Alchemic Dream to offer European customer support, localization and in-game events
Flying Lab Software, developers of Pirates of the Burning Sea, the MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder, have partnered with Alchemic Dream Inc, leaders in customer support, localization and in-game events for the European market.
Alchemic Dream provided superior quality customer service and community building for partners such as Codemasters (RF Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online™: Stormreach, Archlord, Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™), Auran (Fury), Linden Lab (Second Life) and now Flying Lab Software (Pirates of the Burning Sea).
Alchemic Dream will use its experience in creating in-game events to enrich Pirates of the Burning Sea experiences for European players. CEO Aurelien Merville said, “Flying Lab Software has built a fantastic product and we’re eager to provide a true interactive experience to the European players of Pirates of the Burning Sea through in-game events and our complete range of multilingual customer services.”
Pirates of the Burning Sea is scheduled to be available for release on January 22, 2007 and was set for pre-order in North America on Tuesday, November 13, 2007. A European pre-order date will be announced soon.
ABOUT PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA
Pirates of the Burning Sea is an MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder. Set against the backdrop of the New World of the 18th Century, players can choose one of three nations – England, France or Spain – or choose the role of a Pirate and battle it out for glory and power.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
UTour Golf Unveils New Challenge Options
Most Rewarding Virtual Golf Game Offers More Ways to Win and Presents the New "Office Pool"
Groove Media today announced that several new features have been added to UTour Golf, the free, full-featured online golfing experience where players can wager real money against other virtual golfers. Some of the new features include increased challenge options, player created tournaments and new mini-games. To start playing, visit www.utourGolf.com.
New UTour Golf features include:
-New Challenge Option: Handicap Play - Players can utilize the new handicap play feature which allows players to offer or request strokes, in order to make the games fair and challenging for both players regardless of their skill rating.
-New Challenge Modes - The new one-hole option lets players challenge an opponent to a quick, one hole game. Combined with the new entry fee options, it is now possible to put up to $100 on the line for just one hole!
-Player Created Tournaments - Players can now invite up to eight of their friends to play exclusive tournaments with customizable game options; including course played, number of holes and entry fee. This puts a new spin on the classic "office pool".
-Mini-Games - A Score-Based Driving Range game rewards players for their tee shot accuracy. The closer the player comes to the pin, the more points they earn. The player with the highest cumulative points wins the game.
-Stats for Everyone - All players now accumulate free lifetime golf statistics including handicap, holes played, longest successful putt and much more!
About UTour Golf
UTour Golf is the world's first free online full-featured golf video game. Players of all levels can download the game in minutes and tee off online against competitors for fun or cash prizes. Courses are inspired by golfing locations from around the world and offer multiple game rules including traditional Stroke Play and Match Play. Every game offers a new challenge with game variables that include dynamic wind and weather conditions, variable pin and tee block placements and even variable green speed and rough length. To play, visit www.utourGolf.com.
Groove Media today announced that several new features have been added to UTour Golf, the free, full-featured online golfing experience where players can wager real money against other virtual golfers. Some of the new features include increased challenge options, player created tournaments and new mini-games. To start playing, visit www.utourGolf.com.
New UTour Golf features include:
-New Challenge Option: Handicap Play - Players can utilize the new handicap play feature which allows players to offer or request strokes, in order to make the games fair and challenging for both players regardless of their skill rating.
-New Challenge Modes - The new one-hole option lets players challenge an opponent to a quick, one hole game. Combined with the new entry fee options, it is now possible to put up to $100 on the line for just one hole!
-Player Created Tournaments - Players can now invite up to eight of their friends to play exclusive tournaments with customizable game options; including course played, number of holes and entry fee. This puts a new spin on the classic "office pool".
-Mini-Games - A Score-Based Driving Range game rewards players for their tee shot accuracy. The closer the player comes to the pin, the more points they earn. The player with the highest cumulative points wins the game.
-Stats for Everyone - All players now accumulate free lifetime golf statistics including handicap, holes played, longest successful putt and much more!
About UTour Golf
UTour Golf is the world's first free online full-featured golf video game. Players of all levels can download the game in minutes and tee off online against competitors for fun or cash prizes. Courses are inspired by golfing locations from around the world and offer multiple game rules including traditional Stroke Play and Match Play. Every game offers a new challenge with game variables that include dynamic wind and weather conditions, variable pin and tee block placements and even variable green speed and rough length. To play, visit www.utourGolf.com.
Astraware Classic Collection
Astraware is excited to announce a brand new games pack featuring 3 of their most-popular games.
Following many customer requests, the Astraware Classic Collection brings together 3 family-friendly favorites featuring an award-winning Sudoku game, 8 classic boardgames, and 12 of the best-known card games, all in one super value pack for a very special price.
