Free music from The Path video game

Tale of Tales releases free music track by Jarboe

The sound design of upcoming horror game The Path is at least as peculiar as any other element. There are hardly any sound effects in the game. Instead, the entire experience is scored with a continuous musical soundtrack. This music changes in response to the player's actions and position, making every musical moment in the game unique. The free song that is released today, is therefore only an approximation of the experience of the music in the game. A distillation of its perfume. Like a blossom picked from a tree.

"Safe Song" is currently playing here...


"We wanted to capture some of the eeriness of silent films that are accompanied by music but lack sound effects. While at the same time playing with the emergent qualities of the rest of the game's design.

Most things in The Path have a certain level of autonomy that is beyond the control of us, designers, and even of the players. These elements live a life of their own. The music is no exception. While based on traditional melodies and rhythms, the many tracks that the music consists of are continuously mixed in new and surprising ways."

Goth rock icon Jarboe was chosen to compose the music for The Path from the very beginning of the project. In fact, her music has been a very influential guide for the design of the game. Jarboe's combination of childlike innocence and dark horror is the perfect expression of the feelings in the fairy tales that the Path is based upon.

http://www.thelivingjarboe.com

The music that Jarboe created was processed and arranged by sound designer and musician Kris Force as to make it suitable for realtime in-game mixing. Miss Force has a background in both game audio (The Sims) and music (Amber Asylum) and has collaborated with Jarboe on many occasions. She also created the acclaimed soundscape for Tale of Tales'
IGF 2009 finalist The Graveyard.

The Path is a short horror game inspired by Little Red Ridinghood. It features six sisters who are sent to their grandmother's with the clear instruction to stay on the path. Because the forest is dangerous. People say there are wolves!...

The game will be released soon via several digital platforms.
The Path is created by Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn with the aid of freelancers Laura Raines Smith (animation), Hans Zantman (technical artist), Marian Bantjes (typography) and of course Jarboe (music) and Kris Force (sound).

Tale of Tales is an independent game development studio located in Belgium and founded by Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn. Previous works include social screensaver The Endless Forest and single player vignette The Graveyard, selected for Innovation in the 2009 Independent Games Festival. A demo of The Path was a finalist in the 2008 IGF.
Tale of Tales focuses on the creation of artistic and emotionally rich games. Harvey and Samyn consider the non-linear medium to be suitable for all sorts of interactive experiences. The Path is their largest project to date.

Previous Path post on gamezplay.org here...

Clueless the video game for PC download

Clueless, the game based on the classic 1995 Paramount Pictures film of the same name, is now available for PC download at http://www.legacygames.com.

Clueless mixes guys, crushes, friends, school and, of course, clothing, into one fabulous fashion game where time management, coordination, and style are essential for success.

Clueless welcomes the player to Beverly Hills where nothing is better than wearing a great outfit on a perfect date with your dream guy. Players take on the roll of fashion-maven Cher, whose life is not always as easy as it looks since her friends and family are continuously misunderstanding her very honorable intentions for them. It is up to the player to help Cher and her friends through the ups and downs of finding true love and, of course, looking good.

The game features over 500 fashionable options of tops, dresses, pants, shoes, and accessories that players choose from in order to assemble stylish outfits over the course of 80 different levels. There are sixteen clothing styles, ranging from contemporary to vintage, so players can mix and match hip trends from the past and present to create the highest scoring outfits in a race against the clock. Cher will then let the player know if she makes the grade. Even the player¹s boyfriend will compliment her fashion savvy‹and if she is lucky enough to have styled an outfit that matches his taste, extra bonus points will be awarded.


There are also a number of cool mini games like the Fashion Memory Mode where players match styles of hot outfits from memory and then position their model in the same stylish pose before time runs out. In the Concave Pavilion photo shoot, players dress their model, choose her position and location, and then can export the image to share with friends.

Clueless also includes the films¹ original opening soundtrack and music, in addition to the incredibly cool outfits that were created under the direction of students from the Fashion Institute of Design in Los Angeles. Bonus outfits can also be downloaded at www.omghighschool.com.

