COOKING MAMA Video game feeds over a million on Nintendo DS

505 Games raised a glass as the European sales of its celebrated Cooking Mama franchise surpassed one million units. Released initially on Nintendo DS and later for Wii, the series becomes 505 Games’ most successful title to date.

Since its September 2006 release, Mama has sliced, chopped and sautéed her way into the hearts of casual and hardcore gamers alike with her unique and easily accessible ‘hands-on’ gameplay. And with plans for the much-anticipated sequel to be released in 2008 in full motion, budding chefs keen to serve up seconds won’t have long to wait.

“These fantastic results vindicate the hard work and dedication from everyone at 505 that has gone into making this our most successful franchise to date,” commented Ian Howe, 505 Games’ Managing Director. “We’ve set ourselves a lofty target, but now we’re all keen to see how quickly we can get Cooking Mama 2 to one million!”

Cooking Mama is available in all good gaming outlets for DS and Wii. Cooking Mama 2 is currently scheduled for an early 2008 release.

Disney games announce ENCHANTED mobile video game

Movie aficionados can look forward to a magical mobile game this Christmas. Beautiful Giselle, Prince Edward and Pip, the squirrel, are catapulted out of the animated fairy tale realm Andalasia into modern day New York in the newest motion picture - Walt Disney Pictures Presents Enchanted.

Disney Mobile Studios will release the Enchanted mobile game at the same time as the movie. Meet Giselle and her animal friends and enjoy exciting adventures in three mini-games which challenge both your brain and your reflexes over 14 levels in each game. The mini-games will rotate, which means to complete a stage you must play through one level of each.

Enchanted has been designed to be as accessible as possible to casual gamers: each mini-game uses an in-game tutorial so that any instructions that are included as part of the playing experience.

The story behind the game, and the film, is a romantic one: Giselle, the charming princess, has only met Prince Edward once in her entire life. To make sure she will never forget his face, she wants to immortalise him as a mannequin. Through the three mini-games, the player experiences different parts of Andalasia while helping Pip, the squirrel, and other animals from the forest collect materials to create the statue.

In the first game, Pip, the squirrel has to get the statue piece by jumping through the forest. This mini-game is full of action: avoid traps and out smart malevolent bees and mushrooms.



When he reaches the goal he has to solve a challenging puzzle together with Bunny. Move rows of fruit and put them together to free the piece hidden behind. As you play two characters in this game you can move up and down as well as left and right. By carefully managing the time limit you can earn some very high scores.

Finally, Fawn and Boar bring it all back to Giselle’s cottage and each of the animals use their various strengths. Boar is strong and can carry heavy items while Fawn, the deer, is quick and nimble!

The whole game has a positive fairytale feel and rich, beautiful graphics. Friendly forest animals cooperate with each other to help their friend Giselle. This combined with the variety of gameplay make it ideal for the whole family.

"Enchanted is a great game for the Christmas season, and fits perfectly with our strategy to develop games that anyone can pick up and play without a steep learning curve," says Sunil Gunderia, VP Mobile, EMEA. "Enchanted the mobile game is a great extension of this wonderful story and will enable fans of all ages to experience the Enchanted story everywhere."

Granado Espada: Sword of the New World patch download

Granado Espada: Sword of the New World - v2.4 Patch

Bahia Island Client Patch - The new Version 2.4 Bahia Island Expansion of Granado Espada has been made available for download. Immense yourselves in the tropical beaches of Bahia Island as this new expansion comes to you this Christmas. Take part in light hearted mini games and stand to win special in-game items! Dress up in beach wear and explore the new maps.

Team up with valiant heroes of Vespanola to defeat the new powerful raid bosses in Island of Fire. Unfold the story behind the “Nameless person” & “The one who searches for his memory”, choose your alliance with them and make your family stronger.

Burnout Paradise free demo on Microsoft XBox Live screenshots and trailer

Crashing is awesome! That's the concept behind Burnout™ Paradise, the latest installment in the classic car-crashing Burnout series. A completely open world allows players to take their dangerous driving experience to a whole new level. Travel through and explore Paradise City to find special events and destructive opportunities. Get ready to break the rules, because you're in Burnout Paradise!

Free demo, Screenshots and Trailer here...

