Jeremy Soule and Joss Ackland to provide IL-2 Sturmovik: Bird of Prey's soundscap

The duet of Jeremy Soule (KOTOR, Oblivion) and Joss Ackland (Lethal Weapon 2) performing on 1C Publishing’s IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey. Soule will be applying his unique talents to composing an exclusive European soundtrack for the game, whilst Ackland’s momentous, timeless and distinctive tones will be the backbone of the UK and US version of the game’s narration.

London-born Ackland is a distinguished stage actor, and has appeared as a chameleonic cad in over 100 films. Though he has avoided type-casting, in recent years he’s managed to secure many roles as a person of distinction, including Archchancellor Ridcully in Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather, Ambassador Lysenko in The Hunt for Red October, and Winston Churchill in Above & Beyond. Older gamers may remember him as the South African heavy in Lethal Weapon II or even the voice of the black rabbit in Watership Down!

Multi-award winning composer Soule, on the other hand, is a native of the videogame stage, supplying music for the leading games of the last ten years; Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Company of Heroes, Harry Potter, Total Annihilation, SOCOM: The Navy Seals and the Elder Scrolls series all owe their distinctive aural environments to him, alongside many, many more. With a corpus stretching from the deceptively simple Rugrats and Lemony Snicket, to the asian stylings of Guild Wars: Factions, to the opening of the $744 million-earning The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Soule has demonstrated his versatility and professionalism.

Developed by Gaijin Entertainment for Xbox 360 and PS3, DiP Interactive for Nintendo DS and DYNAMICSYSTEMS for PSP, IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey features the greatest aerial battles of all time, during the Second World War, and boasts the most realistic landscapes and aircraft seen in any flight sim. IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey will be published by 505 Games under the 1C Label and is due for a 2009 release.

Features
· Authentic World War II atmosphere
· Engage in more than 50 thrilling missions from famous historical battles over Eastern and Western Europe.
· Five theatres of war to engage in, including The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Berlin, Sicily and Korsun' representing the main airborne battles of World War II in Europe.
· Fly historically accurate aircraft, from the iconic Spitfire to the Mustang and of course the Ilyushin IL-2!
· Completely flexible difficulty level system: from arcade to realistic simulation c
· Thrilling multiplayer modes: Dogfight, Team Deathmatch, Ground Strike and Capture the Airfield
· Cutting edge, highly-detailed visuals, realistic sound and original music

505 Games will publish IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey on the 1C Label for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and PSP in 2009.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine the video game out in UK

Activision Blizzard has sponsored the wolverine enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo for one year. In addition, the lead male wolverine has voluntarily changed his name to Logan in respect of the legendary Marvel character.
The sponsorship will help to ensure that Edinburgh Zoo, who has the only wolverines in the UK, can continue its breeding programme throughout 2009 and 2010.

Quote from Edinburgh Zoo
“It’s fantastic that X-Men Origins: Wolverine is sponsoring our very own wolverines here at Edinburgh Zoo. As a charity we rely on our fundraising to further our work and sponsorship is an excellent way for us raise essential funds, not just for the day to day care of our animals, but for our conservation projects across the globe.”
Cristina Pouso, Corporate Development Manager

Quote from Activision
“What better way is there to pay homage to the mighty Wolverine by making sure his real life cousins are cared for during the next year? With wolverines an endangered species, we see Wolverine having a major role in helping people become more aware of these wonderful creatures and ensuring their survival for many years to come.”
Aruna Sinha, Senior Brand Manager, Activision

About the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS)
RZSS, which celebrates its centenary this year, is one of Scotland’s leading charities at the forefront of animal management, conservation, education and research. RZSS owns and manages two of Scotland’s top animal based visitor attractions, Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park.

About X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Inspired by Twentieth Century Fox’s highly anticipated feature film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the official video game delivers the most true-to-character Wolverine action ever featured in-game. Players will utilise Wolverine’s signature brute strength, regenerative mutant abilities, and indestructible adamantium claws as they perform death-defying feats, take massive damage, regenerate in real-time and uncover the mutant’s mysterious and complex past.

The game is available on PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Games for Windows PC, PSP, PLAYSTATION 2 and Nintendo DS. Please check individual formats for age ratings.

