KONAMI SHIPS SILENT HILL ORIGINS FOR Sony PlayStation 2

KONAMI SHIPS SILENT HILL ORIGINS FOR PlayStation 2 SYSTEM TO RETAIL STORES NATIONWIDE

Hit Survival Horror Video Game Makes Much Anticipated Evolution from Handheld to Console With Enhanced Graphics

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced Silent Hill Origins has shipped to retail stores in North America for the PlayStation 2 Computer Entertainment System. Now, console gamers can now enjoy the terror and fear-inducing chills of the PSP (PlayStationPortable) System game as well.

"Silent Hill Origins for the PlayStation 2 system gives console game lovers the same chilling, suspenseful and fear-filled experience that handheld gamers encountered with the release of Silent Hill Origins on the PSP system," said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "PlayStation 2 system gamers will get the chance to learn more about the mystery and mythos hinted at in earlier Silent Hill games."

Featuring enhanced visuals for the PlayStation 2 system, Silent Hill Origins tells the tale of Travis Grady, a lone truck driver making a routine delivery when he makes an unfortunate detour to the mysterious town of Silent Hill. Players must help Travis escape the city's horrific inhabitants and unravel the mystery of the strange hallucinations from Travis' past, visions that have plagued him since childhood.

Throughout the game, Travis can use his fists, his wits and an array of weapons including a meat cleaver, pool cue and sledgehammer to fight his way through the nightmarish world of Silent Hill and face more than one possible ending.

The PSP System game was one of the highest reviewed titles for the platform, receiving high praise from media outlets such as GamePro, GameZone.com, Hardcore Gamer Magazine and PLAY Magazine.

Silent Hill Origins is rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB and available for an SRP of $29.99. For more information, please visit www.konami.com.

Self-sufficient and realistic world of Heavy Duty gameplay video

New Heavy Duty Trailer

Self-sufficient and realistic world of Heavy Duty, detailed constructions and other elements of economics, and air battles in a new gameplay video.

Akella has prepped a new piece of Heavy Duty assets to unveil more secrets of the game development, its status and progress. A new gameplay trailer offers you a one-minute opportunity to plunge into this action strategy and participate in air interceptions.

In the works of Quant Games (the game development studio that was formed to focus on strategy games and includes key specialists that worked on Heavy Duty from the earliest stages of its development), Heavy Duty features a distant Earth colony attacked by aliens and defended by its chief military base. One of the stunning game peculiarities is the endless borders of its world, open to explore and navigate.

To get the Heavy Duty trailer please follow the link.

CRADLE OF ROME: GIVE FREE RAIN TO YOUR INNER EMPEROR

CRADLE OF ROME: GIVE FREE RAIN TO YOUR INNER EMPEROR

Have you ever dreamed of becoming an emperor? Just imagine: you bring your kingdom to the prosperous future, people make statues in your honor, and you become a living legend. Awem's Cradle of Rome gives you a unique opportunity to become the Emperor of the Roman Empire raising it from a small settlement to the immense state.

Awem Studio announces today Cradle of Rome v1.27, a new update for the popular and addictive casual game augmenting your enjoyment level.

Cradle of Rome is an unconventional mixture of a city building game and a major casual component set, as the title implies, at the dawn of the Roman Empire. Your job is to build up an elaborate Roman city from scratch by building forges, mills, fountains and other scores of buildings. When your city is big enough, you will be able to recreate the Coliseum with gladiators and even the Pantheon. All the construction work is subsidized by certain points you get after completing some intuitive and addictive puzzles. There are several types of points: silver, gold, iron, wood, flour and many others which are essential for building a thriving city.

The puzzles represent a field of multiple shapes, varying from level to level, that consists of squares with such items as wood, flour, silver, gold, etc. Your goal is to swap them, two at a time, in order to create horizontal or vertical rows of the same items. The more items in a row, the more points you get but the minimum is three. Matched items disappear causing those above to drop down and create other matches for extra points. Do not forget about water running out of the pitcher in the lower right corner of the game field, representing time elapse. Once the pitcher is empty, the game stops, and the player loses a life point. Various bonuses and gifts give additional energy to the game-play. To crown it all, if the citizens are satisfied with your work, they give you a special title. The highest one is Emperor.

Amplifying the fun experience are the fine graphics that enliven the city, the neat sound effects that dub clicking of the items and the explosions that go off as they vaporize, and the ancient-Roman backdrops that are set to change after each level.

