Win a Life-Size Blood Raven Space Marine Statue (UK) with Warhammer 40000 Dawn of War II

To celebrate the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, due for release this Friday (20th February 2009), Gamestation has planted five life-size Blood Raven Space Marine statues in stores, one of which will be given away to a lucky member of the official Dawn of War II Facebook Page!

If you want to stand a chance of winning one on of these towering 2 meter statues, all you have to do take a picture of yourself with one of the models and then upload it to the ‘Fan Photos’ section of the Dawn of War II Facebook Page, ensuring you tag yourself and the name of the store you found the statue in.

So, where can these impressive life-size replicas be found?! At one of the Gamestation stores listed below:

• Hull - 59-60 Prospect Centre, Hull, HU2 8PW
• Orpington - 79 - 81 The Walnuts, Orpington, BR6 0TW
• Edinburgh - 134A Princes Street, EDINBURGH, EH2 4AH
• Blackburn - 59-61 King William Street, Blackburn, BB1 7DJ
• Stratford Upon Avon - 13 Town Square Shopping Centre, Stratford upon Avon, CV37 6AU

Deadline for entry is Wednesday 25th February and then, on the 26th February staff from the Gamestation will choose a worthy winner. Entries will be judged on clever composition, creative content and artistic merit! The statue will then be delivered to a UK address of the winner’s choice. Terms and conditions apply, go to the Dawn of War II Facebook Page for full details.

X-Blades out on PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 tomorrow

SouthPeak Interactive anime inspired foray into the hack ‘n slash arena, X-Blades, is out tomorrow across PAL territories. Available for the PC, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, X-Blades delivers high speed action and adventure, combined with a stylised artistic flair.

To celebrate the launch of X-Blades in the UK, real-life model Jodie Dart donned a specially created outfit based on Ayumi’s armour in the game. The 22-year-old from Plymouth then recreated recognisable poses from artwork of Ayumi, including the stunning cover art.

“Just by looking at X-Blades players can see that this won’t be another run of the mill action game,” said Jonathan Hales, Managing Director SouthPeak Interactive. “The large and detailed worlds, combined with beautiful artwork and film-like cut scenes, are only the beginning of what X-Blades has to offer.”

In X-Blades, players take the role of the beautiful treasure hunter Ayumi as she battles through waves of enemies in her search for a powerful and ancient relic. Armed with her trusty pistol blades, Ayumi relies on her acrobatic skills and lightning-quick fighting style to cut a swath through the hordes of evil keeping her from her goal. If she becomes overwhelmed, Ayumi can add devastating and upgradeable magic attacks to her combos to defeat her enemies.

“One of the many features you’ll find in X-Blades is the idea of letting the player choose their own character direction,” said James Seaman, Managing Director at TopWare Interactive. “The type of combos learned, magic abilities upgraded and even the layout of the controller buttons are completely up to the player, giving them the opportunity to play Ayumi in any way they like. Add that level of personalisation to the already top-notch fighting engine and sexy art style, and you’ll find that X-Blades delivers for both anime and action fans alike.”

PlayStation 3 firmware 2.7 details leaked?

A thread on the Game Trailers' forum claims to have the details on what we can expect from the next PS3 firmware drop.

Nothing's been confirmed by Sony and we'll ask for a 'no comment' when people turn up for work. All this info comes from a source who is said to work "in an R&D department at Sony". Stranger things have happened...

Read full post on CVG site here...

Tiger Woods golfing game on iPhone reveled on Twitter

Twitter seems to be a popular place for developers to post cryptic remarks about new games and future updates these days, but is seem EA Mobile has chosen Facebook to show off the first screens of its Tiger Woods 09 game for the iPhone.

These are pegged as pre-release shots, suggesting improvements will likely be made before we actually see the finished product, but we've got to say it's already looking pretty splendid.

Tiger's recognisable, and the fully 3D fairways do justice to the iPhone's graphical abilities. There even appears to be a reasonable amount of customisation of your golfer, and the selection screen suggests you can choose between CPU or human players, so this is likely to be a multiplayer affair.

No solid details as yet, check this Tiger Woods 09 screenshot.

Source: Pocket Gamer

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.