Call of Duty 4 halves map cost and doubles XP

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare fans are in for a treat next week, with all sorts of bonuses planned.

Robert Bowling - community manager, has promised that the Variety Map Pack will have its cost cut in half on February 24th, reducing it to 400 Microsoft Points.

Then a double XP weekend will follow, starting on Friday February 27th and ending Monday morning.

Finally, Hardcore Headquarters will be added to the playlist on Friday... twinned with the double XP, that's a lot of experience points to feast on.

Source: Xbox 360 magazine

SBK 09 Superbike World Championship video game

New edition of the official videogame of the World Superbike Championship: SBK 09 Superbike World Championship. Developed by Milestone, one of the best developers in motorbike racing games, it will be available for Microsoft Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP (PlayStation Portable) and PC at the end of May.

Based on the official licence owned by Infront Motor Sports, SBK 09 Superbike World Championship offers the ultimate experience of the championship. Tracks, teams, riders, it’s all there unaltered to make the player feel the adrenaline rush of real motorbike competition.

Every feature of the game has been dramatically improved from the previous year. New 3D environments, new teams, complete track overhaul, new gameplay structure, new game modes, revamped user interface. The pits have been redesigned to be as close to reality as a picture could be. The performance of the motorbikes is based on exact data from their real counterparts and the player can fine-tune every single setting a real race engineer can. Not to mention the podium, which is there, waiting for the winner.

Five gameplay modes designed for single player: Quick race, Training, Race Weekend, Championship and Challenges; and for those who love the adrenaline of multiplayer sessions SBK 09 Superbike World Championship offers 3 online gameplay modes, starting from Quick Race moving on to the Championship and Team Championship.
Last but not least, the competition can become even more thrilling with the downloadable Online Time Attack game mode.

For the first time ever in a motorbike racing game, SBK 09 Superbike World Championship will feature visible damage on fairings and rider leathers!

SBK®09 Superbike World Championship has a huge number of customisable realism settings making it perfect for beginners as much as for simulation enthusiasts. It’s not just a game. It’s a complete riding experience.

“SBK®09 Superbike World Championship is the result of a painstaking attention to detail during the game design phases. – commented Antonio Farina, Founder of Milestone – More than last year, our main focus has been to recreate a realistic environment as much as possible. We introduced some crucial elements that help feel the exhilaration of the race and we deeply analysed the 3D environment on the track. Every turn has been designed from real CAD data and we also had the chance to have a real SBK™ rider playtesting them all, helping us to reproduce them perfectly.”

“As a fan of motorbikes and races, I do not think this year there is a better championship than WSBK™. Despite this unusual and unpredictable moment for motorsports championships, Superbike is facing a new era with the introduction of BMW and Aprilia, nothing can be taken for granted and more and more people are becoming interested and passionate. With SBK®09 Superbike World Championship, we try to reach both new motorbike enthusiasts as well as hardcore riders offering them a real championship whenever they fancy jumping on a virtual bike, improving their performance and competing against turns and time.” Said Fabrizio Vagliasindi, Black Bean Games Head of Marketing.

Nintendo DSi UK release date 3rd April - 2 days before the US launch - price £149.99

Nintendo announce the release of their successful Nintendo DS handheld video games console, the DSi, in the UK and Europe on 3rd April 2009.

That's two days before the US launch on 5th April. The retail price has been set at £149.99. The DSi includes a number of enhancements - larger screens, two on-board cameras and a SD slot.

“We wanted to get it out in time for Easter “, Nintendo UK’s general manager David Yarnton said.

“With its new features, the DSi is a significant step-change, more significant than the step from original DS to DS Lite.”

Wheelman to be co-published by Midway and Ubisoft

Rumours around the web regarding Midway’s open-world, Vin Diesel-starring vehicle action game, Wheelman, and a possible acquisition of the title by fellow publisher, Ubisoft.

Well the rumours were almost true – Ubisoft and Midway are to enter into a publishing partnership, or ‘strategic relationship,’ to help the title see the light of day, as the two companies are to co-publish the title around the globe.

