Creatures Exclusively For Nintendo Wii

THQ Announces Deadly CreaturesTM Exclusively For Nintendo Wii

Action Thriller Pits Players Against a World of Creeping Terror

THQ today announced Deadly Creatures, an original action thriller title coming exclusively to the Nintendo Wii console in 2008. Developed internally by THQ’s critically acclaimed Rainbow Studios, Deadly Creatures throws players into a venomous world of desert terror, where the greatest victory is survival. Players will follow the entwined adventures of an armored scorpion and a stealthy tarantula as they struggle against a variety of creatures including vicious Gila monsters, tarantula wasps, black widows, and the most dangerous predator of all – Man. Deadly Creatures takes full advantage of the Wii’s unique motion-based control scheme and allows players to fully experience every pounce and tail sting.

“Deadly Creatures is an amazingly innovative game concept, and exemplifies THQ’s commitment to creating original new IP for the Nintendo Wii platform,” said Randy Shoemaker, director of global brand management, THQ. “With Deadly Creatures, we are raising the bar for all 3rd party Wii titles, and focusing on deep, compelling gameplay for a largely untapped audience of Wii gamers.”

"Deadly Creatures is a creepy, cinematic thrill ride, where the distinction between predator and prey can shift around every corner," said Nick Wlodyka, executive producer and general manager, Rainbow Studios. "With brutal motion-controlled combat, a dark compelling story and some of the best visuals to date on the Wii, we are excited to bring Deadly Creatures to a large core Wii audience that hungers for a new experience.”

About Deadly Creatures

Deadly Creatures is a 3rd person action thriller set amidst a desert world of venomous terror, built exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. Players will control an armored Scorpion and a deadly Tarantula as they fight for survival against Gila monsters, lizards, black widows and many more terrifying creatures. Featuring intuitive motion controls and a deep combo-based combat system, Deadly Creatures is a thrilling mix of brutal creature-crushing action and suspenseful exploration of vast 360 degree desert and man-made environments. Gamers will explore this darkly compelling story through the eyes of two of the world’s most deadly creatures.

Death Jr. : Root Of Evil for Nintendo Wii

Eidos Interactive announce Death Jr. : Root Of Evil

Eidos Interactive Ltd., one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, has confirmed that Death Jr.: Root of Evil, a spine-tingling, humorous platform shooter from developer Backbone Entertainment, will be released on Nintendo Wii in summer 2008.

Take on the role of the Grim Reaper’s teenage son, Death Jr., as he and his friend Pandora, whilst arguing over a cocoon they’ve collected for a school biology project, accidently release an evil and powerful spirit called Furi. In order to stop Furi and her hordes of nasty minions, Death Jr. and Pandora must team up with their wacky group of friends and fight their way across a series of crazy, fun-filled locations.

“Death Jr.: Root of Evil is a compelling and action-packed game experience coupled with lots of humour as gamers play as the Grim Reaper’s misfortunate teenage son,” said Ray Livingston, Brand Manager at Eidos. “Played solo or together with a friend, Death Jr.: Root of Evil is a great addition to your Wii collection if you enjoy fun-filled, challenging platform games.”

Play as Death Jr. or Pandora or choose to play cooperatively with a friend using both characters. Battle your way through 19 levels, fighting over 60 unique enemies and bosses in a seamless blend of 3D platforming and intense shoot 'em up action. Use Death Jr’s famed scythe and Pandora’s whip, as well lots of cool upgradeable weapons including everything from twin pistols to C4 Hamsters! Unlock new exciting moves and combos and learn to perform them to great effect using the Wii Remote.

Death Jr.: Root of Evil is set for release in summer 2008 on Nintendo Wii.

WOW - Announces New Global World Of Warcraft Arena Tournament Format

Blizzard Entertainment Announces New Global World Of Warcraft Arena Tournament Format

2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournaments to feature competition on dedicated regional tournament realms and more than $200,000 in cash prizes

PARIS, France. – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans to launch a new type of tournament competition using the Arena System in World of Warcraft®, its popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The tournaments will take place on special realms that allow competitors to instantly create level-70 characters with epic equipment, placing the focus on tactics and execution rather than normal adventuring.

“eSports is one of the most exciting facets of online gaming today,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re pleased to expand World of Warcraft’s tournament options for players who want to focus mainly on the competitive aspect of the game.”

The tournaments are scheduled to start in April with two rounds of online qualifiers in Europe, South Korea, North America, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Each qualifier round will have a per-competitor entry fee - 15€/£12 in Europe; 20,000 won in South Korea; $20 in North America; and NT$450 in the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau - and will run for six weeks. During this time, teams will play 3-vs.-3 matches on the tournament realm in their region, with the top four teams from each round advancing to the regional finals to compete for more than $27,000 in cash prizes. Winners from each region will then be invited to a global championship event to compete for $120,000 in cash prizes, including a $75,000 grand prize.

