Fuel video game world record 5,560 miles playing environment

5,560 Square Miles: The Largest Playable Environment In A Console Game Recognised By Guinness World Records. It covers the approximate area of Trinidad & Tobago, it’s larger than Hong Kong, Singapore, St Lucia and the Isle of Man put together.

Innovative open-world racer FUEL – launching on June 5th for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and a Games For Windows edition to follow - boasts 5,560 square miles of accessible in-game terrain, making it officially the largest playable environment in a console game ever.



The accolade, presented to FUEL developers Asobo Studio, was confirmed by Guinness World Records, who have verified the record for inclusion in the next Guinness World Records Gamers Edition of the best-selling guide.

Guinness World Records presented Codemasters and Asobo Studio with a certificate that officially documents:
“Largest playable area in a console game: The largest playable environment in a console game is 5,560 square miles (14,400 km²), and is featured in FUEL (Codemasters, 2009). The area features rivers, deserts, forests and mountains and was demonstrated at the offices of Guinness World Records, London, UK, on 20 May 2009.”

“We’ve been very impressed with the technology powering FUEL, and I’m pleased to welcome Asobo and Codemasters into the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition,” said Gaz Deaves, Video Games Records Manager for Guinness World Records, “What we’ve seen from FUEL places it right at the cutting edge of the open-world racing genre and really raises the bar for games developers in the future.”

“We knew FUEL was going to be big,” said Phil Wright, Producer, Codemasters, “but to have this confirmed officially by Guinness World Records justifies our faith in this ground-breaking title. No other game comes close to offering the variety of environments, the range of vehicles or the sheer size of FUEL. It’s one of the most innovative racers ever, and we’re thrilled it’s been recognised as the biggest console game of all time.”

To celebrate the award, today Codemasters has released a new video featuring David Dedeine and Sebastian Wloch, two of the co-founders of Asobo Studio, who explain gameplay features and the technical challenge in creating the record-setting FUEL.
FUEL’s world is one of staggering size and beauty. To put it into perspective, if players choose to drive from one side of the map to the other, it will take over 3 hours straight. This unprecedented virtual playground offers 19 environmental regions and features some of the most dramatic weather effects ever seen in a racing game. FUEL’s free-roaming nature allows players to pick and choose their route, races and career progression, offering almost limitless ways to play.

FUEL is set to become the ultimate racing sandbox when it launches Friday June 5th localise per territory for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft with a Games For Windows LIVE edition to follow.

Burnout Paradise Big Surf Island video game update download

Criterion has released a new trailer for the upcoming Burnout Paradise content "Big Surf Island." Not only do we get plenty of shots of crazy jumps and new cars, but a release date as well.

Big Surf Island promises new cars, including the Carson Dust Stormer, and a variety of new events and challenges. And, as mentioned above, there are plenty of jumps.



Look for Big Surf Island on June 11.

Chillingo Launches Award Winning Family Board Game Zooloretto on Apple App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch!

Chillingo and German development studio SpinBottle Games today announced the availability of Zooloretto on the Apple App Store. Zooloretto is a board game for iPhone and iPod touch where each player controls a zoo and manages animals to try and attract visitors. The zoo must be carefully planned in order to achieve maximum success.

"It is great to see this award winning board game available in the Apple App Store. SpinBottle Games has done a tremendous job utilizing the revolutionary capabilities of iPhone and iPod touch to create a title with really fun gameplay," said Chris Byatte, co-founder and director of Chillingo.

The Zooloretto app is based on a popular board game designed by Michael Schacht and originally published by Abacusspiele. Zooloretto won the prestigious Spiel Des Jahres award in 2007, the 2007 Japan Boardgame Prize as Best Foreign Game for Beginners and is a two time winner of "Best Game" in the Family and Children categories at the Golden Geek Awards. It was the finalist for the Game of the year in Finland and a nominee for the Game of the Year 2008 in the USA.

Zooloretto is available for $4.99 from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/

Britain's Got Talent singing sensation Susan Boyle appears in The Sims 3 video game trailer

The Britain's Got Talent singing sensation Susan Boyle appears in this Sims 3 video game trailer.

Susan Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the third series of Britain's Got Talent. Boyle became known when she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables in the competition's first round, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 11 April 2009.



