Metal Gear Online beta coming soon to North America on PlayStation 3

PLAYSTATION 3 System Online Beta

Coming soon for IGN Insider and Founders' Club members!

Beta Access Requirements

Get access to the Metal Gear Online multiplayer beta for the PLAYSTATION®3 system in this Insider and Founders' Club event. North American IGN Insider and Founders' Club members will get a chance to sign up for a beta key starting tomorrow. Click the button below to find out more information on accessing the beta.

North American users only

Find out more here

New Interactive Publishing House Building A Distinct Breed Of Online Games

FireSky, a new video game publisher dedicated to improving how gamers play and interact online, announced today that it would publish Stargate Worlds, a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) based on MGM’s award-winning Stargate franchise. FireSky will also publish other unannounced titles as it paves the way for SNAP games.

FireSky is pioneering the development and publishing of games for Social Networks At Play™ (SNAPs), a unified theory of online gaming that combines social interaction, economies and game play across a variety of titles. The FireSky team calls this evolution “Project: Ascension.” This project – currently under wraps – will bring gamers together in new and unprecedented ways.

“We don’t intend to be another garden-variety games publisher,” said FireSky CEO Tim Jenson. “We are focused on publishing high quality social gaming experiences online. As the industry moves online, more and more people will be turning to games as a way to spend time with friends. With a few notable exceptions, game developers and publishers haven’t done a great job of marrying quality games with social experiences. Project: Ascension and SNAP games will change that dynamic forever.”

FireSky Senior Vice President of Product Development, Rod Nakamoto, has launched more than 80 titles over his 25-year career in game development. Mr. Nakamoto leads FireSky’s four internal development studios and oversees the progress on Project: Ascension.

“There is a degree of pressure to play a title after the fun factor has gone, simply because the investment is too great,” explained Mr. Nakamoto. “Gamers who invest time building characters, making friends and gathering resources typically have no ability to transfer this investment to a new experience. We’re working on a new set of ideals that will push online gaming past these barriers and into an era of portability.”

Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations Joe Ybarra, a 25-year veteran of the video game industry and one of the founding members of Electronic Arts, is heading up FireSky’s publishing operations. Mr. Ybarra has extensive experience publishing products worldwide, handling licensed material and managing business development with third-party developers.

“From a business perspective, publishing is the logical next step for FireSky,” said Mr. Ybarra. “We’ve got the chops to do it and we’re assembling a great team here in the desert. I can’t wait to get our flagship up and running to show off our operation.”

FireSky, a subsidiary of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, currently has four studios working on a variety of interactive titles.

“It’s almost time for us to lift the veil and show the world some of the unique projects we’re working on in addition to Stargate Worlds,” said Mr. Jenson. “Our studios are filled with talented game designers, world builders and engineers and we’ll be announcing several products over the course of the summer and fall that will lay the foundation for SNAP games and Project: Ascension. We have projects that span a variety of game genres as well as proven and emerging business models.”

Pirates - Duels on the High Seas on Nintendo DS

Pirates: Duels on the High Seas
Battle sea monsters, overcome deadly curses, and perform feats of daring do across the High Seas on your Nintendo DSTM!

Wanted! Hardy ship mates with strong sea legs and a thirst for adventure. Must enjoy battling sea monsters, fighting pirates, discovering buried treasure and performing feats of daring do on the High Seas. All aspiring crew members should board with the release of Pirates: Duels on the High Seas, the naval combat game for the Nintendo DS in June from Oxygen Games.

A chance encounter with an old sea-dog and the legend of a fantastic treasure - Thus begins an epic adventure for the ‘Seven Keys of the Seven Seas’! In an era when Britannia ruled the waves and pirates terrorized the oceans, the legend of Blackbeard’s treasure and the Seven Keys has seen many a pirate to an early grave with their fabled curse and tales of agonising death for those that dare to pursue them. Faced by the prospect of such a death should you fail, and with the allure of untold riches should you succeed, your adventure begins!



