Arcade Boxing video game FACEBREAKER for Nintendo Wii Microsoft XBox 360 and Sony Playstation 3

Electronic Arts announced today that FaceBreaker – an all-new intellectual property – is under development at EA Canada and will be released for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game system from Microsoft and the Wii in 2008.

“We’re very excited to announce FaceBreaker, an all-new franchise from EA SPORTS that is fun, fresh and innovative,” said Peter Moore, president, EA SPORTS. “FaceBreaker reinvigorates one of the great genres in sports videogames. Arcade boxing takes me back to my roots in this industry, and this game signals our shift to adding more approachable fun to our product lineup. In no time at all, you’ll be picking up the controllers and knocking your opponent around the ring, smashing faces, and having a riot.”

The renaissance of the arcade boxing genre is upon us. Created by the same team that developed the award-winning Fight Night Round 3, FaceBreaker offers irreverent fun, immersive gameplay and eye-popping stylized graphics. In this in-your-face, arcade world full of ego-wielding characters, each boxer comes to life with unique attributes and distinct personal style, including Romeo, a Latin lover known for his pelvic thrusts, and Molotov, an oversized Russian demolitions expert with a penchant for fighting dirty. Add a little personal motivation to your fight by uploading a photo of your face to create a realistic likeness using Photo Game Face, and go toe-to-toe with a real-life friend or foe.

Laugh out loud as you pummel your opponent with a barrage of blows to the face and watch in satisfaction as your progress is illustrated by real-time facial deformation. With haymakers, face shots and body blows, wait for the right moment to drop a super punch to make your presence known. Taunt your adversaries and flaunt your talent, by tying one hand behind your back to add ultimate humiliation to your bout. In FaceBreaker, it just feels good to rearrange your opponent's face.

Baseball Superstars 2008 Cellphone video game announced

With the baseball season coming up, GAMEVIL launches the next installment of their popular baseball series, Baseball Superstars 2008

GAMEVIL USA, the LA-based mobile games publisher, announced today the launch of Baseball Superstars 2008, the newest installment of their smash hit baseball series.

In Baseball Superstars 2008, there are 8 different teams to choose from, 4 unique stadiums to compete in, and a Season, Exhibition, and My League mode to play in. You can also create, customize, and train your pitcher or batter. Upgrade and equip your players with new baseball gear and accessories purchased with the money you earn in the game, improve their stats as you train your players and hone their skills, and increase their popularity ratings as you groom them into superstars. But playing ball will not be the only thing you’ll need to pay attention to. You will also manage the life of a major leaguer as your player hosts autograph sessions, attends commercial shoots, and even goes on dates with the ladies. One of the newest additions to Baseball Superstars 2008 is the Team Management feature, which will allow you to trade players among different teams.

“We’re expecting Baseball Superstars 2008 to be another hit like it’s predecessor, as it is the arcade-style game that anyone can enjoy, regardless of whether you’re already a baseball fan or not,” said Stephanie Huang, Marketing Manager of GAMEVIL USA, Inc. “If you can’t wait for the baseball season to begin, then why not get a head start and enjoy the sports now? Throw a curveball, steal second base, and hit a homerun, all from your mobile phone. After all, in this popular baseball game, anyone can be a superstar.”

World's number one online trading card game Urban Rivals – New design and game client

The world's number one online trading card game, UrbanRivals, release a new game client and character card design

Boostr the Company behind Urban Rivals recently launched a new version of the flash game client and unveiled an improved design for the character cards. The new design is now much clearer and easier to read and the new game features introduced have improved gameplay and the user experience.

The new game client features include: -

• A new Quick Challenge feature, with just one click this automated feature will challenge other players to a duel while you sit back and wait for the next game.

• Better motion of projectiles during the battles, with each clan having their own projectile design, the new client shows the success of each round in a battle.

• An animation for “Sureshot” (when your attack is at least double that of your opponent), the animation shows the knock-out blow in full animated effect.

