New Wii owners site

New Web Site Invites Wii Owners
to Share Their Stories

Every Wii owner has a unique Wii story to tell: the guy whose girlfriend could finally partake of his video gaming pastime - and win ... the family whose weekly game night shifted from board games to video games ... the mom who refused to let her son keep the Wii in his room - because she wanted to play too.

In response to the growing Wii phenomenon, Nintendo has set up MyWiiStory.com. It's a place where Wii owners and their friends and family have been gathering to post real-life anecdotes about the way that Wii has changed their social dynamic or even their opinions about video games. Men and women, young and old, kids and grandparents - people of all types have posted anecdotes, photos and videos of their experiences with Wii.

"Everyone's a gamer and every gamer has a Wii story to share," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "We want all Wii owners to go to MyWiiStory.com to further demonstrate the extent to which we have brought new players into the world of video games."

Here is a sampling of some of the kinds of stories you will find on the site:

• "We are the house that everyone wants to be at because of the Wii. When we have dinner parties, the evening ends up in the living room for dessert, coffee and Wii. It has brought our family closer." - Katia Clark
  
  
• "I bought the Wii to use for exercise indoors. ... People assume that it belongs to one of my sons and I get a kick out of seeing their faces when I tell them it's mine!" - Jeanne Boutwell
  
  
• "I'm a 46-year-old mom, never really played any video games. My kids are now 25 yrs, 22 yrs and 19 yrs old. I am having a Wii party on the 21st of this month. We sent out invitations and I have about 15 women coming to try to play Wii." - Sue Leone
  
  
• "I always liked to bowl, although I wasn't very good at it, but I had to stop 4 years ago when I was diagnosed with bone cancer. A few months ago we purchased a Wii and I was able to bowl again. We have major family tournaments and I have hit 'PRO' status. Thanks to Wii I am able to enjoy one of my life's pleasures again." - Randy Bhaga
  
  
• "As a woman with multiple sclerosis, I have found that playing the Wii has offered me both a chance to use my body and my mind. I've recommended it to other MSers on one of my Web sites. I think it is just a phenomenal way to exercise and play." - Diana de Avila
  

Climate Education In SimCity Societies

1up

New Game in PC Gaming's Most Popular City-Building Series to Feature Alternatives to Carbon-Producing Energy Sources

Electronic Arts and BP have collaborated to include climate change education within SimCity Societies, the next iteration in the genre-defining city-building franchise that has sold more than 18 million games to date. The collaboration brings together world-class game building skills and industry expertise on energy, electricity production and greenhouse gas emissions to highlight the impact of electricity generation on the emissions of carbon dioxide that are linked to climate change. The low-carbon electricity choices and monitoring of SimCity’s carbon emissions provide an entertaining, fully-integrated and accurate look at some of the causes and some of the major solutions available to combat rising levels of carbon and to help address the threat of global warming. SimCity Societies will be available at retailers across North America and Europe November 15.

"Since their inception in 1989, SimCity games have served as excellent creative and educational tools to convey complex subjects. With SimCity Societies, we have the opportunity not only to demonstrate some of the causes and effects of global warming, but also to educate players how seemingly small choices can have a big global impact," said Steve Seabolt, Vice President of Global Brand Development for The Sims Label at EA. "BP was one of the first major energy companies to publicly acknowledge the need to reduce carbon emissions and begin taking precautionary measures. As such, they are the perfect partner to help educate people on this important social issue in SimCity Societies."

The game does not force players to power their cities any specific way, but allows them to make choices, each of which come with advantages and disadvantages. Similar to real-life, the least expensive and most readily-available buildings in SimCity Societies are also the biggest producers of carbon dioxide, an invisible gas that contributes to global warming. Should players choose to build cities dependent on these types of sources for power to conserve their in-game money, their carbon ratings will rise and, at reaching critical levels, the game will issue alerts about the threat of the various natural disasters like droughts, heat waves and others that may strike their cities.

Alternatively, players can strive to create a greener environment and avoid hazards caused by excessive carbon emissions by choosing from a variety of BP Alternative Energy low-carbon power options. Using hydrogen and natural gas plants to wind farms and solar power, SimCity Societies encourages people to learn about some of the causes and consequences of global warming in an engaging, educational and meaningful way. While these power sources maintain nearby property values and keep the cities’ citizens safer from disaster, they also mimic real-life in that they cost players more of their funds, and do not produce as much power as less green options that take up similar space. Informative real-world snippets about power production and conservation will also be available in-game, informing players of global warming issues both virtually and in reality.