Ubisoft will take on sales, marketing and distribution duties for Wheelman in North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK. Midway, meanwhile, will handle those duties in European territories not handled by Ubisoft, while retaining future franchise rights in the process.

Midway’s Newcastle studio and Tigon Studios will continue to work on the game under the agreement. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said of the arrangement:

“We are pleased to be partnering with Midway to bring Wheelman to stores worldwide. Midway is known for launching intense, fast-paced action games, and the cutting edge open-world driving technology in Wheelman should make for a game that gamers will love.”

Midway is unfortunately in a spot of bother at the moment, after their US divisionfiled for bankruptcy last week, although it has received permission to use whatever cash reserves it may have to continue operating by paying employees, retailers and suppliers.

NewU - Inside Out Fitness First video game on Nintendo Wii

NewU - Inside Out Nintendo Wii video game, due in Q3 2009, has been conceived in collaboration with Fitness First, the largest health and fitness operator in the world, and You Are What You Eat, a well known TV format and healthy eating book series.

NewU is a Nintendo Wii title that perfectly combines Fitness, Nutritional Advice and Daily Healthy tips to offer a holistic experience through personal well-being.

Fitness First has designed the Full-Body workout and has been strongly involved in the development of the game. Each exercise is demonstrated by one of Fitness First’s leading Personal Trainers. The Wii Balance BoardTM and WiimoteTM are used to provide feedback on user’s progress and performance.

Despite expectations, in order to create the six in-game personal trainers, Lightning Fish have used video footage of the real trainers and avoided 3D graphics. For the target market this feels a lot more approachable and authentic than using computer graphics. In this way, NewU offers a choice of six different personal trainers, each with their own personality and the choice of several workout locations.

The exercises and workouts are only half of the story, You Are What You EatTM has provided experienced nutrition experts to create a series of recipes that can be used to complement physical exercises, whether you want to put on muscle or lose some extra weight. The bespoke recipes can even fit any personal dietary needs such as vegetarians, vegans and gluten intolerant diets.

NewU allows people to select a lifestyle goal in order to create their custom exercise plans and their custom nutritional plans.

“NewU is not a game; it has been conceived as an interactive healthy lifestyle and workout video for the 21st century. Using your personal goals, NewU is a serious help to achieve them.

Nowadays, the opportunity to have some spare time is a real pleasure; a personal trainer and a nutritionist are real privileges. Why not create something that can benefit everyone?
Fitness First and You Are What You Eat are proud to be involved in NewU and support our cause for a healthy lifestyle based on perfect equilibrium. They provided professional assistance so we could design a product that can be used by anyone to improve the quality of their everyday life. Furthermore, we strongly believe that NewU does not necessarily represent an alternative to health clubs or fitness centres, but can reach a wide variety of people who do not feel confident, do not have the time or just live too far away. NewU will stimulate a new way of life.” explained Fabrizio Vagliasindi, Black Bean Games Head of Marketing.

Sacred 2 Fallen Angel PlayStation 3 video game - Latest screen shots

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is a hack-and-slash action-RPG with a rich story that takes place in a gigantic seamless world. This world contains massive dungeons, treacherous opponents and hundreds of challenging quests. Intelligent enemies, which adapt in number and difficulty based on player progress, challenge gamers in heroic single- and multiplayer battles for up four players on next-generation consoles.

Stormrise video game from the makers of Medieval II - Total War

Stormrise is a post apocalyptic real-time strategy game from Creative Assembly, the makers of Medieval II: Total War. Two warring factions arise from the rubble: the Echelon, a technologically advanced race that endured the planet's fallout by way of self-induced hibernation, and the Sai, a tribal society that adapted to the new apocalyptic environment and evolved over time.


Stormrise will be released in March on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

Unit Descriptions

Echelon

Stalkers

Stalkers are tall menacing bipedal machines engineered to swiftly destroy their enemies. Multiple Stalkers on the move usually means a quick, brutal end to any conflict. Equipped with tremendous armour, the Stalker also has mini-guns, surface-to-air missiles and a powerful anti-armour laser at its disposal.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
• Sam Missiles: Airborne units don’t stand a chance against the Stalker’s surface-to-air missiles.
• Laser: The Stalker can transform into a devastating anti-armour laser.

