Pirates Hijack only Raiho Plushies Rare collectables - lost at sea - video

Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today announced that the sole shipment of Raiho plushies, the very rare and highly irresistible bonus set to be bundled with each and every launch copy of the upcoming Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Summoner 2 - Raidou Kuzunoha v King Abaddon for PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, has been hijacked by a roving pirate frigate.

A video of the captive stuffed toys has also surfaced, emphasizing the seriousness of the matter.

"Today is a somber day for Atlus," began Aram Jabbari, Manager of PR and Sales for Atlus. "Nearly 4.6 tons of Raiho, our ultra-collectible bonus for Devil Summoner 2, have been plush-napped. The pirates responsible have made a list of demands and offered numerous overt threats as to the safety of the Raihos. While it pains us gravely, and it no doubt disappoints the fans, we remain strong in our resolve and maintain our corporate policy: Atlus does not negotiate with sea pirates. Let us think of the plushies as they were... cute, stuffed, and delightful."

MotoGP on Nintendo Wii races into stores this week

World's Premier Motorcycle Racing Championship Game Crosses the Finish Line March 24th

Capcom a leading worldwide developer and publisher of videogames, has today confirmed that MotoGP for the Nintendo Wii home video game system will ship on March 24, 2009.

This is the first officially licensed MotoGP title to be published for the Nintendo Wii platform and comes as part of Capcom’s five year deal with Dorna Sports, providing exclusive rights to publish video games based on the world’s premier motorcycle championship across all hardware platforms.

MotoGP for Nintendo Wii turns the Wii Remote into a virtual set of handlebars to deliver the definitive two-wheeled racing experience. Players are put at the center of the MotoGP experience by letting them join a team and compete alongside their sporting heroes in all three race classes – 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP. The game features a scaled and competitive AI which adjusts within limits to give a more enjoyable race experience on the lower levels but shows no mercy in the higher levels.

Players will be able to decide what motorcycle and racing style suits them best in Tutorial mode. Rather than taking players ‘out of the main game’, this mode will transport them immediately into an arcade race and offers tips right at the start.

In Career mode, players can develop their racing skills for up to 5 seasons with the aim of becoming the ultimate MotoGP champion. Choosing a team and bike class at the beginning of each season, riders can make customizations through a selection of bike helmet designs that unlock as players progress. As races are won, stronger teams will be looking to recruit for the following season, enabling players to race better performing bikes. Climbing the ranks will also allow access to certain bike upgrades which improve the rider’s performance across a range of parameters such as straight line speed, acceleration, braking and cornering.

Players can choose their favorite track and rider in Quick race mode or set the best time at each circuit, competing against themselves to shave vital seconds off their personal record in Time Attack mode. If that’s not enough then select any class, rider and team and re-create an entire season in Championship mode. The weather conditions, difficulty setting, number of laps and handling model can all be decided, allowing players to shape their own season.

MotoGP for Nintendo Wii also features a two player head-to-head option with the addition of AI controlled bikes to add more of a challenge to the race.

New action-adventure series The Secret Saturdays video game out soon

First Games Based on the Hit Action-Adventure Television Series Scheduled for Q4 2009

D3Publisher (D3P), a publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software, together with its parent D3, Inc., today announced a worldwide publishing agreement with Turner CN Enterprises, the global licensing and merchandising arm of Turner Broadcasting EMEA, for videogames based on the new action-adventure series The Secret Saturdays. The first game based on The Secret Saturdays is scheduled to be released across EMEA for console and handheld systems in Q4 2009 .

“The Secret Saturdays franchise provides everything videogame fans look for, from an exciting cast of heroes they can portray, to fantastic creatures with special abilities they can use, to the most dastardly villain for them to defeat,” said Yoji Takenaka, president and chief executive officer, North America and Europe, D3P. “Turner CN Enterprises has proven to be an unparalleled partner for us in turning wonderful television universes into playable experiences for fans, and we are thrilled to be working with them once again to reach the gamer community.”

From secret artifacts to unexplained creatures, the adventure never ends for The Secret Saturdays. This family of cryptozoologists is on a mission to find and protect the weirdest and wildest cryptids before the bad guys get in on the action. They travel from ancient temples to bottomless caves in search of the legendary Kur stone because only The Saturdays can save the world from the evil plans of V.V. Argost! The Secret Saturdays television series will premier in the UK on Cartoon Network in June with roll-out across EMEA throughout 2009.

“We have achieved great success with D3Publisher with the Ben 10 interactive franchise and look forward to partnering with them again on The Secret Saturdays,” said Alan Fenwick, vice president of Turner CN Enterprises. “D3 will be a significant aspect of the licensing programme we’re set to roll out in 2009/2010 for this key Cartoon Network property.”

