Video Game Memorabilia consumer show - Birmingham’s NEC

The Memorabilia show is the UK’s longest running and most established event for fans of movies, cult TV, comics and video games. The show attracts a staggering thirty thousand plus visitors a year and is a true celebration of popular culture. There will also be celebrity guests in attendance, as well as competitions and gaming tournaments for attendees to participate in over the two days.

This year, visitors to the NCsoft booth will be able to obtain special codes for unique in-game items such as the PPD Hardsuit power for City of Heroes and a special Lumin pet for Tabula Rasa! Starter Packs for Guild Wars, Lineage II and Tabula Rasa will also be available for a small fee, the proceeds of which will be given in full to the 'Draw the World Together' charity. These Starter Packs will grant players game trials for a period of free play. What's more, the first 2,000 visitors to arrive at the show each day will be handed a free copy of the City of Villains Collector's Edition box, which features a unique two sided poster, an art collection book, exclusive in-game items, and all seven custom-made City of Heroes and City of Villains HeroClix figures!

In addition to hands on game play, NCsoft is bringing along two of the signature characters from their games. The heroic Ms. Liberty from City of Heroes and the Guild Wars Ranger Reyna will both be present during the weekend. This is a chance of a lifetime for fans to get a professional photo taken with the ladies themselves, while those who come dressed in their own character costume will be entered into an NCsoft Costume Contest, with more great prizes to be won!

As if this wasn’t enough excitement for one weekend, artists from the ‘Draw the World Together’ charity project will also be on hand over the weekend to recreate your in-game characters on paper! On Saturday, Mike Collins and Neil Edwards will be sketching your characters, while on Sunday Neil will be joined by an as-yet unnamed artist. Kat Nicholson and Jason Cardy will be present throughout the weekend to colour the artwork. The team will be drawing on behalf of the EveryChild charity, details of which are below.

Memorabilia 2008 is a must attend event for fans of NCsoft’s City of Heroes, a title currently played all over Europe by comic and games fans alike. The extravagant world of super-powered mayhem will both thrill and excite Memorabilia’s regular attendees as well as newcomers to the show.

Trackmania on Nintendo DS with Track Editor

TrackMania DS is an insane arcade style racer that dares players to create their own adrenaline rush as they craft customised tracks for out-of-this-world racing. Corners, loops, speed boosts and skate park inspired design blocks are all available for custom track designing – then blast through it in awesome speed machines. Ascaron and 93 Games will release TrackMania DS on 21st November 2008 for everyone’s ‘inner adrenaline junkie’.

The TrackMania track editor has become infamous in the world of arcade racing and is now finally available on Nintendo DS, providing infinite fun and constantly renewed gameplay. Players are given over 300 construction blocks to work with as they decide if a speed boost propels the car onto a jump, through a ‘loop de loop’ or into a chicane. Up to four players can race on custom tracks using just one game cartridge via the local WiFi connection of the Nintendo DS. Tracks saved to the cartridge can also be freely exchanged with rival racers with an astoundingly fast data transfer function.

“Creating tracks is something TrackMania is famous for worldwide. We carefully ported this unique game feature to the DS, ensuring the experience was faithfully reproduced for handheld gamers. The result is a world class racing game where gameplay is only confined by imagination”, states Alan Wild, International Product Manager at Ascaron Entertainment. “In a sense, the gamer becomes the developer; they create the rush, excitement and extremity of the game for themselves and their mates.”

The Nintendo DS stylus is used to select and move construction blocks, with players given a 3D view at all times. Tracks can be tested in real time, with edit mode a simple click away for ‘makeshift developers’ to continue building and refining their creation.

Astro Boy video games based on the movie

New videogames based on the new animated adventure film, Astro Boy. The games are scheduled to be released for console and handheld systems in Q4 2009 to coincide with the worldwide release of the movie in Q4 2009.

“The rich history and endearing story of Astro Boy appeals to fans around the globe and translates exceptionally well to the interactive space,” said Yoji Takenaka, president and chief executive officer, North America and Europe, D3P. “We look forward to working with Imagi to bring the film’s unique cast of characters to life in a compelling videogame that fans and gamers of all ages will enjoy.”

Erin Corbett, president of Imagi Studios U.S., said: “We are delighted to have D3Publisher as our exclusive worldwide interactive partner, and we look forward to seeing Astro Boy raised to new superhero heights in the videogame universe.”

About Astro Boy (The Movie)
Set in the future, Imagi Studio’s Astro Boy is a classic superhero origin story about a young robot with incredible powers and his adventure-filled journey in search of his identity and destiny, taking him into a netherworld of robot gladiators before he returns to save Metro City.



David Bowers (Flushed Away) is directing Astro Boy from a screenplay written by Timothy Harris (Kindergarten Cop, Trading Places), with Maryann Garger producing. The all-star cast is headed by Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy and Donald Sutherland, with Freddie Highmore in the title role.

The iconic character Astro Boy has found global popularity since his creation in the early 1950s by Japan’s Osamu Tezuka, known as the “god of manga” and “father of anime”, and has been the hero of three acclaimed animated television series aired around the world.

