Work doesn't have to be a chore. For the third in our series on dream children's careers, Lucy Rodgers meets a man who as a teenager fell in love with video games - and now designs them.
Most modern-day youngsters, and many a 21st-Century adult, will have whiled away a good number of hours playing the latest shooter, vehicle simulation or strategy video game.
But for Jez Harris such virtual pastimes are not just an enjoyable hobby, they are his career. The 28-year-old designer, who has yearned to work in the industry since he was a teenager, is paid to create the simulated worlds we enter from our bedrooms or living rooms.
Fantasy action-RPG also nominated in five other categories at the German Developer Awards
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has earned two awards and five nominations in the prestigious German Developer awards for 2008. The action-RPG, currently available for Windows PC and set for a March 2009 release on next-generation consoles, took home awards for “Best German Action Game” and “Best International Game for 2008”at the prestigious European video game awards show, held in Essen, Germany. Sacred 2 was also nominated in five other categories, including:
Best Game Design
Best Story
Best in-game graphics
Best sound
Best German Game of 2008
For more information about Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, which is available now for Windows PC throughout the United States and Canada, please visit http://www.sacred2.com or http://www.cdvus.com. Sacred 2 will be available for next-generation consoles in March 2009. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an Action-RPG with a rich story that takes place in a giant, open-ended and seamless world. This world contains hundreds of dungeons, treacherous opponents and a variety of challenging quests. Intelligent enemies, steadily adapting in number and difficulty based on player progress, challenge players in heroic single- and multiplayer battles.
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel provides numerous unique items that can be gathered in this mystical world. A deep reward system further enables advancements in character, individual attributes and character-specific fighting styles, each designed to keep players returning to the world of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel to discover what is around the next bend. Drop-in styled cooperative multiplayer gameplay ensures players will enjoy the game alone or seamlessly with friends at any time. Five unique multiplayer modes round out the experience and offer a refreshing, first-class gaming experience in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.
Help our hero, Little Blue fend off hungry creatures that are eager to steal his town’s fish supply.
To thwart these hungry animals, you’ll strategically place defense mechanisms throughout the town with each possessing unique strengths that are geared for specific animals.
With the perfect combination of tower utilization, defensive placement, timing and strategy, Little Blue’s food supply will be saved and you won’t go home hungry.
Professional Bull Riders, announced today that the Professional Bull Riders - Out of the Chute for PSP (PlayStationPortable) system and PC is exclusively available for download from www.us.playstation.com/PSN/mediamanager and www.direct2drive.com.
Capturing all the adrenaline and challenge of the Toughest Sport on Dirt, Professional Bull Riders - Out of the Chute lets you play as a top pro bull rider or as a rank bull in multiple events leading up to the World Finals in Las Vegas.
"As the fastest growing sport in North America, PBR brings high-octane action and incredible excitement to PSP system and PC gamers everywhere," says Scott Orr, President of D2C Games. "PBR Out of the Chute is a great family game and fun social experience where players take on the roles of rider and bull in the ultimate battle of brains vs. brawn."
"A two-ton bull is a lot less dangerous on the PSP system or PC than it is in a PBR arena, but D2C and Totally Games managed to capture the essence of the sport in this game", says Sean Gleason, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of PBR. "We are extremely proud of PBR Out of the Chute and couldn't be happier about the relationship with such great game developers and publishers."
Players may create their own characters and compete as a professional rider or a rank bull through 10 three-round events in multiple www.direct2drive.comocations including New York, Anaheim, and Atlanta. Challenge the best or play as top riders including Guilherme Marchi, Justin McBride, and Chris Shivers. Even compete as one of the tour's rankest bulls, complete with signature moves! Intuitive controls and three difficulty levels allow everyone to pick up and play, have fun, and be challenged for hours.
Multiplayer Mode allows players to compete against each other as rider vs. bull in 8 seconds or unlimited time modes. Season Mode features un-lockable riders, bulls, and videos as players compete to become the best rider or bull through the PBR season and win the World Finals in Las Vegas. Become part of the Millionaire's Club by beating some of the meanest, rankest bulls in the history of the PBR. Realistic sounds, pre-ride commentary, official rules, and heart-pounding music capture the essence of the PBR experience.
PBR Out of the Chute is now available for PSP system and PC at a suggested retail price of $14.99.
About the Professional Bull Riders
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, ESPN, VERSUS, and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 400 hours of prime time programming annually, PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over 1.5 million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the Copenhagen Bull Riding Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR is headquartered in Pueblo, Colo., with additional offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. The PBR prides itself in its 1,000 plus stock contractor relationships and over 1,200 PBR bull riders competing in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in five countries.
Simply Knitting, the UK’s leading knitting magazine has ventured into new territory, and in a flash of cross-genre inspiration is bringing the star of LittleBIGPlanet ‘Sackboy’ to life!
Perfect for both gamers and knitters, the cute star of LittleBIGPlanet has been given the full treatment by Alan Dart, the hugely popular designer of knitted toys – described as “the Grand Theft Auto of knitting” by Dan Dawkins, Editor of Future games magazine PSM3.
