Ultizen Games Acquires Mo-Star Mobile Game Developer

Ultizen Games Ltd., a leading game development and outsourcing company, announced today they recently completed an acquisition of Mo-Star, a mobile game development company based in Beijing that owns an extensive and growing catalog of over 200 mobile games.

"The mobile game industry in China is thriving and Mo-Star has established itself as a premiere vendor to China Mobile, the leading telecom company in China," said Ultizen Games CEO Mr. Lan Haiwen. "They are an amazingly efficient and productive studio that adds a significant addition to our development capacity. They can produce high quality mobile games for any market, localized to the taste and requirements of the region"
Mo-Star is the fourth full time studio that Ultizen owns and brings their total work forced to over 280, making them one of the ten largest game development companies based in China.

In other news, Ultizen announced they will be sponsoring Information Table at the new Outsourcing Summit on February 18th at GDC 2008 in San Francisco. "The outsourcing model has become highly evolved, today's software publishers demand highly integrated partners that can act as a seamless extension of their own development," commented Michael Devine, Vice President of North American Business Development. Ultizen will be providing developers and publishers with advice and guidance on all aspects of game development outsourcing.

Monster Madness: Extreme Reveals Itself for Sony PlayStation 3

SouthPeak Games has released the fresh screens from its upcoming PLAYSTATION 3 release, Monster Madness: Extreme. Set for release in spring 2008, SouthPeak Games’ first PLAYSTATION 3 title will be an enhanced and updated version of its riotous comedy-horror arcade shooter Monster Madness: Battle For Suburbia, which saw 2007 releases on PC and the Xbox 360™ entertainment system from Microsoft.

Monster Madness: Extreme overhauls the best features of its predecessor and adds huge amounts of new content, including customisable character costumes with power-up properties, 4-player co-op either online or offline and 25 new co-op challenge missions. With this new functionality adding to the original’s 18 story mode levels and its fully-featured 16-person online competitive multiplayer, Monster Madness: Extreme is set to become the co-op favourite for PLAYSTATION 3 owners looking for a big slice of frenzied comedic arcade action.

Melanie Mroz, CEO, SouthPeak Games comments: “We’re thrilled to be giving gamers a glimpse of Monster Madness: Extreme in action and as these screen shots show, we’re putting everything we can into making Monster Madness: Extreme as wildly fun and frenetic as possible. It’s also great to be entering the PS3 market – Monster Madness: Extreme is just the beginning for us.”

Monster Madness: Extreme will be released for PLAYSTATION 3 in spring 2008.

Flagship Studios Unveils New Mythos Gameplay Trailer

Ping0, LLC, a joint-venture between Flagship Studios and HanbitSoft, Inc., today announced the release of a new gameplay trailer for Mythos its highly anticipated free-to-download and play massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

The trailer features footage from the cities of Stonehill and Tulin’s Hope as players begin their epic journey in the world of Uld.

Mythos is an online, action role-playing game that is free to download and free to play. Set in the land of Uld – a fantasy world arising from the ashes of an epoch-long war of darkness – players assume the roles of fantasy heroes as they explore, adventure, and quest through entirely randomized dungeons and environments. With an elegant point-and-click interface and an accessible “isometric” perspective, Mythos is poised to have near-universal appeal. The game allows thousands of players to interact within the same world while using mostly “instanced” dungeons to create unique gaming experiences suited for both solo and group-minded players.

As players journey into Mythos’ ever-expanding universe, they select one of three races (Human, Satyr, or Gremlins) and one of an expanding number of character classes. Through heroic quests players search for gold, gems, armor, and weapons using a huge variety of skills and items, whilst unlocking the secrets of Uld. Mythos presents a constantly expanding, continuously updated world where something new lurks around every corner. To join the closed beta, interested gamers should sign up at the official site http://www.mythos.com/join_kingdom.jsp

Mythos is an online role-playing game developed by Flagship Seattle, a subsidiary of Flagship Studios. Mythos is currently exercising the online technology and services behind the multiplayer component of the highly-anticipated action role-playing game Hellgate: London. Mythos will be digitally distributed in North America and Europe in by Ping0. HanbitSoft, Flagship Studios’ partner in Ping0, will be responsible for distributing Mythos in Asia.

For more information please visit the official Mythos site at www.mythos.com

Nintendo Wii software update caused wireless network problems

My network problems, unable to connect to blogger or Google (a big problem!) was due to my Nintendo Wii wireless connection.

Previously we had network drop outs when the Wii was plugged in all the time but this was different.

After a few minutes of the Wii sitting on standby but allowed wireless access I couldn't connect to Google or other related site, YouTube, Blogger etc. All other sites worked OK.

After unplugging the Wii the problems have not re-occurred.

So, check out your Wii if you have network difficulties.

Bollywood Shifting Some Focus Towards Video Games

At this point, very few people haven’t heard about the movie scene in Bollywood. FXLab Studios partnered with Yash Raj Films in India to develop a full-length offline computer game based of the movie Dhoom 2.



This may not sound like big news, but it’s the first time in history that an Indian film has been made into a full-length video game. With a majority of India’s population being in their 20s, combined with the rapidly increasing demand for video games in the country, it only makes sense for Bollywood to cash in on the opportunity.

Source: FileFront

Toshiba cuts HD DVD price in US to combat Blu-Ray

Manufacturer attempts to minimise Warner Bros damage by halving some prices

Toshiba has reacted strongly to last week's news that Warner Bros had defected to Sony's Blu-ray camp by cutting prices on its HD DVD players in the US by up to half.

