The Amazing Race - Emmy award winning TV series now to become video games series

Interactive entertainment company Ludia Inc., and CBS Consumer Products announced today that Ludia will create video games based on the seven-time Emmy award-winning “The Amazing Race” television series. The North America-wide deal will see the reality TV sensation launch games across multiple platforms in tandem with the show’s 14th season.

“The heart-pounding adventure, around-the-world competition and postcard worthy settings of ‘The Amazing Race’ are perfectly suited for video game adaptation,” said Alex Thabet, Founder and CEO of Ludia. “We are thrilled to add such a high-energy, suspenseful franchise to our slate, and we will infuse those key elements into a highly social, team-based multiplayer game that unites duos in cooperative game play to compete against rivals.”

“The Amazing Race” video game teams players up in pairs for an unforgettable journey across exotic locations and continents in a race against time and other teams. Players work to find each checkpoint and take on dozens of frantic challenges and tasks as they navigate Detours, Roadblocks and other unpredictable game elements from the show. Working together strategically throughout the game is essential as each team tries to discover hidden clues that are crucial to getting them to the Pit Stop first- and one step closer to ultimate victory at the check-in mat.

“We are delighted to be working with Ludia to deliver an ‘Amazing Race’ experience to a broader public and to offer fans of the show a heightened new level of interaction with the brand,” adds Liz Kalodner, Executive Vice President & General Manager of CBS Consumer Products.

Grand Theft Auto team used the pub for meetings

The developer of the DS version of Grand Theft Auto has spoken of its key to success - regular pub meetings.

In an interview with The Times, Rockstar Leeds boss Gordon Hall spoke of the development process behind DS title Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which included regular meetings in the pub.

"Rule one is that every other meeting takes place down the pub, where we can talk and the ideas flow," he said. "See that road over there? There's a pub up the hill that'd go out of business if it wasn't for us."

Another important factor was ensuring the game was play tested by everyone: "Once a week, we have a day where we stop work, and everybody in the office, my PA included, will play a portion of the game we're working on at random.

"We may only have 16 people working on a title at any one time, but as far as I'm concerned, all 80 people here are games makers. We listen to everybody's comments and try to make improvements accordingly.



"Over the two years we've been working on Chinatown Wars, everyone you see in here has played every single section of the game. We all know it inside out."

Source: DigitalSpy

ESR European Street Racer PC video game race through the streets of seven of Europes principal cities including Moscow, Warsaw, London, Paris, Madrid,

Gentlemen Start your engines!

Test your driving skills and race through the streets of seven of Europes principal cities including Moscow, Warsaw, London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin and Hamburg.

Construction sites, traffic, pedestrians, obstacles, speed cameras, and more danger than you can possibly imagine at high speed await you. Choose from a selection of modified super cars, tuning options, day and night racing modes. Drive as fast as you like and beat your mates on LAN and Internet you will race against real players all over Europe!!! European Street Racing is the fast and furious new street racing game from XIDER Games.

• The only racing game with 7 original European cities 
  
• 12 car models inspired from the hottest European cars 
  
• Destructible cars and objects, day und night modus, spectacular stunts, tuning options 
  
• Race against your friends in LAN and Internet
  

Outrun online arcade video game on PS3 and Xbox 360

SEGA’s classic arcade racer returns, but this time it’s in stunning HiDef and available via PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Developed by acclaimed Sheffield studio Sumo Digital, OutRun Online Arcade, will be available early 2009.

Test your time, speed and handling ability as you race through vibrant, colourful stages and rediscover the 15 glorious OutRun courses. From the steep streets of San Francisco to the beautiful beaches of California, it’s mile after mile of unrelenting acceleration, thrills and action. Feel the kick as you put your foot to the floor in one of the 10 high-performance, fully licensed Ferrari cars as you race your way across the U.S. to a killer soundtrack.

For the first time on PlayStation Network and Xbox LIV, OutRun Online Arcade delivers online multiplayer racing for up to 6 players, with fast paced OutRun, Heart Attack and Time Attack modes, the draw to the open road has never been so appealing. OutRun Online Arcade on Xbox LIVE will feature achievements and voice; and on PlayStation Network will include trophies, voice over IP and leaderboards.

Which route will you choose on your drive for the highest possible score?

PDC World Championship Darts 2009 - You’ll be throwing for the match!