The game is highly addictive and simple to play. If you come to have difficulty in matching, the game will give you a hint in a most unobtrusive way. Having completed a level, you'll have an opportunity to watch how life is going in your city by clicking an appropriate button.

Cradle of Rome is excellent for those who want to distract themselves from their routine and have their mind relieved of hard work.

Visit the website...

The Lord of the Rings Online at Connect '08 tickets available

Major announcement for The Lord of the Rings Online to take place at Connect '08

Codemasters Online and Turbine, Inc. team up for major announcement at the forthcoming Codemasters Online Connect Event
Codemasters Online and Turbine Inc announced today that they expect this year’s Connect event to be the staging area for a major announcement for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online commented “Connect is shaping up to be a great event with some massive news. We’re extremely pleased Turbine has agreed to make the trip out to Europe to share the major announcement we’ve lined up for The Lord of the Rings Online. I guarantee it is going to get the community buzzing”.

Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online, commented “We are very excited for Connect ‘08. We can’t think of a better place to make a big announcement regarding The Lord of the Rings Online than in Birmingham, the childhood home of J.R.R. Tolkien.”

Taking place on March 14th / 15th, Connect 2008 is Codemasters Online’s premier gaming event spanning all of Codemasters Online’s gaming titles including The Lord of the Rings Online™, ArchLord, RF Online, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach and much much more!

For more information or to sign up for tickets visit www.codemastersconnect.com

BATTLE THROUGH HISTORY IN NAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGNS NEW PC GAME DEMO AVAILABLE

BATTLE THROUGH HISTORY AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST RENOWNED LEADERS IN NAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGNS

BECOME NAPOLEON AND CONQUER EUROPE IN NEW PC GAME

Napoleon’s Campaigns is an engaging battle strategy game from Ascaron launching in April 2008. The player can take on the role of the famous historical leader, or any of his opposing enemies, in the legendary battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo.

Based on extensive historical records, the battle scenarios within Napoleon’s Campaigns aim to provide the player with a realistic experience. The game takes into account the political scenarios, geographical borders and even personal character traits of an opposing enemy.

Begin the game as Napoleon, commanding the French army in the battle of Austerlitz. Once Tsar Alexander I and his Russo-Austrian army have been defeated, further campaigns become available to play. Conquer the enemy in well known battles of the century, replicating Napoleon’s victories in Prussia (1806,) Russia (1807,) Austria (1812) and many others, before reaching the infamous battle of Waterloo (1815.)

The unique and exciting challenge in Napoleon’s Campaigns then lies in the opportunity for the player to change history. What if Napoleon had won at Waterloo? Enjoy a victorious triumph to re-write the history books, and achieve Napoleon’s biggest dream; invading England.

To play the demo of Napoleon’s Campaigns visit www.napoleons-campaigns.com

Fast facts:

Publisher: Ascaron Entertainment / Nobilis
Web: www.ascaron.com
Developer: AGEOD
Release date: 11th April 2008
PEGI: 3+
Format: PC
Genre: Battle Strategy

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War video game – Soulstorm shipped by THQ download demo available

THQ Ships Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm

Next Standalone Chapter in Award-Winning, Multi- Million Unit Selling Real Time Strategy Series Continues Epic War with Two New Races and All-New Interplanetary Strategic Campaign

THQ announced that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm, the next hybrid standalone expansion in Relic Entertainment’s critically acclaimed Dawn of War Real-Time Strategy (RTS) franchise, has shipped exclusively for Windows PC to retail outlets worldwide. Featuring an intense interplanetary campaign along with the debut of air units, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm delivers an immersive strategic experience with two new armies for an unprecedented total of nine playable factions. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm is now available for a suggested retail price of $39.99.

“As one of the best-selling RTS series, the Dawn of War franchise is renowned for its intense action oriented gameplay,” said Brad Carraway, director, global brand management, THQ. “As the next Dawn of War chapter, Soulstorm takes it to next level, offering RTS gamers an unprecedented depth of gameplay with nine playable armies and air units, and the ability to play Soulstorm by itself, or extend their multiplayer experience if played with any of the other games in the Dawn of War series.”

