LEGO Battles for Nintendo DS including LEGO Castle, LEGO Pirates and LEGO Space

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games are teaming up with The LEGO Group to deliver LEGO Battles for Nintendo DS, a videogame based on classic play scenarios in evergreen themes that include LEGO Castle, LEGO Pirates and LEGO Space. 

Produced by TT Games, developed by Hellbent Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, LEGO Battles pulls three LEGO themes together to create a unique extension of the LEGO build-and-play experience that stays true to the customization and humor that are the foundation of LEGO videogames. The game is scheduled to be available in the United Kingdom this summer.

LEGO Battles offers a new kind of “build and battle” LEGO gameplay. Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad. These unique LEGO battles teams see pirate swordsmen fighting side-by-side with wizards and aliens; dragons battling ninjas; and pirate ships launching broadsides against spacecraft and knights! Players can also challenge friends on the battlefield in multiplayer mode through wireless DS multi-card play.

“LEGO Battles offers players the action-packed and humor-filled gameplay that make LEGO games great, along with the added bonus of linked multiplayer battles on DS,” said Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games Publishing. “We are excited to introduce a new LEGO videogame experience to fans and young gamers and look forward to expanding upon the beloved toy lines.”

Wind Slayer open beta PC RPG

Adventure RPG kicks off month of special level up events and premium digital item promotions

Outspark, a rapidly-growing virtual playground combining free to play games with personalized social experiences, announced today the open beta launch for the 2D side-scrolling role-playing adventure game, Wind Slayer. Thrill seekers looking for endless hours of entertainment can begin their own Wind Slayer journey now by visiting www.playwindslayer.com, registering for a free Outspark account and downloading the game. The Open Beta begins at 3 p.m. PST today.

Wind Slayer offers a rich role-playing experience in which players create and customize a character, conquer hundreds of quests and engage in frenetic Player vs. Player (PvP) battles with up to 20 players at a time. Set on the beautiful continent of Beuritania, Wind Slayer challenges players to defeat monsters and bosses as they gain skills, explore the game's beautiful and mysterious locales and follow the path of one of six diverse and powerful classes.

Open beta players will have the chance to participate in a variety of Wind Slayer in-game special events and contests including:

• February 4-10 “Second Chance Event”: Play and reach Level 10 by February 10th and receive a rare Ancient Necklace.
• February 4-10 “Race to Level 25”: Play and reach Level 25 by February 10th and receive a powerful class-specific weapon.
• February 4-24 “Month of Love”: Create a new Wind Slayer character in the month of February and receive five free Love Potions.
• February 7-8 “Weekend Slayer”: Log onto Wind Slayer on either day between 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. PST and receive a free set of Ancient Earrings – just for logging in!
• February 13 “Slayer Tournament”: Build a team of four to compete in Wind Slayer’s first tournament for a chance to win a class-specific weapon. Tournament sign up is on the Wind Slayer forums February 9-12.

With the addition of Wind Slayer, Outspark now offers its online community the opportunity to engage in five immersive multiplayer games including the hit titles Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice. The Outspark virtual playground also features a social networking portal where community members can create free profiles, chat with their friends, create and share content and even give one another in-game items. Since Outspark’s launch in late 2007, the community has grown to more than 3.7 million users.

v1.06 patch for Strategic Command 2 Weapons and Warfare released

The v1.06 patch for the Strategic Command 2 Weapons and Warfare expansion has been released today! The patch includes a number of game engine as well as editor changes based on bug reports and user requests, and is all-inclusive. It can be installed over any previous original Battlefront.com english-language version of the game. It is not compatible with any foreign-language versions of the game at this time.

Click here to jump directly to the SC2WAW patches page

Mission to Baghdad - PC video game

Special Tactics expert is on its own in the Middle East

In a new first-person shooter player takes on role of a Russian special tactics unit known as Specnaz. The Motherland somehow lost another nuclear warhead to the terrorists and it’s up to the player to recover the bomb and punish some heavy armed dusky beardies.

Dynamically evolving missions take place in a full 3D environment which is mostly interactive and destructible. The world reacts according to the player’s in-game behavior. To reach the goal the player is required to approach situations by using some or all available in-game features such as detailed movement planning, appropriate weapon selections, priority targeting etc.

