Guitar Hero Metallica out in Europe

Experience the Intensity of Musical Icons Metallica and Over 20 Additional Rockin' Bands in the Newest Entry to the Guitar Hero Franchise

Guitar Hero Metallica, the latest entry in Activision Guitar Hero franchise, will be available at retail outlets across Europe and Australia on May 22, 2009 and in the UK on May 29, 2009.

At launch, a European-exclusive Guitar Hero Metallica Solo Guitar Game bundle, which includes an exclusive guitar controller faceplate featuring the iconic Metallica skull motif, a copy of the critically-acclaimed game and a wireless guitar controller, will be available to fans.

Enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience Metallica’s intensity and skill while shredding on the guitar controller, ripping on the drum kit controller and wailing on the mic to a set list of over 45 explosive hits from both the GRAMMY Award-winning band and more than 20 popular artists selected by Metallica, such as Alice In Chains, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Foo Fighters, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Queen. As one of the greatest metal bands of all time, players perform in venues reminiscent of the band’s epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales. The all-new Expert+ drum difficulty setting, available for all platform versions of Guitar Hero Metallica, features two bass drum kick pedals, offering an authentic Metallica experience with note-for-note tracking, and Metallifacts, which, after nailing a song, lets players enjoy a virtual concert filled with on-screen facts and trivia about the song being played.

Guitar Hero Metallica will be available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment systems and the Nintendo Wii home video game system from Nintendo. All platforms will be available as stand-alone software or as the European-exclusive Guitar Hero Metallica Solo Guitar Game bundle. The game is rated 12+ by the BBFC.

Vanguard Saga of Heroes Introduces Halls of the Pantheon 6th video game update

With Vanguard Saga of Heroes sixth game update, “Halls of the Pantheon,” citizens of Telon can experience brand new content in the form of an epic new raid area! Beginning today, players are encouraged to answer the call to uncover the true meaning of the Halls of the Pantheon.

Many will enter, but few will prevail, as the Pantheon holds many dark and mysterious secrets that only Ini-Heart and Artera, the master architect of the Pantheon, can reveal.

FEATURES:
Halls of the Pantheon features include:
• Increased level cap to 55.
• New spell crafting recipes.
• New god aligned armor sets.
• New class-based weapons and enhancements.
• Halls of the Shattered Souls raid area.
• Unlock the history of the Pantheon through Diplomacy.
WHEN: Halls of the Pantheon is now live.

For the full update notes, visit www.vgplayers.com.

Simul announces Weather 1.

Simul Software Ltd has announced that version 1.2 of their award-winning weather software is now available.

Simul Weather allows developers to generate real-time weather effects, including 3D volumetric clouds that grow and change in real time, with minimal CPU and GPU overhead.

Already in-use in several major upcoming titles, Simul Weather saves many man-hours of effort for any developer looking to include live time-of-day effects, as well as generating a sky that just looks right.

“Many companies expend a lot of effort on getting their sky looking right,” said Roderick Kennedy, head of Simul, “and end up with a compromised solution that uses unnecessary clock cycles. After 3 years’ research, our skies are physically correct, look like the real thing, and use a fraction of the system resources that most home-grown solutions do.”

New features in version 1.2 include managed fade tables – for physically correct distance-fades that match seamlessly with the sky. Also included, optional threading support to distribute sky calculations over multiple cores.

As ever, Simul Weather includes clear, simple sample programs using DirectX and OpenGL, and drop-in source code for sky and cloud renderers. Available on PC and major console platforms, Simul Weather can be evaluated for free.

Sony to launch NEW PlayStation 3 slim?

Hovering around the ‘net today are these curious pictures of a rather plastic looking, but totally slim PlayStation 3 console.

The image looks a bit blurred. Redesigning and condensing the insides of the PlayStation 3 could bring the price down.

Damnation video game out on PS3 Xbox 360 and PC tomorrow.

Damnation, the game that turns the corridor shooter on its head with its mix of huge vertigo-inducing levels and acrobatic, fluid-movement gunplay, launches tomorrow for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and PC.

Gamers can now preview Dammantion’s online experience with the new multiplayer gameplay available to view or download from www.damnationgame.com.

