PC action hit Shadowgrounds Survivor coming to Linux

PC action hit Shadowgrounds Survivor coming to Linux

Developer Frozenbyte teams up with fellow Finnish company IGIOS to release the underground hit action game on Linux

Finnish game developer Frozenbyte is excited to announce a partnership with Linux specialist IGIOS Ltd to port and release previously Windows-only PC action game Shadowgrounds Survivor on the Linux platform. Shadowgrounds Survivor is a third-person/top-down action game where the player takes control of three characters and faces monstrous alien invaders.

"Linux is fast becoming accepted in the mainstream and we are thrilled to take part in delivering quality games content for the platform," said Mr. Lauri Hyvarinen, Frozenbyte CEO. "Frozenbyte remains focused on great console and Windows games but the groundbreaking work of IGIOS broadens the reach of our games onto the Linux platform."

"IGIOS is going to take up the Linux gaming world by storm," said Tapio Honkonen, Chief Marketing Officer for IGIOS. "Linux is our passion and providing games for it our mission. The Linux community has done a remarkable job in making the platform more approachable in general and we aim to make it a formidable gaming platform. Linux gamers should be offered the same possibilities to enjoy great gaming content such as Shadowgrounds Survivor, and that is what we are here for."

Shadowgrounds Survivor is a third-person/top-down action game where the player takes control of three characters and faces monstrous alien invaders. The acclaimed atmosphere and gameplay mechanics of the original Shadowgrounds make a triumphant return armed with a new feature set, including detailed physics simulation and many gameplay enhancements, such as the devastating Mech and special attacks like the Napalm Flame or the mighty Brute Slayer. In addition to the thrilling Campaign mode, players can try to outsmart the aliens in the Survival mode or create their own levels and mods with the included Level Editor.

Shadowgrounds, the well-received and praised original game, will also be ported to the Linux platform. Both games will be released at the same time in spring 2008 via online distribution, with exact pricing details to be confirmed.

Shadowgrounds Survivor is currently available from retail outlets in North America and some European territories, and worldwide in online distribution channels such as Steam, GamersGate and TotalGaming.net for $19.99. The game is rated M for Mature in North America and PEGI 16+ in current European territories.

Twelve Sky massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) wants players to reach level 100

March to 100 in Twelve Sky

Twelve Sky, Aeria Games most highly anticipated massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) wants players to march their way to level 100.
A player versus player based MMORPG; Twelve Sky embodies oriental martial arts style of battling tactics. Set in ancient China in the midst of an age old conflict between three factions.
For the month of March, players who reach level 100 can get a rebate on all the experience potions they purchase through the games Item Mall.

To participate, players are required to do is post a picture of their character with a minimum level of 100 in http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=87563 and then 14 business days from when the promotion ends (March 31st) to receive their rebate.

“We want as many players to level up so they can take on the monsters that lie ahead, especially for our newly released 9-Tier Pagoda patch,” said Michael Geslani, Twelve Sky game master.
In an effort to have players ready for new content, the March to 100 promotion allows players to achieve that goal of leveling up quickly, while at the same time allowing them to stretch their money further so they can purchase more Item Mall game enhancements.

“This is great for all players and gives them an incentive to not only level up, but getting all their Aeria Points back at the same time,” Geslani said.

Cocoto Magic Circus video game ships for Nintendo Wii

Conspiracy Entertainment's "Cocoto Magic Circus" for Wii Ships to U.S. Retailers

Conspiracy Entertainment has shipped their newest title for the Nintendo Wii - "Cocoto Magic Circus," to North American retailers today.

Cocoto Magic Circus is an arcade-style shooter featuring 40 unique and exciting mini-games. The game's four progressive modes - Arcade, Training, Duel and Tournament - can accommodate up to four players. Children and parents alike will enjoy this collection of mini-games featuring humorous animated characters on a mission to save a magical fairy.