• Shortcuts for common actions (tool tips available when you mouse over the buttons).

• Players’ nationality flags are visible during battles, so you know where you opponent is situated in the world, allowing for better communication.

Since the launch of the new flash client Urban Rivals has experienced a 20% increase in the average amount of games played.

Sebastien Flory, CEO of Boostr remarked, “We’ve built up a successful business bylistening to what our customers want, and delivering on our promises. Urban Rivals continues to grow at an astonishing rate and we’ll continue to give Urban Rivals players what they ask for.”

Myth War Online PC game: Celebrate Valentine's Day

Myth War Online: Celebrate Valentine's Day

The Myth War Online (http://mw.igg.com ) have an event to celebrate Valentine’s Day. All players are qualified to participate in the event to make a short original film about love. Players can submit their film link in http://mw.igg.com/active/valentine/index.php

Event Duration: From 31th January 2008 to 20th February 2008

Event Rules:
1. Players’ works should be based on the in-game graphics based around the topic of love. Players’ character names can be displayed. The film should last from 1 min to 3 minutes.
2. Players can upload works to www.youtube.com first and then post the link in http://mw.igg.com/active/valentine/index.php

3. Players can submit as many eligible video clips as they want.
4. MWO will verify all submitted video clips and announce the winner list 3 days after the end of the event.

Rewards:
The Most Creative Award (2 winners) Any Saint Pet
The Best Play Book (2 winners) Any Deity Pet
The Most Popular Award (2 winners) Any Christmas Pet
Excellent Award (5 winners) Any Titan Pet

AGEOD's American Civil War Arrives in US PC game

cdv Software Entertainment USA is pleased to announce that they have shipped AGEOD's American Civil War: 1861-1865 -- The Blue and The Gray to North American retail outlets today. The game, created by acclaimed designer Philippe Thibaut, focuses on key battles of the American Civil War, and puts players in the combined role of diplomat, logistician and strategist. For more information about the game, please visit http://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.

Ultimate video game movement simulator gets better

Perhaps a number of of you has the movement simulator of Force Dynamics. This simulator can along several axis move to give a realistic experience when you play race games.

The simulator has already been on much large events and several times on TV has been.

Source: Dutch website with video

Denki Wins BEST DEVELOPER In TIGA Awards

Scottish games studio Denki has picked up the Best Developer trophy at the 2008 TIGA Awards, held in central London last night.

Denki was nominated, alongside fellow UK developers Blitz Games and Sumo Digital, as the development company which has made the greatest contribution to independent game development in the UK last year.

TIGA – The Independent Game Developers Association - is an industry body for companies in the UK which create videogames. Each of the awards were voted for by member companies.

Denki is renowned within the games industry for its focus on original game design, high-quality conversions of top-tier brands and carefully managed project development. The company is best known for its work on interactive digital television gaming where, in the past seven years, it has released nearly seventy titles through companies including the UK's Sky Television and DIRECTV in North America. Denki's releases include both original games and many based on leading brands from the likes of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Sky Sports, LEGO, Namco, Eidos and DreamWorks.

“It's a great honour to be chosen as the best independent developer,” said Denki's Internal Development Manager, Gary Penn, “particularly considering the significant achievements of our fellow nominees”. “We’re proud of having retained our independent status through what have been some very tough times for indie developers over recent years. We're especially delighted that our colleagues and peers within the industry rate Denki so highly and would like to thank everyone who voted for us.”

Building on their experience within the Game Boy Advance and digital television markets, Denki has recently turned its attention towards the Casual and Indie games sector.

“The new opportunities afforded to independent game developers by digital distribution means that games are becoming a far more inclusive pastime,” said Gary. “You can now play games on your television, mobile phone, web browser and even your MP3 player as well as the traditional games consoles people are already familiar with. This change means that for the first time in a generation we have the opportunity to re-engage with people who would never consider themselves ‘gamers’. The next challenge for the games industry is to start creating entertainment which will appeal to people who never normally play any sort of videogames. Denki is ideally positioned to deliver these new types of game and we already have several titles we’re very excited about in development.”

