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.

TrackMania on Nintendo DS New Video

TrackMania on Nintendo DS...It's Official! New Video Available Now!

We are pleased to announce with this first teaser video that TrackMania will officially be released in Q4 2008 on Nintendo DSTM!

TrackMania, the much-loved series of racing games focusing on fun and frantic racing, now makes its stunning debut on the Nintendo DS. Far from a hardcore driving simulation, TrackMania is based on the fun and spectacular aspects of racing. With TrackMania DS, you drive at mind-blowing speeds on incredible tracks made of jumps, loops, turbo boost pads and many other crazy design elements. Just like the renowned PC version, TrackMania DS will offer an amazing track editor that will let you create your own unique and exciting tracks from hundreds of different design blocks, giving the game near-infinite replay

Watch the TrackMania DS trailer (streaming)
http://www.tm-united.com/player/

The official Web site -
http://www.trackmania.com

TrackMania DS has been in development for several months by the English studio Firebrand, known for their previous work on titles such as Race Driver: Create & Race for the Nintendo DS.

"We are very happy with this partnership with Firebrand," said Cédric Lagarrigue, CEO of Focus Home Interactive, "Their technology and background guarantee TrackMania DS will be a solid adaptation of the PC game, while also making the most of unique features of the DS. The fact that some members of the Firebrand team are true TrackMania fans definitely convinced us to trust them, and the first results are spectacular. We believe that the Nintendo DS console is well-suited for more casual games than to realistic simulations, and TrackMania DS, with the fun it brings in solo as well as in multiplayer mode, along with its well-known track editor, should find itself quite a nice place on Nintendo's handheld."

THE WORLD ENDS on Nintendo DS due April 22nd

THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU to Hit Store Shelves on April 22, 2008

SQUARE ENIX TO LAUNCH REVOLUTIONARY MODERN ACTION-RPG ON NINTENDO DSTM

Los Angeles (Feb. 14, 2008) Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix™ interactive entertainment products in North America, revealed today that it will launch its highly anticipated new action-RPG, THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU™, on April 22, 2008. Coming exclusively to the Nintendo DS, the creators of FINAL FANTASY® and KINGDOM HEARTS bring a vibrant and stylish world to a new generation of gamers.

Featuring an intuitive combat system, THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU is an immersive and innovative adventure set in modern-day Tokyo. The award-winning development team of Square Enix and Jupiter brings its unique vision of the streets of Shibuya, the city’s trendiest youth culture center. Originally released in Japan as Subarashiki Kono Sekai™, the game takes major influences from Japan’s latest cultural trends including music, fashion, food and design.

John Yamamoto, president and CEO of Square Enix, Inc., stated that, “THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU is a cutting-edge, fast-paced adventure that takes full advantage of Nintendo DS functionality. Square Enix is excited to bring an RPG set in modern times and real-life locations to gamers of all ages and abilities.”

STORY
The story begins as Neku Sakuraba, an unsociable 15-year-old boy, unexpectedly wakes up in the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan. While trying to piece together his rude awakening, he receives a strange text message warning him that he will cease to exist unless he accomplishes a certain mission. Although he barely has time to grasp what is happening to him, he commences his assigned task in the mysterious streets of Shibuya.
FEATURES Distinctive modern art style created by a team of artists led by Tetsuya Nomura, world-renowned character designer of the upcoming FABULA NOVA CRYSTALLIS™ project which includes FINAL FANTASY XIII and FINAL FANTASY Versus XIII™
Innovative Stride-Cross Battle System allows players to control two characters simultaneously, unleashing special attacks with the stylus
Collect a vast array of custom-designed pins, each with a powerful psychic ability that can be activated with the right touch or sound command
Customize characters with Shibuya’s coolest fashions and exchange items with other players via Mingle Mode
Experience an amazing soundtrack combining a fusion of musical influences from hip-hop to rock to electronica
Battle with up to three friends in Tin Pin Slammer, an exciting and fast-paced mini-game, via local wireless connection

THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU is rated T (Teen). Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board website at www.esrb.com for more information about ratings. THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU will be available at North American retailers for the suggested retail price of $39.99 (USD).