Astro Boy is being distributed worldwide by Summit Entertainment except for Imagi’s reserved territories of Japan, Hong Kong and China.

Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party New Rabbids Toyz

Release of four exclusive toys created and designed by UbiArt.

The four Rabbids – Assassin’s Creed Rabbid, Smile Rabbid, Splinter Cell Rabbid and Scream Rabbid – will be available the same day as the Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party video game, from retail partners such as Game, Micromania, Score Game, Gamestation, HMV, Fnac, Virgin or online stores Amazon, play.com, Alapage and UbiArt.com in France, UK, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Scandinavia.

An exclusive box, containing all four Rabbids Toys and an additional exclusive white rabbid will be available on http://shop.ubi.com and www.ubiart.com The additional exclusive Rabbid is blank, allowing fans to express their creativity by painting their unique version of a crazy Rabbid.

Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party will be available on November 14th, exclusively for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS system.

Street Fighter video game to Pinball FX to Xbox live arcade

Themed table is the latest expansion for the best selling Xbox LIVE Arcade pinball game.

Street Fighter table for Pinball FX in celebration of the soon to be released Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Pinball FX is the latest in a wide selection of pinball tables for one of the best selling titles on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The table will launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 on November 12th, 2008.

“It is so great to bring this awesome intellectual property of Capcom’s over to Pinball FX. I’ve long been a fan of the Street Fighter franchise and felt they made the best fighting games regardless of platforms,” said Zsolt Kigyossy, managing director of ZEN Studios. “This is our fourth expansion table for Pinball FX, and we will continue to work hard to give our fans the best possible pinball game with loads of tables and variety.”

“Capcom is pleased to team up with ZEN Studios to kick off our celebration of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix immanent release,” said Christian Svensson, VP of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Capcom Entertainment Inc. “Capcom aims to be one of the top providers of digitally delivered game content in the industry and teaming up with ZEN Studios adds an entirely new dimension to our portfolio of competitive titles.”

With this new table, the legendary Street Fighter franchise comes alive in an all-new Pinball FX experience. Street Fighter II Pinball FX comes loaded with the characters that revolutionized the fighting genre and created a global legacy like no other. Experience the arcade thrills of traditional pinball with enhanced gameplay, unparalleled graphical detail and innovative features not found in any other pinball game, such as:

Enter the World Warrior Championship fighting as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Guile and battle against Sagat, Evil Ryu, Vega, and Balrog, then win the final round of the championship against M. Bison!

Discover special combo shots, animated punches, kicks and special moves as you fight against opponents using ramps and a variety of orbit shots.

Multiple in-game challenges featuring objects, art and memorable items from Street Fighter II.
Table soundtrack, sound effects and voices from the original Street Fighter II.
Brand new hot-seat multiplayer.

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RPG - FABLE 2 cast over 45 actors (aged from 8 to 80) to play almost 200 speaking characters

For Microsoft's epic RPG, FABLE 2, SIDE cast over 45 actors (aged from 8 to 80) to play almost 200 speaking characters. Four of SIDE's voice directors ensured that all performances harmonized perfectly with FABLE'S idiosyncratic world and captured the complexities of its inhabitants. The voice recording ran concurrently in two of Side's studios for over three months, amounting to nearly 370,000 words recorded – that's 38 hours of dialogue!

"FABLE 2 was a real pleasure to work on. We realised this was going to be something special as soon as we saw the superb script," said Side Creative Director, Andy Emery. "The widespread critical acclaim for the performances in FABLE 2 show the impact a great script, cast and direction can make"

Peter Molyneux says "The sheer amount of dialogue in FABLE 2 meant this was a massive project. Side rose to this challenge in a professional and efficient way. They have done a great job for us"

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London to Host Need for Speed Live 2009 International Race Event

Today at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, Electronic Arts announced Need for Speed Live, a unique festival and competition that celebrates car culture. This first-time event will be open to the public and will be hosted next summer at the world famous Brands Hatch Circuit* located near London, England. The weekend-long experience will be a showcase of entertainment, videogames, music, car shows and displays designed to appeal to fans of racing games, proud owners of hot vehicles, fans of exotic cars and motorsports enthusiasts.

Need for Speed Live will invite some of the world's top drifters and time attack cars from across Europe, North America and Japan to gather in one location to compete in a battle of the continents. Need for Speed Live will also include demonstrations by some of the world's most famous race and exotic cars in a manufacturer time attack exhibition.

"For over 14 years, Need for Speed has been at the forefront of automotive culture and this Live race event brings the spirit of Need for Speed games to life with all of the energy, adrenaline and sexiness that the franchise represents," said Rod Chong, Creative Director for Need for Speed Live. "Need for Speed Live will definitely push each driver and their cars to the limit as they contend with dramatic elevation changes and harrowing fourth-gear 100 mph drifts."
For more information on Need for Speed Live, please visit www.needforspeedlive.com.

• To be confirmed; Negotiations in progress.

All Need for Speed posts on Gamezplay.org here...

