Last video for The Path horror video game released on 18th March

Tale of Tales publishes launch trailer of soon-to-be-released indie horror game

One more week and then The Path will be released. To ease the pain and whet the appetite, Tale of Tales has released a video trailer that clearly sets the tone for an unusual experience.

"At first we were going to make a traditional launch trailer." explain creators Auriea Harvey & Michael Samyn, "You know, a little movie that explains the narrative premise of the game, shows some gameplay and then serves some kind of challenge. And our first sketches were just fine.
But then we started cutting things up and working with the recordings of [composer] Jarboe reading the original fairy tale. The end result much more clearly reflects the experience of the game: strange, disjointed and completely open for interpretation while simultaneously feeling very comfortable and intimate."

The intriguing videoclip is currently on display at http://ThePath-game.com in Standard and High Definition resolutions.
It is composed exclusively with video footage grabbed from the game. The music and voice acting is by Jarboe.

While created in familiar realtime 3D and designed with accessible controls, The Path offers a unique experience. Its design downplays the value of both advanced technology and sophisticated gameplay in favour of focusing entirely on emergent storytelling and the visceral experience of "being there".

"We're not really doing anything new," Samyn & Harvey point out, "we're just removing the parts of game design that we feel stop the medium from growing and expanding. Sure, some purist gamers may not appreciate The Path. But that's only to be expected. We want The Path to be a game for people who have been neglected by the industry. People who sullenly stood by while their boyfriend was shooting alien monsters and their grandmother was collecting virtual diamonds. A game that allows you to explore, to fantasize, and to grow."

The Path is a modern retelling of Little Red Ridinghood. The player controls six sisters who are sent out, one by one, to bring their sickly grandmother a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine. The path to her house is straight and short and no obstacles prevent you from swiftly completing your mission. But what about that forest along the way?
Mother told you not to enter it! But isn't that how the story goes?
Aren't you supposed to meet the wolf?

Tale of Tales is an independent games studio founded by Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn, located in Belgium. The music in the Path was composed by Jarboe. Previous projects by Tale of Tales include The Endless Forest and The Graveyard (nominated for the Independent Games Festival later this month).


The PATH ----- Launch Trailer from Tale of Tales on Vimeo.

Sid Meier’s Civilization - Revolution wins ‘Best Strategy Game’ award at 2009 Video Game BAFTAs

2K Games is happy to announce the success of Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution in the Best Strategy Game category at yesterday’s 2009 GAME British Academy Video Games Awards ceremony in London. Producer Barry Caudill from Civilization Revolution developer Firaxis was present to accept the award.

This achievement is testament to years of dedicated effort at Firaxis and 2K, and demonstrates that classic strategy gaming is as relevant today as it ever was – if not more so. The latest current-gen console incarnation of the traditionally PC-based Civilization series, Civilization Revolution beat off stiff competition from other noted strategy titles, including Advance Wars: Dark Conflict and Command And Conquer: Red Alert 3.

Dynasty Warriors - Strikeforce on PSP heralds a new dawn for the series

DYNASTY WARRIORS: STRIKEFORCE for the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system. This radical departure for the series, which sees teams of up to four players joining forces to battle against some of the most cunning foes ever to feature in a Warriors game, will be available across Europe from May 1st, 2009.

“Being designed exclusively for the PSP has enabled the development team to focus on the strengths of this format and implement a multitude of new ideas and features that really make the most of this hardware.” Said Will Curley, Vice President Sales & Marketing KOEI Ltd “Combine this with the ability to develop your character in so many areas and then team up with your friends and DYNASTY WARRIORS STRIKEFORCE is already well equipped to capture the imagination of RPG fans and action gamers alike.”

DYNASTY WARRIORS: STRIKEFORCE
The multi-million selling DYNASTY WARRIORS series has long been renowned for pitting a lone warrior against an army of thousands. Now for the first time up to four players can team up to create a strikeforce of legendary warriors and head into battle against cunning enemies and massive bosses.

End of level bosses await intrepid heroes with a multitude of guises and deadly attacks whilst the enemies spread throughout each level now possess much greater levels of intelligence and more powerful attacks. So now more than ever it’s imperative that players work together as a team and find ways to overcome the challenges and obstacles that stand between them and victory. Only through co-ordinated attacks can the team conquer the massive fortresses and huge beasts that populate each deadly level.

