Spore Creature Creator now available worldwide

Spore Creature Creator Kicks off the Countdown to the Release of Spore this September

Prepare to test the limits of your imagination. Maxis, an Electronic Arts studio, today released the Spore Creature Creator, an introduction to the highly-anticipated and groundbreaking video game, Spore which will be on sale in the UK on September 5.

Available today for both PC and Mac, the Spore Creature Creator is a stand-alone product and creativity toy box where players create their own unique creatures, bring them to life with entertaining animations, and share them online with friends around the world. A free trial version of the Spore Creature Creator is available today at www.spore.com, while the full version of the Spore Creature Creator will soon be available in the UK as a pre-order incentive from EA Store and select retailers. The trial version features 25% of the creature-making parts from Spore and lets players shape, paint and play with their custom-created creatures. Creatures made in the Spore Creature Creator can also be imported into the full Spore game, allowing players to populate their own galaxies when the game ships worldwide later this year.

The Spore Creature Creator lets players create their own creatures, take them on a test drive, snap pictures, and make movies of them. Sharing pictures or videos with friends is as easy as the click of a button. Players can also share their creations with others by uploading to the Sporepedia™ at www.spore.com. The Sporepedia is an extraordinarily vast online destination where people worldwide can search for and share Spore creations, comment on other player’s designs, check out celebrity creature creations and much more.

“Today is the day we begin to see Spore come to life,” said executive producer and general manager of Maxis, Lucy Bradshaw. “We’re excited to see what players will do with the powerful and intuitive creativity tools we’ve put into the Spore Creature Creator. Our team will be excitedly keeping an eye on the Sporepedia to check out creations made by players from around the world.”

The ability to upload players’ creations to YouTube has also been integrated into the Spore Creature Creator. Players can import and upload video of their creatures' moves directly to YouTube with only two clicks within the game. Spore will have its own YouTube Channel where all videos of users' creations uploaded from the game will be showcased for the YouTube community to watch, share, rate and comment on. Check it out at http://youtube.com/spore.



Spore, the highly-anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe filled with creations made by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs.

Spore will be on sale for the PC, Mac, Nintendo DS and mobile phones on September 5, 2008 in Europe and September 7, 2008 in North America and Asia. Visit www.spore.com to download a free version of the Spore Creature Creator, sign up for the Spore newsletter or check out all-new screenshots and videos from the game.

Elements of Destruction and Sea Life Safari on Xbox LIVE

Command the forces of nature in “Elements of Destruction” and dive into a family-friendly underwater adventure with “Sea Life Safari,” both launching on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PDT).

Assume the role of the master of disaster! Use tornadoes, lightning, earthquakes and many other forces of nature to do your bidding in “Elements of Destruction.” Fired from your job as a top research scientist, you have built a machine that allows you to control nature and exact revenge on the corporation that fired you. Your quest for revenge takes you to locations across the globe where you must use the forces of nature in challenging ways. Shake down buildings with earthquakes, suck-up and throw objects with tornadoes, and strike down aircraft with lightning to cause mayhem in cities and towns across the earth.

Developed by Frozen Codebase, “Elements of Destruction” will be available worldwide (with the exception of Japan) for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

Assume the role of an underwater photographer that is tasked with capturing the incredible beauty of wild sea creatures in “Sea Life Safari.” This family-friendly game features 60 animated marine life, five uniquely beautiful destinations and an easy-to-understand tutorial. Explore the tropical Coral Reef or swim towards the Ship Graveyard, capturing stunning pictures to fill up your personal scrapbooks. The underwater setting of “Sea Life Safari” also features secret routes, hidden items and special appearances by rare nighttime creatures to keep gamers coming back for more.

Angels Online - Angel Baby System Details Introduction

With IGG and the Angels Online team having released the Eden Expansion, more and more players have joined this game. However some newbie players have been wondering if they can catch up with the experienced veteran players after joining this game.

To help the newbie players level up quickly and easily, the Angels Online team has released “Angel Baby” (software) which will help players level up with ease.
For more information please visit: http://ao.igg.com/news/news.php?aid=1071

Meanwhile, to celebrate IGG Inc’s 2nd Anniversary in June, AO Item Mall will be releasing a series of New Paper Moppets. Those players who like dressing up shouldn’t miss this opportunity.
For more info visit: http://ao.igg.com/news/news.php?aid=1068

Pirates of the Burning Sea - the Official eGuide

Featuring new & updated material with a new exclusive in-game item!

Pirates of the Burning Sea Revised Edition: Prima Official eGuide (PotBS), the highly anticipated, revised companion to the game’s 1.4 patch. This revised and expanded title from Prima Games is available in digital eGuide format only, including a new exclusive code for an in-game shoulder lizard. The guide is now available online for a suggested retail price of $19.99 or may be downloaded at www.primagames.com.