Massive support planned for release of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on PSP

Capcom a leading worldwide developer and publisher of videogames, has today announced that it will be working in partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) to support the release of the upcoming Monster Hunter Freedom Unite game for PSP (PlayStation Portable).

The game which is scheduled for release on the 26th June will be heavily backed by a multi-million promotional campaign throughout PAL territories.

“We are looking forward to working closely with Capcom to promote Monster Hunter Freedom Unite,” commented David Reeves, President SCEE. “With the combined efforts of both companies we want to emulate the success that the title has had in Japan.”

Key to the huge success of the Monster Hunter series in Japan has been the social aspect of multiplayer hunts. Across PAL territories gamers will be able to sample the phenomenon of Monster Hunter before the games release with the launch of the demo available to download on PlayStation Network. The demo will feature three quests to prepare players for the arrival of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite in which you can choose to play alone with the aid of your feline companion or in a team of up to four players to get a real taste of the social gaming side of Monster Hunter that’s taken Japan by storm.

Retail initiatives include an exclusive PSP hardware bundle which contains a specially designed Monster Hunter branded PSP skin and pouch along with a copy of the game.

Michael Pattison, Senior Marketing Director of Capcom Europe stated “Working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to promote the latest title in the Monster Hunter franchise allows Capcom access to all of Sony’s promotional channels, including Playstation websites, community pages and Playstation Home. A series of events and print and on-line advertising will support a heavy weight TV advertising program. The support of Sony on this title is a clear indication that Monster Hunter can be successful across the West.”

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 features all-new tournament challenge mode and Nintendo Wii exclusive disc Golf feature

Rewrite many of golf’s most dramatic moments in Tournament Challenge; an all-new character progression mode in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10. Experience historic situations over various seasons, including Tiger’s clutch birdie that featured the amazing putt on the 18th green to win last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, only this time you determine the outcome.

Get an intimate account of specific moments as introduced by Tiger Woods, as he provides his personal insight and strategy to his real-life approach. The Tournament Challenge mode is available on Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii and PSP versions of the game.

Exclusive to Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 on the Wii, Disc Golf allows fans to trade in their golf clubs for a new way to play all championship courses featured in the game. Imagine trying to take on the famous island green on hole 17 at TPC Sawgrass with a disc! Featuring support with the Nintendo Wii MotionPlus accessory, Disc Golf brings the family-fun sport into your living room.

City of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary Announced

NCsoft is celebrating the fifth anniversary of City of Heroes - the first and longest-running comic book-inspired MMO game. Developed by the recently-renamed Paragon Studios, the team took the opportunity to officially announce that the development is underway for the next content update for the series - aptly named Issue 15: Anniversary.

Issue 14: Architect, released earlier this month, marked the first time MMO players have been given the opportunity to create and share their own custom missions and story arcs. Now, just weeks after Issue 14’s release, players have already created and uploaded more than 120,000 user-generated story arcs. With the upcoming Issue 15: Anniversary, Paragon Studios will bring fans a host of new features and content including much greater options and more usability for the Mission Architect game system. From new mission options for both Villains and Heroes, to new costumes and faces, Issue 15: Anniversary further builds on the innovation and customisation of the Mission Architect tool.

Former players wishing to commemorate this special date can take part in a reactivation opportunity from April 28, 2009 at until Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. GMT. During this reactivation event all expired retail and trial accounts that are in good standing can access the live servers. In addition, the community can participate in a variety of five-year anniversary events, including a T-shirt logo design contest, and a City of Heroes video homage contest. For more information on our anniversary celebrations, go to http://eu.cityofheroes.com/en/news/

During the past five years, the City of Heroes series has been praised by the press with more than 22 “Game of the Year” and “Editor's Choice” awards in its first year of launch. Press accolades for City of Heroes include Computer Gaming World's “2004 MMORPG Game of the Year” award, and most recently Massively's “Most Improved Game of 2008” award. In addition, the highly praised City of Villains expansion pack received MMORPG's “2005 Game of the Year” award.