Unleashing your character’s FURY transformation now bestows the player with a range of attacks and abilities far more powerful and spectacular looking than a standard attack. For the first time ever players can take to the skies and face off against their foes in spectacular aerial combat. By cleverly utilizing the numerous new powers ups and abilities players can benefit from a tantalizing variety of new moves and attacks including the ability to fly, lightning fast speed and greater healing powers.

With a multitude of ways to improve your character’s ability, specialise in particular areas, buy items in the towns and share items among friends, DYNASTY WARRIORS: STRIKEFORCE gives players the opportunity to shape their character in whatever way they so desire. For the first time ever in a Warriors game the player can now select a secondary weapon for any character before they go into battle. Truly formidable combinations of legendary warrior and mighty weapons are now a reality.

Introduction of LOST SAGA video game

Outline: In Lostsaga, users can battle as they switch the mercenaries they have. Lostsaga is a real-action game that people can choose from four different battle modes, Escapee, Hidden Crown, Power-Stone, and Death match, and fight in many different maps.

Watch videos here and here please subscribe... It is a game full of fascination, which has many distinguishing elements such as powerful skills, combo system, and low system requirements.

Distinguishing Elements

1. Mercenaries with full of unique characteristics
2. Easy-interfaced game that is designed for everyone
3. Various maps and four different versus modes that will interest users
4. Helpful and quick user-assistant services
5. Various bonus features that are filled with fun
6. Designed for ‘Low-end PC’ (for Everyone on Everywhere)

- Minimum Requirements

CPU : Pentium III (800Mhz or Higher)
Ram : 256M or More
GPU : Geforce2 MX or Better

- Recommended Requirements

CPU : Pentium IV (2Ghz or Higher)
Ram : 512M or More
GPU : Geforce 6600 or Better
- Supporting O/S : win 98, me, XP, 2000, Vista
- HDD : 1Gb or more free disk space

Detailed game review:
Lostsaga is a fight-action game that involves numbers of mercenaries with different skills, where they fight and defend in a map to choose the winner. Controls are very simple, but the way users combine and use this determines the matter of win and loss, so in order to win, skillful planning is required. Lostsaga is a strategic game in a sense, because whether users can fully use the combo abilities of different mercenaries or not is a very important winning/losing factor, and timing must also be considered in order to maximize the effect of strikes.

The first reason that will surely get you into Lostsaga is the mercenaries full of individuality!
Currently, there are 18 types of mercenaries in total, such as Shadow Assassin, Western Gunman, Military Soldier, Space soldier, Ice-Mage, Fire-mage, and Guan Yu the Blue Dragon, and all of the mercenaries are on their role. These mercenaries’ background vary from the Middle-age based Fantasy, Future SF, Modern Military, Western Gold-Rush Age, and Chinese Chivalry, so users can experience the uniqueness that cannot be felt in other games as they play through.

Four battle modes, and maps based on various backgrounds
The fight modes include Escapee, Hidden Crown, Power-Stone and Death match. In Escapee mode, users collect points by capturing all of the opponents, or preventing them from resurrection by dropping them out. In Hidden Crown mode, users can either grab the crown that is in the center of the map in the beginning, or they can make the king of opponent team to drop the crown by attacking. Points are collected when the crown is captured for a certain period of time. Power-Stone mode allows users to get points by keeping more than three power-stones (four power-stones exist in a map), for a certain period of time or longer. Death match mode is just like an individual-survival mode, where the users fight with other individuals in order to determine the result. There are more than ancient remains in LostSaga- users can choose different maps such as Space Station, Army training field, Cube-Blocks, and even Heaven Castle. Each map is unique of its own, and updates of more maps can be expected.

Powerful and fearsome Special Moves, Combos, Free mercenary exchange
Each mercenary in the game use different special moves, and movement skills such as teleport and booster, Ice/Fire resistant skills, or Random gunshot skill are well-known. The variety of special moves enables users to combine many different moves and form a combo to deliver stronger and more critical attacks to opponents. Furthermore, users can switch the mercenaries that they have without any restrictions, even in the middle of the game. Mixture of interests can be felt even in the simplest matches.

Survival is possible even when the health is gone, as long as you are dexterous enough to pick up the items and equip them
Once the health is run out, items that are equipped in head, body, back, and weapon are dropped at each time the characters are being attacked. Finders-Keepers! Anyone, both yours and the opponents’ team, can pick up and equip these to use. Even when your items are dropped and look shabby, try to run away quickly or re-equip the items.
Simple key controls and Low system requirements
In Lostsaga, three keys can either be individually used or combined to control characters. Obviously, planning in detail is required to win. True gamers are formed with 1% of hand-skill and 99% of ideas! Also, Lostsaga can be played anywhere and anytime, since its system requirements are low. Lostsaga automatically checks the users’ system and chooses the right system settings for the users’ PC.