Stay tuned to www.wow-europe.com for further tournament details.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Video Game from Disney interactive

Return To Narnia

Disney Interactive Studios Announces Details of Disney/Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Video Game

Those who long to spend their days in Narnia will be able to revisit as old heroes return 1,300 years later and a new hero must rise. Disney/Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian video game will be released to retail stores on the 20th June in time for the film’s 27th June 2008 release date, Disney Interactive Studios announced today.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian video game will be available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, the Wii system, PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo DS™ and Windows-based PC.

Developed by Traveller’s Tales, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian for home consoles and Windows-based PC takes players throughout Narnia and includes a level, which is unique from both the novel and the film. The level, which is set between the events of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” and “Prince Caspian,” takes place at the castle of Cair Paravel and tells the story of how Narnia fell to the Telmarine hordes. In “Prince Caspian,” Cair Paravel is seen only as abandoned ruins the Pevensies discover hundreds of years later.

The action/adventure game offers gameplay for one or two players on the same system and drop-in/drop-out features, allowing either player to join the game and leave. With combat, exploration and puzzle solving that extends beyond the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the ideal complement to the movie-going experience. The game features more than 20 playable characters including the ability to play as Prince Caspian. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game is the sequel to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe for consoles, which received the prestigious IGN.com Editor’s Choice Award.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian game is an epic adventure that provides memorable experiences as it takes players throughout the familiar areas of Narnia from the second film,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “Fans of the films and books will re-live the excitement, the battles and the memorable characters while going beyond the events of the film.”

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian for Nintendo DS will be a completely new gaming experience from the console and PC versions and is being developed to take advantage of unique DS functionality. This action-oriented, turn-based RPG game will let players explore the land of Narnia controlling more than 10 different characters. The game’s RPG and puzzle gameplay includes other exciting features such as, touch screen gesture controlled attacks, activating the DS microphone to sound the game’s horn during battles, as well as an option to turn the DS on its side for storybook narratives. Prince Caspian for the Nintendo DS is being developed by Fall Line Studio, the Nintendo platform-dedicated development studio of Disney Interactive Studios.

About “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” film
The enchanted characters of C.S. Lewis’s timeless fantasy come to life again in this second installment of the seven book series, in which the Pevensie siblings are magically and mysteriously transported back from England to Narnia, where a thrilling, perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage awaits them.

Goin' Downtown PC video game

Goin' Downtown

ABOUT THE GAME

The City is alive! Goin´ Downtown takes you to a futuristic metropolis to take up the challenge of an exciting point & click adventure. You are the charismatic hero Jake who earns his living as a mediocre and frustrated cop in the year 2072. One morning, when walking through his neighbourhood, he stumbles across an unconscious woman. An exceedingly attractive woman who unfortunately has lost her memory as Jake notices when he clumsily wakes her up. This is the beginning of an adventure with Cathy in which Jake discovers that he can be a real hero and that true love can save lives. A story with many twists and turns, a main character to strongly identify with, sophisticated yet consistently logical puzzles, a simple user interface and highly detailed graphics make Goin´ Downtown the definite adventure highlight of the year.

FEATURES
• Thrilling story with black humour and fascinating characters
• Real-time lighting effects for locations and characters
• Logical puzzle design
• More than 40 locations and more than 30 characters
• Atmospheric soundtrack and congenial voice acting
• Easy point & click control

USPs
• Gripping top-notch sci-fi psycho-thriller
• Movie-like story
• Revolutionary puzzle system for newbies and pros
• Developed by the makers of “Simon the Sorcerer - Chaos Happens” and “Everlight”

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Minimal: Windows® XP/Vista, Pentium 4 CPU
with 2,0 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 2 GB available
hard-disk space, 64 MB DirectX®9.0c compatible
graphics card, DirectX® compatible
sound card
Recommended: Windows® XP/Vista, Pentium
4 CPU with 2,5 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 4 GB
available hard-disk space, 128 MB
DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card,
DirectX compatible sound card

Nintedno DS Lunar Genesis £5.50 inc delivery at Play.com save over £24

Lunar Genesis
£5.50 Free Delivery
RRP: £29.99 | You save: £24.49 (81%)
In stock. | Usually dispatched within 24 hours.
Link to Play.com

Set in an expansive fantasy universe and beautifully presented in a rich, vibrant visual style, the world of Lunar has seen a number of versions across several formats, spanning 14 years and three generations of hardware. Set a thousand years before previous storylines, Lunar Genesis tells the tale of a band of young adventurers performing courier jobs who stumble into a battle between the forces of good and evil. This battle threatens to consume the entire land and sets the stage for over 70 hours of handheld RPG adventuring.

