Nobunaga's Ambition - Iron Triangle PlayStation 2 video game out in US

Build a massive military force and conquer Feudal Japan in this latest addition to KOEI's historical simulation series

KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that Nobunaga’s Ambition - Iron Triangle has shipped to North American retailers. The historical simulation game set during Japan’s Feudal era will be available in stores starting today. Consumers can order the game now at Amazon, GameStop and GameFly.

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle is produced by Kou Shibusawa, and is exclusive to the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system.

About Nobunaga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle

Compelled by a nation ravaged by war, it was legendary samurai Nobunaga Oda’s ambition to silence the cries of war and usher in a new era of lasting peace for Japan. In Nobunaga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle, video gamers can step into the role of Feudal Japan’s most powerful warlords and turn this magnificent vision of unification into a reality.

In this latest edition of the series, the acquisition of knowledge and a firm grasp of technology are even more crucial to establishing the groundwork for the future of the country. Embrace technology, govern wisely and shrewdly, and prepare a near-invincible military force for war on land and at sea. Only with the mastery of these three elements, the “Iron Triangle,” will the nation be united under one sword and will Nobunaga’s dream be realized.

The game itself is a stunning vision of Feudal Japan, with over 60 castles and 30 port towns. All of the game’s planning, diplomacy, construction, and warfare take place on an expansive 3D map; a first for the series. You’ll also maintain complete camera control to monitor the development of each region or town, and to monitor the field and naval battles that you command; all in real-time.

With over 1,000 daimyo and sub-officers, and a character creation tool, you will encounter a broad array of historical figures, and can even populate the game world with your own unique cast of characters.

Beginning with Nobunaga’s victory at Owari province through to his untimely death in 1582, conquer a combined total of nine historical and fictional scenarios in three modes of play.

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle is developed by KOEI Co., Ltd. and is for one player. This game is rated “E10+” (Everyone 10 and older – Alcohol Reference, Mild Violence) by the ESRB.

Guitar Hero - Metallica a Fact Sheet

“Ride the Lightning” with musical icons Metallica and over 20 other rocking acts in an all new Guitar Hero experience - Guitar Hero Metallica. Enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience the intensity and skill of one of the greatest bands of all time.
Shred on guitar, rip on drums and wail on the mic to a set list featuring over 45 explosive hits from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters and Queen. Fans will be able to rock as Metallica while performing in venues reminiscent of the band’s epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales.

FEATURES:

Becoming the Band – For the first time ever, Guitar Hero Metallica will allow fans to come together and thrash as the explosive, world-renown metal and rock band, Metallica, whose album sales have exceeded 100 million worldwide. Transform into metal legends Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo as full body scans and signature moves motion capture allow players to virtually experience the high intensity of a Metallica performance.

Live Like Metal Legends – Follow the path of the metal legends in either single instrument or band career game modes playing as the band to a soundtrack of their greatest hits while also rocking with over 20 additional artists selected by the band. Featuring in-the-round stage designs and custom camera angles new to Guitar Hero, further highlighted by custom lightshows, special effects and encores, gamers and Metallica fans alike can fulfill their rock ‘n’ roll fantasies in a variety of new and famous settings, ranging from Tushino Airfield to The Forum. All venues reflect Metallica’s most memorable tours including themes from their album artwork to offer the authentic Metallica atmosphere.

Drum Like Lars – In addition to using the redesigned, more responsive and advanced Guitar Hero World Tour guitar controller and microphone, Metallica fans will truly be able to pound like Lars on the drums with a second bass pedal compatible with the Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit controller. The all-new “Expert+” difficulty level gives gamers access to the double bass drum note track which offers the authentic Metallica experience with a note-for-note translation of many tracks appearing in-game and adds a new difficulty option to all gameplay modes.

Seek and Destroy – Immerse yourself in themed Battle Mode attacks, such as briefly blacking out your fellow rocker’s note track or modifying the amp overload to include the signature Metallica lightening.

Test Your Metal – After nailing a song, test your Metallica know-how by replaying the song with trivia pop-ups. The on-screen displays give information about the song being played, and with guest artist songs, information about how the band is tied to Metallica will be displayed along with details such as band history and lyrics.

Off to Never Never Land – Guitar Hero Metallica is loaded with tons of bonuses throughout the game, such as unlockable venues, commentary, videos and behind the scenes footage, giving all Metallica fans exclusive content to enjoy.