Various, and witty bonus features
Needless to say, Lostsaga features mini homepage, a free space for every individual user, and users can leave notes or decorate their avatars. Messenger function is supported inside the game, which allows users to chat one-on-one or with many people, and send messages to each other. It also can tell the online status and location of users added on the list, and follow-up feature is included, which lets users to play with their friends. Voice-chat function is available when headset is connected, so users can talk to other users while playing. In Lostsaga, 8:8 Grand Scuffle mode and 8:1 boss raid mode exists. Also, various unique and cheerful prize-awarding ceremonies, such as Savior, Trickster, Extravaganza, Weakling, and Sim-Cheong, are done after matches.

Lostsaga is planning to continuously deliver its unique interests to the gamers. Among all the plans, the update of mercenaries, which the development team highly focuses on, includes charismatic fighter, fearful Chinese zombie Jiang-Shi, and Japanese Samurai. Mercenaries will be upgraded and become more powerful as the updates are done.

Game Title : Lost Saga
Developer : IO Entertainment
Publisher: Samsung Electronics
Platform: PC On-Line
Genre: Casual (Fighting action)
Current Progress: Starts open-beta test in 2009, Jan. 29th, turned into Pay-to-Play service in End of 2009, Feb.
Official Website : www.lostsaga.com

EVE Online: FREE Apocrypha Expansion Released - CCP delivers new space, dangers and opportunities

CCP, one of the world's leading independent game developers, has deployed EVE Online: Apocrypha, the tenth free expansion for EVE Online. Delivering a massive amount of content in a shortened production schedule, Apocrypha is sure to satisfy pilots of all types with the mysterious appearance of unstable wormholes that lead to dangerous and rewarding, hereto unexplored regions of space. A new level of technology that allows for a staggering echelon of ship production and a re-imagined introduction for rookie starship pilots to a life in EVE's challenging universe. The release also coincides with a return to retail stores for EVE Online.

Watch the video here...

"Incredible rewards and certain death await explorers brave enough to fly into the unstable wormholes that have opened across EVE Online's universe," says Torfi Frans Olafsson, Senior Producer for EVE Online. "While EVE is certainly darker and more dangerous, it has also become accessible with our revamped new player experience, improved UI and renovated graphics and effects. Beginning your chosen path in EVE has never been easier."

Apocrypha's improvements include these highlights and more:

• The sudden appearance of unstable wormholes in space, making the universe 41% larger and much more dangerous. On the other side, a first acquaintance awaits to a formidable NPC group that guards the key to the next level of technology. This unknown, uncharted space allows for a true sense of exploration for those brave enough to grab hold of the dynamic new scanning mechanics.
• Strategic Cruisers come with the introduction of ancient technology into production. These modular ships allow for an extravagant level of customization and versatility.
• The first Epic Mission Arc joins an enhanced new player experience to guide fledgling pilots toward the opportunities space has to offer. This massive branching set consists of dozens of missions that are guaranteed to forge any soft-shelled rookie into a battle-hardened veteran.
• Massive sensory improvements for every player: an upgraded sound engine, brand-new animations for almost every effect in game and beautiful original assets in wormhole space.
• A newly designed skill queue allows EVE's unique character progression system to truly shine and Neural Remapping provides an opportunity for players to refocus their development as they so choose.
• We are releasing our Premium Graphics client for Mac users and introducing Premium Lite as our new lower-end graphics suite for a more beautiful experience all around.
• Full Russian language support.

A full list of features for EVE Online: Apocrypha can be found on the features page: www.eveonline.com/apocrypha

Since our last expansion was released in November, CCP has introduced Pilot's License Extensions (PLEX) to EVE Online, which basically allow players to trade subscription time for in-game assets with another player like any other item. You can find more about PLEX here: http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/30_Day_Concord_Pilot_License_Extension

EVE Online is available at retailers throughout the United States and Canada and will be available elsewhere beginning March 12th. The retail box includes EVE Online: Apocrypha, each of the nine previous free expansions, 60 days of game time, an exclusive shuttle and an in-game standing certificate.

EVE Online: Apocrypha will be available for subscribers as a free download at www.eveonline.com/download/. Non-subscribers should visit the EVE website to sign up for a free 14-day trial account.

Pegzo Takes Peg Solitaire into High Definition on Xbox Live

WAM! Games has released Pegzo for the Xbox 360 on the Xbox Live Community Games channel.