Denki is working on a number of forthcoming branded titles for interactive television as well as several yet-to-be announced games, based on original intellectual property for other platforms.

GEARS OF WAR LEADS GOOZEX 2007 TRADES

Goozex, Inc., the leading online video game trading community, announced today the company’s 2007 year end trading statistics. The Gears of War game title lead the most traded and offered categories on Goozex for the year. The Goozex trading system experienced enormous growth, closing the year with 14.2 million Goozex points exchanged among its members. Goozex points are used as a virtual currency to acquire games for all major platforms by members. On January 1, 2007, the company recorded 12,200 titles offered in the system’s library. The size of the library increased 605% over the year closing with 86,000 games.

Below are the top 10 Goozex trading lists for 2007.

Top 10 Most Traded Games on Goozex in 2007:
Gears of War – Xbox 360
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – Wii
God of War – PS2
Halo 2 – Xbox
Bioshock - Xbox 360
Dead Rising - Xbox 360
Super Paper Mario – Wii
Crackdown - Xbox 360
New Super Mario Bros. – Nintendo DS
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Xbox 360

Top 10 Most Requested Games on Goozex in 2007:
Assassin’s Creed - Xbox 360
Gears of War - Xbox 360
The Orange Box - Xbox 360
Bioshock - Xbox 360
Super Paper Mario – Wii
Mass Effect - Xbox 360
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Xbox 360
Dead Rising - Xbox 360
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – Wii
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption – Wii

Top 10 Most Offered Games on Goozex in 2007:
Gears of War - Xbox 360
Crackdown - Xbox 360
Bioshock - Xbox 360
Dead Rising - Xbox 360
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter - Xbox 360
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas - Xbox 360
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – Wii
Halo 2 – Xbox
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Xbox 360
Saints Row - Xbox 360

Goozex offers a weekly RSS feed of the top 10 categories that can be found here:
http://www.goozex.com/trading/asp/top10list-games.asp

PT Boats: Knights of the Sea PC Updates

Latest news on PT Boats: Knights of the Sea development! Take to the high seas with us to find out more re what is new about Akella’s naval action sim.

Committed to keeping historical accuracy, game devs have introduced one more unit to the British navy – a legendary Fairmile D motor torpedo boat. It’s one of the largest and heavily armed boats in the world. It is fitted out with 4 torpedoes, 2 single 40-mm cannons, 2 twin 12,7-mm machine guns, 1 single 20-mm cannon, and depth charges.

The interfaces of the first-person view and tactical mode have been re-designed to better convey the battle experience on the open sea in the WWII. As you switch between modes, you reveal more new features. In the first-person view, you can see a fire control center available on board the boats and submarines. Targeting and selection of weapons are made through appropriate scopes (artillery, torpedo, and periscope).

The interface of the tactical mode has become easier and more good-looking; we’ve added keys/indicators that allow the gamer to repair separate vessel sections while staying at sea.

Please view illustrations of these new features in place in the game gallery. For more information about the game, please, visit the official website www.pt-boats.net.

About PT Boats: Knights of the Sea

PT Boats: Knights of the Sea

Genre: naval action simulator

Platform: PC

Developer and publisher: Akella

Release date: Q2 2008

The seas can be dangerous, but when you're in command of a crack strike boat crew, you might just be the most dangerous thing out there...

Join up to the Russian, German or Allied navies and prove your worth out these on the open water. Control every aspect of your boat's defensive and offensive, from the anti-aircraft guns hobbling your enemy's air superiority to the torpedo strapped to the sides to sink destroyers of merchant vessels.

Combining advanced strategic and action modes you can plan the intricacies of your attack and then lead your crew from the front and right in the battle. As you advance in rank throughout the long campaign you will gain access to new boats and even warships for you to command. Build up your crew in single player then go online and join your friends manning your own boat and challenge others in a battle to the death.