"The time was right for this partnership. EA was developing the next iteration of the SimCity series at the same time that we were looking for opportunities to raise awareness about low-carbon power choices," said Carol Battershell, Vice President, BP Alternative Energy. "EA has a powerful reach to the next generation and BP has a suite of low-carbon power alternatives. In our collaboration through this innovative game, we can provide education on the issues surrounding climate change, its association with carbon emissions and the ability to take early positive action through low-carbon power choices."

The SimCity franchise is one of the most popular PC gaming franchises in history, having sold more than 18 million games worldwide to date since the SimCity launch in 1989. Subsequent base game releases include SimCity 2000tm (1993), SimCity 3000tm (1999) and SimCity 4 (2003). SimCity Societies is being published by Electronic Arts and developed by Tilted Mill Entertainment.

Atari - Legendary: The Box

IGN.com

Atari Announces Agreement With Gamecock to Co-Publish Original First-Person Shooter

Atari today announced an agreement with Gamecock Media Group to co-publish the stunningly original forthcoming first-person shooter Legendary: The Box in PAL territories. Coming to PC and next-generation consoles, Legendary: The Box is scheduled to launch in summer 2008.

Developed by Spark Unlimited, Legendary: The Box tells the story of a thief – Charles Deckard – who is duped into stealing the mythical Pandora’s Box. Like Pandora before him, he cannot resist the temptation of finding out what’s inside. By opening the fabled device, he unleashes hordes of creatures thought to be merely the imaginings of our ancestors. However, murderous werewolves, unstoppable gryphons and other creatures of ancient lore prove all too real as they wreak havoc across an unprepared modern world.

“Gamecock have already established themselves as a serious new force to be reckoned with in video games, and we’re proud and excited to be entering into this agreement with them to co-publish such an original and excellent quality product as Legendary: The Box™,” said Mathias Hautefort, Executive Vice President of publishing and production, Atari. “The agreement marks another positive step forward for Atari in bringing original and high quality interactive entertainment to the market.”

"Gamecock is very proud to be working with Atari on this project, utilizing their massive distribution network in the PAL territories to make this game as big a hit outside the US as it will be inside," said Harry Miller, El Presidente and Head of Development, Gamecock Media Group.

Developer Spark Unlimited was founded by 27 of the individuals who developed titles in the award-winning Medal of Honor™ series. The critically acclaimed and multi-million unit selling Call of Duty™: Finest Hour™ was the result of the company's first efforts and the team is excited to bring their proven talent and experience in creating compelling first person action games to this project.

“Our goal at Spark has been to create high-quality innovative titles that deliver uniquely realistic and cinematic gaming experiences,” said Craig Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Spark Unlimited. “We are excited to welcome Atari as a co-publisher in order to insure Legendary: The Box™ becomes a global success.”

Legendary: The Box is a breath-taking blockbuster experience where man and machine take on the beasts of legend in the war to end all wars, all set against a backdrop of total social disintegration. High calibre ordnance meets beak, talon, fang and claw in awe-inspiring fire fights the like of which have never before been realised in a video game. Living, breathing dynamic environments are spectacularly torn apart in the battle to stay alive, with the devastation of New York and London realised on an unprecedented scale.

For more information about the game please visit www.legendarythebox.com. Gamecock Media Group can be found at www.gamecockmedia.com, with more information about Atari’s entire product line up at www.atari.com.

Juiced 2 - Hot Import Nights hits Mobile! Mobile video game

Juiced is back! Now you can tear up the streets in full 3D glory. Juiced 2 moves away from the underground street-racing atmosphere of the previous instalments. This game is all about officially endorsed street races hosted in exotic world-wide locations.

Win races, earn money, and improve your ride, as you progress into the professional world of street racing.

A true rags-to-riches story where the player rises from a novice driving modded hatchbacks, to a world class driver at the wheel of a super car!

• The hugely successful racing franchise Juiced returns on next-gen console and mobile
• Career Mode - Comprehensive career adventure through six driver classes.
• Arcade Mode - Need time away from the career. Drive where you want and with what you want.
• Quick Race – When time is of the essence, hit the roads instantly.
• Extensive Modding - Tweak four cars from inside out. Four visually upgradeable parts with three variants.
• Seven performance upgrades with five variants each. Plus paint your car any color you like.
• 12 tracks - Three unique world locations with four night-time tracks each.
• Non-linear Gameplay - Tailor make your career through flexible goals.

