CITY OF HEROES: The Ultimate Heroic Weekend CITY OF HEROES

CITY OF HEROES: The Ultimate Heroic Weekend CITY OF HEROES: The Ultimate Heroic Weekend
Every Hero Is Invited to the Centre's Biggest Ever Gaming Weekender!

Omega Sektor and NCsoft Europe announce a special Easter Weekend Gaming Spectacular that you won’t want to miss! CITY OF HEROES: The Ultimate Heroic Weekend will run from 21st – 24th March and will include gaming, dancing, drinking and a chance to win exclusive goodies and meet some of the greatest heroes and villains around.

There will be non-stop activities running throughout the daytime across Saturday, Sunday and Monday with entry priced at £5 a day. In addition, hero wannabes are invited to special evening events on Friday and Saturday night, with entry tickets priced at £5 and £10 respectively.

The fun starts at 8pm on 21st March as Omega Sektor hosts a Heroes and Villains Masquerade Ball, where guests are invited to come along dressed as their favourite comic alter ego, and the best dressed will win a One Year Free Play Pass to be used at Omega Sektor. The party will run until midnight and include gaming challenges and tournaments, special drinks and music from the resident DJ. Members of the City of Heroes Community Team will be on hand to meet and greet players, and special guest Mellisa ‘WarWitch’ Bianco (game designer) will be flying in from the US to make the weekend an event to remember.

The weekend gets into full swing on Saturday 22nd when doors open at 10.00am with heroes and villains taking to the floor to meet the people posing for photos and signing autographs. Special guests include Ms Liberty and The Ghost Widow from the City of Heroes & City of Villains games. Money raised from selling the photographs will be donated to a special charity - the Draw the World Together Foundation whose artists will also be on hand to sketch players as their favourite comic characters. Activities will run until 24th March.

On Saturday night there will be a special Night Play session, where gamers are invited to play into to early hours. Tickets for any of the days’ events are available in advance from the Omega Sektor reception or via the ticket hotline 0121 200 8383. A limited number of tickets for all the events will also be available on the door.

For more details on this action packed weekend, visit http://uk.cityofheroes.com/news/article/3138/

New patch available for 'Penumbra: Black Plague' download link

New patch available for 'Penumbra: Black Plague'

Please find below a link where you can download a new patch for recently released ‘Penumbra: Black Plague’.

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=120

The patch includes new alternate solutions to puzzles increasing the re-playablity of the game.

The playable demo is still available and can be downloaded from the following site;

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/penumbrablackplague/download_6185668.html?tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=dltopslot

Key Features in Penumbra Black Plague

Cutting-edge game engine featuring modern 3D and physics technologies
Adapted motion blur effects and a new unified lighting system with real-time lightning create great depth with a realistic atmosphere of psychological horror.

Compelling and detailed story

Find the answers to questions of the mystery of Philip's lost father throughout the game, with new explanations and a complete storyline wrap up.

Highly interactive environments
Interact with any object not nailed to the ground! Focus on, pick up and move around objects through a simple drag and drop interface.

Environmental sounds system
The sounds of the different environments are contributing to the atmosphere and give the player scaring hints of dangers.

Puzzle solving challenges
Horror adventure game in puzzle-like style with bonuses and incentives to challenge the player throughout the game.

King's Bounty video game website goes live Get videos, pictures and more

King's Bounty Website goes live

Get videos, pictures and more as this classic franchise returns

Leading Eastern and Central European publisher 1C Company announced today that the hotly anticipated game King’s Bounty: The Legend’s website has gone live. Players can now find and download videos, images and artwork straight from the developers. The new web site also contains information about the game world, heroes and monsters.

King’s Bounty: The Legend is an adventure game with tactical turn-based battles and RPG elements unfolding in a rich fantasy world. The character and his army of companions travel across a huge continent, visiting dozens of different locations all connected to each other. Communicating with NPCs, collecting resources and recruiting an army the player will control their character in real-time mode, while all battles take place in classic turn-based mode with a strong emphasis on tactical elements.

Developed by faithful fans of the original King’s Bounty, King’s Bounty: The Legend continues the remarkable traditions of the legendary role-playing adventure. This creation of Katauri Interactive is not just a spiritual successor for the critically acclaimed series, but its true rejuvenation.

King’s Bounty: The Legend will be published by 1C Company and distributed in the United States by Atari and Nobilis in Europe. Please visit the new website and experience the magic at www.kings-bounty.com.

