Ultimate video game for friends and family – Squeeballs Party out October 2009

Revolutionary game for all the family - Squeeballs Party – will launch in October 2009 for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and Apple App Store.

The Squeeballs are 12 small, cuddly toy characters that are manufactured on a remote and secret island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. As part of the requirements, before they can be sold to children around the world, Squeeballs must be fully put to the test…to the point of destruction! You can blow up, cook, slice, bat, bowl, shoot and skim the Squeeballs through over 170 mini-game challenges.

“Squeeballs Party is unlike any other game out there,” said Harry Holmwood, VP, Software Development and Publishing of PDP Ltd. “The graphics and visual elements are incredibly realistic, and controlling the game through motion control really puts users at the heart of the action. Squeeballs Party will keep friends and family entertained throughout Christmas!”

On the Wii, Squeeballs Party can be played in head-to-head challenges with two players or in party mode for up to four competitors. On the Nintendo DS, players can choose to play on their own, or compete head-to-head against others with another Nintendo DS. The Nintendo DS game will also come bundled with an exclusive stylus, making the gameplay more interactive and engaging.

As an added bonus for Christmas, the Nintendo Wii games will come bundled with a soft plush Squeeballs toy featuring the most popular characters in the game.

Pricing

Nintendo Wii: RRP of £29.99
Nintendo DS: RRP of £24.99 (bundled with character stylus)
Apple App Store: TBC

The games will be available nationwide in October 2009 from all major retailers.

WHEELSPIN Futuristic Racing Game Developed by UK-Based Awesome Play Boosts Onto Nintendo Wii

ZeniMax to publish WHEELSPIN a futuristic racing game developed by Archer Maclean’s studio, Awesome Play, for Nintendo Wii. Due out in autumn 2009, WHEELSPIN is a high-energy racing, high-impact game spread across a wide range of inter-planetary tracks and features three engaging modes as well as robust multiplayer options.

Whether you play in Solo, Race, or Battle Mode, you will find yourself racing around unpredictable race tracks at exhilarating speeds of up to 650kph! While Solo mode challenges you to beat times to unlock stages, discover short cuts, and find secret spanners dotted throughout the levels, Race mode throws you into a frenzied race against seven other cars across tracks that twist, turn, and launch cars through the stratosphere. Battle mode is an all out test of aggression versus mobility as you use an arsenal of weapons at your disposal in an all-against-all battle.

WHEELSPIN also features impressive split-screen multiplayer Race and Battle modes that allows for up to eight players to compete concurrently. The game supports a combination of Nintendo Wii Remote, Classic Controllers, Nunchuk, Nintendo GameCube controllers, and force feedback racing wheels.

“WHEELSPIN is a frantically fast-paced game which pushes the Nintendo Wii to its maximum capabilities. With nothing but your own reactions and the tilt of the Nintendo Nintendo Wii Remote between you and victory, this game is a truly thrilling experience”, said Sean Brennan, Managing Director, ZeniMax Europe Ltd. “Archer Maclean and Awesome Play have delivered a great game which we believe gamers will relish the chance to get to grips with. WHEELSPIN makes great use of the controllers supported by the Nintendo Wii and players will find that there’s the perfect control set up for their individual gaming styles”.

"WHEELSPIN was designed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii - with the intention of pushing the hardware further than any other Nintendo Wii racing game to date. You have to see the graphics moving to believe its coming out of a Nintendo Wii - the visuals rush past smoothly at 60 FPS all in widescreen 480P mode", said Archer Maclean, Managing Director of Awesome Play. "We are very pleased to be working with Sean and his team at Bethesda, many of whom have been involved with my previous titles going back 20 years".

WHEELSPIN will be released for Nintendo Wii across Europe in autumn 2009.

Galaxy Online video game to get 3D Projector Support, and new Audio

When it comes to graphics and audio in Galaxy Online (http://go.igg.com), good just isn’t good enough. The development team has been working hard to improve the graphical and audio effects in the game. In fact, players can look forward to new background music and 3D projector support in the future.