EVERQUEST ONLINE ADVENTURES CELEBRATES 5 YEARS WITH NEW CONTENT AND ADVENTURES

WHAT: Scheduled to begin Thursday, February 14, EverQuest® Online Adventures™ (EQOA ) will celebrate its 5th anniversary with a game update that brings new adventures and storylines to EQOA’s thriving community. Players will see the continuation of the Khalimet and Broken Blade storylines and the ongoing turmoil there, but the adventurers of Norrath will also make time to celebrate Valentine’s Day until February 17, 2008. Players are encouraged to seek out a GM, and a Valentine’s Day gift will be their reward.

Unlock the Mystery of the Broken Blade!
Many years ago, adventurers encountered Cave Hydra in the depths the caverns of Solusek’s Eye. After a long battle with this mystical three-headed creature, the adventurers discovered that it was protecting a secret. The Hydra possessed a magical Broken Blade with an inscription that provided little information as to the true destiny of this item. Hoping to decipher the words written on the blade, they sought out many races throughout Tunaria for translation. The translation is currently unraveling and unrest is taking over the land once again. For those with a keen ear and a sharp mind the mystery will lead to the discovery of a shocking change to the land of Tunaria.

Meet Khalimet!
The new Khalimet quest line introduces a new adventure that will unlock a path for players to choose. After having sent his harbingers to ready his arrival, Khalimet is starting his occupation of the various planes and Khalimet's campaign will change the face of the Zaoran Plateau forever.

Check out all latest enhancements!

WHEN: February 14, 2008

WHERE: EverQuestOnlineAdventures.com

WHO: About EverQuest Online Adventures
EverQuest Online Adventures is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), which allows PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system owners to experience an open-ended, persistent virtual world, filled with thousands of other players. It was the first of its kind available on the PlayStation 2 system in North America and utilizes the Network Adaptor to connect seamlessly to the Internet. The game carries a monthly subscription fee per person for continuing access and updates to the game world. Players can subscribe either by using a credit card, or by purchasing SOE Game Cards from various retail outlets. For more information, please visit www.everquestonlineadventures.com.

“PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment

When Others Celebrate Valentine's Day...

Forget about dinners at the pizzeria, pink gifts and all the other Valentine’s Day romantic clichés. For there are better things to do and not time to waste doing them.

Instead, mingle with the best of jet-setters and become the star you’ve always wanted in the most glamorous of cities, Miami.

In Miami Nights: Singles in the City, available across EMEA territories on 15th February. What will be your own path to fame and glory? Will you seduce? Will you cheat? Will you lie? Will you steal? The choice is yours: climb the stairs of success with respect and caution, or do only what is best for you and your own good.

Explore the city. Take part in exclusive parties. Dine in fancy restaurants. Flirt. Dance. Bath in champagne Jacuzzis and date your fans. Swim with the other sharks, and show the world that you too can bite!

The most open and entertaining life-simulation on Nintendo DS

Developed by Gameloft and adapted from the eponymous best-selling mobile game, Miami Nights: Singles in the City is an outstanding and original life-simulation for the Nintendo DSTM. Offering an unprecedented freedom of action, massive customization options, and longer multiple-goal scenarios, Miami Nights: Singles in the City truly provides a unique gaming experience.

•Progressive Character-Building. Your life choices and everyday behaviour will influence more than 40 attributes that will make you a unique, progressing individual! It is up to you to improve – or even lower – your levels of culture, sex appeal, charisma, kindness, and even criminality! Keep track of your style, health, popularity, humour, sex appeal, and personal hygiene.

•A complete city to explore. Do anything, anywhere, and with anyone! Explore the exciting city of Miami, from the sunny beaches and all-night parties to the luxurious hotel suites and fashionable clubs and restaurants.

•Extensive Customization. Create your character in your image, or go completely wild with the unbelievable level of modifiable physical details: over 200 ways of making your character look unique!
Innovative Touch-Based Minigames. Use the stylus to wash dishes, vacuum your house, massage your date, become a hot DJ, dance and much more!