All that Remains – Guitar Hero Metallica cranks all the great features, gameplay and fun of Guitar Hero World Tour to a new level with updates to the Music Studio featuring samples from James Hetfield’s ESP Truckster guitar and of Slayer fame, Tom Araya’s signature ESP bass guitar, GHTunesSM, and the Rock Star Creator. Online game modes allow competing gamers to see who tops the charts in Face-Off, Pro Face-Off, eight-player “Battle of the Bands” and Battle Mode as well as the online Quickplay mode that allows up to four gamers to shred together regardless of physical location.

Publisher: Activision Publishing/RedOctane
Developer: Neversoft (Xbox 360 and PS3)
Budcat Creations (PS2 and Wii)
Release Date: Spring 2009

X-Blades - More Spells and Beasts ...

More Action from X-Blades, the fast-paced action adventure game, featuring a blend of cinematic style and beautiful anime-inspired characters, combat and environments

Light Blades: The power of Light is just as strong as other powers. Perhaps more so? I can actually use the Power of Light to envelope both my blades and guns and use it to inflict awesome damage! I can’t get over how beautiful it looks…or how deadly it is. (Requirements: Lightform)

Ray Of Light: Hmm…this is Ray of Light is actually very impressive. This spell consists of a ray of glittering light that is hurled against an opponent. It explodes upon impact, dealing out damage points galore. I’ve seen it do incredible amounts of damage to creatures of the dark. It will be interesting to what else it can do. (Requirements: Light Blades)

The Queen Spider: The Queen Spider is able to control her offspring. Covered in armor and gifted in the use of magic, she guards the upper floors of the castle. Apart from the spiders, which block the way to the Queen, small creatures that are invulnerable to magic attacks, to which the Queen is particularly vulnerable, surround her.

The Ancient Six-Winged: The oldest living Six-winged has been hiding in cliffs, where his only friends were the little Pangos, which used to share their food with him. They protect him desperately during attacks, so you can only hurt the Ancient Six-winged after freezing the Pangos. He prefers to attack his opponents from a distance due to his extreme sensitivity to heat. He is, of course, vulnerable to light and Fire magic.

New trailer for Elite Forces - Unit 77 released

As part of the Super Bowl XLIII festivities, EA SPORTS and Xbox 360 will host the 15th annual Madden Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The only official Madden tournament featuring NFL players, Madden Bowl XV will include the league’s brightest stars as they compete to see who has the best skills on the virtual gridiron.
This year’s event will bring new meaning to the words “bragging rights” as players from each Super Bowl team – Willie Parker (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Edgerrin James (Arizona Cardinals) – will both be in the mix just days before they duke it out on the field.

The Madden Bowl is an annual event where eight current NFL Players will go head-to-head in Madden NFL 09 on Xbox 360 in a single elimination tournament. The winner is named as the 2008 champion and awarded the EA SPORTS Madden Bowl Cup.

In addition, for the first time ever in Madden Bowl history, two of the top projected quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL Draft – Mark Sanchez (USC) and Matt Stafford (University of Georgia) – will face off, one-on-one in Madden NFL 09, to determine who is the 8th, and final player, in the Madden Bowl XV tournament.

Madden fans at home will also get taste of the Madden Bowl XV action. During the evening Xbox 360 will offer fans the rare opportunity to play a game of Madden NFL 09 against one of the athletes in attendance as part of the latest Xbox LIVE online entertainment network Game with Fame session. For a chance to battle NFL All-Pro Linebacker Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens) on Xbox 360 direct from the Madden Bowl, send a friend request to the Xbox LIVE gamertag “RLewisGWF” between 8:00 – 9:00 PM EST.

Immediately following the Madden Bowl tournament will be the Madden Bowl XV Party celebrating 20 years of Madden NFL Football, featuring Joel Madden (of Good Charlotte) as DJ.

Madden Bowl Eight-Man Tournament Participants:

• Antonio Bryant – WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Edgerrin James – RB, Arizona Cardinals
• Maurice Jones-Drew – RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Willie Parker – RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Justin Tuck – DE, New York Giants
• DeMarcus Ware – LB, Dallas Cowboys
• Mark Sanchez – USC/Matthew Stafford – University of Georgia (Rookie play-in game)

Athletes in Attendance:
As part of the Super Bowl XLIII festivities, EA SPORTS and Xbox 360 will host the 15th annual Madden Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The only official Madden tournament featuring NFL players, Madden Bowl XV will include the league’s brightest stars as they compete to see who has the best skills on the virtual gridiron. This year’s event will bring new meaning to the words “bragging rights” as players from each Super Bowl team – Willie Parker (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Edgerrin James (Arizona Cardinals) – will both be in the mix just days before they duke it out on the field.

