Wanted - weapons of fate video game voice talent...

Wanted Stars Common, Thomas Kretschmann and Terence Stamp Join Paz Vega in Lending their Voices to the Videogame Based on Universal Pictures' Blockbuster Action-Thriller

Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today revealed that Grammy Award winning hip-hop artist and actor Common (American Gangster, Smokin’ Aces), noted actor Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Transsiberian), award-winning Spanish actress Paz Vega (Spanglish, The Spirit) and Oscar-nominated film star Terence Stamp (Superman II, Valkyrie) will lend their vocal talents to the highly anticipated videogame Wanted: Weapons of Fate, based on Universal Pictures’ blockbuster action-thriller Wanted.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate is one of two self-funded games announced by Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group this year and is being created in partnership with renowned developer GRIN. The game will be published worldwide by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

In Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Common voices the role of Brummel, a businessman and weapons dealer with ties to a secret society of assassins known as the Fraternity, while Paz Vega plays a seductive Spanish assassin named Araña who protects one of the Fraternity’s innermost secrets. Terence Stamp returns to his role from the film as Pekwarsky, a close friend of the Killer who has shrouded affiliations with the team of assassins.

Other vocal talents in the game include performances from Thomas Kretschmann, who reprises his film role as Cross, a former member of the Fraternity who finds himself the target of those who were once his allies. Additionally, award-winning actor Peter Stormare (Constantine, Nacho Libre) lends his voice as The Immortal, the leader of the French Fraternity who will stop at nothing to follow the film’s notable Code of Weavers.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate is an intense, third-person action-thriller that takes combat to a new level with iconic techniques and moves drawn directly from the film — such as “Curving Bullets” and “Assassin Time” — as well as an innovative, multi-layered cover mechanic. The storyline of the game picks up where the film leaves off, providing fans with a new stage to explore in hero Wesley’s journey to becoming an unparalleled enforcer of justice. The game allows users to create another chapter in the epic fiction of the Fraternity.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate is inspired by the blockbuster feature film Wanted, which recently debuted on DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie as members of an elite team of assassins who live by an ancient, unbreakable code, the action-thriller is available in stores now.

In development since early 2007, Wanted: Weapons of Fate will be available in March 2009 on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 Computer Entertainment System and PC. For more information on the video game and the film, please visit www.wantedvideogame.com

Rogue Trooper - Quartz Zone Massacre on Nintendo Wii – coming February 2009

Reef Entertainment, the publisher responsible for Free Running, is proud to announce that Rogue Trooper: Quartz Zone Massacre will be launched across Europe on Friday 27th February 2009.

Rogue Trooper, a genetically engineered super-soldier from the pages of iconic UK sci-fi comic 2000 AD, represents Reef’s first foray onto the Nintendo Wii platform and promises to be one of the Wii’s most exciting and engaging 3rd person shooter titles yet.

Peter Rezon, managing director of Reef said, “We have high hopes for Rogue Trooper®. The tactical use of stealth as well as the all-out action fit perfectly with the Nintendo Wii interface, providing exciting and immersive gameplay. Rogue has a cult following from when he first appeared in 2000 AD and we have returned to the original storyline for the Wii version of the game to remind people how Rogue came about, but it is the strong characters and storyline which will have great appeal for gamers of all types. We believe this will become one of the very best shooter titles ever available on Nintendo Wii.”

The supporting website www.roguetrooper.com is now live and provides a truly in-depth introduction to the game. Packed with intelligence on tactics, enemies, characters and weapons as well as the essential screenshots, wallpapers, artwork and high-octane videos, Reef is confident gamers will be back to the site again and again.

Rogue Trooper is being released through Reef partners in the major European countries,
Ubisoft in the UK and Ireland, Digital Brothers in Spain and Atari in France, Germany and Italy.

Battle Rage - The Robot Wars 3D video game on Nintendo Wii

The first ‘REAL 3D’ console game, by using stereoscopic glasses on the Nintendo Wii. The first title to be released in 3D will be forthcoming game BATTLE RAGE: THE ROBOT WARS. So, get out your 3D glasses and visualize the future, watch the trailer which showcases the companies venture into 3D gaming.