Recently, the Galaxy Online dev team has been running demonstrations featuring more diverse audio effects, including new background music. Soon players will be able to evaluate them and offer feedback on what they’d like to hear in the game. The team will take players’ suggestions into account when deciding on the final audio improvements.

The big news from the graphics side of the development team is that they’re now working with ViewSonic’s latest PJD-series video projectors to improve Galaxy Online’s graphics. If the idea of immersing yourself in an all-out space battle with an affordable hi-res projector sounds intense, wait until you see it with your own 3D-spectacled eyes. When these astonishing new graphics and kicking new sounds finally go live, Galaxy Online will take you out of your chair and into a universe of fun.

Deca Sports Nintendo Wii video game price cut in US price drops to under $20

To commemorate the ongoing popularity of DECA SPORTS and the upcoming release of DECA SPORTS 2, Hudson Entertainment, the North American publishing arm of HUDSON SOFT, has lowered the game’s retail price from $29.99 to $19.99. With 2 million units shipped to date, gamers around the world have been enjoying the fun and exciting games in DECA SPORTS for Nintendo Wii.

“We’re so grateful to the millions of gamers who have enjoyed DECA SPORTS in the past year,” said Dai Kudo, Director of Consumer Products at Hudson Entertainment. “By reducing the price, we are inviting all Wii players to experience the diverse games in DECA SPORTS and get pumped for 10 more exciting games coming soon in DECA SPORTS 2.”

DECA SPORTS offers 10 complete sporting events that get players active in the living room while providing entertainment for hours. With activities such as Soccer, Beach Volleyball, Supercross, Kart Racing, Basketball and Snowboard Cross, as well as atypical sports games such as Badminton, Figure Skating, Curling and Archery, DECA SPORTS offers more than the average sports game. Designed with intuitive controls for the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk, DECA SPORTS also includes advanced gameplay options for power spikes, curls and mid air tricks. Each sport supports both single player and multiplayer modes with up to 4 players and in several events, co-op on the same team. The Locker Room feature even allows players to keep track of their medals and trophies. DECA SPORTS has been rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB.

Tornado Outbreak new action adventure game launching soon on Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game

Characters include Zephyr, the unlikely hero, Nimbus, the squad leader and the sinister boss Omegaton

Konami revealed new details and character descriptions from Tornado Outbreak, the new action adventure game launching this fall on Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system.





Harness the power of a raging tornado as you tear through open environments, chewing up the landscape and spitting out everything in your path. Tornado Outbreaks revolutionary new game mechanic puts some of the Earth's most powerful elements in your hands. The characters you will play and do battle with include:

Zephyr: Zephyr, leader of the Wind Warriors, possesses the power of wind and the ability to transform himself into a raging, column of air that can level anything in his path. He worked to create atmosphere on lifeless planets but a chance meeting with a strange being named Omegaton changed the game. Zephyr's mission dictates that he helps those in need but meeting this purposefully deceptive anti-hero will challenge all that he knows. His strength, wits and abilities will be put to the test as a cosmic battle for supremacy lands on Earth. No one is safe.

Nimbus: Once the fearless leader of the Wind Warriors, he is now the wise leader second in command. Nimbus stands strong beside his protégé Zephyr passing on the knowledge and abilities he's learned over the years. Nimbus also possesses an innate ability for mechanical know how which is invaluable to the existence of his team. His ability to calibrate and decipher the L.O.A.D STARR which provides cloud cover on Earth and allows his sidekick Zephyr to possess his destructive abilities are vital to their mission.

Wind Warriors: They are the unnamed, fearless and elite squad that stands proudly behind their leaders Nimbus and Zephyr. The Wind Warriors sole purpose is to lend support to whatever mission the leaders deem necessary. Later in the story the Wind Warriors become an integral tool in the ultimate defeat and destruction of their earthbound nemesis Omegaton. Without the Wind Warriors Zephyr and Nimbus would be nearly defenseless.