The Madden Bowl is an annual event where eight current NFL Players will go head-to-head in Madden NFL 09 on Xbox 360 in a single elimination tournament. The winner is named as the 2008 champion and awarded the EA SPORTS Madden Bowl Cup.

In addition, for the first time ever in Madden Bowl history, two of the top projected quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL Draft – Mark Sanchez (USC) and Matt Stafford (University of Georgia) – will face off, one-on-one in Madden NFL 09, to determine who is the 8th, and final player, in the Madden Bowl XV tournament.

Madden fans at home will also get taste of the Madden Bowl XV action. During the evening Xbox 360 will offer fans the rare opportunity to play a game of Madden NFL 09 against one of the athletes in attendance as part of the latest Xbox LIVE online entertainment network Game with Fame session. For a chance to battle NFL All-Pro Linebacker Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens) on Xbox 360 direct from the Madden Bowl, send a friend request to the Xbox LIVE gamertag “RLewisGWF” between 8:00 – 9:00 PM EST.

Immediately following the Madden Bowl tournament will be the Madden Bowl XV Party celebrating 20 years of Madden NFL Football, featuring Joel Madden (of Good Charlotte) as DJ.

Madden Bowl Eight-Man Tournament Participants:

• Derrick Brooks – LB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Marshall Faulk – RB, St. Louis Rams & Indianapolis Colts (retired 2006)
• Antonio Gates – TE, San Diego Chargers
• Tony Gonzalez – TE, Kansas City Chiefs
• Steven Jackson – RB, St. Louis Rams
• Chad Johnson – WR, Cincinnati Bengals
• Darren McFadden – RB, Oakland Raiders
• *Willis McGahee – RB, Baltimore Ravens (*last year’s Madden Bowl winner)
• Terrell Owens – WR, Dallas Cowboys
• Reggie Wayne – WR, Indianapolis Colts
• Roddy White – WR, Atlanta Falcons
• Evan Longoria – 3B, Tampa Bay Rays

Additional guests in attendance will include athletes from the NFL, NBA and MLB, television and film celebrities and music recording artists. ESPN’s NFL analyst Trey Wingo will be the host of this year’s event.

WHEN: Thursday, January 29, 2008
7:00 PM – 2:00 AM

New trailer for Elite Forces - Unit 77 released

New trailer for Elite Forces: Unit 77 released by Gammick Entertainment

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Gammick released a new trailer for the game Elite Forces: Unit 77 presenting the action packed, squad-based game play of this title for Nintendo DS.

In Elite Forces: Unit 77 a series of mysterious disappearances of high profile personalities from the worlds of science, industry and entertainment reveal a horrific global terrorist threat. With the clock running and the lives of the hostages and millions of others in danger, the international community’s last hope lies with an extremely covert and highly specialized military team: Unit 77. Made up four professionals who are the best in the world at what they do, Unit 77 must combine skills to stop massive world destruction by the hands of terrorists.

Elite Forces: Unit 77 for Nintendo DS is a game of action and strategy in which the player must strategically use the abilities of all four members of Unit 77 and they are: Bill "The Drill" Matic technology specialist and legendary hacker; Kendra Chase, ex-government black-ops agent and the most accurate sniper on Earth; TK Richter, jet pilot and explosives expert, and Dag Hammer, a hulking heavy artillery soldier capable of incredible physical feats.

The group must infiltrate the bases where terrorists hold the famous hostages, each base set up in one of the most treacherous and remote places on Earth. Unit 77 must battle their way through inhospitable jungles, scorching deserts and endure harsh and deadly arctic conditions as they fight to rescue the hostages and defeat the terrorists.

The countdown has begun, and it’s time for the few and the brave. Will you become a ter-rorist’s victim or do you have what it takes to be on the team of Elite Forces?

The game is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2009.

Street Fighter IV Arcade Machine UK Tour

Play Street Fighter IV And Win Exclusive Merchandise

Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of videogames, can today announce a whirlwind Street Fighter IV tour of locations up and down the UK, allowing gamers a chance to sample the greatest fighting game of all time in its original form ahead of the console release, and potentially win some exclusive Street Fighter IV merchandise.

Starting in Edinburgh, the machines will sweep down into England crushing all other games that fall before them. The tour is expected to continue beyond release, with further dates to be added, but the current dates and locations are as follows –

29th January – 1st of February
Edinburgh’s Gamestation on Princes Street (EH2 4AH)

5th February – 8th February
Sheffield’s Gamestation in Meadowhall Shopping Centre (S9 1ER)

19th February – 22nd February
London’s HMV in Oxford St

26th February – 1st March
Birmingham’s Gamestation on New St (B2 4NS)

5th March – 8th March
Hull’s Gamestation in Prospect Centre (HU2 8PW)

Street Fighter IV is set for release on February 20th on PS3 and Xbox 360.

