gamezplay

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Space Strategy PC Video Game - A Murder of Crows update

The first update for A Murder of Crows (PC), which comes less than two weeks after its retail release across the United Kingdom.

The following key features are included in Update 1.6.3:

• New loading splash-screen art
• Trade UI modified to separate routes from stations and systems
• Added important snap points to sliders in the Population Manager
• Updated the “End Of Flesh” scenario to include the Morrigi player position
• Sort fleets by construction ships
• Optimized AI and improved AI handling of morale issues
• Corrected issues with the Progression Wars scenario (Note: Issues may remain in old saved games)
• Defense Manager screen enhanced along with defender arrival positions in combat
• Spinal mount tech can now be unlocked by either Particle Beam or Heavy Drivers
• Fixed negative savings aid bug and all known issues where Morrigi fleet speed was not being updated

A Murder of Crows (PC) is the latest expansion to the highly acclaimed 4X space strategy game Sword of the Stars (PC). It is available for digital download at GamersGate.com and currently sits in the No2 position of their list of “Top Rated” games. Players are required to have either Sword of the Stars: Collector’s Edition or Born of Blood in order to play this new addition to the franchise.

To download Update 1.6.3 and view the complete feature list, visit:
www.lighthouse-interactive.com

Sins of a Solar Empire PC video game four add-ons announced

Kalypso Media have today announced they will be publishing 4 Add On packs for the hit space strategy PC game Sins of a Solar Empire. The first of these Add On packs will be published in Q4 2008 for £7.99 and available via download from Impulse.

Sins of a Solar Empire, which was brought to Europe by Kalypso Media has been a huge hit throughout Europe reaching second place in both the British and French PC game charts.

Sins of a Solar Empire has provided gamers with real-time strategy gaming in a new dimension. In Sins of a Solar Empire the future survival of the human race is at threat, with three mighty races fighting over control of the galaxy. Players have the opportunity to command one of these three races and attempt to survive and dominate the galaxy. Your success depends on your ability to govern your empire and to command your star-fleet. A finaly balanced combination of diplomacy, economics and military power are vital for gaining the upper hand and becoming Master of the Universe!

The first Add On will include:

- Star Bases, which can be customized and upgraded over time
- Race specific Star Bases which will have a unique variety of upgradable characteristics. The ability to upgrade your Star Bases is limited so players will have to think strategically and plan carefully!
- The number of Star Bases each gamer can control will now be limited by a new research feature.
- More Star Base goodies – both race specific and generic.
- Mine field designs specific to each race and essential for hindering and endangering enemy forces.
- More types of mines.
- More defence systems both race specific and generic.
- New artifacts and planet properties.
- And much more…

The first Sins of a Solar Empire Add On will be available via download at the online platform Impulse in Q4 2008.

No Gears of War 2 video game release for Japan or Germany

Microsoft has confirmed that Gears of War 2 will not see a release in either Germany or Japan.

It has been known for some time that Epic's upcoming highly-anticipated sequel would not pass through Germany's notoriously strict videogames censorship, considering the original title's failure to see a release in the region, however the news that it will not be released in Japan will come as a surprise to some.

This news comes after reports that Gears of War 2 is already being offered on torrent sites, well before its official release.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

LittleBigPlanet video game to take user-generated creativity to new levels, providing it can first overcome the jitters of a sensitive Sony...

LittleBigPlanet, probably the most anticipated videogame this year (about which we have talked before) has been for delayed a few weeks. Usually, such a stall would be down to last minute bugs found in the code or something rather mundane. No-one expected something like LBP to be delayed due to an outbreak of corporate religious sensitivity.

The problem was discovered in one of the pieces of music licensed for the soundtrack, specifically a piece by Toumani Diabate which contained two expressions which are found in the Qur’an. This discovery appears to have triggered a spasm of corporate religious sensitivity with Sony immediately recalling all copies globally and Guildford-based developer Media Molecule left ‘shellshocked and gutted’. A new date for the game has since been announced.

Sony’s Playstation 3, on which the game is based, has had a previous well publicised conflict with a major religious organisation. Last year they fell into a well-publicised dispute with the Church of England over the use of the interior of Manchester Cathedral as an environment within their ‘Resistance : Fall of Man’ title. Clearly, they don’t want to enter the same kind of conflict again - and in particular not with something as family-friendly as the LBP brand.

Perhaps what’s most interesting here though, is the precedent implied for LBP as a platform for user-expression. It’s one of the flag-bearers for the idea of user generated content, the game itself is essentially a tool to allow the player to create more levels and share them with others. On the evidence of the beta version, which players have been using for a few weeks, it’s a startlingly powerful one. LBP is intended to be a place for free creativity and expression, so it’s going to be very interesting to watch the corporate reactions as the game evolves with the public expressing themselves within it.

After all, the previous poster-child was Will Wright’s Spore - and we all remember what happened there…

More on the delay here on gamezplay.org...