The media has been salivating about how the future of entertaiment will be in 3D, and with 14 planned 3D film releases, this year 2009 is the year of 3D. DDI will lead the games industry with 3D support planned in all its future titles. While some companies are looking at expensive 3D technology requiring specialised and expensive TV’s and headsets. Data Design Interactive has continued with its accessable family friendly pricing, and found solutions through proven technology and software rather than hardware.

Stewart Green CEO of Data Design said ”This is an exciting development which will really enhanse the players experience. You can now feel you are inside the gameworld, by seeing real depth, objects float infront of you or appear to jump out of the screen. Players are now part of the game world, rather than sat outside watching the screen. Implimenting this code has been a natural progression for our internal development system ‘GODS’, which has already proven to be the fastest and most reliable development system on Wii. We are now enhansing the technical ability of our GODS engine and stereoscopic 3D is just one of many new innovative enhansments we will be making to improve the players enjoyment.”

BATTLE RAGE: THE ROBOT WARS is a third person shooter with elements of a beat’em'up game that allows a player to control giant robots. It will offer standard visual mode or visually stunning 3D graphics mode. Battles between the robots take place on carefully selected battlegrounds (so called “arenas”) and they are short, quick, brutal skirmishes. The player can fight alone (versus one, two or even three opponents) or in a team against a common foe. Every robot has its own weapons (for melee and distance combat), additional enhanced weapon types can be collected on the arena.

The player can customize their robot’s parameters in the single player and multiplayer modes to create their own unique fighting style. Also many new, powerful robotic upgrades will be waiting for the player to unlock in the story mode. The Tournament has begun.

Features:

• Single player and Multiplayer modes.
  
• Arcade mode with a separate Storyline for each of the robots characters.
  
• Robot Customization.
  
• Compelling mechanics (Rage, Rush, Power Triangle).
  
• Special Attacks (push, stun and other unique abilities for each robot).
  
• Robots allowed to fight with 3 weapons at the same time (two ranged and one melee).
  
• 8 unique starting robots.
  
• 20 weapons.
  
• 10 arenas.
  
• Innivotive 3D graphics and VR control system.

The Story:

Exodus It all begun in 2036 with invention of The Drive. After nearly a century the humanity turned its eyes at the stars again. First the Moon and then Mars, so unwelcoming and mysterious, had to submit to mankind’s expansion. Space became swarmed with shiny hulls of ships. Cosmos turned into an obsession. It was an everyman’s dream to witness, at least once, extraterrestrial wonders. Whether it was the surface of the Silver Globe bruised with craters, or for many years, intriguing "human face” – Cydonia. The governments were competing with propaganda, promising the volunteers piles of gold and the glory of conquerors. Those who believed them mostly found tough, dangerous life and uncertain fate. However, they wouldn’t back off.

The Colonization Era has come.

Creation When you want to penetrate the mysteries of Cosmos you need more then just sheer determination. Quickly it turned out how much we are dependant on machines that we create. So we built more - each bigger and more advanced than the previous. We designed metal giants in our own image – Shells. We considered them the finest tools in the history of craftsmanship.
The Golden Age of humanity was to last forever.

The Fall Delighted with our creation, we disregarded teachings of history. After what happened, many theories that would allow us to prevent tragic events emerged. If we were that creative before, we might have saved thousands of innocent lives. We died instead, like the passengers of “Titanic”, driven by our vanity. Ironically, our greatest and most promising undertaking – “New Hope” – turned into a flaming tomb for countless individuals.

So began the end of Colonization Era.

Renaissance The "New Hope” incident deprived us of delusions, we were far from perfection. We turned our backs on our children. Where the luminous, glimmering cosmic cities once stood, heaps of junk laid – the only remnants left by Shells. The fall of such a great idea affected our whole society. Never before were criminal records that high. Boredom and resignation overcame us. It was when the Corporation emerged, finding a niche on the entertainment market. Who would have thought that few, cheaply bought wrecks of Shells and the ruins of an old factory would start a madness not weaker than that of a couple of years back. Several convicts were offered freedom and money if they were to fight and win in front of the TV cameras. Quickly they have become the true heroes of our bored society.