Steel yourself to face foes that no captain has ever bested before and lived to tell the tale including the might of the Royal Navy, the legendary and deadly Kraken, a Witch Queen and Blackbeard himself. Collect weapons, recruit crewmen, amass great riches and journey through unchartered waters on your quest for the fabled Keys.

Pirates: Duels on the High Seas is a fun and intuitive naval combat game transporting the player back to a golden age of adventure on the High Seas, encompassing naval battles, running blockades, battling sea monsters, encountering supernatural forces and discovering treasure. And with the WiiWare™ prequel game Pirates: The Key of Dreams expanding on the story and also set for release in the summer, what more could any self-respecting sea dog wish for!

KEY FEATURES

• • 70 unique levels – 35 single player and 35 multiplayer & Skirmish levels
  
• • Single player ‘Story’ mode and ‘Skirmish’ mode with players battling 2-3 AI opponents
  
• • ‘Salty Sea Dog’ multiplayer mode for 2-4 players, single-cart or multi-cart
  
• • Three types of ship available to captain, each one representing a different difficulty setting
  
• • Seven locations across the globe to sail including Porto Bello in South America, Port Royal in the Caribbean, The Bermuda Triangle, the China Sea and the Persian Gulf
  
• • An array of cannon-blazing sea battles against a variety of enemies including rival pirates, the Spanish Navy, Blackbeard, The Kraken and a Chinese Dragon
  
• • Discover buried treasure allowing you to hire additional crew members and pay for ship repairs.
  
• • Unearth enchanted Inca gold that creates a magical protective aura around your ship
  
• • Flotsam and Jetsam – assorted cargo that you can trade for gold
  
• • Classic ship weaponry – fight your sea battles using the tried and tested arsenal of a sea-faring pirate including cannons, sea mines, rockets and chain shot
  
• • Rescue castaways – four types of castaway to rescue in the game, each one improving the performance of your ship including ‘Lookout’, ‘Navigator’ and ‘Master Gunner’
  

MatchBox360 choose iiyama monitors for their XL Xbox360 LAN Tournament

iiyama has proven to be a massive hit among gamers in the UK, as they were the brand choice featured in the recent MatchBox360 XL LAN Gaming Event at the Birmingham NEC over Easter. This gave Xbox360 enthusiasts an opportunity to test out the high response times, colour reproduction and precise graphic delivery across the entire iiyama range.

The whole event was filmed by XLEAGUE.TV, a new Sky channel dedicated to coverage of gaming and broadcasting to around 2 million unique viewers across the UK. The MatchBox360 XL eSports tournament was the fourth in a series of events attracting over 450 gamers from across the UK and Europe. Fully branded iiyama monitors were purchased for the event and iiyama’s technical staff were on hand to assist in the equipment set-up.

Competitive tournaments and free play were available on some of today’s most popular Xbox 360 titles including Halo3, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War, Race Driver: GRID and Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 by developers such as Bungie, Activision, Epic, Codemasters and Ubisoft. Prizes totalling over £10,000 including Cash Prizes of £8750 were awarded to the winners across different categories. The next event will take place in July 2008, and iiyama will continue to work with MatchBox360 over the coming year to offer support to their UK eSports tournaments.

Feedback from the tournament has already started pouring in with many more LAN events being planned as a result. Chris Barnes, Event Manager of MatchBox360 says, “Having the latest iiyama monitor range is a valuable addition to the overall tournament set-up and I believe contributed to the success of the event, and we are thoroughly looking forward to welcoming iiyama to future tournaments.”

Nintendo Launch UK tour to get everyone Wii Fit

Latest Fitness Craze Sweeps the Nation



Wii Fit, the latest fitness craze to sweep our shores is heading around the UK in a national tour which kicks off this week. Whether its shopping centres or universities, Nintendo and their team of Wii Fit staff will be hitting the streets to show you just how easy and fun it can be to exercise in your living room with Wii Fit – regardless of age or fitness level.