Pegzo is a modern re-working of the classic peg solitaire game. Instead of the traditional peg or marble, animated 3D characters jump over each other until only one is left. As you solve more puzzles, you unlock more characters to add to your collection.

The game starts with easy puzzles to allow the player to build up their skills gradually. Players can undo moves all the way back to the beginning of the puzzle, something that's not really possible with a real-world solitaire board, and which makes the Xbox version more approachable.

There are sixty-four puzzles in total, and all but the very easiest can be solved in many different ways, with stars and unlocks awarded for the most elegant solutions.

"Martin and I had worked on huge games for a long time and when the opportunity arose to do something smaller, and really make it shine, I was chomping at the bit", said artist Will Storer, "Pegzo has opened up a whole load of new possibilities for me as an artist, and the process has given us a clear insight for our next title."

"We really enjoyed making Pegzo," said Martin Stone, the programming half of WAM! Games, "In a small team like ours you get to do a bit of everything. It's quite a contrast to working on a triple-A title."

Pricing and Availability

Pegzo can be downloaded from the Xbox marketplace web site or via the Xbox Dashboard in the Community Games area. The trial version is free and the full version costs 400 Microsoft points.

Introduction of Nostale video game

Nostale is a role playing game with the story of adventurer who follows the fun filled action, adventures. The game is user friendly with cute looking characters. Nostale is all about fun, entertainment and action. Nostale has a strong story line which continues with endless adventures for players with challenging tasks and missions.

You can cutomise your characters appearance, create family, own your private mini land, etc. Nostale encourages the concept of partnership, sharing for the survival against the invincible monsters and tough missions. So gear up for following the patch of adventure in the new world of Nostale.

System Requirements
Minimum: OS + Windows 98, Windows 2000, XP / + CPU P3-500MHz/ Graphic Card +Riva TNT Radeon 7000 / Memory 256MB/ DIRECTX + DirectX 9.0

Recommended : OS Windows XP, Windows Vista/ CPU P3-800MHz/ Graphic Card GeForce2 MX Radeon 8500/ Memory + 256MB / DIRECTX + DirectX 9.0

Developer : Entwell
Publisher : Servex
Website : http://www.nostale.net/

FUEL driving video game - battle blizzards, thunderstorms and tornados in stunning new weather gameplay

Showcasing FUEL’s powerful weather effects, which include snowstorms, thunderstorms and tornados, Codemasters today launched the ‘Extreme Weather’ FUEL gameplay video.

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Coming this May, FUEL will deliver a stunning racing sandbox that covers over 5,000 square miles (14,000+ km²) to create the ultimate go anywhere, on and off-road, racing environment. Set in an alternate present, FUEL will take players across diverse terrain. From the snow-capped Mount Rainier to the arid desert of Nevada and the Utah salt-plains, this wildly diverse environment, devastated by the effects of accelerated global warming, is bought to life with a full day and night cycle and dynamic weather systems.

The new video demonstrates the game-changing effect of just some of the game’s extreme weather: lightning strikes illuminate the sky, torrential rain destroys surface grip and blizzards create treacherous racing conditions. The video culminates with the awesome destructive power of the tornado, as an immense twister obliterates homes and throws a truck into the path of racers as they battle against each other and the elements.

FUEL’s huge landscape, mapped using satellite data from the United States, is the perfect setting for action-packed, chaotic races as gamers embark on a career mode containing over 70 events and hundreds of additional challenges. Complementing this expansive offline world, the FUEL experience is further extended online as up to 16 players go head-to-head or explore the entire map in free roam.

With over 70 on and off-road, two and four-wheeled vehicles to master, FUEL is set to revolutionise open world multi-terrain racing when it launches this May for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and Games For Windows LIVE.

Spielberg wins his first BAFTA for a video game, Call of Duty 4 leads the way with two BAFTA's and the 'GAME Award of 2008'

Steven Spielberg claimed his third BAFTA mask, but this time it was not for a film but for his début as a games creator with his Boom Blox winning the BAFTA in the Casual category, outplaying Guitar Hero, LittleBigPlanet, Singstar Vol 2, Wii Fit and Buzz! Quiz TV.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which plunges its players into the frenzied epicentre of a 21st century war zone won for Gameplay, Story & Character and also proved to be the public's game of choice, winning the GAME Award of 2008 with a record 60,000 gamers casting their votes this year. The shortlist of titles in the public award category were derived from the top-selling games sold in GAME stores in 2008.