MTV Games and Paramount Pictures Take STAR TREK and Rock Band Where No Man Has Gone Before

First-of-its-Kind Promotion to Rock Fans During Month Lead-Up to the Film's Release on May 8, 2009

MTV Games and Harmonix’s Rock Band are joining forces with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment to celebrate the May 8th theatrical release of the film STAR TREK from director/producer J.J. Abrams. The first-of-its-kind collaboration will fuse together the massive cultural followings of both STAR TREK and the video game phenomenon Rock Band to engage fans with free music, an in-game battle of the bands, and futuristic avatar creation contest.

Beginning today, fans can register for a 15-day sweepstakes that will give away 500 free Rock Band Music Store downloads each day from April 7th through April 21st for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Store for PlayStation3.

And if that’s not enough – fans will want to fire up Rock Band 2’s online Battle of the Bands mode to participate in the STAR TREK Ultimate Battle. Bands of three to four players can battle the Rock Band galaxy. The band with the highest score will win a STAR TREK hometown movie screening for their band and their friends. Additionally, twenty randomly selected players will win an awesome STAR TREK/Rock Band prize pack equipped with STAR TREK and Rock Band gear. The Battle of the Bands component will begin on April 20th and run through April 27th.

The Rock Band and STAR TREK promotion will culminate when the first-ever avatar creation contest launches on April 27th. Fans will be asked to create a futuristic avatar in-game and export it to RockBand.com for the community and Harmonix team to judge the winner. The Duke of Gravity will ultimately decide which avatar has what it takes to rock with the Enterprise crew. The winner will be chosen on May 11th and win "The Future is Now" prize pack including the top of the line Rock Band game accessories.

The Hardy Boys - The Hidden Theft video game on Nintendo Wii

A thrilling ride of adventure, mystery and cliff-hanging suspense, perfect for children of all ages!

JoWooD Productions and XPEC Entertainment are pleased to announce the successful PC adventure “The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft” is in development for Nintendo Wii.

Players will face challenging puzzles and exciting dialogues embedded in a thrilling story, which is especially suitable for children! In The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft, the vault at Spencer Mansion is robbed, and the Bayport Police call on the Hardy Boys to help tie-up some loose ends, but they soon find themselves in the middle of a major criminal investigation that takes them on an adventure all over Bayport, and even into New York City. But the pieces don’t add up, and Frank and Joe find themselves embroiled in a drama of sinister proportions.

After their release on the PC, The Hardy Boys were able to obtain official awards including the “Ultimate Games Award 2008”, which focuses on pedagogical valuable games.

Also the BuPP, the “Federal Office for the Positive Assessment of Computer and Console Games”, situated at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth, loves the game and awarded a recommendation to The Hardy Boys. “A recommendation of the BuPP stands for: it is most likely that children will have fun playing the game and parents have no reason to be worried but can furthermore trust that their children will benefit beyond the fun from playing. The Hardy Boys fulfill these criteria!”, states Herbert Rosenstingl, head of the BuPP.

About The Hardy Boys
With over 100 million copies of their beloved books in print, America’s original crime scene investigators, Frank and Joe Hardy, are riding a wave of classic retro popularity combined with a whole new attitude. Since 1928, Simon & Schuster and Grosset & Dunlap have published The Hardy Boys classic editions, currently selling over 1 million copies annually. The new contemporary series Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, featuring the boys as spies for American Teens Against Crime launched in 2005, with an additional Super Mystery published every summer.


Facts:
Platform: Wii
Genre: Adventure
AgeRating: PEGI 7+

Wheelman - Cyclone Gunning part Two Gameply Movie

Wheelman is an upcoming action game that is being developed alongside the forthcoming Vin Diesel movie.

Micro Blu-ray diskcs announced by Sony - UMD Blu Ray...

Sony's not one to rest on its laurels. Blu-ray has been on the market for a couple of years, and although it's in this stagnant economy it needs to get us all on to the next consumer electronics device.

So, today the Japanese giant has announced exclusively to CNET UK its new format - microBD.

The discs are very similar in structure to Blu-ray discs, but they are the same size as the company's UMD gaming format. Like both Blu-ray and UMD, the microBD discs are multi-layered. The new format also uses the same ISO structure as Blu-ray, which should simplify the mastering process for microBD movies.

microBD discs are read by a 375nm laser, which is slightly shorter in wavelength than the 405nm laser in Blu-ray players. This new laser assembly means that quite substantial amounts of data can be written to a disc that's considerably smaller than a Blu-ray. In fact, although the discs are less than half the physical size of Blu-ray media, they can hold up to 75GB of data on two layers. A theoretically possible, but untested, third layer could take capacity to 100GB.

Read full post on Cnet here...

Call of Duty - World at War Map Pack exceeds one million downloads in a weekend...

Armies of Call of Duty fans have heeded the call and responded with more than one million downloads of the Call of Duty - World at War Map Pack 1 from Activision and developer Treyarch, during its first weekend of availability (March 19-22) on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network.