Starting this week in Bristol, the Nintendo Wii Fit tour will visit a number of events, shopping centres and universities across the country until the end of June including the Grand Designs Show in London and hot spots in Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Southampton.

If you loved the energetic nature of Wii Sports you’ll love Wii Fit, which makes it easy for everyone to experience a fun and interactive way to exercise which launches across the UK on 25th April 2008. So if you’re looking for a fun and easy way to incorporate fitness into your daily routine but not sure where to start then head down to one of the events for your chance to try for yourself.

Wii Fit is an easy, simple and enjoyable way for every member of the family to incorporate exercise into their daily routine. Whether you have used a Wii before or this is your first time experiencing the console, with over 40 fun and entertaining exercises, it is designed to appeal to everyone. With a collection of fun activities and exercises in the areas of aerobics, yoga, strength and balancing, Wii Fit encourages all the family to become more physically active on a daily basis.

Wii Fit comes with the Wii Balance Board, a wireless, pressure sensitive board that is placed on the floor in front of your television and console. Used in the majority of exercises, the Wii Board registers your movement as you stand on it, with the personal trainer character on the screen mirroring your actions and giving you advice. Combining this with the Wii Remote, which you simply need to pick up and point at the television, Wii Fit is simple and straightforward for anyone to use – regardless of age or fitness level.

Get ready to exercise in the comfort of your own living room as Wii Fit launches across the UK on April 25th 2008 for the estimated retail price of £69.99 with the Wii console priced at £179.99.

Elite Forces - Unit 77 for Nintendo DS

Elite Forces: Unit 77 - Our Last Hope

Gammick Entertainment and Abylight announce the development of Elite Forces: Unit 77 for Nintendo DS.

A series of mysterious disappearances of high profile personalities from the worlds of science, industry and entertainment reveal a horrific global terrorist threat. With the clock running and the lives of the hostages and millions of others in danger, the international community’s last hope lies with an extremely covert and highly specialized military team: Unit 77. Made up four professionals who are the best in the world at what they do, Unit 77 must combine skills to stop massive world destruction by the hands of terrorists.

Elite Forces: Unit 77 for Nintendo DS is a game of action and strategy in which the player must wisely use the abilities of all four members of Unit 77 and they are: Bill "The Drill" Matic technology specialist and legendary hacker; Kendra Chase, ex-government black-ops agent and the most accurate sniper on Earth; TK Richter, jet pilot and explosives expert, and Dag Hammer, a hulking heavy artillery soldier capable of incredible physical feats.

The group must infiltrate the bases where terrorists hold the famous hostages, each base set up in one of the most treacherous and remote places on Earth. Unit 77 must battle their way through inhospitable jungles, scorching deserts and endure harsh and deadly arctic conditions as they fight to rescue the hostages and defeat the terrorists.

The countdown has begun, and it’s time for the few and the brave. Will you become a terrorist’s victim or do you have what it takes to be on the team of Elite Forces? See it at www.gammickentertainment.com

Elite Forces: Unit 77 will be released on Q4 2008.

Ellark - new free mobile RPG MMO from Square Enix announced

A new Square Enix RPG that isn't built around the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest franchises? Is there really such a thing?

ELLARK is a new RPG and MMO for mobile phones, set to be released in June.

Few gameplay details have been revealed but it will involve using your phone's mail to communicate with other players. The most surprising part of the announcement is that the game will be released simultaneously on all of Japan's three major mobile providers (DoCoMo, AU, and SoftBank).

Also, even though access to the game will be free, microtransaction payments will be included, using a currency based on a service called MobiCoin.

Source: Kotaku

Ricky Gervais appears in Grand Theft Auto IV

The world's most sought after comedian will be performing in Liberty City's comedy club...

Ricky Gervais has revealed that he will play a cameo role in GTA IV. The Office and Extras star will perform in Liberty City's comedy club where he will provide some fresh stand-up material, as well as re-hashed gags from his sell-out Fame tour.