Clueless is the first of the three games that Legacy Interactive is developing based on highly popular Paramount Pictures films. Games based on the films Mean Girls and Pretty in Pink will be available for download during the next four weeks, and all three games will be available at retail in March 2009.

Martial Arts PC free to play video game Titan Online closed beta sign up

Exclusive Closed Beta to Launch February 18

the North American launch of Titan Online, its free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). Slated for release this spring, users can get a taste for this martial arts fantasy by taking part in the closed beta test scheduled to launch Feb. 18.

An epic title based on traditional Asian culture, Titan Online is a fusion MMORPG with heroic martial arts and mysterious robots that takes place in a spectacular fantasy world. Titan Online is based upon the Korean best-selling novel, "Mo Siang." Set in ancient China, players will experience historic Chinese locales, meet influential figures from various dynasties, experience mysterious aspects of various ancient Asian cultures, all while trying to save the martial arts world by engaging in intense real-time battles.

"Titan Online will offer North American fans a new RPG experience," says Han Joo Lee, EYA Interactive's global service manager. "With an extensive and profound martial arts world, a powerful formation system, unique guild system, and pet system, users will find themselves in a beautifully fresh and distinctive RPG environment."

Developed in-house by EYA Interactive, Titan Online offers a very real picture of ancient China with 75 maps of historical sites, including Dun Hwang, Chang An, Kai Feng, Beijing, Shu Zhou, Shao Lin Temple, Chin Shi Huang mausoleum, Hang Zhou, Tai Shan, The Great Wall, and Hwang Her. In order to create the most true-to-life experience, the EYA development team spent time in China researching the ancient and historical cities so they could accurately reproduce them in the game.

The upcoming closed beta test will allow users to tap into a world that has already birthed a veritable civilization of fans in Asia. It will offer players an opportunity to discover enthralling characters in a beautiful 3D, cell-shaded world filled with unique characters.

The closed beta will last just a short time and is limited to selected participants. Interested players can learn more at http://titan.eyagames.com.

Knights in the Nightmare video game on Nintendo DS

Innovation is not dead; it's just awaiting its reawakening this June

Knights in the Nightmare, a groundbreaking new gaming experience for Nintendo DS. Certain to be one of the most innovative titles of 2009, Knights in the Nightmare is wholly unique. Not easily placed in any one genre, the game requires players to throw out everything they know about roleplaying and strategy games and embrace something altogether new and fresh. Frantic, energetic action mixes with thought-provoking tactical gameplay, all within a beautifully-rendered fantasy setting and presented through a captivating, emotional narrative. Dripping with style and originality, Knights in the Nightmare delivers an unforgettable experience.

Knights in the Nightmare is scheduled for release on June 2, 2009 with an MSRP of $34.99.

About Knights in the Nightmare
Somewhere between heaven and the underworld - in the center of a quiet lake - stood an ancient castle known as Aventheim. One night, without warning, denizens of the netherworld emerged and slaughtered the kingdom; nary a soul was left alive.

Within an abandoned, long-forgotten church deep in the woods, a wisp is set free. Bereft of memory, it is drawn toward the monster-infested castle and re-awakens the souls of the vanquished knights, leading them back towards the fallen stronghold to confront the very forces of evil that took their lives.

Key Features

• An experience unlike any before it - Incorporating strategy RPG, real-time strategy, and shooter elements, you've never experienced a game like this. Control a Wisp with your stylus and activate the souls of deceased knights to aid you in destroying foes on the map. Enemies fire bullets in multiple directions, making it vital for players to master the unique touch controls.

• Over 100 playable characters - Find and recruit the ghosts of seven different classes of knights from your kingdom, and learn of their pasts, hopes, dreams, and untimely deaths. Sacrifice their souls to one another to balance their skills and create your ultimate party.