Water Whirls: Zephyr born from wind, calls upon all forces of nature to accomplish his Earthly duties. Seemingly delicate to the point of being fragile, Water Whirls are calm, tranquil creatures. The Water Whirls donate their ability to traverse large areas quickly and smash objects like a tidal wave. Only through the Elemental forces working together is there any hope of capturing the Fire Fliers and restoring balance to save the Earth.

Fire Fliers: Wreaking havoc on two worlds might make the Fire Fliers seem evil by nature but maybe they're just misunderstood. They are mischievous little buggers with no capacity to understand the consequences of their actions. To them the incursion of Earth is nothing more than an endless game of hide and seek, but their actions on Earth cause more chaos and challenges for our unlikely hero than he'd hope for. Fire Fliers posses important powers which is why Zephyr needs to find them, collect them and ultimately destroy them.

Omegaton: Once the greatest hero of his universe, until his enemies joined forces and exiled him to another universe. Omegaton has been slowly dying after being stripped of his orbs of power and without them his fate is sealed to a cosmic grave. Dispersed somewhere on Earth, the Wind Warriors lead by Zephyr have been tasked to help find his sources of power through Omegaton's deceptive coercion. The story will reveal that all that's known about Omegaton may not be true and his mission is not what it seems.

Developed by Loose Cannon Studios, Tornado Outbreak lands September 15th 2009 for Wii, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3

Need for Speed Nitro video game trailer - on Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS

Customise your car, take corners at 150 mph, and own your opponents. Need for Speed Nitro delivers the fun and exhilaration of high-speed racing with deep and challenging gamezplay, where racing skills are not the only way to victory. Master advanced techniques such as building up boost by taking risks on the road, then use it at the right moment to take the lead. But don’t forget about the cops, who will do everything they can to disrupt the race. However you choose to race, never count on victory until you’ve crossed the finish line.

FEATURES

Impose Your Style—When you’re in first place, the walls of the city become covered with your graphic style. Now everyone knows that you’re the one leading the pack.

Pick Your Ride—The style and spirit of the game are rooted in car culture, with 30 classic and modern licensed cars including muscles, exotics, tuners, and more. Plus, race on 15 tracks featuring traffic, jumps, canyons, and events.

Battle to the Finish Line—Increase other racers’ heat levels to sick the cops on them, manage car damage to maintain maximum speed, and build up nitro with skilled driving to take the lead. The race is never over until you cross the finish line!

Extreme Customization—Trick out your car’s appearance using an incredibly deep yet intuitive customization system unlike anything seen on the Nintendo Wii. Never before in a Need for Speed game have you had this much control over the look of your ride.

Coop World Tour Campaign—Take part in illegal street races across five cities to unlock new cars, parts, tracks, and challenges. Up to three players can also join you to play cooperatively.

Nitro-Charged Multiplayer—Up to four players can take part in intense races across nine race modes: Race, Team Race, Own It!, Eliminator, Traffic Run, Drag Race, Speed Cameras Challenge, Drift Challenge, and Time Attack Challenge.

Expect to be playing NITRO in Fall 2009. It will be available on Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS.

Rage of the Gladiator video game announced for Nintendo WiiWare

Rage of the Gladiator, a bold and innovative video game for the WiiWare service for the Nintendo Wii.

Rage of the Gladiator is a fantasy fighting game. You control a gladiator, fighting for your life in an arena. Armed with your magical warhammer and a trusty shield, you must defeat fantastic bosses including a Chimera, Beholder, and a Dragon. The game is set in first-person perspective.

“Rage of the Gladiator is a series of epic boss-battles,” said Ed Roman, CEO of Ghostfire Games. “There are no ‘fodder’ enemies – its all bosses, which we find to be the most fun part of games!”

In Rage of the Gladiator, each boss has unique abilities and powers that you need to pay close attention to. Exploit the weakness of each enemy by jumping, dodging, or shield blocking with the proper timing and agility. Then unleash your rage by brutally pounding your enemy with your warhammer and bashing them with your shield, and you will triumph.