The Astraware Classic Collection includes Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Boardgames, and Astraware Solitaire and is available for Palm OS®, and Windows Mobile® smartphones and PDAs. The collection is priced $39.95 - a saving of one third off the price of all 3 games bought separately and special pricing is also available to customers who already own one of the games.
For more information or to buy, visit the Astraware website at http://www.astraware.com/classic/.
About Astraware
Founded in 1994 and incorporated in 2000, Astraware Limited develops, publishes and distributes games for mobile devices. Some of the company's best known handheld titles include Astraware Sudoku, Zap! 2000/2016, PopCap Games’ Bejeweled, Zuma, and Insaniquarium, and Sandlot Games’ Tradewinds, and Glyph. Astraware is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner. Mobile gaming enthusiasts have downloaded more than 50 million copies of Astraware's products, and the company has customers in more than 100 countries. Visit Astraware at http://www.astraware.com.
Following many customer requests, the Astraware Classic Collection brings together 3 family-friendly favorites featuring an award-winning Sudoku game, 8 classic boardgames, and 12 of the best-known card games, all in one super value pack for a very special price.
The Astraware Classic Collection includes Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Boardgames, and Astraware Solitaire and is available for Palm OS®, and Windows Mobile® smartphones and PDAs. The collection is priced $39.95 - a saving of one third off the price of all 3 games bought separately and special pricing is also available to customers who already own one of the games.
For more information or to buy, visit the Astraware website at http://www.astraware.com/classic/.
About Astraware
Founded in 1994 and incorporated in 2000, Astraware Limited develops, publishes and distributes games for mobile devices. Some of the company's best known handheld titles include Astraware Sudoku, Zap! 2000/2016, PopCap Games’ Bejeweled, Zuma, and Insaniquarium, and Sandlot Games’ Tradewinds, and Glyph. Astraware is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner. Mobile gaming enthusiasts have downloaded more than 50 million copies of Astraware's products, and the company has customers in more than 100 countries. Visit Astraware at http://www.astraware.com.
Super Mario Galaxy to outsell Halo 3?
Nintendo Wii's new game is likely to become the fastest-selling Christmas gift as stores stay open late tonight so fans can snap up Super Mario Galaxy.
The latest adventures of the Italian plumber are expected to outsell Xbox's recent hit Halo - which itself had orders of 1.25 million.
The launch came as a new poll shows that the Mario character is more widely recognised worldwide than The Beatles.
Amazon Delaying Super Mario Galaxy Pre-Orders
This isn't good. From our faithful reader Ben, it looks like at least some Amazon pre-orders of Super Mario Galaxy are going to see a delay of one whole week.
I pre-ordered Super Mario Galaxy 2 weeks ago from Amazon.com.
Today I received this in my inbox:
"We wanted to let you know that there is an unexpected delay with your video game order you placed on October 25 2007 09:26 PDT. Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the product(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when they may be delivered:
"Super Mario Galaxy" [Video Game]
Estimated arrival date: 11/20/2007
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay."
I canceled my order so I can buy it tonight at a brick&mortar store tonight after work.
No pre-order coin for me, I guess.
Sony makes most of Wii shortages
Sony is taking advantage of Nintendo Wii shortages and a recent price cut of the PlayStation 3 to double weekly sales of the console in the US.
Sony boss Howard Stringer told the Associated Press news agency: "It's a little fortuitous that the Wii is running out of hardware."
Two weeks after the price cut Sony sold 100,000 PS3s in seven days.
Mr Stringer said the increase in sales of the console was "the breakthrough we have been anticipating."
He added: "Obviously, we've taken so much heat over the year on PS3. Finally, the turning point has been passed."
Nintendo has become a victim of its own success, with many shops in the US and UK struggling to meet demand.
A spokesman for Nintendo UK denied that the company was witholding supply to boost interest.
"The video games market is a fiercely competitive one and it is not in our interest to withhold stock from anyone," he said.
Microsoft and Nintendo have not released weekly sales figures for their consoles.
Source: BBC
Assassin's Creed Stalks Stores
Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced its highly anticipated Assassin's Creed video game is now available in retail stores nationwide in North America.
Easily one of the most anticipated games for the holiday season and the game has arrived on the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft at the MSRP of $59.99 with the Limited Edition priced at $69.99. It is rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB.
"Assassin's Creed is an incredible experience unlike anything else available this holiday season and we're thrilled with the buzz and attention the title has received," shared Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. "We anticipate having a strong sell through for Assassin's Creed and it's exciting to push the industry with such a breakthrough title in terms of technology, design and story.
The development team in Montreal set out to redefine the action-adventure category and we now know that they have accomplished their goal."
DualShock 3 now works with PS2
New pad will now work with backwards compatible games
Sony has confirmed to Eurogamer that all PlayStation 2 titles that support rumble and are compatible with the PlayStation 3 will also rumble if you use the new DualShock 3 pad.
During a test last week with the new controller, Eurogamer noted that PS2 rumble seemed to be disabled. Since then, PS3 firmware 2.0 has quietly introduced support.