Using real-life player averages and incorporating professional player character traits, playing against the top talent in PDC Darts Tournaments couldn’t feel more realistic.

Immerse yourself in the experience: You’ll be able to match or beat their stamina, anticipate their strategies, hit the doubles and the triples, then go in for the kill and check out when they’re close to the wire!

PDC World Championship Darts 2009 on Wii™ gives you the feel of the true darts physics, providing a more natural throwing experience, realistic dart collisions and bed bouncing sound FX – “It’s back to back maximum magic”!

With “player cam” zoom-ins and Wii Remote™ vibration feedback for those all important 180s & check outs, you’ll be feeling the oche heartbeat.

With over 4,000 lines of commentary using TV’s voice of darts, Sid Waddell and raspy voiced scorer Russ Bray, PDC World Championship Darts 2009 on Wii™ will prove to be a double top darts experience.

PDC World Championship Darts 2009 is released on 29th May 2009 on both Nintendo DS™ and Wii formats.

Action-thriller darkSector video game PC Xbox 360 PlayStation 3

The Games Company is going to release the sinister action-thriller Dark Sector on the PC in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, this summer.

In this mailing we would like to introduce you to the unique weapon of the main protagonist Hayden Tenno - the GLAIVE:

Agent Hayden Tenno belongs to a special unit of the CIA and is known for his uncompromising operation methods. No matter how dangerous the job might be, he takes care of it with deadly precision. His latest mission takes him to Lasria, a city in Eastern Europe, where he is being infected with the treacherous Technocyte virus. While the virus transformed Lasria’s civilians into Zombies, Tenno develops supernatural abilities. One of the side effects of the virus is the so called GLAIVE, a boomerang-like weapon, which is growing out of Tenno’s arm, early in the game. The GLAIVE consists of three razor sharp blades and can either be used as a close combat weapon or for long distances. After thrown, the GLAIVE returns automatically to Hayden and can be used as much as he likes. During the game Hayden gets access to the following upgrades of the GLAIVE, which are making it even more powerful:

- ability to remotely control the GLAIVE in midair and kill multiple enemies
- shield, reflecting all kinds of threats, such as projectiles etc., back to the enemy
- ability to charge the GLAIVE with electricity, fire and even ice
- ability to make Hayden invisible for a limited amount of time.

In Dark Sector the GLAIVE cannot just be used to incapacitate the enemy but also to solve mini-puzzles or to collect items. For additional firepower a variety of firearms can be used parallel to the GLAIVE.

Lecerous Leisure Suit Larry - Box Office Bust Xbox 360 video game in stores now

The lovable and always lecherous Larry is back in his latest, innuendo-filled adventure as Leisure Suit Larry - Box Office Bust launches into stores today* for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC with a S.R.P. of £19.99 on the Funsta label.



Marking a return of the trademark humour that has brought joy (and sniggers) to millions of teenagers for over two decades, Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust brings the series to current gen consoles and PC.

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust sees players take control of the misguided Larry Lovage as he spends his vacation working at his uncle’s film studio. Excited at the hope of picking out his perfect lady from Tinsletown’s most endowed, Larry soon uncovers a plot from a rival studio that threatens his uncle’s latest movie success; now it’s up to Larry to save the day (as long as he can concentrate on the right assets for long enough).




Developed by Team17 and laden with illustrious voice talent from Hollywood’s glamorous glitterati, players will meet and interact with outrageous characters like Ginger Vitus (Carmen Electra: Starsky & Hutch) and Hugh Jassdick (Tom Arnold: True Lies, ER, Roseanne) as they tackle exploration, platforming, racing, puzzle-solving and seduction challenges to get the girls and save the studio.



Additional voice talent in Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust includes an all-star cast of actors and actresses, including Jay Mohr (Last Comic Standing), Dave Attell (Insomniac), Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie), Artie Lange (Mad TV), Patrick Warburton (Family Guy), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), Nikki Cox (Las Vegas), Peter Graves (Mission Impossible), Jane Lynch (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and Josh Keaton (The Spectacular Spider-Man) as the voice of Larry Lovage.

Join Larry on the studio tour that Hollywood never wanted people to see as Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust launches for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC today*, with a PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system version to follow.

Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles and Challenge Me: Maths Workout! video games on Nintendo DS

Oxygen Games announces the release of the first two titles in a new range of games designed to relax and stimulate your mind; Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles and Challenge Me: Maths Workout!