BATTLE RAGE - THE ROBOT WARS is based on a PC title developed by Destan Entertainment and produced by Teyon Games.

The Sims 3 Content Creator Camp

The Sims 3 Content Creator Camp was held at The Sims Studio. EA played host to some of the most passionate and creative custom content creators for The Sims PC franchise and they were able to get hands-on with The Sims 3 and do what they do best—create custom content! Today we have a new video that gives you a behind the scenes look at the creator camp which included creators from Italy, France, Germany, Brazil, Korea and more.

Additionally we have a few more samples of the excellent creations that stemmed from the camp from elaborate lots to personalized furnishings. Hundreds of pieces of content were created to establish a robust set of user-created content for The Sims 3 players which will all be available at www.TheSims3.com on launch day June 2, 2009.

The Sims 3 Game Features

Create any Sims you can imagine and give them personalities! Design your ultimate Sim by choosing up to five traits and numerous body characteristics in the Create-a-Sim feature. Customize your Sims body type, facial features, hair styles, and more. Create an evil, handsome, ripped kleptomaniac that wreaks havoc on those around.

Control your Sims’ destinies. From a rock star or world leader to an expert thief, you choose whether or not to pursue the Lifetime Wish of your Sim. Choose whether to fulfill their destiny, giving them a lifetime of happiness and rewards—or not and be devious!

Customize everything! You are the designer! From clothing to houses, customize patterns, colors, or create any house you can imagine. Customize any aspect of your Sims' style…even down to the style and color of their shoes!

Be the Director of your Sims’ movies! Never before have you been able to make your own movie with a cast, a set, soundtrack, a story and editing without leaving the game. Now you can with the movie making mash up tool set. Make a movie and share it with the world!

Share like never before! Join The Sims 3 online community where you can show off your creations from Sims and houses to objects, movies, and more. Download exclusive content and hear the latest news of The Sims 3 world first.

Website: http://thesims3.ea.com/

More on Battlefield Bad Company 2 video game - sign up for Battlefield Heroes beta

Before Rejoining the 'B' Company, Players Go Back to WWII in Battlefield 1943

DICE, an Electronic Arts, announced the development of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the sequel to last year’s blockbuster title. In this installment, the Bad Company crew again find themselves in the heart of the action, where they must use every weapon and vehicle at their disposal to survive. The action unfolds with unprecedented intensity, introducing a level of fervor to vehicular warfare never before experienced in a modern warfare action game. To get ready for the assault this winter, players can prepare for action in Battlefield 1943, an all-new multiplayer game available this summer via PlayStation Store, Xbox LIVE Marketplace and on the PC.

In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the ‘B’ company fight their way through snowy mountaintops, dense jungles and dusty villages. With a heavy arsenal of deadly weapons and a slew of vehicles to aid them, the crew set off on their mission and they are ready to blow up, shoot down, blast through, wipe out and utterly destroy anything that gets in their way. Total destruction is the name of the game, delivered as only the DICE next generation Frostbite engine can. Either online or offline, enemies will soon learn there is nowhere to hide. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and the PC.

Using the same Frostbite engine, Battlefield 1943 takes players back to WWII. The game offers endless hours of 24 player multiplayer action over three classic and tropic locations; Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. Delivering the award-winning through-the-gun and vehicle warfare online experience DICE is best recognized for, Battlefield 1943 will have players battling in ruthless aerial dog fights and intense trench combat. Players can see the game in action at New York Comic Con (Booth No 1441) from February 6th-8th.

“Bad Company 2 takes everything that players liked in the original and ups the ante – more vehicles, more destruction and more team play,” said Karl Magnus Troedsson, Executive Producer Battlefield Franchise, DICE. “Battlefield 1943 is a new take on a blast from the past classic coming to life with brand new technology that we’re eager to get into players hands.”

To sign-up for the Battlefield Heroes beta, players can visit www.battlefield-heroes.com

The Penguins are being fixed! - video game gets a revamp

Meridian4 and Frogames have been hard at work tweaking Penguins Arena, their action-packed, non-stop battle for survival – FPS (First Penguin Shooter) and have fixed a few things and added others.