First Ghostbusters developers diaries - Origin and the making of part 1

It Begins

So he looks across the conference table over his impressive beard at us. Pauses. Then he says, “It’s Ghostbusters. We’re going to make a Ghostbusters game. The first really good one.”

And the other one, who for the first time since we met has paused talking for almost two consecutive minutes, adds this: “And we think you’re the right guys do it. You up for it?”

Nobody says anything for a long time. They think that after all the buildup and mystery maybe we’re disappointed, that maybe we’re trying to assess the fastest way of out of the room. But that’s not the case. The fact is that Brendan is sitting in stunned silence and I’m just trying to keep from swallowing my tongue. Mark Randel (Terminal Reality President & Chief Technologist) is taking it better: he’s just near-catatonic.

It was January 2006. We arrived at the publisher forty minutes ago, one of a few stops on a tour to show off our Infernal Engine next-gen technology demo and an original game IP we’d been developing (‘the publisher’ at this time being Vivendi, before Atari took over the title in 2008: look up ‘Activision Blizzard merger’ on Wikipedia for more info). In addition to cutting-edge lighting, materials, and rendering, the tech demo depicted squad gameplay action, heavy emphasis on chaotic environmental destruction, and extremely realistic physical interaction.

It was the massive destruction is what really got their attention. Seriously: fiery explosions & debris will get your foot in any door.

Vivendi Executive Producers John Melchior (tall, quietly fast-talking, awesome), and Pete Wanat (beard & soda also awesome) introduced themselves and let us know immediately that they were the two most hated men at this publisher. John O’Keefe (Terminal Studio Director) asked if maybe there was someone else there we could talk to.
They watched our demo politely, exchanged mysterious raised eyebrows, asked a few pointed questions, and then left for a private discussion in the hall.

When they came back they seemed to have agreed on something. They told us they’d been working on developing a movie license IP. Brendan Goss (Terminal Reality Executive Producer) shot a look my way: Uh-oh. Here we go again. But this was a really big one, they continued: a really great one. And it wasn’t tied to an upcoming theater release in less than twelve months.

Then they dropped the G-bomb.

There it was, out in the open. Ghostbusters. Maybe one of the greatest movies made. Definitely one of the funniest. We were getting a crack at it. To say we were thrilled is a lazy understatement. Pleasantly electrified is closer to the truth. It wasn’t until later, after the shock wore off some, when we realized the depth of the responsibility we had staked ourselves to when we finally stammered, “Y-yes! Of course we’ll do it!”

Stars Align

The Ghostbusters game finally happened as the result of a fairly rarefied confluence of elements, a sort of Hollywood fairy tale.

Sony Pictures Consumer Products (Mark Caplan & Keith Hargrove) knew that the time was ripe for a Ghostbusters revival, and wanted to wrap it around a centerpiece game. Sony felt that game technology had finally arrived and were looking for a developer with the right mix of passion and skills to do the project correctly. First, Sony knew they needed to do two things: 1. Make sure all IP holders—which includes the director, three of the original Ghostbusters stars, and Sony Pictures itself—would be totally on board; and 2. Find a publisher that could make the game happen with as much of the original talent involved, as possible (i.e. the Ghostbusters).

Across town at the publisher, John and Pete had been talking about doing a GB game for quite a while, and had started talking to the owners of the property. They were also trying to sell their own upper management on the concept. Some reluctance is certainly understandable. The reason we jumped at the chance was the same reason the finance people were shy: a major movie-license game that’s not actually attached to a theatrical release can be a tough sell. There’s no built-in multi-million-dollar studio-financed marketing campaign. With a high-profile title, securing the license can be very expensive, especially when that license is one of the highest-grossing and most beloved films of all times (market research by Vivendi revealed that the enduring ‘no-ghost’ logo ranks just behind Coca-Cola and the Nike Swoosh stripe in order of worldwide recognition). Securing the talent can be both cost-prohibitive, if not impossible to do: Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Reitman haven’t worked as a group for years, and each has his own successful career to manage.

