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Atari may borrow up to $10 million

But is it enough?

Atari announced that it has secured $10 million in credit.

Funds affiliated with BlueBay Asset Management plc purchased Atari's outstanding loans totalling USD 3 million under the company's credit facility with Guggenheim Corporate Funding, LLC.

Atari has now entered into a senior secured credit facility with BlueBay High Yield Investments S.A.R.L., as the successor administrative agent. BlueBay is a significant shareholder of Infogrames, Atari's majority stockholder.

The new senior secured credit facility increases the availability of credit to USD 10 million and extends the maturity of the outstanding borrowings two years, to December of 2009.

"This revised Credit Facility is a major step in addressing Atari's liquidity needs and providing financing to support its near term business plan," said Curt G. Solsvig III, Atari's chief restructuring officer.

Atari also said that the USD 10 million does not fully satisfy the company's funding requirements and it is therefore seeking additional financing.

Sony reports revenues up

But games division losses double, dragging down overall figures

Sony Corporation has announced its financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2007, showing an overall revenue growth year-on-year of 12.3 per cent.

However, while the Corporation made an operating profit of JPY 90.5 billion (USD 787 million) during the quarter, up from a loss of JPY 20.8 billion (USD 182 million) last year, the games division's losses doubled in the same period.

Although revenues, largely down to the sales of the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable Slim and Lite, jumped 43 per cent to JPY 243 billion (USD 2.1 billion), last year's operating loss of JPT 43.5 billion (USD 381 million) more than doubled to JPY 96.7 billion (USD 841 million).

Sony attributed the loss primarily to "the strategic pricing of PS3 at points lower than its production cost and the increase in PS3-related inventory write-downs recorded during the current quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year."

That inventory value now stands at JPY 248 billion (USD 2.2 billion), up 31 per cent on last year, and the result of the "build-up of finished goods inventory following the introduction of the PS3 platform in Japan, North America and Europe."

Additionally, while sales of the PlayStation 3 have now hit 1.31 million units globally during the last quarter, with PS3 software sales reaching 10.3 million units, sales of PlayStation 2 hardware is down four per cent year-on-year, with PS2 software unit sales falling by around a quarter.

The PSP is still going strong, with over half a million units sold this quarter than in the same period last year, although software sales for the handheld dropped by around five per cent in that time.

Source: Games Industry

Community to Create Custom Band Homepages

Social Website Allows Rock Band Community to Create Custom Band Homepages and Network via "Musicians Meeting Musicians" Classified Section

Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks which is a division of Viacom, along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, revealed today details for the ROCKBAND.com social community website. The site will launch on November 20, alongside the North American release of Rock Band for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game entertainment system from Microsoft. A PlayStation 2 version of the game will also ship on December 18.


The ROCKBAND.com Web site will incllude in-depth Rock Band™ leaderboards, personal and band home pages, and a “Musicians Meeting Musicians” classified section to help form bands online. The site will also give fans the opportunity to create their own Rocker Profile pages and communicate wit h other Community members, blogging about their musical tastes and meeting others with similar interests.

“ROCKBAND.com blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, ” said Melissa Macaulay, Producer of ROCKBAND.com, Harmonix. “The site allows you to hype your in-game band’s accomplishments, while providing a forum to meet other real-life people and potential band mates who share your musical tastes.”

ROCKBAND.com Features:
Personal & Band Pages: ROCKBAND.com will automatically load your in-game characters and game stats from an online database so your personal profile page will always be up to date. Choose from four genres in the game to customize your profile pages with cool background skins that reflect your rock tastes.

Band Classifieds: Find and create your own band through the ROCKBAND.com Band Classifieds page. Here you can advertise your own rocker skills or search through dozens of rocker profiles to choose band mates who share similar music tastes.
Rock Band Leaderboards: Climb to the top of the charts as a solo artist or band! From band rankings to solo scores, the ROCKBAND.com leaderboards will earn you fame and fortune as you progress on your journey to Rock Band stardom.
Rocker Blogs: Find out what’s happening behind the scenes with your favorite bands through their blogs. Use your blog to communicate with band mates about practice times, meet others with similar musical interests and keep your groupies in the loop with the website’s unique blogs.

Rock Band Forums: Interact with other rockers and music lovers about anything and everything rock!
Photo Creator: (Coming Soon!) Take the ultimate promo band or solo shot with the website’s Photo Creator. Pick a location, the right lighting, and a coordinated (or not!) pose for your band. Take it over the top cheesy or seriously intense. It’s all about your band’s total image.

“We see ROCKBAND.com as a true extension of the Rock Band world. It will be an awesome way to meet new people who have similar musical tastes,” said Josh Randall, Creative Director for Harmonix. “With ROCKBAND.com players will be able to come together and express themselves in a collaborative manner, which is what playing music is all about.”

Harmonix has partnered with the San Francisco creative powerhouse Mekanism to build the social networking site.

“We are designing ROCKBAND.com as an online home for your band, and as a creative platform for living out your rock and roll fantasy”, said Pete Caban, partner at SF-based di gital studio Mekanism. “The bands and rockers that you can create in Rock Band are insanely unique, and it’s going to be fascinating to watch this community come to life.”

Rock Band is slated is also slated for release in Europe in Q1 2008. The game is rated T for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.ROCKBAND.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

King of Clubs fact sheet

With Big Bubba King and co. on the shelves from tomorrow, Oxygen Games would like to make available the following fact sheet:

• Wacky and engaging trick-based mini golf, with the emphasis on alternative routes to the holes

• 1-4 players

• Hundreds of special items to collect, each designed to help gain the advantage over opponents

• Hole in one possible for every hole

• Hole in none possible for every hole!

• 10 x 9-hole courses (1 available at the start, and 9 unlockable), set across 5 environments, each with their own resident course pro

• 1 bonus hole per environment, plus Big Bubba’s ‘shrine’

• Myriad ball and club combinations allow for different play strategies and added longevity

• Five single player and four multiplayer modes to choose from

• Various course elements and hazards include the usual wall sliders, gates, risers, bumpers, trapdoors, water traps, etc. Other hazards include accelerators, decelerators and teleport chutes… all designed to alter the dynamics of the shot

• Distractions and taunts feature during multiplayer modes

• Multiplayer handicap system

• 10 characters to choose from; 4 basic characters available at the start, 6 unlockable playable course pros

• Buy Goofy Gadgets, Wonder Balls and Special Clubs from the Pro Shop

• Other items available in the Pro Shop include Mulligan Tokens, customisations i.e. Ball (colour/pattern) and Trail Tints (change ball trail colour), plus Racket Packets to personalise the sounds made by the player’s club and balls

• Collectable virtual course pro action figures give discounts on equipment; buy them all and the AI becomes unlocked, making for more challenging single player games

The PS2 version also features an exclusive single player mode, Gopher Hunt. The object is to eliminate the gophers by driving the ball through them.**

Each hole features a number of randomly placed gophers, which the player has to eliminate before they get to the flag.

King of Clubs, for PlayStation 2 and PC , is available from all of the usual retailers from tomorrow.

**No gophers were harmed during the making of this game, although the Course Pros will never work again!

The Lord of the Rings Online

Today, Codemasters Online and Turbine, Inc. announce the details of the first annual Harvest Festival in The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, the hit MMO that has taken Europe and North America by storm. The Harvest Festival, the second of many planned seasonal celebrations in Middle-earth, will offer players a variety of quests, vendors and events to highlight this special time of year.

“The Harvest Festival is the second of many seasonal events that we have planned for The Lord of the Rings Online,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “These festivals coupled with content updates demonstrate our commitment to delivering the best online experience for our subscribers through a fun, compelling and evolving game.”

Players can celebrate throughout Middle-earth from October 26th to November 12th by interacting with special vendors, earn unique items and participate in quests designed just for the Harvest Festival including:
Horse Racing – Players can compete against each other in a horse race! Winners will receive a horse race token that can be used to purchase the Harvest Festival Horse.

Games of Chance – The Harvest Festival will host four games of chance. Players can bob for apples in the Shire or try geode picking with the Dwarves to earn Harvest Festival tokens that can be used to buy special festival items.
Harvesting the Crop – This new collection of quests enables players to harvest the crops they planted during the Summer Solstice Festival in June and earn a special item for their house.

Dancing – There will be dancing quests with new race-specific dance emotes as a reward.
The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online is now available for purchase at major retailers across Europe. For more information or to download a free trial, please visit www.trylotro.com

SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!

New SpongeBob Game Will Mark THQ and Nickelodeon's Debut on Xbox LIVE Arcade

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!™ will be one of the first titles in the company’s portfolio of games developed specifically for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and is expected to release in November. SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!, based on Nickelodeon’s hit animated series, will mark the network’s debut on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. In November, THQ also expects to launch Screwjumper™, a new original title, in the company’s portfolio of Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 games. These titles will be followed by new original titles Elements of Destruction™ and Rocket Riot™. The games will all be available for download via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

“We view Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 as a natural fit for many of our established casual brands, as well as an opportunity to serve up new gaming content,” said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. “With more than 20 million units of SpongeBob video games shipped worldwide to-date, we’re so excited to bring casual gamers SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! on the Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360, and we look forward to rolling out more titles with a slate of games that offer a variety of options via the popular Arcade network.”

“We’re excited to add one of our hottest properties to the Xbox LIVE Arcade line up of games,” said Steve Youngwood, executive vice president of digital media, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. “SpongeBob has been a top kids’ video game franchise worldwide, making it the perfect property for Nickelodeon and THQ to bring to this downloadable platform.”

For more information about SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! and the rest of THQ’s Xbox LIVE Arcade portfolio, please visit www.thq.com.

About SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!
In SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam!, players will collect Lord of the Sea Neptune’s underpants that have been spread across the sea bottom by a powerful storm current. The game features key locations from the series such as the Krusty Krab, the Flying Dutchman’s ship and the depths of the new Treasure Room of Atlantis, where players will search for the bronze, silver and gold medallions. Game modes include single-player Quest and Time Trial Modes, as well as multiplayer Slam and Tag Modes. Players will gain special powers from pick-ups that allow movement at super speed, invincibility or the ability to steal pants from other players. SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! also features slapstick moves that knock down and slow opponents.

Spiderman signing his game in London

World Famous Super Hero To Appear and Sign Copies of Spider-Man: Friend or Foe on Friday, 26 October, 2007

In support of his newest video game adventure, Marvel’s legendary web-slinger will appear to meet fans and sign copies of Activision Inc.’s Spider-Man: Friend or Foe on Friday, 26 October, 2007 at the HMV London store, located at Oxford Street.

An all-new adventure where a defeated arch-enemy can become an invaluable ally, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe challenges players to defeat and then join forces with notorious movie foes from the Marvel Universe including Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Venom and Sandman, as well as others from the classic Spider-Man family of characters. In the game, players will embark on a global quest to overcome an evil threat, by controlling Spider-Man and one of many Super Hero or Super Villain sidekicks, as they master unique fighting moves and styles while switching between characters to execute team combos and defeat foes.

For the first time ever in a Spider-Man game, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe features a unique co-op mode in which a friend can join the game at any time and take control of Spider-Man’s sidekick as they battle through the game side-by-side and replay favorite levels. As the gaming experience unravels, Spider-Man and his sidekicks unlock a variety of arenas and secret areas containing special tokens which allow players to revisit previously explored levels at any time as well as fortify their cache of collectables, power upgrades and mini-games. Gamers can also replay levels as Spider-Man’s darker, more mysterious persona, Black-Suited Spider-Man, and experience a robust Versus mode, with multiple arenas, where players match up any two characters and battle it out to see who wins.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Wii home video game system from Nintendo, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, the Nintendo DS and Games for Windows PC. The game is rated “7+” (Everyone 7 and older) by the PEGI.

For more information on Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, please visit www.friendorfoegame.com.

My Horse And Me - Website launched

Atari Launches Feature-Packed New Website for the Ultimate Equestrian Sports and Lifestyle Game

Atari today announced the launch of the official website for My Horse and Me at www.atari.com/myhorseandme. Published worldwide by Atari, My Horse and Me captures the essence and excitement of equestrian sport in a unique video game experience for PC, Wii and Nintendo DS. The only game with the exclusive worldwide license from the FEI (International Equestrian Federation), My Horse and Me is scheduled for European release in autumn 2007.

Visitors to the site can learn everything about what makes My Horse and Me the most realistic and immersive video game representation of the world of equestrian sports, with detailed game information, videos and screenshots showing the rich variety of gameplay modes, competitive environments and fun mini-games. Fans of the game can customize their own PC with a selection of downloadable screensavers and wallpapers exclusive to the site.

My Horse and Me is a highly authentic and involving video game representation of the world of equestrian sports. Published by Atari and developed by W!Games for Wii and PC and by Mistic for NDS, My Horse and Me, is scheduled for release this autumn 2007. For more information about the FEI please visit www.horsesport.org. Visit the official My Horse and Me website at www.atari.com/myhorseandme.

World Domination, Hordes of Aliens, Ray Guns, Mind Control & Three Teenage Zombies

The invasion begins soon on Nintendo DS

Ignition Entertainment is pleased to announce Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys! is coming to North America and Europe exclusively for the Nintendo DS.

The Earth is under attack by a horde of Alien Brain… uh…Thingys! Humans, succumbing to ray-guns, mind-control, and shiny flying saucers, have failed to defend their planet and let it fall easily into the clutches of the Big Brain and his army of Brain Thingys. The only hope left for mankind is three Teenage Zombies that have arisen from a graveyard disturbed in the invasion. The undead trio ignores their normal human victims in favour of the pulsing pink brains they see EVERYWHERE - all the while being lured to the ultimate lunch: THE BIG BRAIN! The Big Brain soon realizes he’s overlooked this “Super Race” as they inexplicably resist mind control, are unaffected by ray-gun wounds, and devour his Brain Thingy Armies like sweets! He refocuses his efforts and resources to battle the Earth’s greatest champions: The Teenage Zombies!

“The characters in Teenage Zombies have instant appeal,” said Ajay Chadha, President, Ignition USA. “InLight’s team has come up with a uniquely humorous and satirical take on comics and retro sci-fi. You throw in a solid platformer and some truly entertaining mini-games, and you have a game that is accessible to all and downright fun to play.”

Teenage Zombies uses a whimsical style that focuses on, and parodies the Zombie genre, as well as 1950s style Science Fiction. This is presented in a comic book look featuring comic book panels, dialogue boxes and story telling. Gameplay involves side-scrolling adventures opening up to stylus mini-games, double-screen boss battles, and brain busting puzzle challenges.

“InLight Entertainment is looking forward to the opportunity to work with such a dynamic publisher,” said Devin Young, President & CEO of InLight Entertainment. “Ignition Entertainment brings a wealth of publishing knowledge and I'm looking forward to great synergy between the two companies.”

Key features:

• Unique Comic Mode which drives the story with an interactive comic book style presentation

• Platforming gameplay that requires the player to swap between characters to solve levels

• Each character has their own unique abilities to aid them through their adventure

• Mini Games featuring the zombies (or their body parts) using all the Nintendo DS™ features

• The Big Brain Challenge – a series of quick micro mini games that happen at anytime during gameplay to win or lose against the Big Brain

• ZAPS! (Zombie Assembly Pop-up Screen) – a mini-game where you use collected body parts to quickly create a zombie to regain your “unhealth points”

Developed by Inlight Entertainment, Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys! for the Nintendo DS™ is scheduled for a worldwide release Spring ‘08.

For further information please visit: www.teenagezombiesgame.com

Jesper Kyd Scores Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

British Academy award-winning composer delivers visceralsoundtrack for new video game from the creators of Hitman

Jesper Kyd has composed and produced a dark and distorted soundtrack for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men , a gritty, character-driven third person action shooter from the creators of Hitman, IO Interactive. Kyd’s intense cinematic score is a cohesive and hard-hitting combo of scar-edged melodic soundscapes and subversive action-driven grooves that portray the twisted and emotionally driven story of the two lead characters, Kane and Lynch, a flawed mercenary and a medicated psychopath – forced together but hating each other every step of the way. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC Games for Windows in November, 2007.

To achieve the right kind of musical tonality for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Kyd’s foreboding and graphic score is as relentlessly intense and unforgiving in its attitude as the violent rage of Kane and Lynch on their destructive path of redemption and revenge. Delivering a masterful mix of melodic and sublime atmospherics, explosive electronic beats intoxicated with musical distortion and strewn with hardcore industrial guitar sounds, Kyd pushes the immersion factor and displays the main characters’ flaws, anger and pain in his echoing themes embedded with haunting vocals, heavily processed synth ambience, ethnic instrumentation and other multi-layered sounds.

Best known for his epic choral/orchestral and edgy electronic scores for the multi-million selling Hitman series, Jesper Kyd’s unique fusion of cinematic scoring techniques and minimalist electronic music for Hitman: Contracts won Best Original Music at the BAFTA Games Awards and his stylish symphonic hybrid score for Hitman: Blood Money was awarded Best Original Score by IGN and nominated for Best Original Video Game Score at the MTV Video Music Awards. His other collaborations with IO Interactive include Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Freedom Fighters, which received GameSpot’s Special Achievement Award for Best Original Music. For more information, visit www.jesperkyd.com and www.myspace.com/jesperkyd.

Multiplayer online game global game festival

Not many things to see about online gaming in the last E4All show? But at the same time in L.A, thousands online gamers gathered in an internet café to watch and participate in massively multiplayer online game global game festival.

During the E4All show, there was The Korean online games service, and foreign direct marketing business as part of the Korea SW Industry Promotion Agency (Chairman, Yu young-min), and subjective (HK) KT-sponsored 'Game&Game World Championship 2007(GNGWC)' the finals of the U.S. region was held on Oct, 20th on L.A.

At U.S. final selection, more than 60,000 players participated from preliminary match of 'Shot online (Sports)', 'War rock (First Person Shooter)', 'Silkroad online (MMORPG)' and US regional final event held successfully with 17 players who advanced from preliminary match and more than 200 supporters from all over the US.

This regional event was held successfully at the 'Internet PC Café' near LA area, and it began with press conference to help local presses understanding, and participants had great time through Korean online games with special events like professional DJ performances, and participants side shows.

Over 20 journalists from 14 local presses such as 'MPOGD', 'WarCry' visited to this event, and they showed off hot interests to Korean game companies and Korean online games.

US regional final had various episodes and special participants due to lot of games took part of it. Especially, 'Lunia (Allm)' has hot-spotlight than any other events, because more than 50% of Lunia users are located in US area. During the event we could see many families, because most of Lunia users are teenagers. Joshua, Jessica Pena (brother and sister) also drew attention from others and mother of Joshua and Jessica said "we recommend to our children to play soundness online games and we like Lunia because it brought something to talk about to our family". Also surprisingly Jessica took 4th place which is better than her brother, and praised from others, and she said "It is inconvenience because we only have one computer." The winner of Lunia, Travis Verhagen who is student of AIU, and wish to be programmer to make games like Lunia said "It is great pleasure to win this event and I will try harder to get better result at Grand final at Seoul on Dec."

The winner of 'Navy field (Enternet)' is Jedi1 (US), and OPR (Poland) took second place on 15 vs. 15 team play match. Even though it is US regional final, the 'Navy field' excited envy in other games because participants showed off great passion like came from all over the world (Canada, U.K., Poland, etc.) and prepare for the final.

Also 'Bomb'N Dash (Innodis)' brought big attentions because a user who has special job. US Marine, Jason who enjoy 'Bomb'N Dash' with his friends very much will dispatch to Afghanistan expressed inconvenience because he cannot play 'Bomb'N Dash' often after dispatch.The winner of 'Bomb'N Dash', SangJun Lee (2nd generation Korean-American) said "After immigrated to US, I could not visit Korea. But I am very happy to visit Korea trough this event."

Last year regional finalists of 'Silkroad online (Joymax)' Gerald Bastien and Zachary took first and second place in this year event again, and have chance to win at Grand final this year too. They said "We could feel much closer to Korea through 'Silkroad online' and very excited to visit Korea again."

The 'War rock (developed by Dream Execution) proceed this event with at scene registration. 'War rock' had great heat from more 50 participants who came very early to enroll this game.

Mr. Kwon (KIPA) said "Over 60,000 players from US, UK, Canada, and Poland participated in this event, it proves that Korean online game already take great part of the world game market.", also "We will try best to lead world game market by Korean online games based on popularity of this event."

Last August, starting with the GNGWC European Finals, Korea (Yong-in, 9.29-30), Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, 10.13), the United States (Los Angeles, 10.20), Japan (Tokyo, 11.17) the series will be held, each chosen gamers through regional finals will be join the Grand final on December 1 during the SoftEXPO & DCF 2007 Seoul COEX exhibition.

About GNGWC (Game and Game World Championship)
GNGWC is an international game competition which began in 2006 by KIPA in order to promote Korean online games throughout the World. Last year, 1,070,000 gamers from 5 regions including Korea, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, and America took participation in comparing in 3 Korean games, 'Silkroad Online', 'Gun bound', and 'Shout Online'. With the success from previous year, the event is planned to continue in the future.

KartRider Gets into the Halloween Spirit

Nexon America's popular MMO racing game gives racers Tricks and Treats for upcoming holiday

Nexon America Inc., the U.S. division of Asia’s leading online game company Nexon Group, is serving up a special batch of Halloween treats for KartRider players. KartRider, the free-to-download, free-to-play online multiplayer racing game, has already surpassed enormous open beta expectations. Now it sends its “riders” off to the races with special Halloween-themed events and releases. The combination of thrilling competition and Halloween spirit promises to be a potent mix for all gamers. More information can be found at www.kartrider.com or http://kart.nexon.net.

KartRider plans to release a spooky new area, Creepy Hollow, showcasing two new themed tracks, ‘Fright Fight’ and ‘Hidden Monastery.’ Creepy Hollow’s new courses feature winding trails through eerie forests, twisting cliff roads, long dark corridors, and even a ghostly cemetery. These new additions will be welcomed by racers who have already exhausted the numerous available tracks through sheer KartRider addiction.

Keeping up with the Halloween theme, Nexon also plans to release its specially designed Pumpkin Racer E2 Kart in conjunction with the release of Creepy Hollow. As the first kart being released in the E2 series, the Pumpkin Racer E2 will have the distinction of being the highest level kart currently available. The kart’s quirky appearance complements the game’s cartoon theme and is one of the more powerful karts offered. The popularity of the holiday and enthusiasm of users assures Pumpkin Racer E2 karts will invade KartRider courses in high volumes.

KartRider also expands its quest options with the addition of a Halloween quest assigned by one of the more popular non-player characters in the game. ‘The Pumpkin Chase’ is a thrill-a-minute scavenger hunt in which users race to collect Jack o’ Lanterns scattered around various courses. Users able to collect enough pumpkins within a certain time frame will have earned themselves a special reward at quest’s end. Let’s just say that KartRider is literally giving its users a chance to be a pumpkinhead!

KartRider fans can check on www.kartrider.com for more news and weekly updates regarding the game. Nexon plans a pedal to the metal onslaught of promotions, contests, and events in coordination with KartRider’s launch schedule to “drive” this title to success!

Are you the right soldier for the job?

Find Out At - www.MercenariesWanted.com

Activision Launches Official Website for Soldier of Fortune: Payback

Activision, announced today that it has launched the official site for the upcoming Soldier of Fortune: Payback. The website, located at www.MercenariesWanted.com, features a new trailer and exclusive screenshots, videos and weapons profiles. In addition, fans of the series can find:

· Links to recent previews – find out what the press is saying!

· Information on upcoming gaming competitions

· Registration for email updates and pre-ordering information

· A very active Soldier of Fortune community on the Forum

· Frequent updates on the latest news, game information and more

Soldier of Fortune: Payback is the long-awaited third installment of the Soldier of Fortune videogame series. The saga continues with the organization known as “The Shop” where players take on the role of a hired mercenary. Players will experience all the thrills and dangers of authentic mercenary combat blasting their way through high intensity combat situations in the world’s most dangerous hotspots in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Using any means necessary, players will need to uncover a complex plot and defeat an extremist organization determined to throw the world into global conflict. Failure is not an option.

Soldier of Fortune: Payback will be available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and the PC. The game has been rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB and is scheduled for release in November 2007.

Golden Axe III available on Wii Virtual console (US)

SEGA of America, Inc. today announced that the SEGA Genesis classic, Golden Axe III is now available for download on the Wii Shop Channel. Prices start at 800 Wii Points for SEGA Genesis titles. Wii Points can be purchased online or at select retailers at an MSRP of $20 for 2,000 points.

Game Summary

Golden Axe III - The once-peaceful kingdom so familiar to fans of the original Golden Axe is under threat once again, as the Prince of Darkness has stolen the invaluable Golden Axe, taken over the kingdom and rendered all its warriors harmless thanks to an evil curse. One warrior, however, breaks free from the curse and must defeat the Prince and regain the Golden Axe to save the kingdom. In this one- or two-player action game, play as a giant, a panther, or a sword-wielding human and fight your way to victory!

The Wii Shop Channel serves as the Wii’s online storefront where visitors can redeem Wii Points to download games. Users need a high-speed Internet connection to access the Wii Shop Channel. Users can buy Wii Points at retail or with a credit card online from the Wii Shop Channel and redeem their Wii Points to download these and other classic games.

For more information on upcoming Virtual Console titles from SEGA, please visit the official Web site at www.sega.com. For assets, please visit the SEGA Press site at http://segapr.segaamerica.com

Wii helps Nintendo double profits

The success of the Wii has helped Nintendo to double its profit in the six months to the end of September.
Demand for the console has outstripped that for Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's XBox 360 - selling about 7.3 million units.

The Japanese firm made a net profit of 132.4bn yen ($1.16bn; £506m) from 54.4bn yen a year earlier.

Popularity of the handheld DS also helped, with Nintendo selling about 13.4 million of the consoles.

The DS console, which allows users to control play with a stylus, has proved popular with women and older users.

Meanwhile the motion sensitive Wii has proved popular after introducing a new way of playing computer games. (see earlier post)

More from the BBC

Zack and Wiki Exclusive on Wii

CAPCOM RELEASES ZACK & WIKI: QUEST FOR BARBAROS' TREASURE, A PUZZLING NEW ADVENTURE EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE Wii

Pillaging Pirate Adventure Challenges Gamers to Play Different

Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that ZACK & WIKI: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure for the Wii home video game system from Nintendo is now available at retail. Capcom’s first original title exclusively for the Wii is an innovative, full-length puzzle adventure game that utilizes the unique control mechanics of the Wii Remote and challenges gamers to “play different.” Rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), ZACK & WIKI: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure carries a suggested retail price of $39.99.

Legend has it that a revered pirate named Barbaros once stole the world’s treasure and hid it on a mysterious island. Though no one knows of its exact location, stories about the untold riches that lay in wait have been passed down through the ages, driving pirates from all walks of life to pursue the alluring prizes. One of these treasure seekers, a young apprentice pirate named Zack happens upon a mysterious talking skull, the skull of Barbaros himself. Barbaros promises to reveal the key to the island, if Zack will help to lift the curse he is under.

Players will explore a variety of wondrous environments and stages, solving puzzles and interacting with the world in search of a legendary pirate ship and the ultimate pursuit of becoming the greatest pirate the world has ever seen. Inventive gameplay mechanics and controller movements allow players to move and open objects, transform enemies into items, unlock new pathways and navigate through perilous stages based on a variety of themes including Jungle Ruins, Frozen Temple, Volcano Cavern and more, each with multiple sub-areas. Players will use the Wii Remote controller in various ways - rotate handles, turn keys to open doors, play a piccolo and much more in order to solve the progressively difficult puzzle stages and collect key items that will lead to the legendary pirate ship.

Wikipedia - Video Games listing

A video game is a game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally refers to a raster display device.

However, with the popular use of the term "video game", it now implies any type of display device.

The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms are broad in range, from large computers such as mainframes, to handheld devices such as cell phones and PDAs.

Specialized video games such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use.

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Wii can all lose weight playing games

Table tennis champion Nikolaus McClellan wiped his brow as he exultantly described his victory over more than 30 competitors at The Grid Lab on Tuesday and the resulting throbbing in his arm after playing four games.

But the tournament did not involve any tables or paddles, and it did not involve any ping-pong balls either.

The only equipment were Nintendo Wii remotes that allowed competitors to simulate real table tennis techniques while trying out Rockstar Games’ debut table tennis game for the Wii and Xbox 360.

Despite a lack of traditional equipment, some gamers and exercise professionals consider interactive sports video games a form of alternate exercise.

While many avid Wii Sports players have documented weight loss online from playing the games, Jill Wagner, an Ohio University physical education professor, is documenting the fitness benefits of exercise video games in an experimental course.

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Scariest video games? By Phil Villarreal

F.E.A.R.
Movies may tell better stories and boast more artistic credibility than video games, but games easily beat movies in frights. Because interactive entertainment can make you feel as though you are the character onscreen, games are a lot more effective at making you jump out of your seat or sending you to bed with shivers.
In honor of Halloween, here are my picks for the most frightening games out there.

1. Resident Evil 4

(GameCube, PlayStation 2, Wii) — The first time I dared to play this on the GameCube I had to stop for a week because I was too frazzled from the game's mission to take on hordes of crazed villagers as you seek to bring the U.S. president's daughter to safety. Some of your enemies, which include grotesque beasts that will haunt your dreams, come at you with chain saws and deadlier long-distance weapons. Ammunition is so scarce you have to improvise ways besides blazing guns to win your battles. You'll do a whole lot of running and looking over your shoulder to see if you're still being followed.
Eventually, I gathered the courage to come back and play the game as it was rereleased for the PS2, then again for the Wii. It's good enough to draw you back again and again. Some hold "Resident Evil 4," with its blend of excitement, tension and dread, as the best of all video games. It's certainly the best of the horror genre.

2. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

(Nintendo Entertainment System) — Something about two-dimensional backgrounds and simplistic, old-school graphics ups the jitter factor past most realistically rendered environments. You slash your way through a seemingly never- ending assault of mummies, bats, skeletons and just about everything else you wish wouldn't chase after you. The end battle against Dracula is an overwhelming scourge of mental exhaustion, with the count shifting into other forms just when you think you have him beat.

3. Silent Hill 2

(PlayStation 2, Xbox) — Playing as a depressed widower lured into a desolate village by a letter apparently written by his dead wife, you descend into horrific madness. Shadows and fog make you feel as though you're lost in oblivion, tremblingly aware of all the noises made by evil things you sometimes can't see clearly. Particularly freaky are enemies dangling from the ceiling who choke you with their feet.

4. Ninja Gaiden

(Xbox, PlayStation 3) — This game isn't really intended to be scary, although its off-the-charts difficulty level has caused many a gamer to retreat into a corner, biting his nails. There's just something inherently shiver-inducing about battling ninjas who know how to fight a whole lot better than you. Especially ninjas on horses. The game's checkpoints are spread far apart, making it genuinely unnerving to be approached by a gang of enemies when you're low on life and hoping to save your progress without having to redo an hour's worth of work. Note: The game was rereleased twice, and it's arguably best on the PS3.

5. F.E.A.R.

(Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) — The acronym stands for First Encounter Assault Recon. You play as a supersoldier with the ability to slow down time in order to dodge bullets that specialize in vanquishing supernatural threats. To mess with your mind, the visuals play with ominous shadows. Enemies jump out of the corner of the screen, often accompanied by jolting blasts of noise. Your character also slips into hallucinations starring a creepy little girl.

By Phil Villarreal

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It’s not all fun and games…is it?

Are video games simply toys or are they tools that make them candidates for serious academic study? That’s the topic of the second science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) lecture program, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 6, in the University Union’s Redwood Room.

John Clevenger, a professor in Sacramento State’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, will examine the $60 billion a year video gaming phenomenon and discuss how video games are moving beyond entertainment and gaining the attention of the academic world.

“A common reaction of professionals in scientific disciplines, academicians in general and parents everywhere is that games are not a serious topic,” says Clevenger. “However, video games are increasingly being used in medicine, public service, corporate business, education and the military. Because of that, a number of universities have begun offering courses, and in many cases entire degree programs, in game design and implementation, and many of these programs place heavy emphasis on the scientific and technical aspects of computer games.”

Clevenger earned his doctorate degree in computer science from UC Davis and has more than 30 years experience teaching introductory programming, algorithms and data structures, software design, computer architecture, computer graphics and computer games. He has received the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s Outstanding Teaching Award twice and the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Honor Society’s Outstanding Faculty Award five times.

The lecture is the second of four in the annual STEM lecture series. The next lecture is Feb. 26. The topic will be announced at a later date.

Games fans pick real football team...

One club in Israel do not have a manager, just 8,000 online supporters. Could the same thing happen in England?

Frank Lampard, look away now: we are moving closer to a world where England fans really do pick the team. There may soon be an answer to the eternal question of whether manager or supporters know best because plans are afoot to purchase an English club and hand control to fans on the internet. They will select the side and make in-game tactical decisions. And if it works, managers could become an endangered species.

All those hours playing computer simulations were not wasted: they were training for the time when you will use your screen to take charge of the real thing. Coaches and players blaming the fans for defeats? Unreliable broadband connections coming in for as much stick as referees? Good-bye, dugout dictators; hello, footballing democracy.

Fans website here

More from Times Online

Sony register new names - games?

At the Patent and Trademark Office Sony (SCE) having registered a selection of what may turn out to be new game names.

Described as "computer games apparatus adapted for use with an external display screen or monitor," Sony have secured the rights to names such as:


Ember

SkyBlue

Carriage Return

Race Day

Strings Attached

Plus

The Broadcast Engine

which covers products related to phones, DVD players and video cameras.