Round Up: CNMA & Jade Empire, Funcom/Conan, VIDFEST Speakers

Today's round up includes news of Jade Empire being honored by the 2006 Canadian New Media Awards, Funcom granted exclusive rights to all MMOs in Conan universe until 2018, and the Vancouver International Digital Festival, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts, product news, Serious Games Source news, and Gamasutra job postings. - The Canadian New Media Awards (CNMA) announced this year's winners at the Carlu in Toronto on Monday evening. The winners, from across such disciplines as online, interactive, animation and video game fields, were selected from 43 finalists and were each presented with a prestigious Pixel award in recognition of their significant achievements in new media over the past year. Included in this year's recipients was BioWare's 2005 Xbox release Jade Empire for Excellence in Gaming. All 2006 CNMA recipients were selected by a 135 member jury recruited from industry peers and higher education institutions in new media from across the country. - Funcom and Conan Inc. have extended the companies' mutual agreement in which Funcom has the exclusive rights to develop all massively multiplayer online (MMO) games based on the Conan license. The agreement gives Funcom the right to develop MMO games with the Conan brand on PC, present and future gaming consoles, portable devices and mobile systems until 2018. In addition, Funcom now has an option to extend the agreement with five additional years. - The Vancouver International Digital Festival (VIDFEST) organizers have announced that the event, which is set to take place June 14-16, will include 32 speakers on topics such as the latest developments and trends in digital entertainment, interactive design and mobile content. The event will feature a keynote address by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell titled “The Times They are a Changin’ Back Again”, as well as an address given by both Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group and former Electronic Arts executive Don Mattrick titled “The Future of Digital Entertainment”. - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include a look at SirBruce's MMOG Chart, including favorites from E3, a review of the rather obscure Japan-only 3DO title Autobahn Tokio, and info on Sony's new high-end PSP luxuries. - Also updated today: Serious Games Source news including Games for Health 2006's early registration and schedule information, as well as a new feature by Interactive Technology's Ari Hollander regarding Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for post-traumatic stress disorders, plus Gamasutra product news on Tira Wireless' support for Qualcomm's BREW solution, and the latest Gamasutra job postings, featuring openings from Activision/Vicarious Visions, Amaze Entertainment, ArenaNet, ATI, Helixe/THQ Inc., Planet Moon Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment America, THQ KAOS, Totally Games, and Vivendi Games.