Boyle has always enjoyed singing; she attended Edinburgh Acting School, and took part in the Edinburgh Fringe. Prior to her appearance on Britain's Got Talent, her main experience had come from singing in church and karaoke in the local pubs in her village. She had also tried out several times for My Kind of People.

When she appeared on the Britain's Got Talent stage, the audience and the judges appeared apprehensive and judgmental of her unpolished appearance. Upon finishing her song, she received a standing ovation from the live audience and unanimous praise from the judges,[10] and has been dubbed "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell".

The contrast between the audience's first impression of her when she appeared on stage compared to the ovation she received afterwards triggered global interest. Articles about her appeared in newspapers worldwide, while the numbers who watched videos of her audition have set an online record. Within nine days of her televised debut, videos of her audition, subsequent interviews of her, and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River" had been viewed a combined total of over 100 million times on the Internet. Cowell is reported to be setting up a contract with Boyle with his Syco Music company label, a subsidiary of Sony Music.

Hacker Evolution video game, on iPhone and iPod touch, released

In Hacker Evolution, you pit your skills against a network of computers and try to hack into as many computers as possible. Use viruses or bounce your connection through hacked servers, in order to avoid being traced and lose your firewall.

Something that looks simple at first, will become a challenging adventure. Balance your resources carefully and plan your attacks to obtain the maximum number of score points and to retrieve deadly viruses you can use in your attacks.

“Hacker Evolution is the first step from a series of innovative and unique games that we are designing and bringing to the iPhone and iPod devices.” said Robert Muresan, Founder and CEO of Exosyphen Studios.

Doesn't look very exciting to me...



Hacker Evolution is available for $0.99 from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

Heavy Rain - PlayStation 3 video game screenshots video

Heavy Rain is a cinematic and evolving thriller from Quantic Dream, the developer behind the critically acclaimed Fahrenheit.
Follow the link below to the video...

Dealing with a range of adult themes, the game revolves around a sophisticated plot and strong narrative threads that explore a complex moral proposition. You assume the role of multiple characters, with very different backgrounds, motivations and skills, in a world shaped by Bending Storylines - a dynamic narrative design where your actions and decisions will shape your story.

New Sword of the Stars video game expansion announced!

Sword of the Stars series expands with Argos Naval Yard

Paradox announce an expansion to the critically acclaimed 4X space strategy game series Sword of the Stars.

The new expansion, Argos Naval Yard, can be combined with either the original game or any of its previous expansions and will provide players with:
• 19 new technologies, including advanced drones, over thrusters, two new satellite designs, defensive interceptor micro-missiles, and polarized plasmatics which will unlock a new weapon type
• Over 75 new ship sections to build
• 10 new weapons, including the new inertial cannons, kelvinic torpedoes, and the fearsome rail cannon
• 3 new scenarios

"With the successful release of the Sword of the Stars Ultimate Collection, the expansion Argos Naval Yard is a natural extension of the Sword of the Stars series,” said Chris Stewart, COO of Kerberos. “The new ships, weapons and technologies in Argos Naval Yard will present gamers with new challenges and capabilities.”

Argos Naval Yard is scheduled for release June 17 with an SRP of $8.99 / € 7.49 / £6.99

Sword of the Stars with an expansion is currently on sale at download portals GamersGate, Impulse, Steam and Direct2Drive and other leading digital distribution networks.

Monster Hunter, Japan's most successful PSP game, free download or free game UMD

The demo of Japan’s most successful PSP title is coming to PAL territories on May 28th, giving wannabe hunters the chance to experience three dangerous quests from the game ahead of its release on June 26 th. Sony PSP owners can download the demo directly to their PSP free of charge via the PSP Store by selecting the store icon and connecting using their PSN I.D or they can download to their PS3 console and simply transfer the demo across.

Players can adventure with up to three friends to get a taste of the multiplayer social gaming phenomenon that’s taking Japan by storm or choose to go it alone with the aid of a Felyne companion. After selecting your weapons and armour you will journey through woodlands, swamps and deserts to hunt down some of the fiercest and most majestic monsters that ever lived.



As an alternative to downloading this demo Capcom is also producing limited numbers of the demo UMD’s which Gamers can register to be sent at www.encyclopedia-gigantica.com or www.capcom-europe.com from the 1 st June. Successful registrants will receive four copies of the demo so that they can easily set up a hunting party.