Seekers

The eyes of the Echelon, Seekers were originally manufactured hundreds of years ago after the awakening to patrol the frontier and alert the Echelon to brewing trouble spots. Once a danger zone was discovered the Seekers would loiter around the area providing useful combat data to friendly forces including radar telemetry. That function is as useful today as it was when they were first created.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
• Targeting Feed: The Seekers can use their Targeting Laser on nearby enemy units, giving all friendlies firing nearby an accuracy bonus.

The Eclipse

The Eclipse is the most powerful vessel ever created. Built to shield and save mankind from the storm, this vessel dwarfs anything created before it. With the state of world affairs in constant conflict, the Eclipse was modified to carry a battery of weapons, including the most powerful weapon ever created, the Polaris Rift. One unforeseen side effect of the anti-storm shielding was the shutdown of any Sai abilities underneath it.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
• The Polaris Rift: The Polaris Rift is the main weapon of the Eclipse. When fired, it generates a Super Rift which causes a titanic explosion and destroys anything beneath it.
• Anti-Ground Mode: The Eclipse changes its Anti-Air default focus by lowering itself and concentrating all of its defences on ground targets. This reduces its damage from ground-based threats and directs all its firepower that way as well.

Sai

Matriarchs

In the quest for the ultimate assault machine by Sai scientists, Matriarchs are a creation of genetically manipulated crabs infused with Sai energy. The gigantic and heavily armoured Matriarchs were more than the Sai bargained for. The first surprise was when the Matriarch gave birth to a clutch of Broodlings that swarmed to protect it. The second surprise was when the Matriarch launched jets of acid out of two toothy sphincters on its shoulders, sometimes at tremendous ranges in acid rain-like attacks.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
• Acid Rain: The Matriarch shoots a high arcing gout of Acid which rains down, melting all those below.
• Spawn Broodlings: The Matriarch can give birth to a swarm of Broodlings who upon emerging will protect the Matriarch with much ferocity.

Rift Worms

Ferocious predators, the Rift Worms have formed a close bond with the Sai and eagerly go into combat obliterating all those who oppose them with vicious blasts of Rift energy. Rift Worms fly with a freedom that machines do not possess and provide the Sai with a powerful all-round air unit capable of launching an extremely powerful Rift energy storm!

SPECIAL ABILITIES
• Stormbringer: The Rift Worm can focus tremendous energies between its tails, resulting in a tremendous blast to its target.

Sirens

Sirens are the ultimate Sai energy users. Powerful women who are able to bend the laws of nature with seeming indifference, they come replete with multiple powerful abilities. Once they show signs of power as young teenagers the Sirens are taken off to a secret school to be trained in the Sai’s highest arts, including levitating. The three most common powers displayed by Sirens include the ability to create a shield to protect nearby troops, the ability to teleport themselves to anywhere in sight and the amazing ability to summon a vortex of pure Rift Energy, destroying anything caught beneath it. A Siren on the battlefield spells doom for her enemies.

SPECIAL ABILITIES
• Vortex: The Siren can summon in a massive vortex of energy which destroys any enemies in its path.
• Mobile Shield: The Siren can summon forth a shield which helps to weaken the power of incoming shots over any units within its radius.
• Blink: The Siren can teleport to a location within her line of sight, prepared for a surprise attack. On arriving, she has to physically recover from the teleportation so she is paralysed for a short time.

Harrah's Entertainment and MTV Games Announce The Total Rock, Total Rewards Rock Band Competition

World class gaming and music entertainment giants Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV, have joined forces to find the best Rock Band gamers in America with the first-ever Total Rock, Total Rewards Rock Band Competition. The competition kicks off in March when Harrah’s Entertainment properties become the first in the world to have official and permanent, fully-equipped Rock Band entertainment stages.