Key features:

• Innovative combination of sim, strategy and tactical action.
• Control the entire crew or take your place at an individual station.
• DirectX 9 as well as DirectX 10 options.
• Proprietary graphics engine, with advanced physics and post-processing effects
  

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMING SERIES ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN SCHEDULE FOR SECOND SEASON

Fresh from the unprecedented success of its inaugural 2007 season, Championship Gaming Series® (CGS), the only worldwide professional video gaming league, today officially announced its schedule of events for the 2008 North American season.

The commencement of the second season builds on the immense foundation laid last year, when CGS drafted 18 teams located on five continents, established an unprecedented player compensation, made high-definition broadcasts available to more than 350 million viewers worldwide, and crowned the Chicago Chimera team as the first-ever CGS World Champions at the $1 million World Final in Los Angeles. CGS has redefined professional gaming and transformed it into a modern sport for the digital age.

In North America, the 2008 season will get underway March 7-9 at the South by Southwest ScreenBurn Arcade in Austin, Texas. The CGS North American Combine and Draft will feature the best gamers from the United States and Canada vying to distinguish themselves for a spot on one of six teams: Los Angeles Complexity, New York 3D, Chicago Chimera, Carolina Core, San Francisco Optx, and Dallas Venom.

The CGS North American Combine is modeled after the same dynamic competition structure used by other professional sports leagues. Gamers compete in tournaments and special challenge matches issued by GMs. Players will also be subjected to the proprietary CGS H2i hand-eye coordination testing system which measures their raw gaming ability. North American GMs will then draft players to join their teams as pro athletes who will receive professional player contracts for the 2008 season.

“Last year, CGS revolutionized competitive gaming by launching the only worldwide professional gaming league and creating groundbreaking television programming distributed to a worldwide audience,” said CGS Commissioner Andy Reif. “This year CGS will continue to build on this momentum with plans to further expand our television distribution and also amplify our online initiatives to give our fans even greater access to the league.”

Following the North American Combine and Draft in Austin, the six teams will commence their competition in April and continue until mid July. Live coverage of the 2008 North American regular season will kick off on DIRECTV’s The 101 on June 23 and continue until the North American Final on July 14, 2008 where the top team will claim the title of North American Champion and take home the coveted Dew Trophy.

“When we announced the launch of CGS two years ago DIRECTV made a commitment to bring the phenomenon of competitive gaming viewership to a critical mass, and from the astounding results of the 2007 season, we believe we are on our way to achieving that goal,” said Steven Roberts, senior vice president, New Media and Business Development, DIRECTV, Inc.
“The television audience from the World Final has truly exceeded our expectations and proves that CGS is popular programming that attracts more than just core gamers, especially in the key male demographic of 18-34 yrs. We are proud to be a part of history in the making and we can’t wait to see what the 2008 CGS season brings us.”

In the coming weeks, details will be announced regarding CGS’ international schedule, the World Final, official Draft rules for each region and the official slate of the league’s 2008 Games.
CGS events are broadcast to more than 350 million viewers by DIRECTV’s The 101 in the U.S., BSkyB’s Sky One, Sky Two and Sky HD in the UK, ESPN STAR Sports in Asia, Sky in Brazil and Mexico, and DIRECTV throughout the remainder of Latin America, and across Continental Europe via broadcast partners which will be announced shortly.

For more information, please go to thecgs.com.

About Championship Gaming Series
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, the Championship Gaming Series™ (CGS) is the only worldwide professional video gaming league. Launched in 2007, and a joint venture among BSkyB, DIRECTV and STAR, CGS features teams of the world's best gamers from North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The league distributes entertainment content to more than 350,000,000 viewers worldwide via DIRECTV in North America and Latin America, BSkyB in the UK, and STAR in Asia and Australia. CGS sponsors include Mountain Dew, Dell XPS, Xbox 360 and Creative.