In the meantime, Dan Aykroyd had been trying to get a Ghostbusters film sequel off the ground for years, but was having a hard time reassembling the cast and generating studio interest. He had decided that a CG-animated movie would be the best way to go, since the GB III script called for a daunting budget if shot practically. A few voice-acting sessions would require a much smaller time commitment from the cast. And the now almost-sixty-year old principals wouldn’t have to strap those brutally heavy proton packs back on and run through NYC streets. So, from his perspective, moving to a game format for a true sequel wasn’t too big a leap for him.

The three sides found one other and liked what each was bringing to the table. They worked on pulling the rest of the group back together. And the snowball starts to roll. We jumped on as soon as we could.

UFO - Afterlight PC patch 1.7. released

1C Publishing EU, ALTAR Games and IDEA Games are pleased to announce the latest improvement to squad based strategy game UFO: Afterlight. Over two years from the original release of the PC game UFO: Afterlight, the developer’s continue to support their dedicated fan community with game updates and gameplay optimizations. Amongst other things, the UFO: Afterlight 1.7 update includes an application which allows the user to change the game’s language. You can download the patch from
http://www.ufo-afterlight.com/pages/support.html#patch_1.7

The UFO: Afterlight 1.7 update includes the following:
This patch supports the following language versions: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Italian & Chinese.
This patch adds an application called Localization Pack Manager which can be used to change the game's language.
It is recommended to start a new game when upgrading from v1.5 or any earlier version of UFO:AL.

CHANGES IN VERSION 1.7.
Fixed:
Add-on duplication bug.
Expedition Commander and Expedition Soldier mix up in research item names.
Drones no longer get paralyzed by Beastman paralyzing ammunition.
It is no longer possible to get additional characters to join your team by allowing a drone to get killed during a mission.
It is now possible to fix the "corrupted ground textures" problem by disabling bump mapping for ground models in the "Graphics" option menu (thanks to Stucuk and Lord Storm).

New/changed features:
Removed some shader restrictions to allow the game to run on a wider variety of graphics cards.
The game now displays a dialog box when an enemy attacks your home base.
It is now possible to change the item mode for all selected units at once.
Enemies use different fire modes based on the distance to their targets.
The game will now use different quick save files for tactical and strategic modes.
The game no longer generates capture missions on enemy main bases.

Modding related changes:
Third armor add-on slot is now visible when using mods that enable it

New sports brand with BAFTA award-nominated Football Tycoon

BAFTA award-winning developer spies new silverware at the 2009 Independent Games Festival Mobile awards

Award-winning mobile game developer Dynamo Games has today announced plans to launch a new line of sports titles under the 'Dynamo Sports' banner, premiering with the launch of mobile game Football Tycoon. The forthcoming title is also the only Java game short-listed for a 2009 Independent Games Festival (IGF) Mobile Award for best technical achievement. Winners are to be announced at the Games Developer Conference 2009 (GDC) in San Francisco, March 23-27.

Dynamo Games are hosting a stand at the IGF mobile area and are also inviting attendees to meet with the developer at GDC. Interested parties should contact Managing Director Brian McNicoll directly via the company's website: www.dynamogames.com

Available early Summer 2009, Football Tycoon follows a similar format as the popular Rollercoaster Tycoon series, while adding a unique twist to the standard football game genre. Moving away from traditional management simulator gameplay, players step into the shoes of a wealthy business owner and live out their dream of running a football club. From hiring managers, controlling finances, developing your stadium and orchestrating intense media campaigns, the game gives players an unprecedented degree of freedom.

The title boasts two expansive single player modes; The rags to riches 'Grass Roots', which tasks players with taking a small team to the top of the Tycoon Owner Rich List within 30 years and 'Scenario Mode', which allows owners to tackle a variety of challenges, such as taking over a small club and pulling them out of administration.

How gamers achieve these goals is entirely up to them. Will you give some of your hard-earned cash back to the local community or save the spoils to fund your fight to the Premiership and elite European competitions? The shift away from traditional management simulator gameplay, an unmatched wealth of player options and a rich, detailed visual style makes for a winning hat-trick.

Brian McNicoll said: "That Football Tycoon has already been short-listed for an industry award is testament to the creativity of our team and their ability to consistently produce fun, innovative titles for the thriving mobile market."

"We will also be creating versions for Baseball, American Football, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Golf, F1, NASCAR, Cricket & tennis. We are also looking to take the series to different handheld platforms such as BREW, iPhone, Android, Nintendo DS and as such, we are on the lookout for potential distribution partners to take these games to market."

Football Tycoon will be released early summer 2009.