The update to Penguins Arena: Sedna's World has been released and is available through normal digital distribution channels. The specific changes include:

• Added "Custom maps" game mode, which allow players to play maps created with PAME (Penguins Arena Map Editor)
• Added 4 new custom maps created by fans (Thanks!)
• Fixed case of penguins falling into the water but are still alive (The ‘Tread Water’ bug)
• Fixed some achievements not being able to be unlocked
• Fixed crash when a player tries to join a full server
• Fixed not being able to bind the 'E' key

About Penguins Arena

It all begins when a penguin legend comes to life in the form of Sedna, the ancient Penguin Goddess. Global warming, pollution... Penguin tribes are endangered. Sedna utters them that there is room for but one tribe. And so the purging begins.

Penguins Arena is a thrilling and innovative First Penguin Shooter with very short rounds and where the magic of reincarnation, combined with the supernatural ability to return to the game as a ghost, ensures that your character has every chance to change your tribe's fate.

Save the Penguins, Save the Planet!

• 5 different weapons and bonuses
• Up to 4 different penguins tribes
• 15 different Icebergs battlefields
• Cute and colored cartoon graphics
• Fight the good fight and earn achievements
• Short rounds and furious, intense gameplay
• Player interaction, even after death
• Reincarnation system
• Multiplayer game (LAN or Internet)

Pirate Galaxy – revolutionary browser game closed beta starts

Leading European Publisher gamigo AG is happy to announce the start of the closed beta testing phase of the revolutionary browser game “Pirate Galaxy”. From now on up to 5000 players who register on www.pirategalaxy.com get gradually unlocked, allowing early access to the game.

The Revolution of Browser-MMOGs
With Pirate Galaxy publisher gamigo and developer Splitscreen Studios, will push the boundaries of what is possible in a web browser. The game uses a new, unique technology which allows advanced 3D graphics without the need to install client software to the computer.

Besides that, the game offers exciting gameplay and a huge Galaxy to explore. Players are able to travel to hundreds of different planets, visit space stations in orbit and fight the dangers of their hazardous surfaces. In addition to a compelling story-line, there will be an unlimited amount of automatically generated quests, so space pilots will always have some exciting adventures waiting for them.

Players won’t only have to watch out for other Space Pirates in the game, but for an evil alien race called MANTIS. This technological highly developed race attacked many of mankind’s colonies and outposts. Only experienced squads of players will be able to fight the strong MANTIS-battleships and save the galaxy from these hideous aliens.

Servers are now open!

From today on, the first servers are commencing operation and a couple of hundred players are already unlocked, with more able to play every day. Everyone who wants to join the beta-phase should register at www.pirategalaxy.com. Of course, Pirate Galaxy is completely free of charge and requires no monthly fee to play.

“We are very happy about how the players responded to our Pirate Galaxy announcement”, says Elmar Kofler, Product Manager of Pirate Galaxy. “The game quickly became one of the most anticipated titles in the next g lineup. Now we are looking forward to the feeback of the players, which will help us to give the final touch to every aspect of the game and make decisions for upcoming features.”

gamigo will use this testing phase to find and remove remaining bugs. Beyond that, gamigo will watch player’s comments and suggestions in the forum closely and consider their opinions in the further development of the Pirate Galaxy.

About Pirate Galaxy:

In Pirate Galaxy the player immerges into a Science-Fiction-World, where the galaxy is controlled by maleficent aliens, called MANTIS. The player takes control of a spaceship and takes his fate into his own hands. Along with thousands of other online-pirates, players will fight with aliens, hunt for worthwhile treasures and reconquer the despoiled colonies.

Pirate Galaxy introduces a new era of browser-games and offers a fantastic Science-Fiction-Online-World to the gamers. The game can be played via a client-program, or directly in a web-browser from almost any PC. In both cases players are able to navigate their spaceships through a high-resolution 3D-ambience.