The new Damnation gameplay video showcases some of the most spectacular multiplayer moments players will experience as they duck, dive, leap, climb and shoot through four different, action-packed and vertically twisted multiplayer modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Capture the Flag. With up to 8 players in each game, attacks can truly from any direction as each map takes full advantage of the scale and height of the game’s vertically themed levels.

In Damnation players assume the role of hero Captain Hamilton Rourke as he embarks on an epic journey to reveal the sinister truth behind Prescott Standard Industries, led by industrialist magnate W.D. Prescott. Together with his fellow Peacemakers, Rourke will engage in high-octane gun battles against hordes of drug-enhanced soldiers and steam-powered mechanical monsters to save the country from Damnation.

Damnation’s single player mode also features split-screen, drop-in-drop-out co-operative gameplay through all of its large-scale levels with magnificent landscapes, each with up to three hours of streaming gameplay and thousands of vertical feet to explore. These stunning open environments provide the backdrop for the frenetic combat, daredevil acrobatics and vehicle based stunts that power Damnation’s exhilarating, fresh and revolutionary gameplay.

Developed by Blue Omega Entertainment in Annapolis, USA, Damnation will be available on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and PC from tomorrow.

Demon Souls ground breaking action RPG on PlayStation 3

Enter a world of demons and darkness, where death looms around every corner

Atlus your shining knights in armor, announce that they have secured the North American publishing rights for Demon's Souls, a groundbreaking action RPG experience for PLAYSTATION 3 system. Beautiful, compelling, and unforgiving, Demon's Souls is the hardcore RPG experience PLAYSTATION 3 system owners have been waiting for since the platform's launch.

Revolutionary online features support your adventure like never before, presenting seamless interconnectivity that serves in every instance to enhance the single-player game. Team up with two other players in simultaneous cooperative play, working together to topple some of the game's colossal bosses, or force your way into the games of skilled players and challenge them to PvP battle. Leave hints and clues for those who will follow in your footsteps; either intentionally or through your own inadvertent demise, your bloodstains will allow your successors to view a replay of your death, hinting at how to avoid your gruesome fate. Unprecedented in its depth and subtlety, peerless in its relentlessly challenging gameplay, Demon's Souls is the ultimate action RPG.

Experience the game Eurogamer.net awarded 9 out of 10, hailing it as "absolutely compelling; dark, detailed, unforgiving, creatively cruel," and adding, "you can learn to love Demon's Souls like few other games in the world."

Demon's Souls for PLAYSTATION 3 system is scheduled for North American release in fall 2009.

About Demon's Souls
King Allant the XII, the last king of Boletaria, searched tirelessly to expand his might. The Nexus, a great ice shrine nestled in the mountains, bestowed the power of the souls onto him, bringing prosperity to his kingdom. Still unsated, he returned again to the Nexus, where he foolishly awakened the Old One from its eternal slumber. This long forgotten evil, now wrought upon Boletaria, plunged the realm into darkness and fog. A mighty demon horde poured into the kingdom, devouring the souls of men.

Champions from other realms learned of Boletaria's fate and sought to deliver the kingdom from evil; none would return from the cursed land. Called upon by a mysterious maiden in black, you go forth, the last hope for humanity in a place lost to demons and darkness...

Key Features
• Ultimate hardcore RPG challenge - In this brutal land, death is inevitable, but not final. Combining the best features of an action game and RPG, you'll slice, smash, shoot, and ensorcel some of the most horrible, vicious enemies ever encountered. Are you strong enough to face the impossible and win?
• Groundbreaking online capabilities - Network features go far beyond any previous RPG, allowing players to leave hints for each other, replay death scenes, cooperatively revive dead players, or invade another player's game to wreak havoc. Not merely an add-on feature, multiplayer options are vast, and uniquely focused on changing and intensifying the single player experience.
• Freeform and flexible - The open-ended structure of the game means that there is no single path, but rather a wealth of options. Set your own pace and progress as you like. Build exactly the character you want by creating a detailed avatar, nurturing the right stats, and customizing your skills and equipment.
• You act, the world reacts - The World Tendency system changes the aggressiveness of monsters and the rewards for killing them based on players' actions. Different events and NPCs may be triggered, as well.