According to a report on CNN Money the suggested retail price of its three standalone players will fall by as much as $200 - the HD-A3 falls from around $300 to $150, the HD-A30 drops from $400 to $200 while the HD-A35 goes from $500 to just $300.

The company already marketed one of HD DVD's key advantages as being cheaper than Blu-ray, and Toshiba is taking drastic action to keep its format in the next-generation DVD race.

Following Warner's decision Blu-ray now boasts five key players on its side of the divide, while Paramount and Universal support HD DVD.

Toshiba America's group vice president of digital audio and video explained: "While price is one of the consideration elements for the early adopter, it is a deal-breaker for the mainstream consumer."

The company also plans a lengthy advertising campaign to promote HD DVD on TV, print and online.

Source: Games Industry

PC video game AGEOD's American Civil War Goes Gold

cdv Software Entertainment USA is pleased to announce that their American Civil War-themed strategy game, AGEOD's American Civil War: 1861-1865 -- The Blue and The Gray, has gone gold and is on track to begin shipping to retail outlets on January 28. The game, created by acclaimed designer Philippe Thibaut, focuses on key battles of one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history, and puts players in the combined role of diplomat, logistician and strategist. For more information about the game, please visit ttp://civilwar.cdvus.com.

AGEOD’s American Civil War: 1861-1865 – The Blue and the Gray is a historical war game that places players at the head of the United States or the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Players take on the roles of military and political leaders trying to lead their factions to military, political or economic victory during five historic years that divided the nation. Players must organize their military forces, all while managing supply and morale as they plan actions over land, sea and by rail. The game consists of challenging scenarios, campaigns and grand campaigns, all played out on the largest American Civil War map ever created for a game. Strategy gaming fans will face a daunting challenge in this authentic title created by Philippe Thibaut, renowned designer of the award-winning Europa Universalis, Pax Romana and Birth of America.

New Pets Run Wild In Silkroad Online

Joymax has announced that a series of helpful new pets will soon become available in Silkroad Online. Beginning January 15th in the Silkroad Online item mall, these faithful animal companions will lend their considerable talents to their owners in a number of ways. Players will be able to purchase these pets in-game, joining forces with a Bear, a growth pet which attacks enemies; a fast-moving vehicle/mount pet Beetle; a flying Sylph which will retrieve items from the field; or a Buffalo, which can be used to transport heavy loads down the treacherous Silk Road. More information on these new pets can be found at the SRO website, at www.silkroadonline.net.

The new pets go on sale starting January 15th for a limited time through the in-game item mall.

Power Challenge Welcomes Peter Levin to Board of Directors

Power Challenge, creator of the popular international browser-based games Power Soccer and ManagerZone, has appointed Peter Levin, industry veteran and founder and co-owner of the Arena Football League’s Chicago Rush, to its Board of Directors.

Levin joins the board to help Power Challenge with business development in the North American market, focusing on distribution via media and sports organizations. Levin’s wealth of knowledge and extensive network affords critical insights into sports, technology, marketing and entertainment. His broad business background will be a welcome addition for advising on future partnerships, alliances and growth strategies. Among other accomplishments, he successfully led Lynx Technologies to invest in such companies as Applied Semantics, Gamespy Industries and Ask.com, each of which was later acquired by substantial market leaders.

“We are thrilled to have an industry expert such as Peter Levin joining our Board,” said Johan Christenson, CEO of Power Challenge. “His experience in sports and media will be important in maintaining and expanding our current goals and visions for the North American marketplace. Peter will be invaluable in developing relationships and opportunities in sports and entertainment, both of which are key markets for us. Power Challenge has the potential to be an industry leader and the addition of Peter to our team is a giant step in that direction.”

“I am very eager to start working with Johan and his staff to help Power Challenge achieve its current and future ambitions,” said Peter Levin. Levin currently holds a number of positions outside of Power Challenge. He is founder and co-owner of the 2006 world champion Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League, partner in Palisades Baseball, which owns and operates two Minor League Baseball franchises, and also sits on a number of boards of directors within the digital media and entertainment industries, including Sulake, Inc. (Habbo), Double Fusion and Razz.com. Additionally he sits on the steering committee of the East West Sports Summit.

For more information, visit www.powerchallenge.com or www.managerzone.com.

The Player - Issue 9

It’s no wonder that people wore shoulder-pads in the '80s – the future seemed dangerous, especially where videogames were concerned. Wargames had Matthew Broderick averting Thermonuclear Catastrophe, The Last Starfighter was a tale of genocide, and the Atari logo loomed large as Deckard "retired" Zhora.

In Issue 9, we turn our gaze to a horror no-one could have imagined 20 years ago, that of online videogames in The Big Bad Beyond. From zombie hunts, to teabags and Chipping Norton, The Player leaves few stones unturned in its quest for answers, as provided by those most culpable for the decay of modern day values - players themselves.

Elsewhere, we chat with Miles Jacobson of Sports Interactive about Sega, former franchises and Football Manager before finally connecting the dots and welcoming the world of Football Manager Live, which represents the last step in humanity’s downfall.

Add to that reviews of games released back when Matthew Broderick was still considered a star, The Grid, replays of Loaded and The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse, fond 3DO memories, the house Columns and ta-daah - The Player Issue 9 is here.