Street Fighter II Champion Edition : the come-back

Metaboli, the European leader in the digital distribution of PC games, its subsidiary in North America, GameTap LLC and Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, announce the launch of a new way of promotion for digital distribution of PC Games.

To support the release of the PC version of Street Fighter IV on the 7th of July, Metaboli has set up an innovative campaign around a free Flash version of the original Street Fighter II' Champion Edition which will be playable directly in web-browsers.

For the first time, players can discover again the most popular fighting game from the 90's directly in their web-browsers, and are invited to get Street Fighter IV for PC available via download-to-own.

Originally released for coin-op in 1992, Street Fighter II' Champion Edition includes 12 characters: Ryu, Ken, Honda, Chun-li, Blanka, Guile, Zangief, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M.Bison. After every third match players can participate in a "bonus game" including car-breaking, barrel breaking and drum-breaking for additional points. Players could finish the game by defeating all 12 challengers within the single player mode.

To support the release of the PC version of Street Fighter® IV on the 7th of July, Metaboli has set up an innovative campaign around a free Flash version of the original Street Fighter® II' Champion Edition which will be playable directly in web-browsers.

For the first time, players can discover again the most popular fighting game from the 90's directly in their web-browsers, and are invited to get Street Fighter IV for PC available via download-to-own.

Originally released for coin-op in 1992, Street Fighter II' Champion Edition includes 12 characters: Ryu, Ken, Honda, Chun-li, Blanka, Guile, Zangief, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M.Bison. After every third match players can participate in a "bonus game" including car-breaking, barrel breaking and drum-breaking for additional points. Players could finish the game by defeating all 12 challengers within the single player mode.

Street Fighter 4
Street Fighter II' Champion Edition will be available on most Flash portals and players will have the opportunity to embed the game on their blog/website and to share it with friends.

This Flash version has been converted by DotEmu, the leading technology provider for emulation and fast porting solutions.

After having played the Flash version, gamers are invited to discover the new Street Fighter IV PC version or to discover the GameTap Classic Pack which grants access to over 500 classic hits for only $4.95 per month.

Street Fighter IV can be digitally purchased here: http://streetfighter.gamesplanet.com/street-fighter-4-game-gametap.html

The Flash version of Street Fighter II' Champion Edition can be played for free here: http://www.kongregate.com

GameTap Classic Pack is available here: http://www.gametap.com/

Pro Cycling Manager 2009 Based on the world famous Tour de France race

Pro Cycling Manager 2009, the must have simulation game for cycling enthusiasts and sports management fans from Ascaron Entertainment and Focus Home Interactive is available to buy today. Based on the world famous Tour de France race, the latest edition includes the Spanish Tour (La Vuelta) for the first time. Players can enjoy an exhilarating and competitive sports management experience whilst guiding their team to victory in four authentic events.

Fans of the series can watch the new trailer online at www.cycling-manager.com to view the game’s beautiful environments, realistic animations and experience the buzz of the most renowned cycling event in the world.

There are various competitive events in the velodromes that enable managers to put their team’s endurance, speed and skill to the test:

Scratch race – all contestants start the race on equal terms. Riders must overtake and lap their competitors, holding this lead until the finish to gain an advantage over those who have completed fewer laps.

Flying 200 metre time trial – time is critical in this speedy event as riders must race along the set distance to achieve the quickest time possible, ensuring a win for their team.

Points race – this official Olympic discipline involves many cyclists racing simultaneously on the same track for up to 160 laps. A sprint is held every ten laps, with points awarded to the top four finishers; the winner is the rider with the most points at the end. This event is very tactical, so players must decide the best racing style in order to secure a win for their team. Some racers prefer to sit back and conserve energy, only attacking for the sprints to accumulate points. Others may attempt to take control of a lap early in the race and defend their leading position.

Omnium – a multiple race event where all contestants compete against each other in a flying time trial, scratch race, individual pursuit, points race and shorter time trial. It is widely considered to be the event that determines the best all-round track cyclists due to the combination of sprint and endurance required. Team manager’s skills will be put to the test as they decide which riders are best at each specific discipline to ensure success.

Pro Cycling Manager 2009 is available today from all good retailers.

Fast facts:

Publisher: Ascaron Entertainment / Focus Home Interactive

Developer: Cyanide

Release date: 10th July2009

PEGI: 3+

Format: PC and PSP

Genre: Sports Simulation

BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion video games Bundle Now Available

BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle is now available in shops across the UK for a suggested retail price of £29.99 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and £19.99 for Windows PC.

Creating a value-rich package, the BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle combines 2006 Game of the Year winner The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with 2007 Game of the Year winner BioShock - two games with a combined bounty of more than 80 Game of the Year awards from the industry’s top publications. In addition to having achieved critical success and Platinum Hits status, both games rank among the bestselling titles on Xbox 360.