Check out the game in action:
Windows Media
Real Media
Quicktime

Games violence study is launched

The British government is asking for evidence for a new study of the effect of violent computer games on children.
Psychologist Tanya Byron will head the study, which will also examine how to protect children from online material.

The review is due to be launched by Dr Byron - together with Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Culture Secretary James Purnell - at a school in east London.

More from the BBC

"Spencer Halpin's Moral Kombat" at the IT Came Film Festival.

'Spencer Halpin's Moral Kombat' documentary on violence in videogames to screen at Wisconsin film festival.

Generation: Gamerz (http://www.generationgamerz.com), proud gaming sponsor of the It Came from Lake Michigan Film Festival (http://www.itcamefromlakemichigan.com) today announced that ‘Spencer Halpin's Moral Kombat' documentary on the violence in videogames debate will screen both Saturday 27 October and Sunday 28 October 2007 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Spencer Halpin being present Saturday. The full-length feature is the first documentary to be shot completely in high-definition and utilizes cutting edge special effects to make the documentary visually stunning. The documentary has been stirring interest and been labeled controversial after the trailer showed up on Youtube.

"After seeing the film I felt that everyone should see it," said Christophor Rick, Business Manager of Generation: Gamerz, LLC, "it does an excellent job of evenly presenting both sides of the debate in a format that is visually interesting without being sensationalistic, regardless of accusations of such."

Shot entirely in high-definition video, the full-length feature documentary studies the controversial, polarizing subject of video game violence through a series of interviews with experts on both sides of the matter - some believing that violent games should be banned, others supporting their protection under the First Amendment.

"What the film does best is make you think, makes you open your mind and listen to both sides of a very important debate." said Thomas Balistreri, General Manager of Generation: Gamerz, LLC., "we are very excited to have this opportunity to show everyone Mr. Halpin's documentary about a debate critical to our industry."

Interviewees in the film are leading politicians, journalists, academics, consumer advocates and special interest group executives, game developers, retailers, trade associations and publishers. The interviewees among others, include: Dr. David Walsh, Jack Thompson, Dr. Michael Rich, Lorne Lanning, Greg Fischbach, Dean Takahashi, Jeff Griffiths, John Marmaduke, Pamela Eakes, Andy McNamara, Greg Ballard, Bob McKenzie, American McGee, Hal Halpin, Lt. Col Grossman, Phil O'Neil, Marie Sylla, Ed Williams, Richard Ow, Dr. Henry Jenkins, and Jason Della Rocca.

Publishers flock to Wii as PS3 falters

Screen Digest (www.screendigest.com) today launches the Games Bulletin, a new service for the video games industry. Providing periodic, data-rich updates on 256 bit games publishing, gamer demographics and industry forecasting trends, the first volume focuses on software publishing in the final quarter of 2007.

See pdf chart: Vision 6

The Games Bulletin analyses aggregated data from all 256 bit physical retail releases scheduled for release in the final quarter of 2007, identifying trends in publishing, platform support, content (exclusives, IP, licensing, genre) and games development.

Publisher commitment is shifting significantly to Nintendo’s Wii with 86 titles scheduled for release in Q4, compared with 47 for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and 38 for Sony’s PlayStation 3. A quarter of Wii releases are exclusive to the platform – compared with eight for the Xbox 360 and five for Playstation 3.

Wii is proving attractive to publishers not only because of its rapidly growing installed base, but also thanks to lower development costs and the relative ease of transferring development resources to the platform compared with its 256 bit counterparts. As a result Screen Digest expects that the number of games available for Wii will surpass Xbox 360’s library in early 2008 at current release rates.

See pdf chart: Vision 6

Armed with the most exclusives as well as the release of Super Mario Galaxy, Screen Digest believes that Wii is likely to lead the 256 bit market in the final quarter of 2007. The Xbox 360 platform will be driven by an increasingly well established US user base enjoying a combination of strong multiplatform releases and a persistent Halo 3. Given the competition, Sony’s release schedule lacks the firepower to command consumer attention during this crucial trading quarter and it is difficult to see how the catalogue will drive hardware sales in such a competitive environment.

Further analysis of Q4 releases underlines the importance of the UK as a key territory for console games development, which leads the European territories and, given its size, is more than holding its own against the US and Japan.