“We are very excited to be able to offer a newly updated and revised guide digitally for this well-loved MMORPG,” says Debra Kempker, president of Prima Games. “Continuing in a new tradition of in-game items, we were able to once again offer exclusive content—something we hope to keep doing in the future.”

In the re-creation of the guide, Prima continued to use its previous author team along with the Syndicate, the world’s largest online gaming guild. The Syndicate team spent hundreds of hours playing the game and testing strategies alongside the game dev team in the first installment of the guide. For the revised edition, the team was kept in the game, playing along side other players, team members, and staff to expand on past strategies and cultivate new, long-term tactics.

“Our friends at Prima have created a must-have guide for every Pirates of the Burning Sea fan,” said Troy Hewitt, Director, Community Relations at Flying Lab Software. “Filled with the latest in piratical play-tips, this official guide is a tremendous resource for even the most sea-worthy captain of the Burning Sea! Let’s not forget that exclusive shoulder lizard—Yar!”

The guide contains an updated breakdown of every ship (new and past) and its stats, as well as an in-depth career guide to help players at every level on both land and sea. The guide also takes an exhaustive look at the newest class: Buccaneer. There are fully updated tables of every new skill as well.

EA Sports Fantasy Football is the Complete Fantasy Football Experience for Madden NFL 09

Fantasy Football will be launching a new website, fantasy.EASPORTS.com and will have fantasy football applications specific to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system later this summer. The web-based service of EA SPORTS Fantasy Football is free, while members of Xbox LIVE or PLAYSTATION 3 Network will have the opportunity to download the innovative fantasy football applications for a fee. In addition, for the first time ever, gamers will have the ability to play their fantasy football squad in Madden NFL 09. EA Experts, a team of internal fantasy football gurus, returns and serves as a go-to source for all fantasy football information.

“EA SPORTS Fantasy Football this year takes fantasy football leagues to the next level,” said EA SPORTS Fantasy Football Executive Producer Jeremy Strauser. “Through our draft day and live scoring applications we have made fantasy football a truly interactive and innovative experience. In addition, we have created integration between our EA SPORTS Fantasy Football product and Madden NFL 09 which gives the football gamer the complete football gaming experience.”

Exclusive to EA SPORTS Fantasy Football customers, gamers will have the ability to download the EA SPORTS Fantasy Football Live Draft Tracker application and experience a fantasy draft that includes all of the fanfare and presentation of an authentic professional football draft on their Xbox 360 or PLAYSTATION 3. The days of paper draft boards are over and gamers can view video clips and hear the EA Experts team provide commentary on top players. Moreover, gamers will be able to track their EA SPORTS Fantasy Football teams and leagues through the EA SPORTS Fantasy Football Live Score Tracker application, which is also available via download from Xbox LIVE or PLAYSTATION 3 Network. The fantasy scores can be viewed in two ways: full screen mode with complete rosters and details or picture-in-picture mode which allows gamers to keep an eye on scoring updates while watching live football action.



If you’ve ever wanted to test your fantasy team against others in the Madden NFL franchise, EA SPORTS Fantasy Football now gives you the opportunity. Through the website, players designate which fantasy team will be imported into Madden NFL 09. This fantasy team is a fully-functional created team and can be played in all areas available to created teams, including online head-to-head games, providing the ultimate football gaming experience.

Block Breaker Deluxe joins Nintendo WiiWare

Best selling brick-breaking game, Block Breaker Deluxe for WiiWare, Nintendo’s new downloadable games service for Wii. Block Breaker Deluxe is available now for 800 Wii Points.

Block Breaker Deluxe is vastly enhanced and redone for WiiWare. This title is created to complement the Wii Remote, a motion sensing controller which allows the player to interact with the screen.

Block Breaker Deluxe is the best selling brick-breaking game, over 8 million copies sold, that has been vastly enhanced and improved for WiiWare. The longest, most feature-rich brick-breaker game created, the game is easy to navigate by moving the Wii Remote left and right to shift the pad and connect with the ball.

Game Features:

• 50 levels, 8 locations and 3 game modes, allow for hours of endless play solo or with a group
  
• Arena Mode- two players face off and attempt to destroy the most bricks. 2 pads appear on the screen with each person getting their own pad and ball.
  
• Mini-games –mimicking a casino atmosphere, players have a chance to win extra cash by scoring in slots, poker and other Vegas style casino games.
  

Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games Track and Field Events

The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games: Track and Field events.

Appearing on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and PC, Beijing 2008 delivers a host of Track and Field events.

Of the six Track events, the 100m is the blue-riband event of the Olympic Games and is watched by millions of people worldwide. A new analogue starting block mechanic has been added to the gameplay using the trigger buttons on the controller. After launching out of the starting blocks, players will have the choice to either waggle the thumb stick from left to right, or press the A button and B button alternately to gain speed. Other track events are the 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and the 110m Hurdles for Men and 100m Hurdles for Women.