BioShock is the genetically enhanced shooter that weaves intricate storytelling with an intense and exciting journey through a decaying underwater Art Deco utopia gone mad. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by mutated citizens, gamers are not only armed with a complete arsenal from simple revolvers to chemical throwers, but are forced to genetically modify their own DNA to use themselves as a deadly weapon.

Taking the world by storm in 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion set a new benchmark for role-playing experiences for current generation gaming. Lush visuals, expansive worlds and limitless character customization combine with unprecedented levels of player freedom and NPC interaction to form one of the most successful and critically acclaimed games ever created.

The BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle is rated M by the ESRB.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection website OneClick Wi-Fi relaunches!

As more online games are released for Nintendo DS and Wii, it’s getting more and more important to find a way of managing all your friend codes: and it’s never been easier with the relaunch of popular community website OneClick Wi-Fi.

The site is now only weeks away from it’s third birthday, and after recent maintenance the site is now reopen at www.oneclickwifi.net for gamers to take advantage of a wealth of great tools to make finding players for online Nintendo games so much easier.

With a gorgeous new design and streamlined navigation, it’s simple to sign up for a free account and save your friend codes for all your games and finding people to play for anything from Animal Crossing to Wii Chess. Using the built in challenge system, you can find new rivals and show off your skills with your wins and losses moving you up and down the leaderboard. With an all-new Wiki system, gamers can write and share tips and tricks about specific games and who to play with ease, all through the one universal login.

Community is at the core of OneClick Wi-Fi version 3 as along with the popular forums, a new section called ‘Social’ is your new central hub of activity as you can check out what your friends are up to: what they’ve been doing on the site, what games they’ve been playing, and their latest status updates.

It’s the perfect social network for Nintendo gamers, as you can customise the sections on your profile; write your own blog and comment on other player’s profiles while incorporating support for other platforms including Xbox Live and Playstation 3.

Whether you just want somewhere to remind you of your 12 digit Wi-Fi Connection codes or a thriving community to find and challenge other players, OneClick Wi-Fi’s purpose built systems make it the new home for Wii and DS gamers – just sign up for free at www.oneclickwifi.net to take advantage of all the new features.

Vertigo iPhone video game - if you have a fear of heights!

Underworld Entertainment Ltd, the developer set up by Col Rodgers, Industry Veteran with more than 15 years of experience and a slew of successful titles under his belt (Designer on Viking: Battle for Asgard with SEGA and Producer on Crysis with EA to name but a few) has announced it’s first title, VERTIGO, for sale very soon on Apple’s iTunes App Store.

Announcement video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytAj5_zOtxE

The game, which takes influence from the traditional brick stacking games such as Jenga played on thousands of beaches and in homes all over the world, makes excellent use of Apple’s multi-touch screen to take the level of interaction with the fully 3D scene farther than it ever has been in games based on similar concepts.

The game supports up to 4 player multiplayer as well as having 3 single player modes, all of which come in Normal or Expert mode.

The player can freely adjust the camera and select any block they wish to move, switching to block interaction mode to move the object around the world.

Key to the success of this title is the way Underworld have overcome the 3 dimensional nature of the game when played with friends. Dragging a brick to the top of the screen takes the game into brick placement mode, where the user can lower, rotate and place the brick where they desire.

Less than confident players can ask the game for hints which come in the form of the system highlighting wobbly bricks – how the player uses this information is up to them!

On top of the beautiful beach graphics in the game, and the excellent control method, the game is driven by true physics simulation, and as such, those long hours on the train with friends can be enjoyed without the need to keep building the tower or worry about an uneven track cutting the game short!

Calling Videogame Strays between Life and Death, Evoking Intrigue and Mystery as Players Fight for Survival

Hudson Entertainment will bring players face to face with death as they roam an alternate existence in an attempt to survive Calling. The adventure horror title is set to be published by Hudson Entertainment, the North and South American publishing arm of HUDSON SOFT, and will be exclusive to Wii in 2010.

“Players will be asked to use their wits and senses to survive the world of Calling,” said Mike Pepe, Director of Marketing of Hudson Entertainment. “It is a game that revolves around real people and real emotions – no chain saws or suits of armor. The game is traditional survival horror at its finest.”

In Calling, players begin by visiting a mysterious “Black Page” website with a simple number counter. Some say it is a bridge to something sinister; the counter indicating the number of people who have died after visiting the page. It is said that people who have visited the site and witness a certain event are drawn into a mysterious space compiled of the memories of the dead - the space between life and death. Someone or something is drawing the living there for a reason, and it is up to the player to discover the horrifying truth. In order to do so, players will use various equipment including flash lights, phones, and other items to navigate and escape the Calling.

Throughout the game players will visit various parts of the Calling world. Memories of houses, schools, hospitals and more bring players closer to either an escape or an untimely death. Players will solve puzzles, search and interact with objects, and ultimately try to avoid the inhabitance of this alternative existance.