The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards which took place at the London Hilton on Park Lane, were hosted by games aficionado Dara O'Briain who described these times as a 'Golden Age' for video games. Consoles like the Wii, and handheld devices like the PSP, DS and iPhone have revolutionised the gaming world and made games accessible to all ages, making what was once described as a rather solitary hobby for teenage boys into a very social and stimulating leisure pursuit for the whole family. This year's winners certainly showcase the creative innovation taking place in the games sector.

Dead Space, the bone-chilling, deep space, horror survival game took the coveted BAFTA mask in both sound categories (Use of Audio and Original Score) evoking a genuinely scary atmosphere onboard the game's deserted space ship. One of the most fiercely contended awards, Artistic Achievement, went to the stitched and glued 3D world that is LittleBigPlanet while the Technical Achievement BAFTA went to Spore, which allows players to control the development of a species from its beginnings as a single cell organism, to an intelligent and social creature, a tribe, a civilisation and then once uploaded to the internet, interacting with other civilisations.

In the Strategy category, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, the latest iteration of a game which first appeared 15 years ago, proved that strategy games requiring clever thinking, tactical planning and logistical exploration are as compelling today as they were last century.

FIFA 09 and Football Manager took on Wii Fit, but it was Race Driver: GRID which outraced the monster trucks and rally cars of Motorstorm Pacific Rift and the off-road quad bikes of PURE to claim the BAFTA for Sport.

Left 4 Dead took the BAFTA in the Multiplayer category, Fable II won in Action and Adventure, while Professor Layton and the Curious Village was victorious in the Handheld category. This year's highly-prized Best Game went to Super Mario Galaxy which fought off very stiff competition from Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare, Fable II, Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV and Rock Band.

The Academy is keen to nurture and encourage the up-and-coming stars in games, as well as recognising those at the peak of their talent. This year's ceremony also included The BAFTA Ones To Watch Award. Working with the University of Abertay and its Dare To be Digital competition, this award was contended by three groups of university graduates who had each designed a new game prototype. The winning game was Boro-Toro, designed by a team calling themselves DarkMatter Designs.

The climax of the evening saw Jonathan Ross present the Academy's highest honour, the Fellowship, to one of the founding fathers of the video games industry, electrical engineer, entrepreneur and founder of Atari inc, Nolan Bushnell. Credited by many for kick-starting the video games revolution, his Pong was the first video game to achieve widespread popularity in both the arcade and home console markets.

In an exclusive Q&A at BAFTA on March 19, Nolan Bushnell will discuss the past, present and future of social gaming*.

We Rock - Drum King Blur, Bloc Party and Queen, as well as a variety of American greats including Steppenwolf, Queens of the Stone Age and Soundgarden

Games revealed the list of songs available for its upcoming music title We Rock: Drum King. The selection of over 30 songs spans modern broken beats to classic stadium rock, offering something for everyone to have a literal bash at.

The songs on offer feature the best of British bands such as Blur, Bloc Party and Queen, as well as a variety of American greats including Steppenwolf, Queens of the Stone Age and Soundgarden. The complete track listing is as follows:

We Will Rock You - Queen
The Final Countdown – Europe
Be My Baby – The Ronettes
Song 2 – Blur
Banquet – Bloc Party
Cissy Strut (instrumental) – The Meters
In Too Deep – Sum 41
Spoonman – Soundgarden
Click Click Boom – Saliva
Can’t Get Enough – Bad Company
Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz
Can’t Stand Losing You – The Police
Saturday Superhouse – Biffy Clyro
She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult
The Take Over, The Break’s Over – Fall Out Boy
Organ Donor (instrumental) – DJ Shadow
Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
Mickey – Toni Basil
Stay With Me – Faces
No One Knows – Queens Of The Stone Age
Blister In The Sun – Violent Femmes
By The Way – Offcuts
Direction – Starting Line
All Star – Smash Mouth
Fight The Good Fight – Triumph
I Fought The Law – The Clash
On Top Of The World – Boys Like Girls
Lifestyles Of The Rich And The Famous – Good Charlotte
Pull Me Under – Dream Theatre
Let There Be Drums – The Ventures

Unlike similar music titles, We Rock: Drum King requires no extra peripherals to play. Two Wii remotes and the ability to keep time are all you need to stay in the game. Beginners can start on a simple two-drum setup with automatic bass drum to find their rhythm, while a combination of remote movements and button presses allows access to a complete virtual drum kit for wannabe pros.

We Rock: Drum King is scheduled for a 9th April release, published by 505 Games exclusively for Nintendo Wii.