These reports come from Shortlist magazine (via CVG), where Gervais said in an interview that he will perform three minute skits at Liberty City's comedy club (one of the many venues you'll be able to frequent for entertainment in your GTA IV leisure time).

"It's a first - which always interests me," Gervais said of the opportunity. "It was shot in New York, my favourite place in the world, and I got to wear a tight lycra suit as part of the digital process. No, hold on, that wasn't so good.



"Unfortunately they captured the whole horror, except I look slightly tougher. It's seriously a big deal, though. Games have outsold Hollywood for the past few years so it's nice to be a small part of that."

Ricky also revealed that he will be appearing somewhere else in GTA IV as well as the comedy club. Maybe he's one of the extras.

Source: TVG

New cities download in Grand Theft Auto IV on Microsoft XBox 360

Rumours suggest that the Xbox 360's exclusive DLC for GTA IV may include new cities, let alone missions...

The Xbox 360 exclusive DLC for GTA IV, which Microsoft supposedly paid in excess of $50 million for, may include new cities (let alone missions) when the first portion is released this autumn. At least, that's what certain rumours are suggesting as GTA IV gets set for its release in just under a fortnight.

The reports come from CVG's collector's edition magazine for GTA IV, which suggests that the Xbox 360 DLC will be what San Andreas and Vice City were to GTA III:

"Of course, to call games as vastly ambitious as Vice City or San Andreas mere 'expansion packs' seems childish, but nevertheless, the downloadable content (DLC) coming for the Xbox 360 version of IV has repositioned those games in just this way. DLC so far has meant the odd new car, jumper or bit of horse armour, but GTA IV is set to completely redefine the idea with expansions that are to GTA IV what Vice City or San Andreas were to GTA III. Yes, Rockstar is clearly hinting at new downloadable cities; and the chances of them being London, Vice City or SA again are slim to none. So that's new as in brand new. GTA IV's Liberty City is the beginning. Think about that and be excited," commented the publication.

Having seen this we contacted Rockstar for comment, but received the standard "No comment on rumour or speculation" knock down (it was worth a try).

The Xbox 360 will exclusively receive two substantial portions of DLC for GTA IV, the first of which is scheduled for release this autumn according to Microsoft.

Free to play - Football Challenge 08 - the next Greentube - hit after Ski Challenge

Yesterday the new masterpiece of online-gaming was launched: The "Football Challenge 08". The game http://www.football-challenge.com will, as usual, be free to all end users, financed by the booming „In-Game-Advertising" form of marketing. „Football Challenge" is made possible by a partnership with eight media partners in seven European countries: ORF (Austria), SF (Switzerland), Sport1 (Germany), Inform Media (Hungary), Zurnal24 (Slovenia), 24sata (Croatia) and Inform Media (Rumania). More countries are likely to follow.

„I am very proud that we at Greentube will be the first to develop a high-quality football game for the mass market", reports Dr. Eberhard Dürrschmid, CEO of Greentube AG. „The challenge for us is combining a quality gaming concept with simple handling. Our experience with games such as the development of „Ski Challenge" will help us and our partners appeal to large segments of users."



Football challenge comprises three tournament rounds (spring, summer and autumn), each of which will include several weekend-tournaments. The combined results of the tournament weekends will determine the overall results of Football Challenge. There will be a tournament winner as well as a final score calculated for each player. Whoever goes online will find a team of players with similar skill levels on a field. After downloading the game for free, players can put together their own teams, (setting players' heights, shape, haircut, color…) or open a group competition with friends.

The game can be played using the arrow keys and one extra key, „motivating millions of people", knows Eberhard Dürrschmid.

In-game advertising is booming
"Football-Challenge" will be financed by that innovative marketing and sponsoring tool known as „in-game advertising", which already helped "Ski Challenge" attain very high revenues in the past three years. The technology used was developed in-house by Greentube AG, is continually optimized and will be updated this year. International studies predict that the „in-game advertising" sector will double in revenue in the next few years.

More information can be found at http://www.greentube.com.