The Land of Magic free-to-play game portal reveals its new MMO

Lizard Interactive (www.lizardinteractive.com), one of today's most popular free-to-play online game developers and publishers, announces that their new MMORPG ‘The Land of Magic’ is almost ready for its CBT in February 2009 through global game portal NeoFun.(www.neofun.com)

The Land of Magic, already proven to be a big hit in Korea, is almost ready to welcome global users to join its mystic world. This new 2D MMORPG provides unique world of RPG gathered by massive contents and easy interface for all ages to play. If you are to remember and fantasize the Zelda series in early 90’s, ‘The Land of Magic’ will surly satisfy your thrust by bringing back the good old memories.

Detailed information related with ‘The Land of Magic’ is still kept secret by Lizard Interactive. But more information will start to reveal with their official website opening on the 11th of February.

Design the CITIES XL Collector's Edition!

Monte Cristo offers fans a chance to determine the content for the Collector's Edition of their upcoming next-gen city builder

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Monte Cristo, developers of the upcoming next-generation city-building game, CITIES XL, is offering fans a unique opportunity to help design the Collector's Edition of the game. Visitors to the official Web site can submit suggestions and vote on current ideas for the Collector's Edition, which Monte Cristo is planning to release alongside a standard retail package in Q2 2009.

To submit an idea, or vote on current ideas, please visit

CITIES XL allows gamers to develop cities on realistic 3D maps using an incredible collection of unique structures and monuments based on American, Asian and European-influenced architectural styles. The maps feature a variety of environments: mountains, hills, canyons, beaches and islands, all set in different climates from tropical to desert, Mediterranean to temperate. Players must create the right combinations of social services, leisure activities, special events and other job opportunities within their cities in order to feed, clothe, employ and entertain their citizens. Be it planning and building a new zoo, public park, residential neighborhood or transit system - there's always a fresh and exciting challenge for would-be city managers and mayors in CITIES XL.

The game’s online features and services will allow players to create interconnected cities on virtual and persistent planets. Mayors can share and trade with one another, specialize their economy and team up with befriended cities to create sprawling metropolises. Life on the planet will be punctuated by events and competitions - a concert held in one town may, for example, be attended by visitors from other areas who can also enjoy a walk around the city to admire the urban creations of multiple players. By combining a fantastic single-player game with the social and multiplayer aspects of an MMO, CITIES XL will shape the future of the genre by offering more variety, bigger cities and multiple gameplay layers.

For more information about CITIES XL, which will ship in 2009.

Kliff and Justice are back - Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus

The Rush-down of the Century Returns on the PlayStation 2 system, PSP system, and Wii!

Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, announces today, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus will be arriving this spring 2009. Hardcore players will finally be able to take their fight on the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStationPortable) system, and Wii.

Developed by Yokohama-based Arc System Works, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus is the definitive installment in the series and is widely cited as one of the most balanced fighter among its peers.

Sporting high resolution graphics in 480P, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus marks the return of over 20 beloved characters from the Guilty Gear franchise, including Kliff and Justice! Fans of the series will be pleased to not only find all their characters available right off the bat, but will finally be able to uncover the rich stories of each character for the first time!

"Never has there been a fighting game where so much attention to character balance exists," said Michael Manzanares, Producer, Aksys Games. "Guilty Gear veterans will definitely find themselves immersed once again with the new story and survival modes."

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus Features

• 2 COMBATANTS RETURN TO THE BATTLE!
Accent Core Plus marks the return of fan favorites Kliff Undersn and Justice, rounding out the cast of 25 playable characters.

• ALL NEW STORY MODE CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR GGXXACP!
Discover the back story to all of your favorite characters in the Guilty Gear mythos, with fully-voiced dialogue.

• FIGHT TO SURVIVE!
Level up your character's abilities and traits in the re-tuned Survival Mode.

• TEAM BATTLE ROYALE!
Create a three-man team in Versus Mode to find out which characters are the ultimate Guilty Gear team-up.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Mobile Amusements release Mouse Panic! for iPhone and iTouch

The crazy game of rat and mouse!

Featuring greedy mice, evil rats and loads of smelly cheese.

Guide the hungry mice by laying down cheese trails that lead home.

Can you clear each of the 48 puzzle levels spread over several themed zones from the Flower Gardens, Creaky House, Store Room, Old Cellar, Magic Kitchen and finally to the Table Top.

As you progress through the levels you will face many new puzzles that include... Mouse transporters, Breakable Blocks, Base Swappers and Bonus Time Clocks.

Cheese can be inserted, rotated and cleared. When a mouse eats the cheese, the mouse will then change direction according to the direction the piece of cheese was pointing in.

When all mice are finally home you are able to play a new puzzle and unlock newer levels as you progress.