"Families nationwide are catching on to the recurring and loveable character Cocoto. The simple, cartoonish and fast-paced style of our latest release is ideal for children six years and up, and its affordable price is sure to make it a hit with families," said Sirus Ahmadi, president of Conspiracy Entertainment.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates on Nintendo DS

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates on Nintendo DS

Met Yuri and Chelinka, twins who are destined to change the world

They live happily with their father in a small village, but their happiness comes to an abrupt end with the arrival of an ancient evil.

Armed only with their determination, courage and Chelinka's magic crystal, these brave twins set out on their quest to find their lost friends, avenge their family and heal their world.


Visit the website for more info

Brain Challenge for Microsoft Xbox LIVE Arcade launched

Gameloft's Brain Challenge for Xbox LIVE Arcade Available Now

Gameloft, a leading publisher and developer of video games for mobile phones, today launched its tremendously popular Brain Challenge game to the Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Xbox LIVE Arcade is the premier destination for digitally distributed, high-definition original and classic games.

“We at Gameloft have been anticipating this launch since last year and are very excited to finally offer Brain Challenge to the Xbox LIVE Arcade community,” said Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president, publishing, Gameloft “The casual games market has exploded and Xbox LIVE Arcade is at the forefront of that by offering quality games such as Brain Challenge.”

Brain Challenge is the first brain game for Xbox LIVE Arcade and is available now to challenge the skill and intellect of players. With a daily training test that includes 5 mini-games in each category for everyday practice, Brain Challenge is sure to quickly improve your brain health. Brain Challenge features 20 mini games divided into 5 categories: Visual, Memory, Logic, Math and Focus.

The game also features:

· Select a personal coach that guides you throughout the game , gives you advice and helps you improve your capacities daily.

· Online or offline multiplayer modes with up to 4 players. Compete against other players in quizzes coupled with card based gameplay. The card based multiplayer is completely exclusive to Xbox LIVE Arcade.

· Stress mode, features multitasking and other challenges which help to improve your brain’s coping skills during stressful situations

In addition to Xbox LIVE Arcade, Brain Challenge is available on mobile, iPod, Nintendo DS and PC. This is the first ever multi-platform launch of a casual brand from a mobile game publisher. Each game is specially formatted and adapted to complement each unique platform to ensure the best consumer experience.

Super Smash Bros Brawl causing problems with some Nintendo Wii consiles

"A very small number" of Wii owners are finding their consoles can't read the dual-layer disc used by the game. UPDATED: Nintendo claims the issue is resolved!

A thread posted by "NOA_TECH_JANE" on Nintendo's Tech Support Forums is now claiming that the missing Spectator Mode and Options issue is resolved. Has it been resolved for you? Let us know in Talkback!

There are reports of Brawl failing to boot from the Wii Menu. A few people have been experiencing read errors, and some are unable to install the firmware update that comes included on the Brawl game disc. Nintendo of America has released an official statement on the matter through a company spokesperson:

"Nintendo of America has received some reports that a very small number of Wii consoles cannot properly read the dual-layered disc for the new Super Smash Bros. Brawl game. Upon examination, Nintendo has preliminarily determined that this disc-read error is caused by the soiling of the consoles' optical lens by environmental factors such as excessive dust and cigarette smoke. Nintendo is offering to clean these systems free of charge, and recommends that consumers do not attempt to clean the systems on their own. Information regarding the cleaning service can be found at support.nintendo.com or by calling customer service at 1-800-255-3700."

NWR readers affected by this issue might do better to jump directly to the support claim form page and get it taken care of as soon as possible. Nintendo’s website claims that it will expedite the shipping of affected Wii consoles both ways to hasten the repair process.

NOA is also aware of issues people are having with the online features of Brawl. We will pass along any official statement about known problems (missing menu options, generally poor connection quality of online matches, etc.) as soon as we hear it.

Source: NMR

NEW EXPANSION FOR RAIL SIMULATOR - DUE FOR RELEASE IN MARCH!