AFC North Team and Player ratings in Madden NFL 10 season preview

It is a hot summer, but stay cool in a football state of mind as the Madden NFL 10 team previews continue. What division will be the toughest this year? Can the Pittsburgh Steelers defend their title? What teams made the best moves to bolster their roster during the off season? See how your favorite team and players will fair – according to the Madden NFL 10 Season Preview.

So far, we’ve tackled previews from all the NFC teams, and now it’s time to take a look at the AFC. We continue our look at each team’s overall rating and individual player ratings with a focus on the rough and tough AFC North division. In addition to the player ratings, a wealth of team-specific assets will be made available, for both the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, and Wii versions of Madden NFL 10.
Everything culminates on August 3rd, where Madden NFL 10 will predict the 2009 NFL division winners, season MVP, and more.

To view the overall team ratings for the Ravens, Steelers, Browns and Bengals, as well as download the complete team roster ratings, visit the official Madden NFL 10 website below:

•Madden NFL 10 Season Preview

Up next week: The AFC South

Madden NFL 10 will be available on the Xbox 360 video game system from Microsoft, PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment systems, Nintendo Wii, PSP (PlayStation Portable) handheld entertainment system and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

For more information about Madden NFL 10, visit http://maddennfl.easports.com/.

Dragon Quest IX lifts Square Enix stock

Square Enix saw its Tokyo stock rating upgraded by Cosmo Securities, which lifted the Japanese based videogame maker to "neutral plus" from the "neutral" rating it has maintained since November 26.

The shares rose JPY 60 (USD 0.57), or 1.9 per cent, to close at JPY 3210 (USD 30.7) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and much of the improvement is being put down to the performance of the company's Dragon Quest IX DS title, which sold 5 million units and will produce JPY 20 billion (USD 190 million) in revenue, Cosmo Securities analyst Takashi Oka reported. "It's not surprising Dragon Quest IX for the portable console sold twice as many units as a version for stationary game machines,'' Oka wrote, according to Bloomberg. The Cosmo Securities report also claimed that the company's net income for the year ending in March 2009 will almost double to JPY 17.4 billion (USD 166.9 million), 45 per cent higher than the company's target of JPY 12 billion (USD 115.1 million).

This comes after the company recently reported a profit of JPY 9.2 billion (USD 88.5 million) for fiscal year 2007, a 20.9 per cent fall from the previous year.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/

2K Games And Bethesda Softworks Announce BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle Now Available

2K Games and Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, announce that the BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle is now available in shops across the UK for a suggested retail price of £29.99 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and £19.99 for Windows PC.

Creating a value-rich package, the BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle combines 2006 Game of the Year winner The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with 2007 Game of the Year winner BioShock - two games with a combined bounty of more than 80 Game of the Year awards from the industry’s top publications. In addition to having achieved critical success and Platinum Hits status, both games rank among the bestselling titles on Xbox 360.

BioShock is the genetically enhanced shooter that weaves intricate storytelling with an intense and exciting journey through a decaying underwater Art Deco utopia gone mad. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by mutated citizens, gamers are not only armed with a complete arsenal from simple revolvers to chemical throwers, but are forced to genetically modify their own DNA to use themselves as a deadly weapon.

Taking the world by storm in 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion set a new benchmark for role-playing experiences for current generation gaming. Lush visuals, expansive worlds and limitless character customization combine with unprecedented levels of player freedom and NPC interaction to form one of the most successful and critically acclaimed games ever created.

The BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle is rated M by the ESRB. For more information on BioShock please visit www.bioshockgame.com. For more information on Oblivion please visit www.elderscrolls.com.

Hudson Entertainment brings Wii owners face to face with spirits of the dead in 'Calling'

Hudson Entertainment will bring players face to face with death as they roam an alternate existence in an attempt to survive Calling. The adventure horror title is set to be published by Hudson Entertainment, the North and South American publishing arm of HUDSON SOFT, and will be exclusive to Nintendo Wii in 2010.

“Players will be asked to use their wits and senses to survive the world of Calling,” said Mike Pepe, Director of Marketing of Hudson Entertainment. “It is a game that revolves around real people and real emotions – no chain saws or suits of armor. The game is traditional survival horror at its finest.”

In Calling, players begin by visiting a mysterious “Black Page” website with a simple number counter. Some say it is a bridge to something sinister; the counter indicating the number of people who have died after visiting the page. It is said that people who have visited the site and witness a certain event are drawn into a mysterious space compiled of the memories of the dead - the space between life and death. Someone or something is drawing the living there for a reason, and it is up to the player to discover the horrifying truth. In order to do so, players will use various equipment including flash lights, phones, and other items to navigate and escape the Calling.

Throughout the game players will visit various parts of the Calling world. Memories of houses, schools, hospitals and more bring players closer to either an escape or an untimely death. Players will solve puzzles, search and interact with objects, and ultimately try to avoid the inhabitance of this alternative existance.

For more information on Calling, as well as other titles from Hudson Entertainment, please visit www.hudsonent.com.