EA Reveals The Sims 3 Full Online Feature Set

Electronic Arts announce the robust online and community offerings to The Sims 3 PC and Mac game, the highly-anticipated flagship game from the best-selling PC franchise The Sims. In addition to the town included in the game, a second town, Riverview will be available for download from The Sims 3 product website at launch.


TheSims3.com also will allow players to create and share their own movies, manage their online content and purchase additional in-game content. The game is set to launch worldwide on the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and mobile devices starting June 2, 2009.

“With such a vibrant and active community as The Sims has, we wanted to build even further on the already immense offline experience, by offering players additional functionality, content and tools available online through the game,” said Ben Bell, Executive Producer of The Sims 3. “One example of the many online tools we’ve added to the game is the Create a Movie tool. Within the game, players can easily set up the camera angle they want, capture in-game footage, play director and producer and then post their movies online to show off to the world.”

Key Online Elements Include:

* The Sims 3 Store: Included with purchase of the game is $10 worth of SimPoints, which players receive when they first register their game online at TheSims3.com. They can use their SimPoints towards downloading exclusive in-game items from The Sims 3 Store to customize their game. For additional items, players can purchase bundles of 500, 1000 and 2000 SimPoints in $USD, EUR, GBP and other major international currencies using a variety of payment methods including international and national credit cards, PayPal, and EA cash cards (in North America only). Whether it’s the must-have new outfit or the latest style of plaid furniture, players have the opportunity to further customize and populate their Sims world with additional items.
* Game Launcher: The Game Launcher is the key entry point for players into TheSims3.com community. This hub page connects players to both the Store and the Exchange, and provides them with news and information about game updates. Players can keep track of their downloads, uploads, installs, game updates and their media portfolio that includes the videos and photos they can capture while playing the game. The Game Launcher also alerts players to new content in the store, localized game and store promotions along with relevant updates to the Store and cool new content from the community.
* TheSims3.com Site: With the launch of the game on June 2, the marketing website at TheSims3.com will be replaced with the full community and product site for the game. The site will not only connect players, encourage new ways to be creative in the game, and offer personally relevant information for each user, it also will serve as the hub site where players can share their content with other members, and embed them on social networking sites and blogs.
* Key Site Features:
- The Exchange: Building off of The Sims 2 Exchange’s success of more than 100M downloads, The Sims 3 Exchange highlights featured items, most popular downloads, powerful search and browse capabilities, along with giving players the ability to see what other players are recommending.
- Create a Movie and Create a Story: New easily accessible tools inspire creativity and allow players to create movies and stories and then show them off or share them with friends. Players can show off their Movies with the Create a Movie Tool by embedding them on external sites or with an email link back to their Movie on TheSims3.com.
- My Page and My Studio: The Sims 3 product site will allow players to maintain their profile pages on their My Page section as well as offering them the new My Studio section to manage all their creations – Movies, Stories, Exchange objects. My Page is also a blog space where players can post news, customize it with a personal avatar, track favorites and more. Users can make friends with other The Sims 3 players and share their content across a number of social network sites.

For more information about The Sims 3, go to www.TheSims3.com. The Sims 3 was developed by The Sims Studio. The Sims 3 will be available for purchase at retail and online through digital distribution starting June 2 at http://eastore.ea.com/store/ea/ContentTheme/pbPage.the_sims3/ThemeID.718200.

* INTERNET CONNECTION required. See product pack or digital distribution rules for details.

Lineage II Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary with Largest Content Expansion to Date

NCsoft, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games, commemorates five years of Lineage II service in its western territories with the launch of Gracia Final, the latest free expansion to the legendary Lineage II franchise. Gracia Final, the third part of the Gracia expansion series, brings Lineage II fans a whole new continent and refined player-versus-player (PvP) combat.

Other highlights of the Gracia Final expansion include more clan features, territory wars, new items, and new skill effects.

Players can log into Lineage II right now and experience the chaotic lands of Gracia, an entire new continent ready for exploration. To venture into Gracia, characters fly on airships available at the Gludio airship wharf. Characters who would rather reach the continent using their own devices can use the new aerial transformation skills Aurabird Falcon, Aurabird Owl, and the Kamael’s special Final Flying Form. While on the continent of Gracia, explorers can journey through war-torn lands filled with mysterious creatures and adventure in nearly 60 new quests.