“In Dawn of War – Soulstorm, we’re giving fans an incredible amount of new content with two all-new races and an extensive campaign across an entire star system,” said Tarrnie Williams, general manager, Relic Entertainment. “With the debut of air units across all the armies and multiplayer achievements, we’ve given players of all levels a tremendous amount of strategic options to experience.”

About Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm is set in Games Workshop’s (LSE:GAW) Warhammer 40,000 universe – a dark, futuristic, fantasy setting where armies of technologically advanced warriors, fighting machines and hordes of implacable aliens wage constant war – and is played by millions worldwide. Executive produced and co-developed by Relic Entertainment in association with Iron Lore Entertainment, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm is a hybrid standalone expansion – enabling gamers to play Soulstorm by itself or expand their multiplayer experience when playing the game with any of the other titles in the Dawn of War series. Featuring two all-new armies – the malicious Dark Eldar and the fierce Sisters of Battle – Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm offers an unprecedented total of nine playable races through the single player experience or expanded multiplayer experience. In addition to new units across each of the seven existing races, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm will incorporate air units for the first time and introduce multiplayer medals, adding a whole new level of depth to online battles. The revolutionary meta-game introduced in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade is further expanded to an interplanetary scale in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm, allowing players to battle across an entire star system. A downloadable single player demo is now widely available on www.fileplanet.com and other sites worldwide.

Treasures of Ancient Cavern 1.01 – Can you solve the mystery of ancient cavern?

"Treasures of Ancient Cavern 1.01" – Can you solve the mystery of ancient cavern?

If you love casual games, those five-minute diversions you play for a quick break but somehow end up clicking away on for two hours, check out new "Treasures of Ancient Cavern" from DivoGames and you will discover plenty of head-scratching puzzles to enjoy!

DivoGames continues the recent spate of beautifully rendered games with a new title called “Treasures of Ancient Cavern”. In this tale of fantasy, adventure and ancient magic, players cross the equator and follow in the footsteps of the Incas to discover ancient artifacts and learn the magic of great Inca.

The goal of the game is to restore 18 Inca artifacts, which players can do by solving tricky puzzles as they travel through 90 increasingly challenging levels. Each level comes with a tile-matching puzzle. To finish the level, you must make matches over stone tiles. Unlike many other games, “Treasures of Ancient Cavern” lets you move the pieces in manner that doesn’t try to mimic how you would do this in a typical “swap-and-match” puzzle. With “Treasures of Ancient Cavern”, you click on and drag not a single tile but an entire strip of tiles to match three or more of the same kind. If the move doesn’t end in a match, the strip jumps back to its position.

The game lets you play against the clock in the timed mode or relax in the untimed mode and indulge yourself into unhurried puzzle solving fun. To add replayability to the game, the developers have added to “Treasures of Ancient Cavern” over 10 magic runes and power-ups.

Visually speaking, the game is a looker. Its visionary artistic
direction includes beautiful and lively backgrounds with palms slowly swaying in the breeze, clouds unhurriedly traveling in the evening sky and many other fine animation effects. Ambient, ethno-centric rhythms, weaving in the game, work well with the visuals and create the atmosphere for playing.

Key Features at a Glance:
• 90 levels in different locations to explore
• 18 ancient artifacts
• Unique magic runes and power-ups
• Amazing soundtrack

Pricing and Availability
“Treasures of Ancient Cavern 1.01” runs under Windows
98/ME/2000/XP/Vista. Additional information on the game, as well as its free evaluation copy is available from www.divogames.com.

Assassin's Creed on PC - video game launch Your Questions Answered...

Assassin's Creed PC

March 4th Q&A

1 The game is being released four months after the console versions. How did you use this extra development time ?

Based on the feedback we got after the release of the console versions, we decided to add even more variety by developing a total of 4 new investigation types (Archer assassination, rooftop race challenge, merchant stand destruction challenge and escort challenge). The archer assassination requires the player to assassinate the archers in a dedicated zone without being seen. In the rooftop race challenge, the player will meet an informer and will have a set amount of time to reach a second informer. In the merchant stand destruction, some merchants have ties to the assassination target and their activities must be stopped by Altaïr. Finally, in the escort challenge, the player needs to securely escort a fellow Assassin from point A to point B.

2 Will the game exploit DX 9 and DX10 ?

The game comes with both DX9 and DX10 executables. If you own a DX10 card running on a Vista system, the game will use the full capabilities of the board to optimize the performances of the 3D graphics. You'll be able to play the game at high resolutions with minimal impact on your framerate.