Beware of the 'Black Rats' who will attempt to slow your progress through some of the later puzzles however!

Mouse Panic! is available now on the iPhone App Store.

Features:

* Original puzzle gameplay.
* 48 increasingly harder puzzles.
* Unlockable levels.
* Continue and save game option.
* Easy to learn gameplay and controls.
* Colourful graphics throughout.
* Suitable for all ages.

Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Summoner 2 - Raidou Kuzunoha v King Abaddon for PlayStation 2 - Free Raiho Plushie included with each copy at launch.

Atlus announced that Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Summoner 2 - Raidou Kuzunoha v King Abaddon, a new chapter in the stunningly original action RPG series for PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, is out in North America on May 12th.

Improved over its predecessor in every way, Devil Summoner 2 is an action RPG breath of fresh air, with a deep, easy-to-control combat system, nearly two hundred demons to negotiate with, collect, and fuse, and a variety of strategies to employ and master. Experience a 1920's Tokyo bustling with cases to solve, criminals to bring to justice, and the threat of the mysterious King Abaddon looming on the horizon.

For a limited time, and out of an exceptionally small fixed number of units, North American gamers will have even more reason to pick up the game that raced to the top of the Japanese game sales charts upon its release. Each and every launch copy of Devil Summoner 2 will feature a rare Raiho plushie doll (not available for sale separately). Only a small amount of these rare bundles will be assembled, and each package will be numbered to ensure its rarity and collectible value. Should there be future print runs of the game, they will ship without the Raiho collectible. Act before they're gone!

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon is scheduled to negotiate its way into retailers on May 12, 2009 with an MSRP of $39.99. Each and every copy of the game's limited quantity launch will ship with a rare Raiho collectible plushie.

About Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha versus King Abaddon:
A new threat to Japan's Capital calls for the return of its case-solving, tube-slinging Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th. When a woman walks into the Narumi Detective Agency and asks to find a man, Raidou's boss is reluctant to accept, but soon it's clear there's more to the case than it seems on the surface. It isn't long before Raidou is on the trail of crooked gamblers, masked ninja, and strange insects... a trail leading him inexorably to the mysterious King Abaddon.

Key Features

• Massively upgraded battle system - Advancements to the battle mechanics include a MAG balancing system, dodge and hide abilities, and the ability to command two demons in combat. Use the retooled Weapon Alchemy system to create new swords with unique special attacks.
• Deeper demon integration - Demon negotiation returns with more than twice the number of demons to attempt to recruit to your side. Create more powerful demons through fusion and skill transfer. Control two demons in battle and choose from more tactical options.
• Phenomenal creative team - The rich environment of this Taisho-era Japan comes to life with the character designs of Kazuma Kaneko and the musical score of Shoji Meguro.Over 500 character possibilities - 10 races, 2 genders, 3 alignments, and 15 majors add up to incredible opportunity to customize your party! Change majors for further customization at higher levels.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha versus King Abaddon has not yet been rated by the ESRB.
About Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
Located in Irvine, California and founded in 1991, Atlus U.S.A., Inc. is renowned for its proud tradition of publishing exceptional role-playing games with strong niche appeal. The Atlus library of critically acclaimed video games includes Odin Sphere, Trauma Center series, and the award-winning Shin Megami Tensei series.

Bounce Trap Tilt Arrives on the iTunes App Store Today!

PlayScreen launches a new version of their great game with enhanced controls

PlayScreen is pleased to announce the release of "Bounce Trap Tilt" on the iTunes Application Store today. "Bounce Trap Tilt" combines elements of Pachinko and Pinball, tosses in a fun mix of touch screen and accelerometer controls, and delivers an amazingly addictive puzzle gaming experience.

"Bounce Trap Tilt" is priced at 99 cents US, and is available immediately for download at the following link -
http://tinyurl.com/5oatwr

BounceTrap Tilt is a free update for existing BounceTrap players.

How to become a game designer with no experience

How to Break into Game Design, With Zero ExperienceSteve Gaynor is a designer at 2K Marin, working on BioShock 2. This article previous published on Steve's Fullbright blog.

I decided I wanted to make video games when I was nearing the end of my college career. I knew I wanted to get into design. Unfortunately, I didn't know how.

During this time I attended a free seminar held outside Seattle on the topic of how to get into game development. It was presented panel-style, featuring a group of producers, artists, and HR managers on an auditorium stage before a surprisingly large crowd. Individual sessions throughout the day touched on the qualities developers look for when hiring, how to put together a good CV or resume, a Q&A forum with the panel, and so on. Near the end of the seminar, one of the speakers summed up the takeaway of this entire how-to-get-into-the-industry confab:

"Make cool s**t, and show it off to anyone and everyone."