• A tale from two perspectives - This twice-told legend entangles you in a dark and brooding tale that is simultaneously examined through events both past and present. Complete the adventure to unlock the ability to play through the game with a new narrative twist, placing the antagonist in the starring role.
Knights in the Nightmare has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Dreamsdwell Stories PC fantasy video game download link

The idea of the game appeared thanks to the authors' keenness on various types of Drag-to-Match games. "We really liked this genre," says Pavlo Vysotskyi, the game designer of the project, "but we always felt restricted by the fact that the game elements were too close to each other. We decided to give the player more freedom letting to connect the spheres regardless of the distance and placing the elements further away from each other".

Despite being new the game mechanic is easy to learn since the potential connection lines are highlighted but it does not make the game less interesting because you need to find the optimal route to make a long chain.

At the very beginning of the project it became clear that the game needed a meta-level where the player could spend the resources received while playing. Between levels the player builds new structures and each of them gives access to new bonuses, new types of precious stones or brings a certain income. Advanced structures have dwellers who live their own life, move around the valley and talk to each other.

"The choice of the fantasy setting was not random," says Andriy Plish, the artist who created the graphics of the game "we wanted to create the atmosphere of a fairy tale where each dweller would be unique and evoke feelings of affection in the player". All the dwellers are busy doing their job and have their own habits. Gradually in the valley will settle Merchant, Troll, Knight, Elf, Fairy, Captain, Dwarf, King and Wizard.

In adventure mode the goal of the game is to build all the structures. Once you build the last one, Dragon will appear and fulfill the dreams of each dweller.

There are 150 unique levels in the game with the spheres and obstacles set manually. Each level can be repeated several times in the Quick Play Mode to get various medals and rewards.

Certainly, the opinions of players differ but practically all of them agree that they enjoy making long chains: "I like making long chains. My record is 48 spheres!" says one of the players.

Mayplay Games is planning to make a sequel of the game with the same dwellers but in the winter setting. Lots of ideas that were not fulfilled in the first game will be implemented in the second one. For example, the dwellers will give quests for certain levels with a unique goal like making 15 chains of one color in a row, finishing a level in 5 moves or collect a certain quantity of resources.

You can download the game here: http://mayplaygames.com/files/Dreamsdwell-Stories.exe

Hello Kitty Online Invites Players for Valentine's Day Event

Hello Kitty's MMORPG opens for beta stress test, exciting quests

Sanrio Digital today announced that Hello Kitty Online will open to the public from February 14 to February 17, 2009. All fans of Hello Kitty are invited to take part in the Valentine’s Day “Happy Hearts” event and stress test. To play, users must download the HKO game client from the game web site at www.hellokittyonline.com and sign up for a free account at SanrioTown, then use their SanrioTown username and password to log on to Hello Kitty Online. All players will be able to log in to the game starting from 20:00 EST on February 14, 2009.

The “Happy Hearts” event will end at 23:59 EST on February 17, 2009. New players will be accepted until the end of the event. “Happy Hearts” will feature exclusive new content and several enhancements to the game:

Special Valentine’s quests
Valentine’s Day under threat! Cupid is missing and so are the romance and friendship of the season. It is up to players of HKO to save Valentine’s Day and prevent the disastrous collapse of the greeting card industry. Exclusive items will be awarded to the first players to complete the quest chain.

Improved user interface
User interface enhancements include a higher supported resolution, larger field of view, movable windows, re-sizable chat box, and an improvement to the local area map.

Revamped farming system
The new farming system introduces 8 new and unique farm types while allowing players to participate in cooperative farming. Day cycles and related effects on your plants have been implemented. Plant growth times have been optimized.

Keyword chat filter
The new chat filter blocks offensive language from private and public chat to ensure a safer and more enjoyable gaming experience for players.

At 23:59 EST on February 17, 2009, Hello Kitty Online will be taken down for further work.

MapleStory PC video game Valentine's events

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and MapleStory Europe is all set up to celebrate it to the fullest with a series of fun and exciting events.

Starting February 12, players can participate at the event by hunting down chocolate-dropping monsters and delivering the chocolates to event-NPC “Ace of Hearts? which, in return, will be rewarded with lovely chocolate baskets. The ever popular couple- & friendship rings can now be snatched at a special discount price, while the Cash Shop also presents new special items that will sweeten the air. Players can also gather some extra Maple Points by participating at a screenshot event selecting the most romantic couples and friends at MapleStory Europe.