The news from Sony adds to anecdotal evidence from eager importers who reported success getting rumble out of games like Re and Katamari Damacy.
PlayStation 3 games that already support the pad include MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction.
The official European and US release date for DualShock 3 is spring 2008.
Sony has confirmed to Eurogamer that all PlayStation 2 titles that support rumble and are compatible with the PlayStation 3 will also rumble if you use the new DualShock 3 pad.
During a test last week with the new controller, Eurogamer noted that PS2 rumble seemed to be disabled. Since then, PS3 firmware 2.0 has quietly introduced support.
The news from Sony adds to anecdotal evidence from eager importers who reported success getting rumble out of games like Re and Katamari Damacy.
PlayStation 3 games that already support the pad include MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction.
The official European and US release date for DualShock 3 is spring 2008.
PS3 Sales Double On 'Breakthrough' Pricing
Sony sold over 100,000 units of PlayStation 3 in the United States last week after a series of price cuts that Sony CEO Howard Stringer characterized as "the breakthrough we've been anticipating."
"We've been holding our breath," Stringer told the Associated Press. "Finally, the turning point has been passed."
We'll certainly see. Selling 100,000 units in a week is great for Sony, since they've only been moving around 40,000 units per week at most. But the one-two punch of the price drop of the 80 GB bundle to $500 and the introduction of the $400 model (the first honest-to-goodness price drop that PlayStation 3 as a platform has actually received since it launched a year ago) were guaranteed to do something like this.
The question now is whether these sales keep up, and how much Xbox 360 and Wii sales increase in November simply off the strength of more aggressive pricing and more popular software. That'll show whether this is the breakthrough Stringer says it is, or whether it's a brief spike on the charts.
Source: Yahoo Finance
"We've been holding our breath," Stringer told the Associated Press. "Finally, the turning point has been passed."
We'll certainly see. Selling 100,000 units in a week is great for Sony, since they've only been moving around 40,000 units per week at most. But the one-two punch of the price drop of the 80 GB bundle to $500 and the introduction of the $400 model (the first honest-to-goodness price drop that PlayStation 3 as a platform has actually received since it launched a year ago) were guaranteed to do something like this.
The question now is whether these sales keep up, and how much Xbox 360 and Wii sales increase in November simply off the strength of more aggressive pricing and more popular software. That'll show whether this is the breakthrough Stringer says it is, or whether it's a brief spike on the charts.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Nintendo denies WiiWare game size limit
Company responds to rumours that downloadable titles couldn't exceed 40MB
Nintendo has disputed some of the Wii Software (WiiWare) details announced in an IGN podcast this week, which claimed that WiiWare titles would be capped at 40MB, that developers would set their own prices and be limited to releasing one game per month.
"I can confirm as we originally said at the announcement of the WiiWare service earlier in the year that WiiWare games will come in a range of sizes but we will encourage smaller, more compact games for the service," a Nintendo spokesperson told Eurogamer today.
"I can also confirm we are contemplating that developers will be able to release one game per month during the launch window in order for us to address potential volume issues.
"We have not revealed any details about who sets pricing for WiiWare titles. However it is important to remember that one of the keys aspects of the WiiWare service is to allow everyone access to fresh, new content at a low price."
Nintendo is officially classifying the information as "speculation" despite the statement above.
Wii Software, the official title in Europe, but more commonly known as WiiWare - its official name in America and Japan - is a system a bit like Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network that allows developers to create smaller games and sell them to consumers for lower prices than boxed copies.
Nintendo hopes the service will encourage independent teams and those who lack the wherewithal to produce big games to get involved with Wii development as the console's installed base grows and its free online service, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, continues to attract users.
Nintendo has disputed some of the Wii Software (WiiWare) details announced in an IGN podcast this week, which claimed that WiiWare titles would be capped at 40MB, that developers would set their own prices and be limited to releasing one game per month.
"I can confirm as we originally said at the announcement of the WiiWare service earlier in the year that WiiWare games will come in a range of sizes but we will encourage smaller, more compact games for the service," a Nintendo spokesperson told Eurogamer today.
"I can also confirm we are contemplating that developers will be able to release one game per month during the launch window in order for us to address potential volume issues.
"We have not revealed any details about who sets pricing for WiiWare titles. However it is important to remember that one of the keys aspects of the WiiWare service is to allow everyone access to fresh, new content at a low price."
Nintendo is officially classifying the information as "speculation" despite the statement above.
Wii Software, the official title in Europe, but more commonly known as WiiWare - its official name in America and Japan - is a system a bit like Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network that allows developers to create smaller games and sell them to consumers for lower prices than boxed copies.
Nintendo hopes the service will encourage independent teams and those who lack the wherewithal to produce big games to get involved with Wii development as the console's installed base grows and its free online service, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, continues to attract users.
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