms around while hoping to hit something. This is TOTAL body immersion. You can now drive a car with an invisible steering wheel, block hundreds of soccerballs with your body and karatekick your way through evil ninjas.
VIDEO DEMO

The Beginning of the End of the Beginning

info@blackcherrydm.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

It seems the dam that is the flow of information has completely burst and the great global conversation is raging through the neurons of all of us who choose to jack in.

I attended another social media forum yesterday (a good one by the way Zone5ive ) and decided it was time to take another look at Twitter. I looked at it a bit over a year ago and it didn't grab me but now, it seems to be a very different thing. The information seems more relevent and the tweets mor [...]

Happy Birthday: BlackCherry Turns 5

info@blackcherrydm.com — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0100

I think they must be dog years, although, really, it's all a blur. BlackCherry Digital Media Inc. turned five today. There are many natural laws in the world and it would seem, maybe even some in business. When you start everyone says, if you get to three years, you will get to five and if you get to five you will get to ten. The funny thing is, it really does appear to be true.

Another commonly held belief in the business world is no one will help you until you get to fi [...]

Art, Science and Business

info@blackcherrydm.com — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Lately I’ve been reading an interesting book, ‘Proust was a Neuroscientist’, by Jonah Lehrer. In the book Lehrer makes the case for artists discovering or outlining scientific concepts well in advance of scientific confirmation of these ideas. It’s a great read and the connections the author points out are really compelling insights. As I think about the premise of the book I realise there are many examples of similar cross-pollinations related to the field of new medi [...]

Virtual Pets Part 1

info@blackcherrydm.com — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

I came across an interesting company this week Foomojo, they are the makers of Foopets. Foopets are virtual pets that you can embed on your webpage, a kind of web-based Tamagochi.

Here’s mine:

Virtual Pet by FooPets.com

I’ll give a disclaimer right now, I love pets, especially dogs. I have a flesh and blood border collie at home, but I hate these types of service toys/apps (as cute as they may be). By service toys/apps I mean you have to be co [...]

Big Numbers

info@blackcherrydm.com — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Sometimes, the scope of the digital media world can be staggering.

These numbers, taken from MacArthur Foundation President, Jonathan F. Fanton's recent essay 'Applying Technology to Make a Difference' are impressive to say the least:

The power of computers will continue to double every two years or so into the foreseeable future.There are over 1 billion Internet users worldwide — a number expected to double in the next five years.One-third of American homes h [...]

Can a Video Game Change a Life? Part 1

info@blackcherrydm.com — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0100

I've been thinking about this question for some time now, 'Can a Video Game Change a Life?'

The obvious answer is, of course. There are certainly many examples cited as evidence of the negative impact of video games on the lives of teens. Recent cases of youth addiction have garnered media attention worldwide.

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There are even cases of suicide apparently linked to game play. This kind of negative press seems pretty commonplace n [...]

Take a Right at the Jupiter Turnpike

info@blackcherrydm.com — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

This week, we took the leap into a whole new dimension for BlackCherry and it represents a great milestone for our company. This new direction is Trouble Inc. But what exactly is it? Is it a tv series, a game, toys, a brand? It is, or will be, all of those things and more. Put more simply though, it’s an idea. But not just any idea, it’s an idea we’ve shaped through months of thinking and re-thinking, working and re-working.

We took the germ of an idea, built it [...]

Our Spin on the Digital World

info@blackcherrydm.com — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Over the five years BlackCherry has been in business we've learned a lot. We've learned about digital content creation, project management, business development, game development, the local and global digital content markets and a ton of creative/technical stuff. Most of all, we've learned the desire to keep learning and the desire to continually push the envelope is the life blood of our business.

A lot of people have helped us along the way and for this we are always grateful. T [...]

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