Heaves Out Dungeon Runners Content Update

NCsoft Heaves Out Dungeon Runners Content Update

NCsoft’s Dungeon Runners team is keeping things cool for its players by launching a new content update that provides some frosty surprises including snowmen, a new dungeon, new items and improvements to the waypoint system.

The content update, which is considered more of a “Heave” than a full-blown expansion “Chunk,” introduces a new dungeon called Balzack’s Burrow for player levels 55 and up. Balzack’s Burrow is loaded with loot, monsters and a final boss-battle that will require more than just mind-numbing violence in order to claim victory.

Chill Bill, a formidable snowman and the first NPC that players can summon in Dungeon Runners, is available at level 30 and can help players fight enemies. He has several specialized moves, such as the head butt, where Bill removes his head and bashes an opponent. Chill Bill is a low maintenance snowman that can be healed by hitting him with ice projectile spells.

Chill Bill also comes with several cool skills including “On the Rocks” which freezes Bill in a solid bock of ice, slowing down nearby enemies; “Snow Globe” which stuffs Chill Bill into a globe where he receives a major maximum health increase, and “Nippy Twigs” a skill buff which dramatically increases Bill’s attack damage and slows enemies.

Closing out wintertime for Dungeon Runners is a visit by Shivery the Incorrigible Snowman who is quickly melting in Townston, so his stay in the game will be short yet filled with bitterness. Shivery, who is a victim of dungeon warming, will provide players with a loot-filled quest, but not without delivering a few pleasantries such as “…your parents didn’t love you,” and “…you are adopted.”

Additionally, the Heave includes 51 new quests, two new fighter armor sets, new mythic items, a two-handed rifle for rangers and improvements to the user interface and the waypoints system.

“I think that Dungeon Runners players will find these new features, especially the snowmen as being pretty cool…literally,” said Stephen Nichols, Dungeon Runners’ producer. “We are always looking to create more ways for players to have fun while keeping the challenge compelling. Sometimes features can be a bit silly, but that is what makes Dungeon Runners so special.”

For more information, or to download and play the game for free, go to www.dungeonrunners.com.

Guaranteed video game fun or you get a refund

Aeria Guarantees Fun or Refund

The Aeria Games guarantee has started, players can check out one of Aeria’s premiere games, Last Chaos, worry free.

“Aeria Games loves the Last Chaos community and we want to show them we mean it we promise that Last Chaos is a fun game,” said Susan Revelt, senior producer of Last Chaos.

Last Chaos is one of Aeria’s most popular free-to-play massive multiplayer online (MMO) games. Players accomplish missions, learning crafting skills, rearing helpful pets and experiencing adventures with the help of Aeria’s popular Item Mall.

Players can purchase Aeria Points to obtain enhancements through the Item Mall for advanced game play. Aeria is offering players the choice of a 5,000 Aeria Point refund from March 4th to March 22nd for those who aren’t satisfied with the game.

Along with Aeria’s guarantee is the number of events scheduled in the month of March.

“This month we have a number of exciting events,” said Revelt. “Add to that our daily events and our special orientation classes for new players and we feel very confident in guaranteeing a fun filled month for every player no matter what their level or experience.”

Players must do the following to obtain their refund:

• Between March 4th and March 22nd players must register with their ingame account name. Registration is in this post on the forums: http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=86731
  
• If a player fails to have fun they will need to contact our billing department using the contact form here: http://www.aeriagames.com/contact
  
• When filling out the contact form the subject must be “Fun Month Rebate” and the category must also be “Fun Month Rebate”.
  
• The rebate request must be made between April 1st and April 10th.
  
• The refund is only for item mall purchases made with Aeria Points. Purchases made with Bonus Aeria Points are not eligible to be refunded.
  
• Maximum refund amount is 5000AP.
  

BMW M3 Challenge Study of advertising in Video games

In-game advertising performs better than traditional advertising:

JOGO Media demonstrates its success with the BMW M3 Challenge Study

A study commissioned by JOGO Media for the BMW M3 Challenge online racing game has proven just how well new, digital forms of advertising are accepted by consumers. With approximately 75% positive ratings and an improved brand image perception, the game is an outstanding example of what in-game advertising can offer in terms of image building.

In-game advertising is a strong alternative to traditional forms of advertising. This has been demonstrated by JOGO Media, the in-game advertising agency for the BMW M3 Challenge online racing game, through a study they initiated and conducted in February 2008. The auto racing simulation demands a high level of attention and emotional involvement of the player – ideal conditions for effectively reaching a target audience with advertising messages.