With all of the standard features associated with a traditional Japanese RPG, Lunar Genesis is adapted perfectly to take advantage of the benefits afforded by the Nintendo DS hardware. All aspects of player interaction, from movement around the game environments to map and menu navigation can be controlled via the touch-screen. Both displays are employed throughout the game to make sure the player has access to all the information they need. The dual screens are also fundamental to the battle system, with airborne enemies occupying the upper screen and traditional ground-based troops on the bottom. Even the microphone is used, as blowing on it during a fight acts as a 'panic button'.

Perhaps the most exciting feature for series fans and newcomers alike is the inclusion of the Coliseum mode, a wireless multiplayer battle where scratch cards earned during the singleplayer quest can be used to take on other players. The participants literally scratch off squares on the touch-screen, the outcome of which dictates the flow of combat. The winner gets to keep the loser's card for use in further Coliseum battles or to aid them in their singleplayer questing.

• Exclusively on Nintendo DS - Lunar: Dragon Song, the first original game in the Lunar series in 10 years, will only be available on Nintendo DS.
  
• New Light & Dark enemy system - Players must battle the forces of evil by transforming Dark enemy creatures into Beings of Light.
  
• New characters - Five new main characters debut in the Lunar universe: Jian, Gabryel, Lucia, Flora and Rufus.
  
• New Battle Card system - Find different Battle Cards during your quest to alter the abilities and powers of members in your party.
  
• New weapons and items - Lunar: Dragon Song features all-new items and weapons never seen before in any Lunar title.
  
• Wireless LAN connectivity - By connecting via wireless LAN, players can share rare and unique items within the Lunar world.
  
• DS microphone support - Players can command situations by giving orders into the DS microphone.

Codemasters announces launch of hot new Overlord content, now available for Xbox 360

Go to hell as Codemasters announces launch of hot new Overlord content, now available for Xbox 360.

Single-player, multi-player and split-screen downloadable packs now available for Overlord on Xbox 360.

Heralding the return of the Overlord and his Minion horde, Codemasters today announced the launch of new downloadable content packs for Overlord™, including the game's single-player expansion Overlord: Raising Hell.

The new content is now available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and comprises of one free and two premium download packs; the premium packs are available for 800 and 400 Microsoft Points respectively.

Downloadable Content Pack Details:

OVERLORD: RAISING HELL

• Devilishly good single-player expansion pack.
• Includes new Abyss levels and Dungeon Challenges.
• Premium pack: 800 Microsoft Points from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Go deeper into the Overlord's twisted world as this single-player expansion pack opens a series of hellish new levels, each a supernatural abyss for the game's five domains: Mellow Hills, Evernight, Heaven's Peak, the Golden Halls and the Ruborian Desert.

Access to each abyss is via a portal, which opens once a kingdom has been successfully conquered and the previous ruler banished to a personal hell within. However it's not just the fallen heroes that have been dragged into the abyss: the Overlord's newly loyal peasants have also been taken down into hell too.

With the undead denizens of each abyss on the attack and threatening the Overlord's reign above ground, there's only one thing for it: assemble a Minion army, descend into each abyss and embark on a fresh wave of tyranny in order to return the serfs to their homelands, defeat the fallen heroes once and for all, and claim the throne of the underworld.

OVERLORD: CHALLENGE PACK

• Seven all-new multiplayer maps, including "Capture the Maiden".
• Deviously difficult Legendary Single Player Mode.
• Premium pack: 400 Microsoft Points from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Come and have a go if your Overlord's hard enough. All new pillaging fun with seven additional online multiplayer maps, including the competitive 'Capture the Maiden' map and 'Protect Your Power', where players must defend the Overlord's tower against waves of enemy attack.

Putting the Minions through their toughest workout, the Challenge pack also introduces a 'Legendary' difficulty mode, which challenges players to achieve Legendary status by using their most aggressive Minion managing skills to complete the single-player game under exceptional bad-ass circumstances.

OVERLORD: SPLIT-SCREEN MULTIPLAYER PACK

• FREE downloadable multiplayer content pack for Xbox 360.
• Enables split screen play on all existing multiplayer maps.
• Plus adds a hot new 'Rocky Race' multiplayer map

This free content download enables players to go head to head on all of the game's original multiplayer maps in a new split screen mode. The update also introduces a new multiplayer map, Rocky Race, which sees a pair of Overlords working cooperatively to survive the onslaught of an arch rock giant on the rampage.

All content packs are now available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 and require players to have a full copy of Overlord in order to experience the additional content.