There are eight Field events in Beijing 2008 and new to this iteration is the Hammer Throw which is played with both analogue sticks to build up power, whilst using one of the triggers to throw the Hammer. Other Field events are the High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Shot Put, Triple Jump, Discus Throw, and the Javelin Throw. All of these events have different gameplay mechanics and are playable with both male and female athletes.

Beijing 2008 is slated for a global release on June 27th 2008 for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and PC.



More from www.olympicvideogames.com.

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. cleared for take-off with AMBX

Philips today announced an agreement with Ubisoft to implement amBX directly into Tom Clancy’s HAWX, the forthcoming air combat game. The announcement coincides with sweeping price reductions across the Philips amBX PC Gaming Peripherals range, taking the Starter Kit price point below the competitive £100 mark.

Enthusiastically received by European press and retail at the Paris UbiDays trade event, Tom Clancy’s HAWX will allow players the opportunity to grasp the throttle of over 50 famous fighter aircraft and fly them over real world locations and cities in photorealistic environments, using the highest quality satellite data currently available outside the military.

Tom Clancy’s HAWX uses an Enhanced Reality System to turn novice gaming aviators into the elite fighter pilots of the future, featuring weapons systems, interception trajectories, incoming missile detection, anti-crash systems, damage assessment, tactical maps and the ability for pilots to issue orders to their squadron and other units – all of which will be radically enhanced through amBX. The Philips amBX PC Gaming Peripherals range, including RGB LED lights capable of 16 million different colours, variable speed desktop fans capable of up to 5000 RPM and the variable rotation speed wrist rumble strip, will create all kinds of spectacular air combat lighting, air movement and rumble effects, taking the gameplay out of the screen and into the real world.

“Tom Clancy’s HAWX comes hot on the heels of our Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway amBX announcement with Ubisoft and further underlines our commitment to bringing amBX to world class gaming," commented Jo Cooke, Chief Marketing Officer, Philips amBX. "Building amBX into the game during development maximizes the effects that can be achieved, guaranteeing an incredibly immersive gaming experience. Tom Clancy’s HAWX is another example of a completely different genre of game that amBX can enhance and we’re looking forward to super realistic air combat lighting, wind and rumble effects that PC gamers haven’t been able to experience to-date.”

Philips is setting a global standard by licensing the amBX technology to computer game developers, publishers and peripherals manufacturers, and Ubisoft joins a rapidly growing list of content creators, including Codemasters, THQ, Introversion, Gearbox Software, Gas Powered Games, Zombie, Riot Games, Brain in a Jar, Invictus Games, Instinct Technology, Kuju, Revolution, Sumo Digital and Rivers Run Red.

Pop Cutie - Street Fashion simulation bring Street Style to Nintendo DS

KOEI gives fashion trendsetters control of the streets with a shop management and style simulation game exclusively for the Nintendo DS this September 2008.

POP CUTIE! Street Fashion Simulation to North America this September 2008. The game will be available exclusively for the Nintendo DS.

"POP CUTIE! Street Fashion Simulation brings together an eclectic mix of Tokyo street style, cosplay (costume play), fashion design and trend hunting to create a game that's part retail management simulation and part style exploration," said Amos Ip, Senior Vice President for KOEI Corporation. "As the game's shop owner you'll compete against rival designers, hire models and staff, design new items, all in search of the ultimate fashion trend."

About POP CUTIE! Street Fashion Simulation

POP CUTIE! Street Fashion Simulation is a game where players manage the day-to-day happenings of their very own fashion boutique. They'll hire models and assistants, choose the look and music for their shop, run the cash register and even place magazine ads. Best of all, they'll take to the streets and meet different characters in search of up-and-coming trends. Players will then use this inspiration in their studios where they'll create new clothes, accessories and even hairstyles. However, other shop owners are also prowling the streets looking for the next big thing.

Players will start the game as an independent designer with a small shop at a flea market. As players progress, they'll move into larger boutiques. The competition against rival shop owners culminates in a 'Fashion Battle,' where a panel of judges will decide if a player's style has enough cute or enough cool to become all the rage.

By gathering 'images' from people on the street and combining them, players will create clothing lines ranging from the conventional to the most outrageous trends from the streets of Tokyo. A simple touch interface allows players to consider color and shape combinations on the bottom screen while reviewing the actual design on the upper screen. Using Nintendo DS Multi-Card Wireless Play, up to two friends can challenge each other in fabulous Fashion Battles.

Arstechnica get their hands on Spore Creature Creator...

Playing with Spore's Creature Creator this weekend was a little surreal. We've seen the feature demonstrated many times before, but actually getting some quality time to play at home was a welcome experience. Maxis and EA arranged for a variety of press and celebrities to take the creator for a spin this weekend.

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