3 In your opinion, what is the average machine needed to play the game ?


Any dual-core machine running at 2.2GHz and over with a decent graphic card (such as a ATi HD2600 or a NVidia 8600) will give great performances.

Our minimum requirement is a Pentium D 2.4GHz or a AMD X2 Athlon 3800+, equipped with a Shader Model 3.0 card (ATi X1300 and better, NVidia 6600 and better).

4 AC has been perceived as a new milestone on consoles but pretty repetitive at times – did you try to tune this on the PC version ?


As mentioned in the first question, we included 4 new investigation missions to increase the variety so in total, we now have a total of 9 investigation missions. Also, you can now skip from one city to another without going through the kingdom once you visited every city.

5 How did you manage to adapt the gameplay to the PC and to the PC controls in particular ?


Even though we support the Xbox 360 controller just like the console version, the user can choose to play with the keyboard and mouse for a more direct control over the camera and access to the menus. There are 4 default keyboard and mouse configurations that can all be customized to the player's needs.

6 It’s been said quite a few times that the AI on guards and on the crowd was not always as “ideal” as promised : have you managed to, improve this on the PC version ?

We modified the reaction of guards in certain occasions. Blending when close to a dead body doesn’t work anymore; guards will spot you if you stay too close. Also, the reaction of the guards to stealth assassination is now based on the number of NPC around you making it more realistic. If there is no one around you, guards will spot you much faster and if the crowd is bigger, you won’t be spotted that fast.

7 How are the X360 achievements translated to the PC version ?

You can still collect flags and templars but there is no achievement in the PC version.

8 What is the game due to be released ?

The game will ship in the early days of April.

Disney Interactive Studios announces spring games for Nintendo DS up

Disney Interactive Studios announces spring campaign for Disney on the Go

Disney Interactive Studios today announced that selected titles within its range of handheld products entitled ‘Disney on the Go’ will move to a special promotion this April in the UK.

This is a welcome return of a popular promotion after the successful launch of Disney on the Go and a similar retail promotion in summer 2007.

Disney on the Go encompasses top quality handheld games from Disney Interactive Studios including Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Pirates of the Caribbean and Spectrobes.

Consumers can enjoy choosing from a product line-up which is continuously growing in breadth and includes something for all the family.

During the campaign, consumers who purchase a Disney on the Go game will be able to choose another game from the range for free.

This Disney on the Go promotion will commence on 4th April and end on the 11th May in UK stores.

There will be a wide range of retail, marketing and trade marketing activities to support Disney on the Go. Point of sale will be available in the form of counter top displays, FSDU’s, posters and wobblers. Trade marketing/marketing will include tagged national press, a 3 week TV campaign and a PR campaign targeting key national and regional press.

Matthew Castle, UK and Ireland Sales Director commented “Disney Interactive Studios have a fantastic catalogue of handheld titles; Disney on the Go’s buy one get one free offer provides amazing value to consumers who as well as choosing from an outstanding line up of games will now get double the Disney magic too”

The full line up of Nintendo DS titles for Disney on the Go:

• Herbie: Rescue Rally
• Disney’s Little Mermaid
• Meet the Robinsons
• Disney’s Kim Possible: Global Gemini
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Meteos: Disney Magic
• Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
• The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Circle of Spies
• Disney’s Enchanted
• Power Rangers: Super Legends
• Hannah Montana
• Spectrobes
  

Inno-Wear official Gears of Wars 2 licensee

Inno-Wear official Gears of Wars 2 licensee

An exclusive agreement for the most anticipated game of 2008

Inno-Wear A.G, European leader in textile and accessories under video game licenses, signs an exclusive Gears of Wars 2 licensing agreement with Epic Games. Gears of Wars 2 thus joins the widest catalogue in the industry, which encompasses over 50 licenses (Xbox, Resident Evil, Tomb raider, Devil May Cry, Unreal Tournament, Mario, Sonic, Guild Wars, Zelda,...).

"We are delighted that Epic has entrusted us with Gears of Wars,reinforcing our position as the leader in gaming licensing. Our challenge is now to develop unique end-of-the-year offers for our European distributors," declares Aurelien Palasse,development director at Inno-Wear.

The apocalyptic world of Marcus Fenix and his Delta Squad will be available through Inno-Wear's multiple brands in time for the official release of the game, scheduled for November 2008.