Apart from that it is possible to wreak havoc and kill everything that moves, but it would be most difficult to get the mission accomplished in a serious fashion after that. Players will appreciate the possibility of learning more about the equipment and ways of Modern Warrior: Special Tactics.

Key Features:

* Authentic world in the setting of Iraq and the entire of Siberia
* Realistic control behavior and big choice of weapons, ranging from short range sidearms to RPG and heavy machine-gun
* Strong associations with the main character through entire story
* Destructible environment, inflammable materials
* Interesting plot featuring unforeseen treacheries, general conspiracy and averting civil war in Russia
* Superb collective AI
* Many special in-game effects, dynamic and adrenaline-pumping style of combat
* Based on the engine of the highly acclaimed game Ubersoldier

Lord of the Rings online - refer a friend and get free Amazon vouchers

New friend referral scheme offers FREE Amazon vouchers for current LOTRO players

Codemasters Online have today unveiled a fantastic, new “Refer a Friend” programme for its award-winning, massively multiplayer online role-playing game, The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO).* Now players can earn themselves Amazon vouchers simply by encouraging their friends and family to join them in-game by creating their own LOTRO accounts.

“With its immersive storyline, innovative features and breathtaking world to explore, The Lord of the Rings Online is well regarded as one of the world’s premium MMOs and a game that really excels when experienced with friends,” explained David Solari, Vice President & General Manager, Codemasters Online. “What better resolution to make for the start of the New Year than to encourage your friends to start playing with you, while earning rewards for yourself at the same time?”

To take part in the programme, which launches on 4th February all current players need to do is visit the LOTRO Refer a Friend page at www.lotro-europe.com/refer and enter their friends’ email addresses to send them a personal invitation to a fantastic 14-day free trial and a 25% discount off the game.** In return, players can look forward to a £5 or €5 Amazon voucher for each friend who goes on to create a full game subscription for themselves.

The Lord of the Rings Online is the ultimate online adventure and has just celebrated the launch of its first retail expansion pack, Mines of Moria, which continues the epic story of Middle-earth and introduces new character classes, hundreds of new quests and the revolutionary new Legendary Items system. For more information on The Lord of the Rings Online - Mines of Moria, please visit www.lotro-europe.com

For full terms and conditions for the Player Referral Programme visit www.lotro-europe.com/refer.

*This information applies to European Players Only
** Applies to European digital download of the game through Codemasters e-store only.

Wonderland Online - Instance Function

The long awaited Instance function will be released in Wonderland Online for all players to enjoy in the new version! Now, players can enjoy the great game storyline or simply get cocky and challenge BOSSes in an instance.

Players must have different strategies to deal with the different Bosses they will be facing, making this a very engaging function. These instances will test all player’s strengths and strategies.

Be wise, brave, strong and courageous and you’ll make it out alive. For those players worried about their low level, team up and test group strategies! Endless fun awaits everyone in WLO!

More about it, please visit here

Red Dead Redemption - Xbox 360 and PS 3 video game out in the fall

Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two, is proud to announce that Red Dead Redemption is scheduled for a fall 2009 release on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system. Developed by Rockstar San Diego, as a follow up to the 2004 hit game, Red Dead Revolver, Red Dead Redemption is a Western epic, set at the turn of the 20th century when the lawless and chaotic badlands began to give way to the expanding reach of government and the spread of the Industrial Age. The story of former outlaw, John Marston, Red Dead Redemption takes players on a great adventure across the American frontier.

"The team at San Diego have massively exceeded our expectations with the sheer depth of experiences in Red Dead Redemption," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The seamless combination of breathtaking beauty and intense action, all woven together with strong plotlines in a massive vibrant, rural environment is mind-blowing. We think this game helps to push the limits of what an open-world gaming experience can be."

Utilizing Rockstar's proprietary Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), Red Dead Redemption features an open-world environment for players to explore, including frontier towns, rolling prairies teeming with wildlife, and perilous mountain passes - each packed with an endless flow of varied distractions. Along the way, players will experience the heat of gunfights and battles, meet a host of unique characters, struggle against the harshness of one of the world's last remaining wildernesses, and ultimately pick their own precarious path through an epic story about the death of the Wild West and the gunslingers that inhabited it.

Red Dead Redemption will be available in fall 2009 for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 consoles.

