The next two titles in the popular Pokémon video games series for the Nintendo DS don’t hit shelves until March 6, but Vancouver-area fans can get hands-on with the games this weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday (February 12 and 13), Nintendo Canada is giving gamers a chance to play Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version at the Grand Court Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby.

Pikachu, the most recognizable of the Pokémon, will be at the event to greet fans.

The event runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and in addition to the gaming, there will also be other free family activities including colouring stations, face painting, and Pokémon-inspired giveaways.

Each game has different characters, including never-before-seen Pokémon, a Japanese contraction of “Pocket Monsters”.

Starring in Pokémon Black Version is Reshiram, a Vast White Pokémon dragon that can engulf its surroundings in flames. In Pokémon White Version is Zekrom, a Deep Black Pokémon dragon that can disappear inside thunderclouds.

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight

Activision has cancelled the video game True Crime: Hong Kong, which was being developed in Vancouver by United Front Games.

Word of the cancellation was made public yesterday as Activision released its 2010 fourth quarter earnings report.

Activision is also killing the Guitar Hero franchise by disbanding the Guitar Hero business unit and ceasing development on the next game planned for that franchise.

“These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world’s best interactive entertainment experiences,” the company stated in a release detailing the report.

Representatives from United Front declined to comment, directing me to a statement posted on the company’s website: “We are sorry we did not get a chance to complete this project with Activision, but we understand why. We are both committed to doing quality games and nothing less. Maybe we will have a chance to work together in the future, but in the meantime we are setting our creative sights on a different horizon. You can keep up with the latest developments at UFG here on our site.”

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight

This week’s Georgia Straight also includes my look at Dead Space 2, the survival horror shooter released this week by Electronic Arts.

These days, a large segment of the video-game industry is driven by blockbuster titles and sequels to big games. But as popular as the Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty series are now, they of course started with a first game, and publishers are constantly looking for the next big thing. Electronic Arts may have one in Dead Space.

In this week’s edition of the Georgia Straight, I review LittleBigPlanet 2, which is as much of a delight as the first game was.

Where the first LittleBigPlanet, released in 2008, was all about platform-game mechanics, LittleBigPlanet 2 is more open, allowing gamers to play all manner of genres, including shooter, strategy, racing, puzzle, and even role-playing.

Vancouver game designer Brian Wood, killed in a traffic accident last September, is being honoured by a new internship program.

Relic Entertainment, where Wood had been employed, will annually award four-month internships to three graduates of the game-design program at Vancouver Film School.

Jonathan Dowdeswell, Relic’s general manager, unveiled the Brian Wood Memorial Game Design Internship last Saturday at the Game Design Expo, hosted annually by VFS.

Recipients of the internship will “exhibit a similar passion and excellence in game design” according to a news release. The inaugural internship will be bestowed in February.

Wood’s wife, Erin, was pregnant at the time of the crash. In reports about the accident, which occurred on September 3 in Washington state as the couple were headed to a family home on Whidbey Island, she’s said he manoeuvred their vehicle to protect her from harm.

Their daughter, Sierra Grace, was born on October 28.

The game community established the Brian Wood Memorial Trust to support Erin and Sierra.

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight