FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final in Berlin on May 24

Having overcome seven months of intense competition, the world’s 32 best interactive soccer players from 18 nations will meet face to face this Saturday to compete for the title of FIFA Interactive World Player 2008 on EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 08 on PLAYSTATION 3 at the Grand Final event in Berlin’s Sony Centre. The finalists dribbled and scored their way through the 20 live qualifiers, or faced one of a total of over 25,000 players who competed in the online leg of the tournament to reach this stage.

Apart from gaining ultimate bragging rights, the winner will also walk away with a cash prize of $20,000 US and an invitation to join the world’s real life soccer heroes at the FIFA World Player Gala in December.

Spectators will be in for a treat with a combination of the very best in real and virtual sporting action throughout the day, coupled with appearances by soccer and music celebrities such as a performance by German hip-hop artist Das Bo. Anthony Baffoe, a former Ghanaian international and the first African player in the German Bundesliga will co-host the event.
The interactive zone opens at 11am with the soccer gaming virtuosos kicking-off the final tournament at 4:00 pm.

For more information on the road to the Grand Final and in-depth profiles of all 32 participants, please visit www.FIFA.com/FIWC

The Wii is still sold out! Artificial shortage by Nintendo?

Now, since the scarcity of Wiis has affected consumer demands, many people have been speculating that Nintendo is purposely creating an artificial shortage of Wiis; After all, it makes perfect business sense--don't saturate the market by releasing all you have; hold some back and keep the demand high to ensure its popularity and allowing the buzz

read more | digg story

Character Profiles For Upcoming Xbox 360 Strategy RPG Operation Darkness

Atlus today released a set of character profiles for Operation Darkness, an alternate-reality WWII strategy RPG for the Xbox 360 system. Operation Darkness is currently scheduled for release on June 24.

Three new Nintendo DS Lite Colours Plus Cooking Guide - Can’t Decide What To Eat?

COOKING UP A COLOURFUL TREAT!



Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What To Eat? & three new Nintendo DS Lite Colours hit Europe

Get ready for a double treat this summer as the season is set to be full of tasty food and colourful new Nintendo DS Lites! Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide What To Eat? and the Nintendo DS Lite will allow you to experience a simple and convenient way to choose, prepare and cook a variety of 250 international dishes. Preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner with Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide What To Eat? on one of three exciting new Nintendo DS Lite colours of Red, Turquoise or a European first, Green is set to be a whole new mouth watering experience!

Going beyond the capabilities of printed cookbooks, Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide What to Eat? will guide each budding chef step by step through all the processes involved in cooking a tasty dish by talking and guiding the player through each recipe. With its numerous international recipe choices, dish search options, videos and simple step-by-step guides to choosing, preparing and cooking a dish, turning even the most hesitant of cooks into confident chefs will be simple. Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide What To Eat? is controlled through the Nintendo DS’s Touch Screen and by the user’s voice through the console’s microphone. It is simple for everyone to use, no matter what their previous experience – either with a Nintendo DS or in the kitchen!

Featuring approximately 250 international dishes, finding the perfect recipe to cook has never been so fun! Broken down into easily searchable groups, discover the perfect dish by country, ingredient, difficulty level or even amount of calories to name but a few. There are so many options available everyone will be catered for!

Once a decision has been made about what to eat, users can set about creating a culinary masterpiece with the Cooking Guide chef who will talk you through each step of the way. As your hands will be busy preparing and cooking the ingredients, simply speak into the Nintendo DS’s microphone to progress through each stage of the recipe. Each step can be repeated as many times as necessary, so you can prepare your meal at your own pace.

Not sure how to use a certain utensil or the ideal substitute for an ingredient? Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide What To Eat? can tell you all you need to know with its handy Cooking A-Z. Providing in depth illustrated details on everything from chopping techniques to explaining cooking terminology, no query will be left unanswered. It can also create a handy shopping list for that all-important visit to the supermarket and can even be used as a kitchen timer!

Containing a plethora of recipes and a range of helpful and easy to use functions, Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide What To Eat will be a useful addition to anyone’s kitchen.

With the vibrant new Red, Turquoise and Green Nintendo DS Lites hitting shelves across Europe on 13th June 2008 at the estimated retail price of around £99 and Cooking Guide: Can’t Decide What To Eat? arriving on 20th June 2008, at the estimated retail price of around £30, Summer has never looked so appetising!

2K Sports to Reveal Cover Athlete for NBA® 2K9 During Pre-Game Show for Game One of the NBA Finals on June 5

Fans can now visit new 2K Sports Community Site to predict next cover athlete and win exclusive prizes

2K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, today announced that the cover athlete for the highly anticipated basketball video game NBA 2K9 will be revealed through a 30 second TV spot scheduled to air during the NBA Countdown pre-game show for Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals, June 5 on ABC.

As part of revealing the new cover athlete, 2K Sports has launched a new community web site, www.2ksports.com/nba2k9, where registered participants can predict the cover athlete for NBA 2K9 from a selection of 16 NBA players. Fans who predict correctly will be entered into a special drawing for the opportunity to win exclusive prizes.

“We’re extremely excited to offer this online promotion to our loyal community of 2K Sports fans, as we think it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to interact more closely with them through a refreshingly fun and rewarding experience,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “The NBA 2K franchise is king among basketball players and passionate fans who know and understand basketball. Revealing our cover athlete prior to Game One affords us a unique opportunity to capitalize on the anticipation surrounding the NBA Finals while simultaneously generating excitement for the release of NBA 2K9.”

To enter in the NBA 2K9 cover athlete reveal sweepstakes, participants must register from May 22 - June 4. Official contest rules and other important information can be found on www.2ksports.com/nba2k9. Fans will guess the NBA 2K9 cover athlete from a list of NBA players provided, and all entrants that are correct will be entered into a random drawing to win the sweepstakes prizes on June 5. One grand prize winner will receive the NBA 2K9 cover athlete’s authentic, autographed NBA jersey, along with a copy of NBA 2K9 on the platform of their choice. Ten other first prize winners will also receive a copy of NBA 2K9. All winners will receive their copy of NBA 2K9 upon release of the game.

NBA 2K9, which is being developed by Visual Concepts, is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this fall for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system. For more information, please visit www.2ksports.com.

The 2008 NBA Finals are currently scheduled to tip off on June 5 at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC.

EA host 2nd annual Rookie Madden Bowl NFL 08

Washington Redskins Rookie Devin Thomas Claims Crown

Over 30 NFL rookies gathered in the Arcadia Ballroom at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel for the EA SPORTS 2008 Rookie Madden Bowl. The second annual Rookie Madden Bowl brought together top NFL rookies to compete on Madden NFL 08 to see who would be crowned the 2008 EA SPORTS Rookie Madden Bowl Champion. The eight-man tournament included New England Patriots quarterback Kevin O’Connell, Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brian Brohm, Washington Redskins wide receiver Devin Thomas, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall, New York Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Dexter Jackson. Devin Thomas came out victorious, proudly taking home the 2008 Rookie Madden Bowl trophy.

Madden NFL 09 marks the 20th anniversary of one of the best-selling and most critically-acclaimed videogame franchises of all time, and the game will feature adaptable gameplay tailored to every type of gamer, online enhancements and a broadcast style presentation delivering an authentic NFL experience. Madden NFL 09 will be available in stores across North America on August 12.

The graphical enhancements of Madden NFL 09 are extremely impressive and bring the emotion of NFL football to life. Madden NFL 09 features amazing detail to stadiums, weather effects, player models and a whole host of other elements.

13-year-old beats Guiness world record Guitar Hero score

13 year-old Grapevine native Daniel Johnson beat the Guinness World Record for high score on a single song for “Guitar Hero III” when he attended the Guitar Hero 24-Hour Marathon presented by Blockbuster. Daniel played on a XBOX 360 and scored 890,971, beating the previous record by more than 10,000 points while playing “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce at the Expert Level on his first attempt.

When asked what he thought about breaking the world record, Daniel said, “I’m glad that I had the opportunity to break the record and help people learn about Education is Freedom.”

The previous record was held by Chris Chike who achieved a score of 880,920 in March 2008.

The Guitar Hero 24-Hour Marathon, presented by Blockbuster was an event benefiting the Dallas non-profit foundation, Education is Freedom, which is part of the “Igniting Opportunity for the Children of Dallas Campaign (IOCD),” a cause dedicated to increasing the educational achievement of children in Dallas. Several Dallas CEO’s, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Jim Keyes, CEO for Blockbuster all participated at the event.

First- through fifth-place winners received an array of prizes from Southwest Airlines, Activision and BLOCKBUSTER.

Disney Fairies - Tinker Bell on Nintendo DS this Christmas

This new video game brings the popular Disney Fairy, Tinker Bell, and her magical world to life for girls nationwide

Disney Fairies - Tinker Bell for Nintendo DS will be available nationwide this 2008 Christmas season. For the first time on the handheld platform, fans of Disney Fairies and beloved Tinker Bell can explore the delightful world of Pixie Hollow and play as the popular Fairy herself. Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell allows girls to interact with dozens of enchanting Disney Fairies, including Silvermist, Iridessa and Fawn, and explore Pixie Hollow through time-based activities and mini-quests.

“Disney Fairies has become a phenomenon all around the world,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “Bringing the game to DS allows fans to play as Tinker Bell and take the Fairies world everywhere they go, while having fun learning about the importance of creativity, teamwork and responsibility.”

Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell is a color-rich, deep and detailed game that mirrors the beautiful Fairies world that girls have come to love and cherish. In the game, Tinker Bell invites players to discover her mystical world, embark on adventures, explore their fashion tastes and complete fun quests to prepare for the coming seasons.

Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell game features:

• Choose from hundreds of dresses, costumes, shoes and accessories to fully customise Tinker Bell.
  
• Create new designs featuring hearts, flowers and other patterns to place onto outfits.
  
• Barter and trade items collected in Pixie Hollow with other Fairies for new clothing and accessories.
  
• Create trends by gifting outfits to friends and watch as Pixie Hollow becomes filled with Fairies dressed in those outfits.
  
• Earn medals and form new friendships when completing special tasks for other Fairies in Pixie Hollow, including repairing broken items using Tinker Bell’s special tinkering power and locating missing items.
  
• Engage in challenging and fun mini-games, such as catching dew drops, painting ladybugs and tickling silkworms.
  
• Utilizes the DS real-time clock, so environments will reflect time of year or time of day. Girls will witness snow falling in the winter time, fireflies coming out at night and Fairies throwing a huge bash on their birthday.
  
• Published by Disney Interactive Studios and developed by Genius Sonority, Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell will be available Christmas 2008 on Nintendo DS.
  

Theatre of War - Boxed version available in US

Theatre of War, the WWII battlefield simulation title from cdv Software Entertainment USA and Battlefront.com, has shipped to North American retail outlets today. This boxed retail version of Theatre of War will include all the patches and official content additions since the game's previous download-only release. Theatre of War combines the look, feel and historical elements of World War II to create an unrivaled tactical battlefield experience spanning major campaigns from the Battle of Moscow to Normandy. With more than 50 missions spread across multiple campaigns and a rich do-it-yourself mission and map editor included, Theatre of War rewards armchair generals with tremendous gaming and replay value. For more information about the game, please visit http://www.cdvus.com.

Theatre of War offers a fresh take on the WWII Real-time Strategy genre by combining the look, feel, sounds and historical elements of WWII to create the ultimate warfare simulation. The game engine features realistic shell ballistics, armor penetration calculations and damage effects coupled with destructible environments, trenches, fortifications and individually tracked weapons, equipment, ammo and vehicles. More than 50 battles spread across seven different campaigns (US/UK, Soviet, German, French, Polish, Battle for Moscow and Panzer Lehr in Normandy), along with eight non-campaign scenarios, five Training scenarios and 11 different multiplayer missions are available in the game to offer a rich and challenging combat experience to players.

ArchLord, the free MMORPG exceeds half a million players

Codemasters Online is pleased to announce they have opened the doors to their 500,000th player of its popular subscription-free MMORPG, ArchLord.

Since moving to free-to-play, ArchLord has seen explosive new player growth over recent months with more players than ever taking on the challenge to compete to become the all-conquering ArchLord and with it rule the entire game world.

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented, “This is a key milestone in the growth of ArchLord. ArchLord is a premier free-to-play MMORPG offering significantly more depth and quality than most other free-to-play games and this recent achievement solidifies our commitment to the ongoing development and success of ArchLord.”

To cope with the increased popularity for the game, Codemasters Online will shortly be opening an all-new game world to cope with the game’s substantially increased demand as they gear up for the next free content update Episode 3 due in the coming months.

ArchLord is a premier free-to-play online role-playing game allowing players to download and play the game for free with no monthly subscriptions or commitments. The online game challenges thousands of players each month to raise an army, to compete to become the game’s all-ruling ArchLord and with it control of the entire game world impacting on the lives of thousands of ArchLord players.

To download ArchLord the premier free-to-play MMORPG visit the game’s official website www.archlordgame.com