Throughout March and April, seventeen Total Rewards casinos* will host local, weekly Rock Band Competitions, allowing fans of the popular game to win an Xbox 360 and Rock Band bundle as well as other Total Rewards items and Rock Band apparel and accessories. Four regional competitions will then offer customers the chance to win more than $50,000 in prizes.

The ultimate winning band will be given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open for the legendary B-52’s at the House of Blues in Atlantic City on May 9th and will win $10,000 in prize money, making this the richest Rock Band competition in history. In addition, visitors at participating Total Rewards casinos across the country will be able to pick up their choice of guitar, bass, drums or vocals and rock out throughout the year during special Rock Band Nights.

“We’re thrilled to be working with such an energetic and iconic company like MTV Games to further help bring Rock Band to the masses through our Total Rewards venues,” said David Norton, chief marketing officer for Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. “We look forward to giving thousands of Rock Band fans a new reason to jam and take part in an event unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before.”

“Harrah’s is known for extraordinary entertainment and we are pumped to see the first of our fully equipped Rock Band stages hit Total Rewards casinos across the country,” said Christina Glorioso, vice president of sales and marketing partnerships for MTV Games. “The full scope of the Rock Band and Harrah’s program represents a great relationship between our two brands and will create significant value for our shared consumers.”

The local Total Rock, Total Rewards Rock Band Competition will be open at participating properties to pre-registered amateur acts, 21 years and older, on a first come first serve basis. The events will be hosted and promoted by local radio stations. The Rock Band game scoring system will be used to score the participating rock bands on skill and performance, and MTV Games will provide the pre-determined song list for all the competitions.

The winning band from each location will then have a chance to go head-to-head at celebrity-judged competitions in Las Vegas (April 16), Chicago Area (April 24), New Orleans (April 30), and Atlantic City (May 7).

The four winning bands, one from each regional competition, will then have a chance to compete for the championship title in Atlantic City on May 8th. The regional events and Atlantic City events will be produced by MTV Networks Special Events, and hosted and judged by MTV, Harrah’s, and local celebrities. Each band will compete on multiple Rock Band songs.

For more information and official rules on the competition, please visit http://www.harrahs.com/rockband.
The seventeen participating Total Rewards casinos* include:

Eastern Region

Bally’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Showboat Atlantic City
Harrah’s Chester (Philadelphia)

Southern Region

Harrah’s New Orleans
Horseshoe Bossier City (Shreveport)
Harrah’s Tunica (Memphis)
Harrah’s Metropolis (Nashville)
Horseshoe Southern Indiana (Louisville)

Central Region

Harrah’s Joliet (Chicago)
Harrah’s St. Louis
Harrah’s North Kansas City
Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago)
Harrah’s Council Bluffs (Omaha)
Caesars Windsor (Windsor, Ontario,
Canada/Detroit, MI)

Western Region

Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego)
Harrah’s Las Vegas

(* Subject to regulatory approval)

The Path video horror game out March 18th plus new website launched

Tale of Tales announces release data and opens new website

The Path will be released to the public on March 18th 2009, one year after its nomination for Excellence in Visual Art in the Independent Games Festival. In keeping with the roots and philosophy of its designers, Auriea Harvey & Michael Samyn, the launch will be exclusively digital.

Watch the video on my YouTube channel here... please subscribe The PC game will be available for purchase and download from Tale of Tales' own website, from Direct2Drive and from Steam. Pricing will be announced at a later date.

At the occasion of the release date announcement, Tale of Tales opens the doors of a brand new website for The Path here.

The website contains new screenshots, gameplay videos and downloadable materials. Not in a classic menu-based layout but presented through the eyes of the main characters in the game. Robin, Rose, Ginger, Ruby, Carmen and Scarlet each have their own page where they give you a peak into their lives. Their beautiful, brief, lives.