Steven Spielberg predicts end on games consoles

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg reckons that home consoles will someday go "the way of the Dodo bird," and will be replaced by a resurgence in virtual reality technology.

"Now we're all playing at home and someday we'll be playing directly on our TV sets, bypassing all of the platforms," Spielberg told The Guardian, adding that consoles will end up like old "videogame parlours" and "the Dodo bird."

The director also talked about the future of gaming and his excitement over virtual reality and 3D gaming technology.

"In the short term I would love to start seeing 3D games developed where with a good pair of glasses we get a real three-dimensional experience in front of an appropriate monitor that is designed just for 3D," said Spielberg.

"I really think virtual reality, which experimentally came and went in the eighties, is going to be redeveloped, just like 3D is being redeveloped today, and that's going to be the new platform for our gaming future."

Source: EuroGamer.

US sales of Killzone 2 disappoint at under 1 million units Halo 3 wins...

Further new NPD Group data has revealed lifetime sales to date for Sony's Killzone 2 title in the US, with the game so far selling only 677,000 units.

First released on February 27, the PlayStation 3 exclusive debuted in the February sales chart at number five, with 323,000 units sold. In the March results the game fell only two places to number seven, with 296,000 units sold.

By April though the game had fallen outside of the top 20, but data provided to website Gamasutra reveals that it sold 58,000 units during the month. As result the game's lifetime total to date in the US currently stands at 677,000 units.



On its release Sony proclaimed Killzone 2 to be its fastest-selling title ever in the US, in terms of reaching 500,000 unit sales. Responding to the March NPD chart, Sony also revealed that worldwide sales had passed 1 million units, suggesting sales in PAL territories at the time of around 400,000 units (The game was not released in Japan until April 23).

Although the sales figures are strong by most standards the game is reported to have cost over EUR 40 million to develop. Perhaps most importantly for Sony, the title has failed to drive hardware sales on the PlayStation 3, which have actually dropped year-on-year in the US since the game's release.

Source: GamesIndustry

Tony Hawk Ride video game exclusive Xbox 360 in the UK

Activision has revealed that Tony Hawk: RIDE will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 in the UK.

The game was revealed late last week for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii, but Microsoft has seemingly grabbed the highly-anticipated title for itself in the region.

"Further to Monday's announcement regarding Tony Hawk: RIDE, Activision UK is pleased to announce that this title will be launched later this year in the UK, as an Xbox 360 platform exclusive," said the company.

The game is a reinvention of one of Activision's biggest franchises, and will ship complete with a skateboard peripheral when it's released later this year.

The exclusivity deal will be a seen as a blow to Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii during the busy Christmas period, although Activision has not detailed whether the title will be released on other formats at a later date.

The title is due to be demoed at E3 in June.

Source: GamesIndustry

Pele scores with Academy of Champions football video game on Nintendo Wii

Ubisoft announce a new addition to its sports portfolio, Academy of Champions, an arcade football game featuring legendary sports icon Pelé. Developed for the Nintendo Wii system from Nintendo, the game will deliver an engaging, interactive experience for kids and their families. Academy of Champions is scheduled to be released in 2009.

“We made our mark in the sports genre last year with the global success of Shaun White Snowboarding,” stated Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer at Ubisoft. “Now, with Academy of Champions, Ubisoft offers another sports game with a fresh approach that has something unique to offer young gamers and sports fans.”

Created by an experienced team of sports game developers at Ubisoft Vancouver, Academy of Champions engages players in a rich, story-driven adventure around the world’s most popular sport. The journey begins with enrollment at an extraordinary Academy where your coach is the legendary Pelé..

“Football is a sport that is universally celebrated by all citizens of the world,” said legendary sports icon Pelé. “Working with Ubisoft to continue to promote the sport has been a wonderful experience. It is a thrill to continue to inspire a new generation of fans through an entertainment medium that introduces them to the exciting world of football.”

In Academy of Champions, players improve their skills, recruit new team members and build the best possible squad to defeat their rival Academy and win the champion cup. Compatible with the Wii Balance Board™ and Wii Motion Plus™ accessories, young soccer fans and their friends and family will enjoy playing together in a humorous, interactive universe that features over-the-top gameplay, entertaining fantastical environments, and innovative challenges.