2029 Online PC video game - Start Up Your Own 2029 Guild

The 2029 Online Alpha Test will be unleashed upon MMO gamers in March. Who is lucky enough to be chosen to become a pioneer, to experience the excitement of this sci-fi based MMO game in advance? Game guilds are alliances of people with similar hardcore gaming habits who often play together. Players who have a guild or a group of members can sign up for the Alpha Test. Now, it is time to rise up for the guild you believe in and enjoy the excitement of our guild activities.

Event duration: February 4th to March 2nd

How to sign up:
All players can click here to sign up.

Your application information must include the following information:

A: Guild name
B: Number of guild members
C: Guild website link
D: Number of Guild members participating in the test
E: Contact email

Prizes:
Guilds chosen will receive:

A: Each guild member will be given 5 to 50 Alpha keys
B: After the Alpha Test closes, each of the participating guilds will be rewarded with in-game items worth about US$100 during the Closed Beta period. These items will be firstly given to guild leaders who are responsible for distributing them among their members.

Notes:

1. Each guild must have at least 5 guild members
2. Guilds will be disqualified if any irregularities are detected in the information they submit.
3. Guilds must add the game’s logo or the link to our official forum to their web pages.
4. We will inform guilds winning our prizes via emails or unveil the lists in forum news. Emails with further details and times regarding the Alpha Test will be sent to participating guilds to keep them posted.

Half-Life 2 video game modified for fire safety training

Researchers at Durham University have modified a video game and turned it into a fire drill simulator.

The team used The Source Engine, the 3D game engine used to drive Half-Life 2, and created a virtual model of one of the university's departments.

Developers plan to use it to examine people's behaviour in a fire and to train people in good fire practice.

The simulator can be adapted to mimic the interior of most buildings, although modification will be needed.

Durham University's Dr Shamus Smith, who helped spearhead the project, told BBC News that that while bespoke 3D modelling software was available, modifying a video game was faster, more cost effective, and had better special effects.

"The video you see is an example of how to escape the Computer Science Department of Durham University.

"We were interested in using game technology over a customised application and The Source Engine, from Half-Life, is very versatile.

"We used the simulation to see how people behaved in an actual fire situation and to train people in 'good practice' in a fire.

Know-how

The team at Durham say the virtual environment helped familiarise people with evacuation routines and could also help identify problems with a building's layout.

By customising a video game, a finished representation of a building could be completed in just a few weeks without needing to learn or develop additional programming skills.

However, while the simulation worked for most people, those who played a lot of video games did rather unusual things.

"If a door was on fire, they [gamers] would try and run through it, rather than look for a different exit," said Dr Smith

Non-gamers treated it as a more serious exercise.

In other studies, gaming technology has also been adapted to simulate lab accidents, teach people about cooking safety, and to help people overcome arachnophobia.

Source: BBC website

Grand Ages - Rome multiplayer paths to glory

Kalypso Media today release details of the GRAND AGES: ROME multiplayer features. GRAND AGES: ROME is the sequel to Kalypso Media’s city building strategy game Imperium Romanum, a top 10 European hit title. Previous players of Imperium Romanum will not be disappointed with GRAND AGES: ROME’s massively updated graphics, more complex combat and a wealth of new features to please new and old fans alike. GRAND AGES: ROME gives the player the opportunity to rule the greatest empire the world had ever known. Is there an Emperor within you?

GRAND AGES: ROME has an extensive multiplayer facility allowing you to take on your fellow Romans and vie for control. The path to multiplayer glory can be achieved via several modes.

Last Man Standing – The objective of this game mode is to defeat all other teams. A player is considered defeated when all outposts controlled by them are destroyed.

40.000 Denarii – The first team to accumulate a total of 40 000 Denarii wins.

All Monuments – The first team to construct the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Pantheon, Philosopher Academy, Courthouse and Victory Column wins.
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Defeat Last Barbarians – The team that destroys the last barbarian village on the map wins.

King of the Hill – The teams battle for control of a special point on the map. The team that manages to hold control of the point for 10 minutes wins the game.

All in One – This game mode combines all other multiplayer modes. Any team that destroys all enemy outposts, is the first to accumulate 100 000 Denarii, or constructs all the monuments will win. ‘Destroy all barbarians’ and ‘King of the Hill’ victory modes are also applied on the maps where these game modes are available.