Source: New Satesman

Boogie SuperStar video game targets girl

The new video game "Boogie SuperStar" from Electronic Arts' Montreal studio aims to appeal to tween girls, a growing part of the gaming market which has traditionally been more geared to males

The dancing and karaoke game, which lets players sing and dance and customize their characters, is designed for Nintendo's Wii gaming console. It's similar to popular reality TV shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Canadian Idol."

"The overall premise of 'Boogie SuperStar' is that your character is discovered and selected to be brought to an exclusive place called the Boogie Academy, where you will have to increase your skills, do performances and eventually become the next superstar," said Charles-William Bibaud, one of the game's producers

British pop star Natasha Bedingfield, whose songs are included in the game, is its spokeswoman and she's "a pretty good player," Bibaud said Wednesday.

"Boogie SuperStar," launched this month, is the followup to the singing and dancing video game "Boogie" that was released by Electronic Arts in 2007 to mixed reviews.

Montreal studio general manager Alain Tascan said the game is aimed at girls between the ages of eight and 14, a segment of the market that likes interactive and social experiences.

"It's also very interesting for a business that is usually more male-oriented to try to understand more a female audience," Tascan said, adding that more women were put on the development team responsible for the game.
"It's a growing market for this audience, if they find a product that is done for them," he said.

Adults and boys can play the game as well, Bibaud said, but "you can tell that it's a little bit designed toward girls." Players can pick their characters' clothes, hairstyles and colours, he noted.

Game developer Ubisoft is also appealing to tween girls with its "Petz" and "Imagine" video games.

Sam Kennedy, editorial director of the gaming site 1UP.com, said video games for girls and children are becoming a bigger part of the market, especially on Nintendo consoles like the Wii and the DS handheld.

Nintendo helped bring about a change in the market by experimenting with non-traditional video games, he said.
Girls and kids were "really, really ignored just a couple of years ago" by game publishers, who now realize they're a "huge untapped" market, said Kennedy, who is based in San Francisco.

Kennedy said he hasn't played "Boogie SuperStar" yet, but noted that some of the music on the first "Boogie" game was criticized as being "a bit adult" for younger players singing along.

Bibaud said the new game has more than 40 popular songs by artists such as Fergie, Avril Lavigne, Kanye West and the Jonas Brothers.

"The game gives users feedback and scores their performances," said Bibaud. "To get the best score possible, (you) have to follow the right icons that are associated with specific dance moves."

As for singing, the game lets users know when they're not carrying the tune. Red on the screen means "you're off-key and should work on your pitch," Bibaud said.

Source: Canadian Press

PSP 3000 screen images worse than PSP 2000 screens - scan lines showing

Sony has admitted that it’s powerless to fix display problems on the PlayStation Portable 3000, which gamers have complained displays strange lines on its screen.

“On some occasions, scan lines may appear on scenes where brightness changes drastically, due to the hardware features of the new LCD device on PSP-3000,” Sony told PSP FanBoy.

One gamer posted a message on the PlayStation message board that his PSP-3000 “now has what look like scan lines that were not visible on PSPs before”. He went on to describe how “there are very visible interlacing issues” and stated that he’s not very happy with his new machine.

Another gamer said: “Now all the older PSP games will look like crap” on the PSP-3000. “The new screen looks terrible compared with the 2000,” he added.

Full story on The Register website here...

Dexter iPhone game in development

Marc Ecko Entertainment and Showtime Networks today announced that the upcoming “DEXTER” videogame for iPhone will be “investigative” in style and developed by Icarus Studios.

DEXTER is the story of Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood spatter expert for the Miami Dade Police Department who is secretly a serial killer who hunts down people who have escaped justice. The iPhone videogame based on DEXTER is a mystery game emphasizing investigation and problem solving - the player will analyze crime scenes, uncover evidence, and choose which brand of justice best suits the situation: the courts or the “Dark Passenger”. The effectiveness of every choice and interaction revolves around the Code of Harry: only kill the guilty, maintain the Mask, and, above all, don’t get caught! The game is now in development with Icarus Studios, a company that is leading the way in massively multiplayer online games, virtual worlds, and mobile entertainment experiences.

"I am so excited to have Icarus Studios on board to develop the DEXTER iPhone game,” said Marc Fernandez, Vice President of Marc Ecko Entertainment. “From the second we began this project we wanted to throw everything we had at it, that's exactly why we wanted Icarus Studios as a partner - a 100 person plus developer focusing their technology on making the DEXTER game the best it can possibly be."

“DEXTER is a fresh and cutting edge series with elements that are perfect for a handheld videogame, so we are thrilled by this opportunity,” said James Hettinger, CEO of Icarus Studios. “We are also extremely pleased to be working with Marc Ecko Entertainment and Showtime on this project. They are masters of entertainment and brands, so we could not be in better hands.”