The first official expansion for the hugely successful Rail Simulator adds the Californian route from the US release of Rail Simulator and the iconic British 08 Shunter, plus extra rolling stock, scenarios and more!



This package has been painstakingly created by RSDL - part of the original Rail Simulator development team - and has to be one of the most realistic Rail Simulator expansions ever!

Cajon Pass

The Cajon Pass route runs over 80 miles of track - drive along the route from San Bernardino in Southern California to Barstow in the north and traverse the authentic climbs and descents, embankments and cuttings. Negotiate this famous route either in Free Roam mode or in the seven challenging scenarios.

• Highly detailed Union Pacific ES44AC and SD40-2 locomotives
  
• Bonus content -black reskins for the ES44AC and SD40-2 locomotives
  
• 11 unique rolling stock wagons including 2 all-new hoppers
  
• 7 scenarios including 3 new bonus ones!
  
• Detailed and accurately placed landmarks and notable buildings
  
• Realistic sounds
  
• Authentic terrain mapping and track placement
  
• AI Train operations.
  
• Class 08 Shunter
  

This Official expansion for Rail Simulator also includes bonus extras that were not included in the US release. UK rail enthusiasts will enjoy highly detailed models of the Class 08 Shunter in 12 period liveries! 'Free Roam’ the existing UK routes in Rail Simulator or take on the challenges of Class 08 shunting in the six included scenarios.

More info here

VIVA MEDIA ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF CRAZY MACHINES 2 VIDEO GAME

VIVA MEDIA ANNOUNCES UPCOMING RELEASE OF CRAZY MACHINES 2

GO CRAZY WITH A NEW DIMENSION OF FUN!

Viva Media announced today that the much anticipated sequel to the award-winning PC title Crazy Machines, Crazy Machines 2 will release this spring. Viva Media CEO Carlo Voelker commented, “Fans of this evergreen franchise who have been waiting for this will not only be pleased but we believe that it will go beyond their expectations. The new game engine offers a whole new experience with hundreds of levels to complete, free-style game play, incredible physics and 3D graphics.”

The game will ship into retail locations in the United States and Canada in May.

Crazy Machines II features:

• New parts to tinker with, and new puzzles to solve!
• World Tour – travel with the professor to exotic locations such as the Caribbean, Alaska, and China
• Multiple solutions to every puzzle!
• Free-style mode – create, destroy, and publish your own crazy machines
• Upload and download player laboratories and rate the best of the best online!
• All-age appeal – the whole family can enjoy this title
• Exciting bonus levels
• Pristine 3D graphics
• Electrifying sound effects

Quick Facts:

Published by Viva Media, LLC
Developed by Novitas/FAKT
Release Date: May 2008
Recommended Retail Price: $19.99

Minimum System Requirements:

Win Vista/98/ME/2000 XP
800 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM, DirectX 9 compatible graphics card with 32 MB RAM*, DirectX compatible sound card, DirectX 9.0c 100 MB available fixed disk storage, 2X CD ROM

*Phys X Aegia Card recommended

WipEout HD game designer interview for Sony PlayStation 3

WipEout HD

Interviewee: Colin Berry – Lead Designer

About the team

1. How many people do you have working on WipEout HD?

We started with a very small team in spring 2007 of around 6 people. We are now up to around 25 or 30 to ensure the final code delivers all the great media feedback we’ve had so far following E3 and the Leipzig Games Convention.

2. Is there anyone who’s worked on all the WipEout games since the start of the franchise?

There are a couple of people yes, an Artist (Darren Douglas) and a Producer (Paul Tweedle) who started out by QA’ing the first WipEout!

3. What do you think makes the WipEout team so special?

There is a good team spirit; we all help each other out as much as possible. Also there are lots of people on the team who are fans of the series so there is a high level of care and attention to detail and it helps having talented designers, artists and coders on the game.