The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure

"The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure" Goes Gold

Ghostly things come to those who wait as anticipated suspense-adventure game for the PC is finally ready for its North American retail debut next month

Channeling the tingling excitement of sighting an approaching apparition after a long night’s ghost-hunt, Got Game Entertainment today announced that “The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure” has gone gold. Now set to haunt North American retail shelves this March, “The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure” finds ghost-hunters Nigel Danvers and Lucy Reubans in search of hidden treasures, and answers to an ancient mystery, along England’s fog-shrouded coastline. Created by Jonathan Boakes and his Darkling Room team, this hair-raising suspense-adventure game for the PC will make its retail debut at $29.99 (USD).

“We know it’s been a long wait for adventure fans, but care and precision are hallmarks of all Jonathan Boakes projects, and that often time-consuming attention to detail will certainly be seen in ‘The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure’,” said Got Game Entertainment President Howard Horowitz.

Bringing a frightening ghost story to spine-tingling life, “The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure” features actual E.V.P. (Electronic Voice Phenomena), photographs of unexplained entities captured by creator Jonathan Boakes while researching the game, and a bone-chilling original soundtrack. In a cinematic, richly detailed world filled with taunting town “locals” and mind-bending puzzles, players will be armed with the tools of the modern-day ghost-hunter to investigate local legends and discover long-lost secrets, previously known only to the dead.

For more information, visit www.TheLostCrown.com.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements, powered by Omegame Menus Master, hits the stores today.

Developed using the complete User Interface authoring tool Menus Master, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements hits the stores today.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements, created exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, allows gamers to experience brutal combats in a dark atmosphere, using the highly detailed interactive environment as a weapon to outsmart the most fiendish monsters.

Ubisoft Annecy’s Tool Programmer Yannick Gerber sees their decision to use Menus Master as a key to his team’s ability to make sure the user interface in the game would meet their expectations.

“One of the best things about licensing Menus Master is that it enabled our User Interface team to work serenely, knowing they could quickly prototype numerous user interfaces, pick the best, , upgrade it until obtaining a cutting edge user interface, and would still be able to make last minute changes” said Yannick Gerber.

Menus Master helps artists and programmers to dramatically reduce the time it takes to author any sophisticated game user interfaces: 2D and 3D front-ends, in-game UIs and heads-up displays (HUD).

“Another great feature of Menus Master is the flexible editor; it allowed us to prototype fully functional user interfaces and modify their visuals and animations at will, without having to change anything in the code... The artists didn’t need any programmer’s assistance, or any complicated conversion systems to test the user interface” said Yannick Gerber.

Menus Master has a fully open architecture, based on drivers. Any kind of custom technologies or 3rd-party middleware can be used with Menus Master.

“One of the greatest features of Menus Master is its open architecture, based on a driver system” explains Yannick Gerber, “this brilliant idea completely changed the way we create our user interface; it allowed us to start authoring the user interface without a running engine; we simply plugged our work into the game afterwards, when the engine was all set. And the integration of the User Interface into our engine was very easy; it took less than two days”.

Said Yannick Gerber, “this driver system also allowed us to control the rendering ourselves, and to share game and UI assets very easily, not only graphic resources, but also localization data, sounds etc, with the technologies we wanted to use, and, most important, all this was made with very good performances and small footprints”.

“Last but not least, it won’t be fair not to mention the quality of the support provided by Omegame’s team” said Yannick Gerber “they have been by our side during the entire project and very prompt answering our questions or to develop some features we needed”.

“Dark Messiah of Might and Magic™ is the first title on the shelves using Menus Master, and we are very proud the talented Ubisoft Annecy’s team shows so much enthusiasm for our technology” said Sébastien Kohn, Associate Managing Director for Omegame, “it shows Menus Master perfectly meets the needs of a very demanding video game developer’s team”.

Activision Announces Vigilante 8: Arcade for Xbox Live

Activision Announces Vigilante 8: Arcade for Xbox Live Arcade

Activision, announced today the next installment in the classic vehicular-combat franchise Vigilante 8®, Vigilante 8: Arcade for Xbox LIVE Arcade. Licensed and developed by Isopod Labs, Vigilante 8: Arcade is an all new remake of the original game, featuring online play with up to eight players and a host of new content, taking full advantage of next-generation technologies.

The title is scheduled for release via download on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 this spring and has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

For more information and exclusive updates on Vigilante 8: Arcade, please visit www.v8arcade.com.

About Isopod Labs

Founded by Peter Morawiec and Adrian Stephens in January 2007, Isopod Labs, LLC is a new R&D studio aiming to deliver innovative games and software via online downloads and traditional distribution channels, for console, PC, and handheld platforms. Along with Cary Hara, the trio represents the core developers behind the original Vigilante 8 series of games.