Features:

· detailed 3D-Graphic within the browser
· exciting real-time-fights in PVE and PVP-Modes
· spaceships can be adjusted individually
· motivating role-playing-elements
· a huge game universe with hundreds of planets and innumerable quests
· easy and simple navigation
· comprehensible user interface
· free to play – no payments, no monthly fees

Pixie a New game on Mac and PC Free video game demo

Long-time independent Mac and PC game developers Phelios, Inc. (creators of the PTK Game Engine) and EMV Software (of Warblade fame), have collaborated on a new game called, Pixie. Pixie, a game that is reminiscent of vintage arcade games met with a modern twist, has just been released for both Mac and PC platforms. Pixie was created with the PTK Game Engine. The sound effects and music were composed by William Lamy, and the graphics were created by Paul Conway.
Description of Pixie

The game's main character, Pixie, loses her way in a magical forest one day and needs your guidance to return home. To succeed, gamers must play and advance in each game level, which will ultimately send Pixie on her way home, safe and sound. For each level, the objective of the game is to fence off or claim a majority of the playing field. Click on the playing board and send a magical vine to block off areas of the board. Block off bugs as well and turn the playing field into flowers or magical mushrooms. Catch coins as they fly off the bugs, to buy helpful bonuses like bombs, shields, health potions, extra lives and more.

Pixie features 100 levels, 2 big boss challenges, 4 backgrounds and hours of entertaining game play.

Pixie is available to purchase for $19.95 at both Phelios' and EMV Software's websites:

http://www.phelios.com/
http://www.emv-software.com/

Free PC demo downloads of Pixie are available at:

http://www.phelios.com/files/pc/pixie.exe
http://www.warblade.as/pixie/pixie.exe

Online Real-Time Fighting Game - Battle

Multiverse, a leading provider of interactive entertainment development technology, today launched Battle, the company's first web-based video game that pits players against one another in an action-packed gladiator match.

When playing Battle, players choose from a variety of weapon attacks and magic spells to overwhelm and defeat their opponents. Consumers can play Battle for free at leading social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster; leading casual game portal, Kongregate; and Multiverse's own site http://battle.multiverse.net. Because the game uses Flash, which is already installed on over 98% of all computers worldwide, consumers don't need to download or install any new software.

"Battle is the first glimpse of a whole new level of excitement in casual games. While new players can begin having fun in seconds, experienced gamers will be thrilled to finally see in a web browser the kind of action and graphics they've found on consoles and in massively multiplayer online games," said Corey Bridges, co-founder and executive producer, Multiverse. "We're confident Battle is going to redefine players' expectations of what's possible in casual games."

Battle: A Sneak Peek of New Platform Capabilities
By extending its platform to enable the development of games for social and casual sites, Multiverse is helping its customers tap into a growing and lucrative consumer resource. According to the Casual Gaming Association, casual games have 200 million active players worldwide who generate $2.25 billion annually.

"We built Battleto showcase what's possible with our underlying technology, the Multiverse Platform," said Rafhael Cedeno, co-founder and CTO, Multiverse. "As a platform provider, we're focused on helping teams build any kind of game or virtual world they want for any outlet – with us, the possibilities are virtually limitless.”

This technology enables game-developers to bring, for the first time, proven genres of gameplay – MMO, sports, combat, real-time strategy, and more – to web browsers in an action-packed multiplayer experience. Multiverse plans to make this new functionality available for public use in the coming months, and has already begun working with a select number of its current customers who have received a preview of its capabilities.

Free Radical to become Crytek UK

Crytek has officially confirmed the acquisition of Free Radical Design and all of its assets, which now becomes part of the Crytek network.

The Nottingham outfit now joins Crytek's other studios in Germany, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria and South Korea.

"We’re very excited about this step to expand Crytek into the UK with such an experienced and highly talented team," offered Avni Yerli, MD of Crytek.

"Free Radical Design is a great fit to Crytek and its culture, given that Free Radical has a proven track record on delivering high quality games.

"The combination of this team, the Crytek network and our CryENGINE technology will be a foundation for outstanding gaming experiences and a magnet for the best talent in the UK," he added.

Source: GamesIndustry