The statement, simple and common sense as it is, was driven home in the context of this big to-do at a convention center outside of Seattle. It seemed almost a trite sentiment, but if these industry people bothered to bring us hundreds of neophytes and wannabes all the way out here, and agreed that this simple mantra was what we needed to hear, then that must be all there is to it. And as far as I can tell, it's turned out to be true over the years.

Read full post on Edge here...

Square Japan Brings Cult DS Puzzler Yosumin to Xbox Live Arcade

Square Enix Japan officially announced their entry into the Xbox Live Arcade marketplace earlier this week, beginning with a port of Crystal Defenders from Japanese cellphones. The company's second DLC offering has been revealed as a remake of its cult-hit Nintendo DS puzzler Yosumin., and will be released some time in Spring as Yosumin. Live.

The pop-happy, candy-colored Yosumin. sported one of those so-simple-it's-genius Japanese puzzle game concepts: Visually scan the board for two tiles of the same color on a diagonal line, then select the pair to turn all tiles between them the same color. The further like-colored tiles are apart, the more points earned. Hugely addictive for single-player gameplay versus the clock, but the version of Yosumin. coming to XBLA will reportedly feature competitive multiplayer as well.

Perhaps more intriguing than Yosumin. itself is a line in Microsoft Japan's press release (translated from the Japanese): "Beginning with these two games, Square Enix plans to release a steady stream of its popular titles - as well as original content - on Xbox LIVE Arcade". Does this mean more mobile ports are coming? Final Fantasy IV: The After, or the recent remake of SaGa 1, perhaps? Time will tell.

Source: 1up News

Dead Space available for PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Dead Space was designed with one key point in mind: to put some good old-fashioned fear into you.

The game does everything possible to leave you feeling desperate and barely surviving. You are alone, have little ammo, and your enemies refuse to die easily.

As Isaac Clarke, you head off on an interstellar repair call only to find the crew of the disabled ship have been mutated. Isaac must travel into the bowels of the ship in order to repair it and escape the intelligent and ruthless necromorphs. These mutants will disappear and appear from the vents, play dead till you get close enough to pounce and just plain rip you apart to make sure you can't complete your mission.

The only way to defeat these monsters is to dismember enough of their limbs until they finally fall. Tense combat and a truly scary environment with some original touches make Dead Space an excellent addition to the survival horror genre.

Source: Aberdeen News

Weekend Events with GM at Cronous

Enjoy various events every weekend with Cronous GMs.

GMs of Cronous (cronous.neofun.com), a popular MMORPG developed and published by Lizard Interactive, are planning to hold various events every weekend to provide players with more enjoyable and fun experience.

Weekend events are to be held every weekend starting February. These events are planned and activated by GMs and varies from increased EXP, item drops, summoning boss monsters near town, giving out buffs and more. GMs will also receive opinions and ideas from players on how to improve weekend events.

With the new update coming up, Cronous players can expect to double the fun in this February. To find out more in detail about all the interesting features on the globally played MMORPG Cronous, please visit the website cronous.neofun.com.

Celebrate the Chinese New Year on the free-to-play MMORPGs Flyff and Rappelz.

The free-to-play MMORPGs Flyff: Fly For Fun and Rappelz are now ready to launch the Chinese New Year festivities, and offer players a special event from the 27th January to 3rd February. Players of all levels will be able to celebrate the Year of the Ox on their favorite game and win numerous awards.

From January 27, players in the world of Rappelz will have to fight different monsters to get special cards featuring the image of an Ox. By combining the six missing parts of each card, players can earn different items that assign temporary bonuses or improvements to their character. Lucky adventurers will get a special item to capture rare creatures from the Rappelz world.

From the 28th of January to the 3rd of February, events take a different shape in Flyff, and adventurers can collect surprise boxes stolen by the monsters of Madrigal. Two types of boxes can be recovered, which contain their own set of surprises and rare items. The boxes will allow the players to launch magnificent fireworks throughout Madrigal, while the Chinese New Year boxes are full of exotic objects such as the endearing Baby Penguin, a very rare collector pet.

Also, the gPotato team is proud to announce the release of the official story behind the world of Rappelz. Fans can read about the history behind Rappelz on the official Roleplay forum. Future events based on this story are planned for the coming months.

Our events aim to bring together players of all levels around regular and original events that the whole community can participate in.

Please find attached the screenshots of the special event of the Chinese New Year on Flyff and Rappelz.