But there’s more to it than that. February is also the month of carnival, and MapleStory Europe
celebrates it with a doubled drop-ratio of items during the quests.

MapleStory originally launched in South Korea in April 2003 and quickly went on to become one of the most successful online games of all time, with over 92million registered accounts across the world. 

Go! Go! Rescue Squad! Video game on major consoles and PC

‘Go! Go! Rescue Squad!’ will release first as a downloadable PC product in February 2009. The game will be released on iPhone next with mobile formats arriving in April 2009, including Windows Mobile and Android. An Xbox Live Arcade version is in development, and the company is exploring routes to market for a Nintendo DS version later in the year making Go! Go! Rescue a true, multi-platform, brand.

The initial release, as a downloadable PC game, places Go! Go! Rescue Squad! firmly in the casual games sector, an area which Connect2Media Directors have had much success in before. CEO of Connect2Media, Eric Hobson, commented, “The global web release enables us to get the game out to a massive audience from the off. Already there is a community building for the brand on-line and the release will fuel this making it a ‘must play’ title.”

Peter Scott, Connect2Media’s CTO, said “Our experience of the game is that if people play it, they fall in love with it, and so discovery via the web release will be a key part of the strategy for building a major brand. We also feel that this is a perfect product for today’s casual games market having had a number of hits in the past with games that have taken on a life of their own when released online.”

The Go! Go! Rescue Squad! brand is designed to have mass market appeal to both male and female audiences. The game has been developed at the company’s Manchester development studio and sees the player taking on the role of a brave firefighter in order to save ‘Darwins’, the hapless inhabitants of the town. 

The game has a wide appeal combining compelling gameplay, original character and level design and unique gameplay mechanics in 64 puzzle packed levels over six themed districts. Gameplay sees the firefighter squad doing everything they can to save the various Darwins from fire, floods and explosions. The game has a gentle learning curve but its size and variety of levels gives it plenty of depth and hours of gameplay.

Zu Online video game - release of version 1.9.02 plus daily Online Awards System

With the release of version 1.9.02 for Zu Online (), the daily online awards system will be introduced, with players being able to win a lot of experience and in-game currency.

Awards System Details

Every day, when a player enters the game, a countdown will begin. When the countdown expires, they can claim some awards. When a player claims the rewards, a new countdown will begin, until all the daily online awards of the day have been claimed. When a player is online for 5 minutes, they will be able to claim some experience and Bones.

After claiming these rewards, a 10-minute countdown will begin. When the 10-minute countdown expires, they will be able to claim more experience and Bones. After claiming these rewards, a 15-minute countdown will begin. When the 15-minute countdown expires, they will be able to claim more experience and Bones.

After claiming these rewards, a 20-minute countdown will begin. When the 20-minute countdown expires, they will be able to claim more experience and Bones. After claiming these rewards, a 30-minute countdown will begin. When the 30-minute countdown expires; they will be able to claim more experience and Bones. After claiming all of these rewards, that’s it for the day!

The Vanishing Files mystery Cate West video game on Nintendo DS

Oxygen Games is pleased to announce the engrossing and addictive whodunit mystery, Cate West: The Vanishing Files, will be available in Europe, Australia and New Zealand in Q3 2009.

A series of unsolvable crimes, dubbed “The Vanishing Files”, have paralyzed the city. The police turn to crime novelist Cate West, whose psychic visions might just be the key to solving the mystery. Help Cate find clues, compile evidence and track down hideouts to discover the link between these crimes and an unsolved mystery from Cate’s past!

“With addictive gameplay, an engrossing storyline and beautiful locations, Cate West is an original whodunit that is sure to delight seek-and-solve fans of all ages”, said Oxygen Games CEO Jim Scott.

Seek the truth and solve the mystery with Cate West: The Vanishing Files on Wii and Nintendo DS. Coming to Europe, Australia and New Zealand in Q3 2009.