Online Video Games for Kids Are Two of the Top Ten search terms on Google

Google just released the “Fastest Rising Search Terms” for 2007 and guess what? Children’s video games occupied two of the top 10. Webkinz and Club Penguin were the second and sixth fastest rising search terms on Google in 2007. I’ve played both of these games with my daughters, and found them to be safe, positive learning environments for them. And best of all, they are truly “fun” games

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue game trailer

Watch the trailer here : http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/146996.html

Nintendo Wii Shortages May Be Blessing in Disguise for Game Rental

John Fleming, CEO of GameZnFlix, an online provider of video games and movies for rent or purchase, said today that unfilled demand for the Wii Video Game Console may result in increased business for the game rental industry.

"The Wii is the hot ticket this Christmas and they're just not out there to be had," said Fleming. "It looks like a replay of Christmas 2006 when the Wii was commanding big premiums on eBay while last minute shoppers were lining up at Gamestop or Best Buy and too often leaving empty-handed. My guess is that those who have their heart set on a Wii aren't going to look instead to the XBox 360 or Playstation 3 which can cost double the price of a Wii or more," Fleming continued. "They're just different markets, and nobody's going to want to invest in more games for their 1st gen Xbox or Playstation 2. What does make sense for them is to turn to a video game rental program while Wii supply catches up with Wii demand. It's the perfect solution."

Industry sources say that Nintendo is leaving as much as a billion dollars on the table this season by not having enough consoles to meet demand. That equates to some five million machines. "We love the Wii," says Fleming, "and when customers are lucky enough to get one we have the games to keep them happy, but if they don't we're ready and able to keep their old game platform well-supplied with great game titles until they get the Wii of their dreams."

About GameZnFlix, Inc.

GameZnFlix is primarily an online video game and movie rental service that also allows its subscribers to have access to VOD movies for purchase. With memberships starting as low as $8.99, subscribers can rent both video games and movies with no late fees or due dates. Membership for rental services is located on the Internet at www.gnfgames.com; and VOD is located at www.gnfdigital.com. A subscriber can purchase titles at a discounted rate at www.gnfgames.com.

Notice: Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications that may arise could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The company cautions that these forward-looking statements are further qualified by other factors including, but not limited to those set forth in the company's Form 10-KSB filing and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (available at http://www.sec.gov/). The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: CNN

Free Linux Video game - Frets On Fire (Guitar hero clone)

Winner of the Assembly Demo Party 2006, Frets on Fire is a music video game that uses the keyboard to play along with scrolling on-screen musical notes to complete a song. The player has to imagine the keyboard as a guitar and pick it up to play. One hand will be used to press the ‘frets’ (F1 to F5) and another will be used to press the ‘picks’ (Shift or Enter). Colored markers that appears are to be played by pressing ‘frets’ of the correct color and ‘picks’ at the correct moment. There are also song editors and tutorials featured in the game. This game is really addictive.


Get the game here... http://fretsonfire.sourceforge.net/

From: Gamesuy

BioShock video game PC Patch and free content download available now

BioShock patch and free content - the BioShock PC Patch and third BioShock 360 Title Update are available for downlo now.

These updates will not only fix some issues remaining with the game, but will also give both PC and 360 fans new plasmids and tonics, as well as another achievement for Xbox Rapturians.

And since you guys have been so patient waiting for this patch, we're giving you all the additional content completely free.

Now you can adjust your FOV, rebind your keys, and walk through Rapture in addition to running. And if you really want to be hardcore, you can turn off Vita-Chambers for added difficulty.

Want to know everything that’s in the patch?

Click the link for a full list of updates, fixes, and features for both the PC patch and the 360 Title Update.

Click here to download the PC patch.