4. What was the one thing the team wanted to change/or introduce most for WipEout HD?

We wanted to provide a good solid online experience for a television based WipEout game. We see online play as a big feature in HD. Also 60 frames per second full 1080p was a day one priority. We also wanted to make it a great addition to PLAYSTATION Store by offering it as a downloadable title.

About WipEout HD

1. How long has it taken to make WipEout a full HD game for PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3)?

We started work on the artwork around about February 2007 and the code around April, so just under a year.

2. Would it be fair to consider HD as a port? Apart from 1080p visuals and 60 frames per second animations, what makes it different to Pure and Pulse?

Firstly people should not underestimate the changes that 60 frames per second and 1080p visuals make to the game. Sure the environments are taken from the PSP versions initially but so much work has gone into hi-resing them up, every building model, and every texture. The game looks so much richer. All the ships are new hi-res models with hi-res texturing and improved lighting too, so the visual changes are dramatically enhanced. The game also has a sleeker new HD front end, the handling model has been refined to fit the Sixaxis controller also the collision system has been improved. Then of course there is online multiplayer which fair enough appears in WipEout Pulse but it is great fun. Playing WipEout against other people on a big TV, it is a lot of fun. In some terms its easy to say ‘it is a port’ but that is something of a disservice, the game has had an overhaul and a freshen up in many little ways which combined give it a strong identity and make it a solid game in its own right. We certainly don’t regard it as a port. Then of course there is downloadable content, which depending on what we settle on, can further push the WipEout HD experience. We are hoping the initial release of HD will be a starting point. We really feel that WipEout HD will be a great addition to PLAYSTATION Store.

3. Do you think full HD has brought about a big change in the game?

I am proud of Pure and Pulse and what we have achieved with them, and WipEout Pulse is a damn good PSP game and experience, it is featured packed and will not disappoint. HD though offers something different, it offers the WipEout experience on a big screen for the first time in a long time, it looks awesome, it plays nice and feels smooth. It is a different experience for people who have maybe forgotten what WipEout on a big screen is like. And of course, 1080p visuals and 60 frames-per-second clearly combined with online play clearly make a big difference on a TV screen.

4. Tell us a bit about the game – is it for established fans or new owners of PS3?

Hopefully WipEout HD will satisfy the core WipEout fans and also be accessible to people who maybe have not played any of the series before. WipEout has always been seen as a hard game, a gamers’ game and that is something we have to cater for and so we have to have a blisteringly frightening speed class within the game and hard competitive AI opponents. But we also want to attract new players and appeal to people who maybe have not tried a futuristic racing game before who are used to their racing games involving cars. As such we have introduced 3 difficulty levels to accompany the 4 speed classes in the game, thus people can start at a beginners’ level if they are new to the game, or start straight off on the hard difficulty if they are a long time fan of the series.

5. Can you tell us about some of the additional downloadable content that’s going to be available?

We are still deciding exactly what downloadable content we will release for HD, but hopefully we will be releasing additional tracks which could include a mixture of old tracks and brand new ones. Additional ships and music are also on the list of downloadable content we hope to release. We are also looking into releasing an extra game mode or two via downloadable content, but the exact extent and feasibility of this, we are still looking into. So for the time being, nothing concrete, but plenty of options are available to us.

6. WipEout is renowned for its music – can you tell us about what’s in store for HD?

The initial release of HD will contain 9 music tracks from WipEout Pulse, including tracks from Kraftwerk, Mason, DJ Fresh and Stanton Warriors. All the music is going to be mixed in 5.1 surround as are the sound effects.

7. You can use the SIXAXIS controller – where will you use it because we think steering at 100s of mph will be pretty difficult?

We are currently looking into this, we have a few ideas but we also share the concern of how useful full Sixaxis motion control will be at the highest speeds. There are however several ways we are looking into implementing it, it could end up linked into the weapon functionality or the ship pitch control it doesn’t necessarily have to link to the direct steering control of the ship.