The Gracia Final expansion also brings in Territory Battles, where any player, even those not belonging to a clan, can participate in epic-scale conflict and reap rewards from the local Territory Manager. Territory Battles provide a “capture the flag”-style PvP experience that rewards dominating clans with castle-related skills and additional revenue. In addition, the Gracia Final expansion introduces three-versus-three PvP arena battles at the Olympiad for the first time, and enables clans to earn additional abilities and membership.

“We are thrilled to celebrate five years of Lineage II live service with such a large content expansion,” said Sam Han, North American producer for NCsoft West. “This represents the largest content expansion for Lineage II to date, and we plan to keep them coming. We appreciate our loyal players, who have provided us with memorable experiences over the past five years. I encourage gamers ready for a change to join us in the new, accessible, rich world of Lineage II.”

In addition to the expansive new content Gracia Final provides, Lineage II players can celebrate the fifth anniversary with an in-game event that runs now through May 5th. During this event, creatures in the lands of Aden and Gracia drop special items engraved with certain letters and numbers. Players get rewards for acquiring the letters to spell “Gracia,” “Lineage II,” and “5 Years.” More details can be found at http://www.lineage2.com/archive/2009/04/5th_anniversary.html.

Lineage II is known as the gaming market’s premier PvP online roleplaying game, with a customer reach of more than 19 million worldwide. The game is rated T for Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

Battlestations - Pacific Demo Available To Download Now On Xbox Live

The official demo for Battlestations: Pacific, the immense sequel to the critically acclaimed Battlestations: Midway, is now available through Xbox Live, Games for Window Live, Gamespot.com, IGN.com and Steam.

Published by Eidos, Inc. and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developed by Eidos Game Studios, Battlestations: Pacific completes the entire Pacific War with two massive single-player campaigns, the historically based US campaign and a historically possible Japanese campaign. Players will experience one war through two epic sagas to be a part of history or change it. Commanding the US Fleet, players relive the grandest and most critical naval battles of the Pacific War and for the first time, as the Japanese, players lead the IJN Fleet to a completely different ending to the war.

No other game delivers the challenge of an RTS with the rush of real-time WWII flight and naval warfare. Players need intelligence and expertise to plan their moves in order to remain one step ahead of the opponent while commanding both strategy and action to turn the tide of war.

The Battlestations: Pacific demo features:
• In-game tutorials
• One action-packed mission (Divine Winds of Leyte) from the US campaign
• Two multiplayer modes (Island Capture and Siege) that can be played in “Skirmish Mode,” a new mode which allows players to tackle multiplayer maps against AI-controlled enemy

To download the Xbox 360 demo directly from the Xbox Live Marketplace, please click on the link below:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80253438802?cid=BSP852

The Games for Windows Demo is available at numerous download sites including IGN Direct2Drive, and Valve Steam.

Twice the size of the original, the sequel includes 28 major battles, 100 units including 21 new units, five new innovative multi-player modes, all new island capture, kamikaze attacks, and an improved easy-to-use interface. Battlestations: Pacific will be available on May 12, 2009 in the US and on May 15, 2009 in Europe on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC.

BOOM BLOX Bash Party Nintendo Wii

EA is excited to announce that the anticipated BOOM BLOX Bash Party game for Nintendo Wii will ship on May 19, 2009. BOOM BLOX Bash Party promises to be one of the hottest Nintendo Wii games for this summer, taking players from the depths of the sea to outer space and beyond!

Check the game’s four new worlds as well as the game’s enhanced Create Mode!

My Friends video game for the Nintendo DS - Create your own world of friends with My Friends this Summer!

Create your very own 3D character and then go and explore your new Friends World. Explore for gifts, snacks and surprises; unlock secrets and play mini-games. You can make new friends in the game with cool outfits and keep them happy by playing mini-games with them and giving them gifts!

The happier your friends are, the more games, clothes, accessories and hairstyles you can unlock… you can even unlock new locations to go and explore and play games in! You can share gifts and friends with other Nintendo DS owners and also chat with up to three of them via DS Wireless Communications.

This summer, let My Friends take you to a whole new world of fun & games!

Make Friends, Play Games, Have Fun with My Friends, available for Nintendo DS in June 2009.