Ace Combat 6 Flightstick bundle with exclusive DVD

Exclusively at Best Buy Stores, "Speed & Angels" Documentary Included in Bundle with Leading Flight-Combat Video Game and Critically-Acclaimed Flightstick

Ace Combat 6 Flightstick Bundle is once again available, exclusively at Best Buy retail stores nationwide. Including the critically acclaimed Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, HORI’s exclusive ACE-EDGE flightstick and a custom Xbox 360 faceplate, the newly released bundle also includes an exclusive DVD of the award-winning flight combat documentary Speed & Angels.

Speed & Angels follows two young aspiring fighter pilots as they follow their dreams of taking to the skies in F-14 Tomcat aircraft. Providing a behind the scenes look at the extraordinary people that pilot the world’s most advanced fighter planes, the film was the recipient of the Audience Award at the 2008 Newport Film Festival and an official selection at the 2008 Sedona International Film Festival.

Thrusting players into massive living battlefields, Ace Combat 6 lets players pilot cutting-edge real world aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor and A-10 Thunderbolt as they take on screaming enemy fighter jets, ground-based anti-air emplacements and hulking naval vessels. Up to 16 players can test their dogfighting skills online in a variety of multiplayer modes, including objective-based air raids and exclusive cooperative missions. Unanimously praised by critics and fans alike, Ace Combat 6 was chosen as one of Time Magazine’s top 10 games of 2007 and lauded as “bigger, better and even more photorealistic than its predecessors” by USA Today.

The Ace Combat 6 Flightstick Bundle with the Speed & Angels DVD is available exclusively at Best Buy locations nationwide and carries a suggested retail price of $149.99. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation is available at retailers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $59.99 and is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB.

The City of Heroes video game Halloween Zombie Apocalypse!

The 2008 Halloween Event Has Begun!
A few years ago legions of Vampires, Witches, Werewolves and Jack-o-Lanterns, as well as the monstrous Eochai and Jack-in-Irons, decided to make an annual event of terrorising the citizens of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. While the super powered heroes and villains are determined not to allow these ‘bad elements’ to disrupt their Halloween festivities, word has it that there is yet another group of unwanted guests looking to spoil the Trick or Treating.

Zombies
Zombies. These homely fellows seem to be literally rising from the ground beneath us and attacking heroes, villains and citizens without discrimination. Their taste in fashion is despicable, not to mention the flies and the smell. It’s unknown exactly why these thoughtless thugs have been moving in, but it’s clear that heroes and villains have a whole new challenge this year.

Badges, Temporary Costumes and Other Rewards
But know this! With new challenges come new rewards! And all of last year’s Trick or Treating goodies are back this year. Heroes can collect these Classical Costumes (and wear them) for Trick or Treating throughout the city. Badges will be available for those who collect the most Classical Costumes. It’s almost enough to make heroes and villains set their differences aside. Almost.

Old Enemies Return
Ravenwing Cabal’s Annah will be in Croatoa to explain more about some of the activities, as will Granny Beldam in Nerva Archipelago. Learn more about the 2008 Halloween Event here.

Bounty Bay Online PC video game second free add-on introduces the colonies

Info series for the upcoming colony add-on for Bounty Bay Online has started

From December on, player guilds in Bounty Bay Online will be able to establish entire colonies everywhere in the maritime world with adjoining cities and harbors. Already before Christmas Frogster, will publish this second free of charge expansion under the working title "Colony Add-on". In the official forum the Berlin based publisher has started with an info series for this big content-update, which will present all features in detail on a weekly basis. The first part explains the colony harbor system and was recently made available at http://forum.bountybayonline.de/showthread.php?t=25693. The new quests are being introduced in the second part of the info series which has just been published:
http://forum.bountybayonline.de/showthread.php?p=191111 . On the webpage interested players can register themselves for Bounty Bay Online and sail away immediately.

The info series about the colony add-on begins with the colony harbor system, the core piece of the expansion. Thanks to this new feature it will be possible for all guilds from December on to establish their own colony and to build their own city with a harbor. In the different harbors it will be possible to import, stock, produce and trade various goods. Colony owners can decide for themselves between three different outer appearances. In this way, successful guilds create for themselves an individual and distinctive home and retreat. Besides the outer appearance, colony owners have the choice between four different development paths. These paths define the future function of a colony.

Players can choose from the following four possibilities:

• Industrial Harbor: Specializes in the research of weapons, armor and the trade of pets.
• Business Harbor: Specializes in the trade of materials between the different colonies.
• Collectors Harbor: Specializes in importing and gathering of materials which can normally only be bought from NPC's.
• Military Harbor: Specializes in the research of new ships, new ship features, canons and ammunition.

After last years add-on "Storm Island" was released which raised the maximum level, added new special skills, dungeons, player-ships, items and quests, BBO players will get even more content, with which they can shape the gaming world and improve the overall gaming experience in any way they would like. Besides advantages previously mentioned, the colony add-on will strengthen the guild coherence, because guilds will for the first time be able to construct and administer their own zones. Therefore, these new features will improve their game experience with benefits such as improved attack power or faster ships.

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Wednesday, October 22, 2008