Myth War II video game PVP System Overview

You may try to play Myth War II (http://mw2.igg.com/main.php) without dabbling in PVP. But as an integral, not to mention wildly popular, part of the game, PVP is inevitable.

Taking grief from high level characters in PVP combat may be daunting task, especially when they have no problem rubbing it in after they win. The intelligence involved, skill and ability use, and strategic choices are only a few of the things that can and must be learnt from extensive PVP experience.

It doesn’t matter whether you are in a PVP arena, engaged in large scale guild wars or one-on-one duels, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat will definitely impart things that will help you when battling computer opponents. The people from Myth War understand the importance of PVP, but at the same time they also seek to keep it from becoming a way of bullying new players or getting out of hand. So, today they will be explaining some of the basics, so that everyone can participate and have a fair shot at glory!

Toggle PVP on
In Myth War II Online, players are allowed to take on a human opponent, then fight or even kill them. But repeated “ganking”, as the act of unfairly attacking and killing of low level characters has come to be known, may ruin the game by the sheer brutality involved when attacking players who are at a significant disadvantage, or without warning. Thus specific rules have been made to address this. Players are required to abide by certain PVP codes of practice to ensure fair game play.
To toggle PVP on, players must draw support from Devil's Blood which is sold in groceries and in the Item Mall. However, Devil’s Blood does not work for players below Level 50, ensuring a rigorous amount of time in game spent learning how to fight before being thrown to the wolves, so to speak. After Devil’s Blood is activated, players can attack other players with toggle duel off. To start PVP, players press the attack button and left click on a target character to initiate an attack. An information popup will tell them that they are entering PVP combat. After the target receives the warning message of being attacked and toggles the PVP flag on, both parties are engaged in PVP combat immediately.
The PVP initiator can not run away from a PVP fight. But the person being attacked has two options: defend himself or attempt to escape. A dishonorable kill of a specific player will yield a reduction in the Evil Index. As PVP kills are tallied up, jail terms could be prolonged. The reduction in the Evil Index will affect death penalties incurred as well. PVP players will recover 10% HP after a PVP death takes them to their bind points. But if players being attacked are below Level 50, they will suffer no penalty.

PVP revenge mechanic
After players are attacked and die in PVP, they can ask their friends to toggle PVP on and kill someone in revenge. However, those who engage in revenge PVP don’t have to worry about the effect on their Evil Index.

If players gain five PVP indicators within one day, they cannot be engaged in any PVP combat. The PVP indicator is related to the times players are engaged in combat and the number of player kills. Their PVP indicators will be initialized everyday. In doing so, ganking and griefing should be prevented.

PVP in Myth War is not just about ganking other players; it includes politics and teamwork. Myth War is known for its close knit community of player’s, and those that plan to engage in sadistic PVP will find themselves quickly ostracized. However, those that PVP to make themselves more complete warriors and challenge themselves with worthy opponents have nothing to fear but their next opponent’s strategies. Then you’ll know who the best of the best truly is.

Emergency Hospital video game for Xbox 360 and PC Launching this November

The digital distribution version of Emergency Hospital is complete, and the fast-paced hospital time management game is set for release on November 26. Formerly titled Sarah’s Emergency Room, the newly renamed time management game will be published by Merscom for Xbox Live Arcade and PC download platforms. Emergency Hospital will be distributed through leading portals including RealNetworks, Big Fish Games, and Oberon Media, with a full list included below.

"Digital distribution of our game titles is essential to GAMEINVEST's vision of creating accessible, interactive entertainment for everyone," said GAMEINVEST General Manager Mariana Cardoso. "Working with Merscom will enable us to reach worldwide audiences with our newest title, Emergency Hospital."

"From the graphics and the gameplay to the characters and the storyline, Emergency Hospital has the ingredients for success," said Lloyd Melnick, Chief Customer Officer at Merscom. “Also, we incorporated feedback from gamers to determine a game name that would really resonate with our audience.”

Emergency Hospital casts players as Sarah, an ambitious young nurse who suddenly gets a taste of thrilling emergency room action when she accepts a mysterious management position at a small hospital in Arkansas. Players control Sarah as she frantically diagnoses patients, prescribes medicine, assists in the operating room, and runs back and forth between the waiting room and examination rooms to keep track of troublesome patients. With nine difficulty levels for each of the game’s seven hospitals, and several floors of patients in each hospital, Emergency Hospital provides hours of frenzied fun for gamers of all ages.
Emergency Hospital will be distributed through leading portals, including: RealNetworks, Big Fish Games, Oberon Media, Shockwave, Trymedia, ArcadeTown, Boonty, Gamefools, PlayFirst, iWin, Zapak and Reflexive Entertainment.

Swords and Spells Clash New Sacred 2 Fallen Angel Trailer

The second trailer in the three-part Introduction to Ancaria video series. In this new video from Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, the upcoming action-RPG for Windows PC and next generation consoles, watch as several of the games playable characters do battle with a fearsome undead army whose sole goal is the destruction of the world.

Watch the gamezplay.org HD trailer here...

Other games trailer on my YouTube channel...