“I’m proud that the team at Treyarch delivered an experience that so many people are enjoying,” said Mark Lamia, Studio Head for Treyarch. “We’re excited that the success of Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 1 will continue to drive the popularity of the game’s Nazi Zombie mode, competitive multiplayer and chart-breaking success online.”

“The success of Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 1 speaks to Treyarch and Activision’s ability to provide fans with quality content during a time when people want to get the most out of their Call of Duty experience,” said Maria Stipp, Activision’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Owned Properties.

The map pack contains four maps (Nightfire, Station, Knee Deep and Verrückt) and is available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 800 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation Store for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system for $9.99. Call of Duty: World at War is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Intense Violence, Strong Language, Blood and Gore.

FUEL 70 vehicle line-up in new HD video game trailer...

Showcasing FUEL’s wide ranging on and off-road vehicle line up, including its Cars, Bikes, SUVs, Trucks, Quads and ‘Specials’ classes, Codemasters today launched the new ‘Vehicles’ FUEL gameplay video, now available to view and download from www.fuel-game.com.



FUEL’s 70 strong, garage tuned vehicles, each designed to perform differently according to the terrain, are perfect to race and explore the unique and diverse 5,000 square mile gameworld. The full range of vehicle classes is showcased in the video, demonstrating how the broad line-up gives players the freedom and scope to choose how they navigate the challenging environment to take the chequered flag.

Supercharged road bikes tear up the asphalt, dirt bikes and scramblers career off-road and roadsters burn rubber on twisty mountain roads. Meanwhile, customised quad bikes perform stunts at breakneck speeds, buggies and SUVs charge across beautifully rugged terrain and, from the ‘Special’ class of vehicles, a dragster speeds across the iconic Utah salt-plains and a hovercraft breaks free of the constraints of terra firma.

Coming this May, FUEL is the ultimate racing sandbox and the bulging roster of vehicles with their accessible, arcade handling delivers a compelling experience for racing fans everywhere. The 70+ strong career mode races and hundreds of extra challenges offer countless hours of high-octane thrills and route editor, which ships with the game, provides almost limitless opportunities for players to create their own fuel-filled races. The FUEL experience is extended yet further online as up to 16 players are able to go head-to-head or explore the entire map in free roam.

With a full day/night cycle and dynamic weather effects including snowstorms, thunderstorms, blizzards, rainstorms and tornados, 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

Godfather 2 upgrade all New Weapons Characters and Maps to download

All-New Weapons, Character and Maps to Help Players Strengthen Their Family and Build Their Empire Offline and Online

Electronic Arts and Paramount Digital Entertainment announce that The Godfather II videogame will be releasing premium upgrade packs* to provide players with level-four weapons, an additional crew member equipped with four unique specialties, and two new multiplayer maps that will make their family stronger as they fight to become the most powerful mob syndicate in America.

In addition, these upgrades will help as players take their advanced crew members online and compete to be the Don of Dons on the leaderboards. Players can experience all the premium upgrades for The Godfather II two weeks after launch worldwide on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PLAYSTATION Store on April 23, 2009.



The complete list of upgrade packs includes:

• The Pentangeli Map Pack: Download for the all-new Cuba multiplayer map and the Junkyard multiplayer map.

• $6.75 / 540 points

• Level 4 Weapons Bundle: Download this collection to receive the Modern Dillinger, the .700 Magnum Impact, the Herzstopper, the MG-S1 Sniper Wolfe, and the Street Sweeper.
• $4.00 / 320 points

• Jack of All Trades: Download Jimmy Lira – the Jack of All Trades to have this character in your family. Jimmy Lira starts out with the arsonist, engineer, medic, and safecracker specialties and comes equipped with a level 2 machine gun – the MP38.
• $4.00 / 320 points

• The Corleone Bundle (All of the above): Download the multiplayer map pack, the level 4 Weapons Bundle, and the Jack of All Trades (Jimmy Lira) crew member.
• $10.00 / 800 points

As a Don in the Corleone family, The Godfather II allows players to carve out their own story of deception, betrayal, and conquest in a 1960’s organized crime world. With these new upgrades, players will have more options when building and investing in their family, managing their businesses, and sending their crew into battle – all of which is done through the revolutionary Don’s View. The Don’s View is a 3D representation of the player's criminal empire; it allows them to coordinate their strategy, plan hits on rival made men, attack enemy rackets, and much more. By letting players call the shots, The Godfather II delivers the ultimate organized crime experience.

Developed at the EA Redwood Shores studio, The Godfather II will be coming to the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, and PC. Players who pre-order The Godfather II at participating retailers worldwide will receive an exclusive crew member, named Tommy Cipolla, to hire into their family. The Godfather II has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB and 18+ for PEGI.

* Requires INTERNET CONNECTION, The Godfather II for the Xbox 360 or PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox LIVE gold or silver membership OR PLAYSTATION Network account.