Tying in with the launch of Sony’s groundbreaking new PlayStation 3 game, the unofficial pattern will help you bring to life the knitted hero, building on the game’s near limitless potential for players creating and sharing their own custom-designed objects, ideas and levels.
Sackboy can be completely customised and accessorised within the game, so once you’ve got your knitted Sackboy all sewn up you can photograph your finest creation with your PlayStation Eye to put it into the game itself! Simply Knitting’s very own Sackboy can be seen indulging in a spot of the woollen craft!
On sale now, the knitted toy matches the digital version right down to the fingers, so there should be just enough time to knit a Sackboy for the gamer in your life! Future’s sister titles Official PlayStation3, PSM3 and GamesMaster will also be featuring Simply Knitting’s knitted wonder in their issues, on sale in December.
Debora Bradley, Editor of Simply Knitting said, “Sackboy will be tremendously popular and this is the perfect time of year to knit the little chap. Knitting and customising him means that he will be utterly unique and a very cool accessory. We’re very lucky to have him in the magazine and we hope that he’ll help to increase the already sizable crossover between the great communities of gamers and knitters, online or not.”
Issue 49 of Simply Knitting is on sale now, priced at £4.49.
Arcade-Style Multi-Player Action Hunting Comes to Wii for the First Time
Video game publisher Mastiff announced today that the award-winning arcade-style, multi-player hunting game Deer Drive for Nintendo Wii will ship to major gaming retailers across North America on Dec. 16, 2008.
Deer Drive brings arcade-style hunting action to the living room with single player, two-player head-to-head and four player party modes. In Deer Drive players can challenge friends to head-to-head competition or enjoy the ultimate four player hunting party. And we do mean 'party.'
In Hunting Party 2 or 4 players compete not just to see who has the best aim, but to win items to use against their rivals like the Screen Shake, In Your Face screen block, and the ultimate challenge - the Upside Down Screen.
"Hunting season is open - big time" says Bill Swartz of Mastiff. "Grab a copy of Deer Drive, lock, load and take down some bucks. But be careful or bear, moose and other dangerous animals might be the ones taking you down."
Deer Drive Features:
• Arcade-style action hunting on Wii for the first time. • Single and head-to-head competitive mode • Hunting Party mode for 2-4 players • Optimized to work with Wii Remote or the Wii Zapper accessory. • Changing weather, dynamic hunting conditions over varied terrain. • Ethical hunting integral to game. • Challenging for casual and hard-core players alike.
Just Flight is pleased to announce the planned release of 747-200/300 Series, the latest airliner expansion for FSX and FS2004 in its widely acclaimed F-Lite series.
The UK ship date for 747-200/300 Series is scheduled for 19th December 2008 at a great value price of just £19.66 / €24.95 / $29.99 for boxed and download versions. In addition, owners of 747-200/300 will be able to expand it further with three keenly priced upgrade packs, available exclusively from the Just Flight website.
Costing just £4.88 each, the upgrades will add a range of additional aircraft and liveries to the Jumbo fleet.
The 747 is acknowledged as the world's most easily-recognised aircraft. Say the word 'airliner' to anyone and it's the image of the Jumbo Jet that springs to mind! From the award-winning team at CLS comes a 747 package featuring the -200 and -300 passenger variants with three engine configurations spread across 21 different liveries.
747-200/300 Series is part of Just Flight's popular F-Lite range which guarantees the highest quality and ease of use. Virtual Jumbo jockeys can choose to fly using the FMC or INS systems and the level of detail in this aircraft will impress both the casual captain and the expert aviator!
• Three additional upgrade packs – Classic Liveries, Cargo and Passenger & Combi – great value at just £4.88 each!
• Delight in the detail – 2D and 3D interactive cockpits, wingview, pushback truck, doors, thrust reversers… and much, much more!
• Take your choice of engines – Pratt & Witney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce variants are included.
• Exciting special effects including tyre/wet runway water effects, engine start and touchdown tyre smoke, wingflex and mind you don't over-rotate or you'll see the underbelly spark effects!
• Layered paint kit for enthusiasts who want to create their own liveries.
• Comprehensive, detailed manual includes flight tutorial and all the information virtual pilots will need for Jumbo flight.
"The accuracy is simply amazing" FlightsimWorld.com
"This aircraft is revolutionizing the way that we think of flight simming" Flightsim.com
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS: Flight Simulator X (Acceleration, SP2 and DX10 Preview compatible) or FS2004, Windows Vista or XP
MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: PC with 3.0GHz equivalent or higher processor, 1.0Gb RAM. 256Mb video card, 1.0Gb free hard drive space
Title 747-200/300 Series Label Just Flight Developer Commercial Level Simulations Genre Flight Simulation UK Release 19th December 2008 SRP £19.66 / €24.95 / $29.99
Mobile Version of Latest Bejeweled Installment Revolutionizes Fun On-the-Go, a Brilliant New Way to Play
A remarkably faithful translation of its highly acclaimed Bejeweled Twist game will be available to a wide array of handsets from major North American and European wireless carriers in Q2 2009.