•Wireless Multi-Card mode. Import avatars of all your friends’ and interact with them in the game. This Nintendo DS game makes use of the system’s portability and wireless capabilities, providing you with a game that you can play where and when you want, even with your friends!

Sierra Entertainment's Action-Strategy Opus World In Conflict Coming To Xbox 360 And PLAYSTATION 3 System In Fall 2008

Sierra Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, announced today that World in Conflict – the groundbreaking action-strategy game that claimed the coveted E3 2007 Game Critics “Best Strategy Game” award and topped many “Best of 2007” lists – will appear on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system this autumn.

World in Conflict, originally created by Sierra’s-own Massive Entertainment, is being redesigned for consoles and will also include a host of new content for both the single-player campaign and the game’s award-winning multiplayer mode. The new content will also be made available for personal computer as an add-on to the original World in Conflict game. More information on the PC release will be provided soon.

The World in Conflict game for Xbox 360 and the PLAYSTATION 3 system is being developed by Massive Entertainment in conjunction with Sierra’s-own Swordfish Studios.

“World in Conflict was one of the best games on any platform in 2007 and its innovative action-focused gameplay makes it a perfect fit for the transition to consoles,” said Martin Tremblay, president of worldwide studios, Sierra Entertainment. “World in Conflict is being reinvented for Xbox 360 and the PLAYSTATION 3 system, with innovative features and new single player and multiplayer content created for the console audience. World in Conflict on consoles will be an amazing extension of an already great gaming franchise.”

World in Conflict is a true genre-bender, effectively carving out an entirely new “Action-Strategy” category which appeals to all kinds of video game players, from action junkies through first-person-shooter enthusiasts to strategy purists.

The unique cross-genre design and universal appeal is what led global media to make World in Conflict the most critically lauded strategy game of 2007. The game collected a clean sweep of “Best Strategy Game” awards from E3 2007, countless “Editor’s Choice” awards from the world’s top reviewers, and was the clear choice for “Best Strategy Game of 2007” during the end-of-year awards season. In addition, the game received several additional “Best of 2007” awards and nominations in categories that included “Best PC Game,” “Best Graphics,” “Best Multiplayer,” “Most Innovative,” and more.

About World in Conflict

The World in Conflict game asks the terrifying question, what if the Cold War didn’t end? The award-winning game represents the next-generation of strategy titles, pitting Cold War-era superpowers against one another with completely destructible 3D battlefields and blistering visuals using DX10 technology. World in Conflict features an innovative gameplay mechanism that removes traditional resource-gathering and base-building in favor of non-stop combat, tactical decisions and FPS-like intense action. The game also features a deep single-player campaign that showcases Hollywood-quality storytelling of the Cold War gone hot.

World in Conflict for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system and personal computer is expected to be available at retail stores in North America in Fall 2008. For more information on the World in Conflict game, please visit www.worldinconflict.com.

Xbox LIVE Members Get a Virtual Front Seat at GDC

Xbox 360 enthusiasts everywhere can get VIP access to this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) from the comfort of their living room starting 20th February.

Microsoft is bringing GDC home to the more than 10 million Xbox LIVE members across the globe by allowing them to download breaking Xbox 360 news directly from the event to their TV. The free high-definition content will also include footage from the keynote address by John Schappert, Corporate Vice President LIVE, Software and Services for the Interactive Entertainment Business.

Schappert’s keynote address, “A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community,” will provide an exciting view into this year’s plans for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. His keynote address is scheduled from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on 20th February. Highlights of the keynote will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Additionally, footage will include never-before-seen gameplay, demos, screenshots, game trailers and interviews from the GDC show floor. These additions will enhance Xbox LIVE Marketplace’s growing library of premium entertainment, which already equals more than 3,600 hours of total downloadable content (HD and SD). Xbox LIVE Marketplace is the leading destination for downloadable HD movies and television content.

Don’t miss any of the surprises Microsoft has in store for its Xbox 360 fans by gathering everyone together in the living room to enjoy the GDC experience with GDC: Bringing It Home. To download GDC content, go to Xbox LIVE Marketplace or see the latest news at www.xbox.com/LIVE.

GDC will be held at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco from February 18-22, 2008.