Market research firm, BuzzCapture, evaluated over 5000 entries on relevant online forums. Within the sample, 68% of the comments were positive, in particular concerning the graphics, game options and overall high quality of the “Challenge”. Moreover, a good 75% of participants made positive statements about BMW as the main sponsor. This included praise for BMW for being the first advertiser to bring a creative, free game of this kind to the market. BMW is pleased with the overwhelmingly positive response to the game and stated that it has exceeded their expectations. The game is now considered a success model within the industry of innovative advertising formats. Bilstein, a chassis manufacturer whose product is one of the options within the game’s setup, is very satisfied. “We especially liked the way Bilstein’s chassis was actively integrated into the game,” says Christof Prinz, Head of Marketing Services of Thyssen Krupp Bilstein Tuning. “This allowed our key message ‘Better handling with Bilstein’ to reach players’ minds without it being directly perceived as advertising.” The complete BuzzCapture report can be downloaded here: http://www.JOGOmedia.com/news/m3challenge.

Kazunori Yamauchi Creator of Gran Turismo talks

Kazunori Yamauchi

Corporate Executive, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., President of Polyphony Digital and Creator of Gran Turismo Franchise

Hometown – Kashiwa, Japan

Personal Cars – 2005 Ford GT, Honda S2000, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V, Porsche GT3, Nissan 350Z, Mercedes AMG SL55.

Since he was three years old, Kazunori Yamauchi has had a fascination with cars. It was not until he was 15 years old, when he began building the original concept for Gran Turismo. When reflecting back, Yamauchi states, “I feel very lucky to be able to create a driving game that can capture the emotion and true-feel of automobiles from around the world in unique and well-known locales.”

Since the inception of the Gran Turismo franchise, Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital have revolutionized the racing category as we know it today. His offerings provide the gamer with the most true-to-life driving simulation within the industry and a unique medium for automobile manufacturers to showcase their products. In Motor Trend Magazine’s February 2005, 2006 and 2007 issue, Yamauchi was selected among the top 50 most powerful people in the automotive industry. In the January 2006 issue of the UK’s popular Car Magazine, Yamauchi was selected as the most powerful man in the industry. Details Magazine included him in its “Top 40 under 40” feature. When commenting on Gran Turismo, Newsweek stated in its March 10, 2003 issue, “Games like GT3 are turning millions of couch potatoes into living-room racers…becoming the new virtual showroom and design studio for automakers.”

Through the Gran Turismo franchise, one can clearly see that Yamauchi is a great fan of cars and motorsports. Currently, Yamauchi owns a 2005 Ford GT, Honda S2000, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V, Porsche GT3, Nissan 350Z and a Mercedes AMG SL55. Often, one may find Yamauchi racing leisurely at the Twin Ring Motegi race track outside of Tokyo. The track at Motegi was also the testing ground for many of the cars featured in the Gran Turismo offerings.

In 1993, Yamauchi began his career in the game industry, the same year Sony Computer Entertainment was established. At that time, Yamauchi’s role was to create games for the new PlayStation® game console, to be released in Japan the following year. Since 1993, Yamauchi has created Motortoon Grand Prix (one of the Japanese PlayStation launch titles in 1994), Motortoon Grand Prix 2 (1996), Gran Turismo (1997), Omega Boost (1999), Gran Turismo 2 (1999), Gran Turismo 3 (2001) Gran Turismo Concept (Japanese/European release), Gran Turismo 4 Prologue (Japanese/European release), Gran Turismo 4 (2005), Tourist Trophy (2006), Gran Turismo HD Concept (2006).

Growing up in the city of Kashiwa, Japan in Chiba prefecture, Yamauchi was a role model school boy who dreamed of becoming an astronaut. At the time, he was interested in the motion picture industry and in Junior High School, he established a movie production group, making one film a year. At one point, he wished he could create a movie like Star Wars. Yamauchi adds that Japan’s gaming industry is similar to Hollywood in the film industry.

As Yamauchi proceeded to High School, he explains that he was no longer the “cream of the crop”. In his years at University School, Yamauchi built his skills in graphic design, participating in part time jobs in preparing presentation materials for car manufacturers.

Nearly 10 years ago, Yamauchi began the Gran Turismo franchise with four people. Today, he is President of Polyphony Digital, which is comprised of more than 70 members, encompassing programmers, designers, artists and more. Yamauchi’s main responsibility is for the core game design and balancing of concepts, however, he has an ongoing open forum for suggestions from his team members that often can result in game design plans. The name ‘Polyphony’ is meant to suggest a place for polyphonic people and for their voices to mix with one another. Currently, Yamauchi and team are now preparing for the upcoming release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for PLAYSTATION 3.

