First Marching Band Game Exclusively on Nintendo Wii

Major Minor's Majestic March, a new musical game which allows players to march to the beat of their own drum. Developed by NanaOn-Sha, Major Minor's Majestic March marks the return of the creative team behind the renowned PaRappa the Rapper franchise-legendary game designer and multimedia musician Masaya Matsuura and famed New York artist Rodney Alan Greenblat.

Major Minor's Majestic March turns the Wii Remote into a "special" baton that the bandleader, Major Minor, uses to keep tempo, recruit new band members and pick up valuable items. While marching through seven whimsical locations that contain various hair-raising events, Major Minor strives to create the most impressive parade ever. Players can add up to 15 different instruments to their dynamic procession-including brass, woodwinds, and percussion-to alter its composition and resulting performance. 

Players are scored on how well their band maintains its rhythm and manages obstacles that could otherwise throw the procession into disarray. The band keeps tempo to more than 25 popular marching band songs from around the world, composed into original medleys for each stage.

Major Minor's Majestic March is expected to release holiday 2008.

Fallen Empire - Legions Live on Instantaction.com

InstantAction, the revolutionary web site for gamers that combines the intensity of full-price videogames with the accessibility of the web, today unveiled the public beta for its most anticipated title to date. Fallen Empire: Legions, a frenetic multiplayer FPS, is now open to all for an intensive testing period and is available to play simply by signing up at: www.instantaction.com.

"Launching 'Fallen Empire: Legions' is a huge milestone for the company," said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames. "Not only have we proven that technically the game can exist in a browser, but we are delivering on our promise to gamers of fun, 3D action games nearly any place they can get on the Internet."

Developed internally by GarageGames, Fallen Empire: Legions harks back to squad-based multiplayer FPS classics to create its accessible and captivating gameplay. Working in squads or alone, players can currently choose from six character configurations - gunner, sniper, sniper specialist, rocket specialist, grenade specialist and chaingun specialist. Initially, the game will feature two large maps to support the public beta's Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes, with more content due over the coming months.

"For the last three months, we have had more than four thousand gamers testing Fallen Empires," said Joe Maruschak, General Manager of GarageGames Studios. "Now it is time for us to open it up to the rest of the world and get their feedback. We will be very excited to see players joining the vibrant community that already exists around the game."

Fallen Empire: Legions takes advantage of InstantAction's approach of "Live Development," where game features and options are built and tweaked based on consumer feedback, both active in the form of direct feedback and passively through in-game statistics and metrics. Players can visit the forums and participate at: http://forum.beta.instantaction.com/smf/index.php/board,22.0.html

For more information, please visit www.InstantAction.com.

Can you imagine having THIS on your walls? I can!

My wife would kill me, but I can imagine it. Everytime I came to the hole though I'd probably try to jump over it. I'd be injured within the first week it was in the house.

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5 Sites To Play Old Computer Games Once Again

I’ve got a Wii, and I love it, and one of the big reasons I do is for the emulation. Sadly however, I can’t bring my Wii to work or to the coffee shop down the street - but I can bring my laptop, jump on their WiFi and fire up these awesome sites for a quick old school gaming fix!

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Spore Galactic Edition - Jammed Packed With Out-Of-This-World Extras

Limited Galactic Edition of the highly-anticipated game from the creators of The Sims. This special box will contain the 'Making of Spore' DVD, ‘The Art of Spore’ hardback mini-book, a fold-out Spore poster, and a premium 100-page Galactic Handbook. The Galactic Edition will also feature a DVD documentary from the National Geographic Channel called “How to Build a Better Being”.

“The Spore Galactic Edition is the ultimate backstage pass for the Spore universe,” said Patrick Buechner, vice president of marketing, Maxis. “The Spore Galactic Edition is an incredible collection of art, video and behind-the-scenes access to the development team for fans, along with some of the coolest, most collectable packaging in years.”

Spore 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.

In the UK the Galactic Edition of Spore will be available for £44.99 while the regular edition will retail at £39.99. Versions of Spore will ship for the PC, Mac, Nintendo DS and mobile phones on the 5th September 2008.

Fans can 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 video of the game. Members of the media can visit EA’s press site at www.electronicarts.co.uk/press for information about all of EA’s games.

Beatmania II DX16 EMPRESS confirmed!

Konami opened up the location test announcement page for beatmaniaIIDX 16 EMPRESS today.

The first round of testing is slated to begin on the 25th in Japan and run through July 1st.

Rumor - Leaked image could show PlayStation 3 trophies

This image, leaked by "The Patriots," could show a PS3 trophy screen. The picture seems to show a gamer profiel, of sorts. If it's real, that is.

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Cake Mania 2 - on Nintendo DS demo available

Playable Demo Will Be Available At Retail Locations Nationwide This Summer.

Cake Mania 2 for Nintendo DS to retail outlets nationwide. Developed by Digital Embryo, Cake Mania 2 is the sequel to Sandlot Games' award-winning online PC hit that has been downloaded 70 million times worldwide and sold more than 325,000 units on DS. A playable Cake Mania 2 demo will also be featured in approximately 10,000 Nintendo DS Download Stations at major retail locations nationwide this summer.

In Cake Mania 2, Jill Evans returns in a fantastic all-new cake-baking adventure where she can strive for fame, fortune, or maybe even love! Players use the stylus to lead Jill through more than 200 different levels of baking and frosting mania that include 50 unique kitchen upgrades: from new ovens, frosters and display stands to microwaves, shoes and TVs. Cake-bakers must work quickly and accurately to please 18 all-new demanding customers that include aliens, federal agents, rock stars and grannies. Plus, Jill's new non-linear baking experience with six possible endings will take her to exotic locations like an underwater theme park and outer space. Throw in new cake shapes, decorations and frosting flavors and players will have their stylus busy at all times throughout the main game and in the new Endless Baking mode.



Cake Mania 2 is rated E for Everyone, and is now available for a suggested retail price of $19.99.

Safecracker Puzzler coming to Nintendo Wii

Perfect for Puzzle Enthusiasts - 35 Safes Waiting to be Cracked!

Safecracker, the unique puzzle-solving adventure originally developed for Windows and Puzzle Game of the Year, will be available for Wii this fall.

As an expert safecracker, you are hired by the wealthy family of a recently deceased billionaire to search for the last will and testament of their late relative, Duncan W. Adams. An avid safe collector and an “eccentric” to say the least, Adams has hidden the deed to his riches in one of the 35 safes scattered in his extravagant mansion.

Players will need to use expert puzzle-solving skills to crack all 35 safes, which become increasingly difficult, to reach the final master safe and locate the hi dden will.

“Adventure gamers will be thrilled with the transition of Safecracker to Wii,” said Byron Gaum, Global Product Marketing Manager at The Adventure Company. “With its non-violent, family-oriented gameplay, the whole family can work together to solve challenging puzzles, all while enjoying the scenery of 40 lavish rooms in a luxurious mansion.”

Created by award-winning developer Kheops Studios, Safecracker for Wii is the ultimate challenge for puzzle enthusiasts and wanna-be safecrackers everywhere!

Genre: Puzzle
System: Wii
Release: Fall 2008

Rockstar Games patches Grand Theft Auto IV - ArsTechnica

Today Rockstar has released a patch for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV. Online play should become a little smoother; Check out the change list after the jump.

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