Relax, Play and improve your mind. Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles and Challenge Me: Maths Workout, with their extended gameplay and variety of features, give you the chance to test yourself while having fun.

Guaranteed to stimulate and surprise with hours of gameplay to keep you entertained, the Challenge Me range is a relaxing and entertaining way to keep your mind challenged and stimulated.

Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles not only offers a thousand puzzles of all challenge levels, it incorporates two of the most popular number based puzzles, Sudoku & Picture Logic! Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles will not only bring you hours of fun and relaxation, it may also improve your mental skills.

Challenge Me: Maths Workout, incorporating two number puzzle games, will not only bring you hours of fun and relaxation, it may also improve your Maths skills. By playing Hidden Logic! and Formulate! you can sharpen up your arithmetic skills while relaxing at home or battling the hordes on the tube or bus!

Relax, Play and Improve Your Mind with Challenge Me: Brain Puzzles and Challenge Me: Maths Workout! Out now!

Raskulls exciting puzzle platformer joins Braid, Castle Crashers and The Maw on Xbox Live Arcade - late 2009

Prominent Australian developer Halfbrick today announced its brand new IP for the Xbox Live Arcade - Raskulls. Joining the heritage of the most popular XBLA titles such as Braid, Castle Crashers and The Maw, Raskulls is an entirely original and exciting puzzle platformer with a rich single-player campaign and an incredibly addictive online multiplayer component.

Gameplay is a unique blend of platforming, puzzle and racing. With hundreds of blocks arranged in Tetris-style fashion throughout each world, players must use a block-smashing wand to find their way through the level in the most efficient way possible. Some levels are simple point-to-point or lap footraces, while other modes involve diffusing bombs and conserving block-bashing "ammo". Up to four players can race with heaps weapons and powerups in a huge variety of levels and modes.

Games developed with a variety of genres in mind during the creation process often fail to provide enough focus and longevity for the player. Lead designer Daniel Vogt confidently believes that Raskulls will be a one-of-a-kind experience with quality gameplay to back it up. "It's difficult to categorize Raskulls, but instead of using that as an excuse, the whole dev team knows it's an advantage," he said, "Everyone is familiar with simple block-based gaming, but we've taken it to the next level by placing the player directly into the puzzle-based environment – and given them heaps of gameplay options. Combine the variety of powerups, the lengthy story mode and addictive multiplayer, and we know we're onto a winner."

The stars of the show are the Raskulls themselves. Cute, costumed skeleton characters with individual personalities, the humor and art style of Raskulls is tongue-in-cheek and constantly hilarious. Two teaser images have been launched to showcase the unique art style and mischievous humor found throughout the game. Screenshots, gameplay trailers and a whole roster of character profiles will be revealed soon!

Raskulls is scheduled for a worldwide release on Xbox Live Arcade in Q3 2009.

Achron video game the world’s first meta-time strategy game

Hazardous Software unveiled Achron, the world’s first meta-time strategy game, at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California. The next revolution in time travel gameplay was demonstrated at the Experimental Gameplay Session.

Designed to reinvent the real-time strategy genre by allowing all players to travel through time, Achron is a futuristic science fiction game. Players and units have the ability to jump to and play at different times simultaneously and independently. Time travel is free and unlimited but it costs energy to change the time line. Players will be challenged to invent new strategies in a world where it is possible for them and their opponents to undo mistakes, change a strategy after committing to it, and alter the outcome of past battles.

“Time travel transforms the strategy game landscape,” stated Christopher Hazard, president and cofounder of Hazardous Software. “It opens up new dimensions of strategies and gameplay. For example, imagine being able to see when and where your opponents are going to attack before they do.”

Achron features both a captivating single player campaign and an online multiplayer mode. In addition to being able to build, expand, and attack as in typical RTS games, new mechanisms such as command hierarchy and smart-idling ease the management of a complex time travel environment. An intuitive user interface depicts events in the past and future allowing the player to navigate the time line.

“Achron signifies the creation of a brand new sub-genre of video games that utilize gimmick-free time travel as one of the core gameplay mechanisms,” said Mike Resnick, lead developer and cofounder of Hazardous Software. “The popular type of time travel abundant in science fiction is now available to the gaming community.”

Further information about the game will be released in the upcoming months. To learn more about Achron, please visit the official web site at www.achrongame.com.