"The Red Girls feel a bit like they are our children," say creators Auriea Harvey (US) and Michael Samyn (BE), as always in duet. "We've been raising them for over two years now and perhaps they're old enough to leave the nest. Or at least to go outside on their own. The girls feel very real to us, they're a part of our lives and they will be taking that part with them on their journey. This is why we chose a date very dear to our hearts for the release of The Path. On 18 March 1999, we met in person for the first time, in a hotel in San Francisco where we launched our first collaborative project. We are planning to repeat this event, exactly 10 years later, from a room in the exact same hotel, with The Path. There will be no witnesses."

The Path is a short horror game inspired by old versions of Little Red Ridinghood, set in modern day. The player controls not one, but six incarnations of the red protagonist. A story about growing, choosing and losing, The Path does not offer the player challenge through complicated game rules or grand goals. There is one rule in the game, and it must be broken. There is one goal, and when you attain it, you die. The Path is a psychological trip which will be highly unsettling to some and gloriously revealing to others. Will you choose the path of needles or the path of pins?

Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn started their collaboration as "Entropy8Zuper!", simultaneously a web design company and an net.art collective. In 2003 they founded the independent games development studio Tale of Tales. They run multiplayer screensaver The Endless Forest and their interactive vignette The Graveyard is an Innovation finalist in this year's Independent Games Festival. Their first project was entitled "8" and remains sadly unfinished. 8 Was a dreamy exploration game inspired by the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Now, the protagonist from 8, a young girl in a pretty white dress, makes a come-back to play a mysterious role in what could be seen as 8's spiritual successor: The Path, available, as mentioned above, as of 18 March 2009.

The Path was designed and directed by Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn. The music was composed by Jarboe. The sound designed by Kris Force. The characters were rigged by Hans Zantman and animated by Laura Raines Smith. The logo and letters were drawn by Marian Bantjes.
Production of The Path is supported by Creative Capital, the Flemish Authorities, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Design Flanders, CultuurInvest and Villanella.

Battleship, Yahtzee, Connect Four and Scrabble family video games on Xbox Live

Classic crossword game to join BATTLESHIP, YAHTZEE, and CONNECT FOUR for the launch of Hasbro Family Game Night on Xbox LIVE Arcade

Dust off your dictionary and get ready for the release of SCRABBLE, set to launch next month on Xbox LIVE Arcade! Featuring the SCRABBLE Diamond Anniversary Edition game board, the XBLA version of SCRABBLE gives board game lovers yet another way to play everyone’s favorite word game.

SCRABBLE, CONNECT FOUR, YAHTZEE and BATTLESHIP will be the first four titles to launch on the Hasbro Family Game Night XBLA destination. Additional titles such as BOGGLE, SORRY! and SORRY! Sliders will be releasing throughout the year.

SCRABBLE on XBLA will only be available in the US and Canada. All additional games will be available worldwide.

Stay tuned for more assets and information about the rest of the Hasbro Family Game Night XBLA titles!

HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT FEATURES

Classic Games!

• Join your host Mr. Potato Head as you play games such as SCRABBLE, CONNECT FOUR, BATTLESHIP, YAHTZEE, BOGGLE, SORRY! and SORRY! Sliders.
• Experience new ways to play these best-selling board games.

Full Xbox LIVE Support!

• Show off your skills with Hasbro Family Game Night achievements and compete with your friends to earn a spot atop the Xbox LIVE leader boards.
• Increase your gamer score and talk while you play online with voice chat.
• Get your Xbox avatar into the game with Hasbro Family Game Night’s avatar support.

Online Multiplayer fun!

• Play locally with friends and family or take on other Xbox LIVE players in online play.
• Play with up to four players in SCRABBLE, YAHTZEE, BOGGLE, SORRY! and SORRY! Sliders.
• Play up to two players in CONNECT FOUR and BATTLESHIP.

Deck Out Your Very Own Game Room

• Launch new games within the Hasbro Family Game Night destination on Xbox LIVE without leaving your game room.
• Download new themes and game room furniture to design and customize your perfect game room.
• Show your custom game room to your friends when you invite them over to play!

Host a Game Party

• Each game has a party mode featuring fun new ways to challenge your competitors.