PopCap's fourth in-house title for mobile – and the first new Bejeweled title in more than three years – Bejeweled Twist puts a completely new spin on the top-selling puzzle franchise of the 21st century. Since its launch on the PC six weeks ago, Bejeweled Twist has been a top-seller at retail and has garnered glowing critiques from media outlets of all kinds. Additionally, Bejeweled Mobile was the No2 best-selling game in North America in 2007 and held that spot through Q3 2008
"Gamers anxiously awaited the launch of Bejeweled Twist on the PC, and it has more than lived up to players' expectations, which is why we're thrilled to bring an amazingly accurate translation to the mobile market, featuring all the same game modes and challenges as the original," stated Andrew Stein, director of mobile business development at PopCap. "Bejeweled Twist is a rare achievement in the casual games category: accessible to novice players, but with unmatched challenge and flexibility in its gameplay. The mobile version is well suited for gaming on-the-go, offering four distinct ways to play from fast-paced action and strategy to a stress-busting, Zen-like experience."
Bejeweled Twist features a revolutionary new style of play and the highest production values of any casual game ever created, and removes the barriers of traditional match-3 games. Instead of swapping adjacent jewels to make a set, players rotate an entire 2x2 block of gems clockwise in an effort to create a line of three or more gems of the same type. Additionally, in Bejeweled Twist, players don't have to make a match with every move – instead they can freely rotate gems anywhere on the board, allowing far greater liberty of movement and vastly increased strategic freedom to plan combinations, cascades and chains.
Beyond the completely different method of moving gems, Bejeweled Twist provides a wealth of new power-ups and obstacles. New gem types include Flame, Lightning and Fruit gems that produce fiery explosions and other powerful effects; and new obstacles such as Bomb and Locked gems as well as Coal will challenge players as never before. In addition, four game modes (Classic, Blitz, Challenge and Zen) offer vastly different ways to experience Bejeweled Twist.
The game will also offer touch support on compatible phones.
Platypus, the cult side-scrolling shooter game for iPhone and iPod Touch, is now in the Apple App Store.
The award-winning game, based on the highly-acclaimed Mac and PC game is a unique arcade game based off of characters and scenes made from modelling clay.
The original creator hand built every ship, tree, and explosion using clay art, photographed them and created digital graphics for the game. Explosions within the game "splat" instead of "bang", and the fruit bonuses make the game graphics seem almost tangible.
"We are so pleased to see one of our most successful titles make its way onto this new and exciting platform," said Giles Hunter, Managing Director, Idigicon.
Using a choice of control methods including the iPhone's built-in accelerometer, players pilot the venerable F-27 'Platypus' across squashy fields and trees, avoiding the snowy mountains to defend peaceful Mungola from invasion. Enemy ships disappear in a splat, and several different power-ups are available to assist with the 20-level mission across 4 huge clay scenarios.
"Platypus is a game that feels so real you just want to touch it - and now on the iPhone and iPod touch you can!" said Howard Tomlinson, Director of Game Development, Astraware. "It s arcade blasting fun at your fingertips!"
A demo for War Plan Pacific has been launched and is ready for immediate download.
Taste a slice of what to expect in the game by commanding either the Imperial Japanese forces as they rampage across the Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, or begin the journey to Japan as the Allies and experience the fight from August 1942 through November 1942. Unlike the full game, the demo is limited to single player only, and lacks the ability to save.
The full version of War Plan Pacific is slated to ship within a week. Available only for Windows, War Plan Pacific is a turn-based grand strategic game of the epic conflict between Imperial Japan and the Western Allies during the Second World War. Players can command the historical forces of Japan, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands in three different scenarios providing historical and alternate set-ups, playable against either the AI or a live opponent via the Internet.
Inspired in part by the classic Avalon Hill board game on the subject, Victory in the Pacific, War Plan Pacific has a comfortable tabletop feel while embracing the digital experience. And just like that classic title, War Plan Pacific was designed from the ground up to be playable in a single session. Average play time is under three hours. And yes, that's from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay.
While the game plays fast don't confuse playability with a lack of historical gameplay. John Hawkins, developer of War Plan Pacific, has simply distilled down the Pacific conflict into its more important aspects, creating a game that holds true to reality while not becoming mired with details. Players will find that they can pursue historical strategies in their bid for victory, or branch off and set their own course.
Turns are one month long, and units represent individual ships of light cruiser size or larger, amphibious and transport groups, and air groups. War Plan Pacific emphasizes air and naval combat, abstracting land combat. Combat is handled via a battleboard, and much like the game at large, provides players with many interesting decisions while never weighing them down.
But enough talk! See for yourself what War Plan Pacific has to offer by downloading the demo right now from Shrapnel Games. Just follow this link and download away!
While downloading the demo check out the complete overview of the game, and after enjoying what the demo offers head on back to order the full game for only $39.95.
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