Patch size 27 mb

C PATCH UPDATES, FIXES, AND FEATURES

- Added the following plasmids and gene tonics: Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom 2, Eve Saver, Machine Buster, Machine - Buster 2, Vending Expert, Vending Expert 2
- Added an Option to disable the Vita-Chambers for added difficulty
- Added support for a walk toggle keybind
- Added Horizontal FOV Lock option
- Fixed mouse acceleration issues
- Fixed reserved keys not functioning properly when keys are unbound
- Fixed multiple cases of keys not allowing a rebind
- Re-added the Human Inferno tonic
- Changed behavior of subtitles so that inappropriate queuing does not occur
- Changed functionality of keybinding lookup to only search in the current input context when finding bindings for in-game display
- Added rendering support for TripleHead2Go
- Atlas VO volume increased for German releases
- Fixed issue of subtitles not clearing correctly occasionally
- Fixed issue causing long hitches or hangs when accessing certain interface screens, machines, and the hacking minigame
- Fix for a potential situation in Recreation where taking a picture of Cobb is impossible if his body gets stuck behind a fallen pillar
- Fixed subtitle timings to more accurately match the on screen audio
- Fixed issue causing stuttering audio when using Windows Vista
- Fixed issue with characters squirming and wiggling after death
- Fixed blood decals and other projectors not showing up on ATI hardware
- The "Enable EAX" option is now greyed out when EAX-capable hardware is not present
- Fixed audio issues stemming from having a Speaker Setting in Windows that was invalid for the current sound card
- Removed erroneous "Reload" binding in a no-weapons context
- Fixed incorrect Training Message concerning bots who are friendly to enemy AIs
- Fixed incorrect Training Message when shooting a Mimic
- Fixed refresh rate being locked at 60hz in DX10 mode
- Fixed VSync disabling in DX10 mode

XBOX 360 TITLE UPDATE FIXES AND FEATURES

- Added widescreen option: Horizontal FOV
- Fix for rare case where a partial cache is not cleared
- Increased Atlas’ volume in German
- Fix for GUI sounds not playing during heavy action
- Fix for not being able to take picture of Cobb in Rec
- Changed behavior of subtitles so that inappropriate queuing does not occur
- Fix for switching difficulty breaking achievement
- Fix for small texture streaming bug
- Fix for rare hang when a lot of things are going on at once

XBOX 360 DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

- Added Disable Vita Chamber option
- Plasmid Pack is included in this DLC (Machine Buster 1 & 2, Vending Expert 1 & 2, Sonic Boom 1 & 2, EVE Saver)
- 100 point achievement for beating game without Vita Chamber called "Brass Balls"
How to do it:
Must beat game on Hard
Must not use a Vita Chamber (you can always roll back to an earlier save)
The Vita Chamber Disabled option can be on or off as long as you don’t resurrect

Source: V3d

Boulder Dash-ROCKS! introduces the classic game mode on Nintendo DS and Sony PSP

Past the treacherous foes hiding in the Jungle World, the searing heat of the Lava World, the voracious sharks inhabiting the Water World and even the giant spiders of the Underworld - the first “Producer in a Box” video for "Boulder Dash-ROCKS!" takes viewers on the trip of a lifetime. The new video showcases ‘Planet Tour’ mode featuring classic Boulder Dash game play. ‘Planet Tour’, included in both the DS and PSP versions of Boulder Dash-ROCKS!, takes famed diamond hunter Rockford™ through four different worlds inhabited by hordes of nasty creatures. The video also provides some background information on this cult-classic diamond hunting title and Rockford’s new nemesis, Tentacle, who also has a passion for glittering diamonds.

Boulder Dash-ROCKS for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP was developed by 10TACLE STUDIOS MOBILE GmbH and is co-published by 10TACLE STUDIOS AG and First Star Software, Inc.

The DS version was released throughout Europe on November 22nd, distributed by Electronic Arts Inc. Both the DS and PSP versions will be released throughout the world in the first quarter of 2008.

First Star Software, Inc.’s tricky puzzle and dexterity game made its debut in the early 80s and continues to fascinate its large fan base making it a classic in the history of interactive entertainment. Now Boulder Dash is back with a hot new look to take the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP platforms by storm. The hit game’s principle remains unchanged: players have to collect sparkling diamonds while avoiding numerous traps and beating opponents to reach them, all the while watching out for falling boulders.


Each platform version contains four gaming modes. In addition to the classic single-player mode, taking players through 80 levels across four different game worlds, Boulder Dash-ROCKS! now offers a new multi-player mode and two additional play modes. When developing Boulder Dash-ROCKS! a new game and different, game mode was custom designed for each of the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP platforms, modes never seen before in any Boulder Dash game.

Further Information:
www.boulder-dash-rocks.com
www.10tacle.com