THQ to release All Star Cheer Squad for Nintendo Wii Balance Board

Officials from publisher THQ have announced a new Wii and Nintendo DS exclusive game named All Star Cheer Squad. Described as the first ever cheerleading video game, it is scheduled for release this autumn and marks THQ’s “first original property created specifically for girls”.

The game will follow a year in the life of a cheerleader as they learn new cheers, participate in practices and create their own routines to make the squad and eventually become captain. The Wii remote and nunchuck can be use to perform cheer and dance moves, with cheerleading choreography Tony G acting as chief consultant to the game.

The game will also make use of the Wii Balance Board controller, to be bundled with the forthcoming Wii Fit. The game will be the second third party game to make use of the peripheral after Namco Bandai’s We Ski, which has already proven successful in Japan and was recently confirmed for a Western release.

"With the explosive growth of the girls gaming market in recent years due to the continued success of Wii and DS, our ongoing goal is to stay at the cutting edge of that success by bringing a brand new property for this segment to these popular systems," said Jim Huntley, director of global brand management at THQ.

"We're thrilled to introduce All Star Cheer Squad to the industry as a triple-a title that will get players involved in the action of what it takes to be an all star as well as make up their own unique cheer routines."

Sega 'Very Happy' to be sixth biggest games publisher

Sega is quite content with its position as the sixth-biggest game publisher by revenue in the U.S., and is not at all interested in merging or being acquired by anyone at the moment, according to Simon Jeffrey, chief executive of the U.S. arm of Sega Sammy.

"There is plenty of room for smaller companies to be successful and profitable in this business. You don't have to be number one or number two. You can be number six very happily," said Jeffrey.

He is also understandably thrilled that Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Games sold a combined five million copies on Wii and DS, saying "I don't think we believed in our wildest dreams that it would sell five million units in just three months." To be honest, neither did we.

Source: WIRED Blog

iGames and Game Centers Launch New Tour of Competitive Gaming Events in Partnership with CEVO

Leading Game Center organization iGames, together with 17 of the nation’s leading Game Centers, today announced the creation of the Gamers Tour (www.gamerstour.com), a new series of eSports tournaments geared towards the amateur to semi-professional communities.

Featuring regional and national tournaments, along with a series of online competitions hosted by leading competitive gaming community CEVO (www.cevo.com), the Gamers Tour will showcase the best local gamers from around the US competing for cash and prizes on today’s most popular competitive titles, including Counter-Strike: 1.6 (PC) and Counter-Strike: Source (PC), along with additional games which will be announced shortly.

The Gamers Tour will be focused on complementing the events offered by other eSports event organizers. Many eSports tournament organizers hold high-profile events showcasing the world’s best professional gamers. The Gamers Tour will be focused on providing fun competitive local events for players of a broader range of skill, thereby serving the need for a LAN-based program for non-professionals on their way to competing at higher levels.

In total, more than 32 competitions are planned to take place throughout 2008, with more than $50,000.00 in cash and prizes in the balance. Regional tournaments will offer a set minimum of a $1,000 prize pool. All prizes will be awarded promptly to winning players for their efforts.

The events will take place at Game Centers with a proven history of operating the highest quality eSports events, including X3O Gaming Center in Maryland.

“We are proud to work with iGames and other leading game centers to build the Gamers Tour. Our 2008 Dust-Off Championship Series will be making gaming history for a second year in a row, being the largest tournament ever in the United States to be developed and executed by a gaming center,” said Nick Fitzsimmons, Manager of X30 Gaming Center. “We are looking forward to incorporating the 2008 Dust-Off Championship Series with the Gamers Tour, which will provide more visibility to the thousands of gamers nationwide.”

The Gamers Tour is distinguished in that the events will be accessible to more local players than any other eSports organization with LAN play. As the tour grows, participating locations will be within driving distance of every major city in the United States. The nation’s best Game Center events will be united through a coordinated schedule of tournaments and rankings will be established for players and teams based on results.

“Though many organizations provide online opportunities to play in leagues, ladders and tournaments, game centers, with their in-person atmosphere, are the perfect venue to help strengthen and grow the eSports community,” said Mark Nielsen, Executive Director, iGames. “In addition, the LAN environment offered at game centers provides aspiring professional gamers the opportunity to hone their skills on LAN which is how most big prize tournaments are run.”

Tournaments will be held throughout the year and will be announced as details become available. For more information and a complete list of Game Centers hosting the Gamers Tour, including signup information, visit http://www.gamerstour.com.