Ed Barton, Screen Digest Games Analyst and author of the first Games Bulletin, commented “Halo 3 commanded the attention of the mass market and we expect Super Mario Galaxy for Wii to continue the process of educating the consumer as to the benefits of the current generation of home consoles. Given present publishing activity levels and hardware sales rates, we expect 256 bit gaming to have moved out of transition and squarely into the mass adoption phase by year end. While Wii and Xbox 360 are likely to look back on 2007 with some satisfaction, the same cannot be said for PS3. Given the platform’s release schedule this Christmas, it is not a surprise that Sony is focusing on lowering the cost of entry to PS3 platform to maintain parity with its rivals this Christmas.”

Ghostlight to bring trench warfare

The benchmark for the first person shooter genre is set to reach new heights in summer 2008 when burgeoning publisher Ghostlight unleashes “To End All Wars” onto the global battlefield.

Set in the war-torn trenches of World War I Europe, “To End All Wars” will deliver unrivalled atmosphere and realism, bringing the mud strewn horror of this most desperate of conflicts to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 formats using Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 technology.

Ghostlight are currently seeking a partner to release the game in the United States and will be travelling to promote the game at the forthcoming E for All expo in Los Angels from 18th to 20th October. If you would like to get in contact with Ghostlight you can mail@ghostlight.uk.com or alternatively ring +44 (0)1279 858000.

To End All Wars is being developed by UK’s premier development studio Kuju Sheffield (Chemistry). Studio Head Simeon Pashley comments “By blending Kuju’s specialism on Unreal Engine with this great theme we’ve created a new & exciting formula for an amazing game experience that brings to life the visceral and demanding struggle that was The Great War.”

Stephen Morgan, Head of Development at Ghostlight comments “By producing a title set in World War I, we are taking gaming into a new period of wartime history. Our research revealed huge global changes in both real-world technology and tactical deployment of battle units during the intense four year conflict. This has given us scope to present gamers with a multitude of evolving challenges within an ever changing environment”.

Authenticity of the conflict has been put at the heart of the project. Period locations will be recreated in lavish detail, only weaponry of the time will be available and character design will reflect the uniforms and style of the era. Crucially the experience of the gritty combat in the trenches, the fear of charging across no man’s land, deadly secret excursions to enemy outposts in the dead of night and the heart stopping terror of pounding artillery guns will be central to the gaming experience.

Khaled Lababedi, Director of Ghostlight stated “The FPS genre is a competitive market however we believe that “To End All Wars” will be an exceptional title that will form the basis of a new gaming franchise. Alongside other products to be announced in the coming months “To End All Wars” will propel Ghostlight towards our stated objective of becoming a major global publisher.”

Rider's World Official video game website launched

Horse riding aficionados have a new online home today, as cdv Software Entertainment USA has launched a new site for their collection of horse and pony games – Rider’s World: Competition. Located at http://ridersworld.cdvus.com, the new site features a wealth of information about the game, screenshots and links to other horse-training and information sites for fans of all ages.

In Rider's World: Competition, boys and girls alike will enjoy the thrill of choosing a pony, raising and training it, then taking it out into the world of competitive equestrian sports. After choosing a pony or horse, players will be able to customize it by selecting riding gear and giving it a name, then taking it out for training. Training is done through an intuitive interface, with helpful riding mentors offering advice to players as they ride around the training field, or take their house out for a cross-country trot. For more information about Rider's World: Competition, please visit http://ridersworld.cdvus.com.

SEGA Bass Fishing video game coming to Nintendo Wii

Bait Your Hooks and Catch Some Bass In SEGA's Upcoming Fishing Game

SEGA announce SEGA Bass Fishing for the Nintendo Wii, the latest addition to one of the most successful fishing game franchises of all time. With content developed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, SEGA Bass Fishing will be released in early 2008.

SEGA Bass Fishing is back and better than ever returning with all-new intuitive controls utilizing the Nintendo Wii Remote and Nunchuk. With over 20 different types of lures to choose from, gamers can cast off using the Nintendo Wii Remote to try and land one of four different types of freshwater bass. SEGA Bass Fishing also offers gamers the freedom to select time-of-day and season during play which impacts the activity of the fish, their appetite, and their depth. When players hook a big one, they can use the motion sensor to reel it in! Featuring 15 beautifully designed lake environments, SEGA Bass Fishing has four fun-filled game modes including Arcade, Tournament, Practice and Nature Trip modes.

For more information on SEGA Bass Fishing, please visit our FTP at: http://segapr.segaamerica.com. The title is expected to receive an E rating.