8. Are you satisfied with the levels of online gameplay for the HD version?

As a designer I am never satisfied with anything I always want more, more features, more time, more everything concerning each and every aspect of the game. We are still working hard on the online side of WipEout HD and it is progressing well. The online gameplay is good and due to the plug-in modular system of design and code we can expand the feature set of the game through downloads, meaning that the initial online experience on launch can be added to over time to further enrich the experience.

9. After such a distinguished history, where does a franchise like WipEout go from here?

For the time being we are continuing to work hard on WipEout HD and supporting it through additional content. Beyond that, there is not much more to add at the moment, although on a personal level I think online functionality should play a large part in as many games as possible these days where feasible.

Miscellaneous

1. Who holds the fastest lap record on any track in the office?

That is most likely to be Karl Jones, one of the designers. He is pretty much established as the best player, although one of the programmers, Martin Linklater would argue otherwise, and recently I have been close to catching up too

2. If you could add one more weapon to the game, what would it be?

Well after Pure, we wanted the cannon back and so we added it. I’m not sure there is one off the top of my head. The weapons are integral to the game and the balance of the game and we consider them heavily. I guess in future I’d like us to maybe look at some sort of battering-ram / snow plough type effect but this would more likely be additional functionality for the Auto-Pilot as opposed a new weapon.

3. Is there a track you’ve always wanted to have on a WipEout game that you haven’t been able to get?

I guess that is music track…. We have tended to be very lucky with music in that we tend to get the people we want. People we have approached have been keen to provide us with work. Getting Kraftwerk was especially pleasing based on their history and body of work. From a purely personal point of view, there is a track on the Spawn soundtrack called No Remorse, it is Slayer featuring Atari Teenage Riot. I think a remix of that would be great, but it is purely my personal choice.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords Now Ciderized For Mac

Critically Acclaimed Videogame Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords Now Ciderized For Mac By TransGaming

TransGaming, a leading developer of portability technologies for the electronic entertainment industry, continues to expand the Mac gaming market by announcing that the award-winning video game Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords™ is now available on Mac. TransGaming has obtained exclusive rights to the Mac release of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords from D3Publisher of America, Inc. The game is available immediately to Mac gamers for purchase and download online.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords offers a compelling twist on conventional gaming, allowing players to spend just a few casual minutes with the game or dedicate hours of game play at a time to their puzzles-and-role-playing experience. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a critically acclaimed video game that artfully blends match-three puzzle game play with strategy, character-building elements and a persistent storyline. This combination of game play elements created an appealing new video game genre that entices casual and hardcore gamers alike, making it fun for the whole family.

"The partnership established by TransGaming to bring Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords to Mac consumers is another example of TransGaming's leadership in the gaming industry and how we are bringing some of the greatest and most compelling content to Mac gamers. Puzzle Quest is sure to delight the Mac audience and we are also excited about several new initiatives this Spring that will continue to change the landscape of Mac gaming and make it easier then ever for Mac consumers to enjoy the games they love," commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming Technologies.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was originally created by Infinite Interactive Pty. Ltd. and published by D3Publisher of America, Inc. The game has been enabled on Mac using TransGaming’s Cider Portability Engine, and is being published by TransGaming for digital release. TransGaming’s Cider Portability Engine acts as a "wrapper" around the game software, enabling it to run seamlessly on Intel-based Macs. TransGaming is working with the industry’s best to bring award-winning franchises, like Puzzle Quest to the growing Mac market.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords has received numerous accolades acknowledging the excellence of the game. These include the prestigious Best Downloadable Game at the 11th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, a Spike TV nomination for Best Handheld Game of 2007, a Best Puzzle Game of E3 2007 Award from IGN.com, and the esteemed iParenting Media Excellent Product Award for 2007.

The Mac version of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is available for purchase and download at www.gametreeonline.com.