Features of the game include:

• Insane “finishing moves.” You have 14 finishing moves that destroy your opponent in over-the-top cutscenes:
o Leap to the skies, then plunge your warhammer into the ground, creating a pillar of fire that burns your enemy to a crisp.
o Transform into a hulking colossus 10 times the size of your opponent, pounding him into the ground.
o Darken the skies with a solar eclipse, sending a beam of light to fry your enemy.
• Customize your character. As you defeat bosses, you earn skill points. You can apply those skill points to one of three skill trees: Offense, Defense, and Magic. This gives you new powers. It also provides great replay value since you can replay through the game with different skill tree decisions.
• Fantastic 3D-graphics. Fully rendered and realistic, you do combat in a fully lit 3D arena. This polish level is rare for a downloadable title.
• Extremely realistic animations. When you attack bosses, the impacts and hits feel “real.” Each boss has been painstakingly animated to react properly to each of your attacks.
• Outstanding replay value. Once you’ve beaten the first 10 bosses, you must face them again in Challenge Mode, which is a completely new experience – the bosses are more difficult with new powers. There are 21 total battles.
• Epic soundtrack. The music has been designed to be exciting and memorable, and really gets your blood pumping.

“Rage of the Gladiator is a monumental undertaking.” said Mr. Roman. “It has content comparable to a full $50 store title, yet has a budget title price. We’ve tried to make a game that blows the lid off what people expect from WiiWare.”

The game is slated to be released later this year.

What is Rage of the Gladiator?
Rage of the Gladiator is a fantasy-based fighting game. You play the role of Gracius, battling for his life in the arena.
Your equipment consists of a magical war-hammer and a trusty shield. Wait for the right moment, then dodge, jump, or block your enemy’s attacks. Next, unleash your rage by brutally pounding your enemy with your war-hammer and bashing them with your shield. Each opponent has a unique style and pattern that you need to pay close attention to. Learn to exploit the weakness of each enemy with the proper timing and agility, and you will triumph.

When is the game coming out?
While it’s impossible to provide an exact release date, we expect Fall 2009.

What platform is the game available on?
Rage of the Gladiator will be exclusively available on WiiWare, the downloadable game service for the Nintendo Wii.

How much does Rage of the Gladiator cost?
The price is still to be determined as it is set by Nintendo.

How do I purchase Rage of the Gladiator?
You can’t buy this game in stores - its only available as a download onto the Wii. To do this, first make sure your Wii is connected to the Internet via the wireless Internet device built-into the Wii (you need a Wireless router or Wireless hub for this to work). Then navigate to the Wii Shop Channel. Rage of the Gladiator is available in the WiiWare section of the Wii Shop Channel.

How much replay value is in the game?
We have spent a lot of time focusing on building value into Rage of the Gladiator.

There are 11 unique bosses. Each boss has its own behavior and patterns that will take some time to understand and conquer.

Once you’ve beaten the first 10 bosses, you must face them all again in Challenge Mode. In this mode, the bosses gain new powers and are much more difficult. Challenge Mode is essentially a completely new experience when playing the game. The final boss is only unlocked at the end of Challenge Mode. This results in a total of 21 battles in the game. In addition, there are 3 tech-trees for you to explore, and so replay value also comes from exploring different builds of your character.

How large is the download?
Rage of the Gladiator fits into 40MB.

How are you able to fit all that content into 40MB?

We’ve learned a lot since we made our first game, Helix. Through compression, clever programming, and taking advantage of some cool tricks on the Wii, we have managed to include voice acting, 4 unique music tracks, and full lush 3d graphics with vivid animations.

How does the combat system work?

Rage of the Gladiator is a game of avoiding attacks, and then executing a well-timed series of hits. Some boss attacks require precise timing to avoid, and others require that you avoid the attack in the right way (dodging left, dodging right, jumping, blocking, or counterattacking).

How does the skill tree work?
The skill-tree allows you to customize your character. These skills grant you new combos, as well as make your character more powerful. Each time you defeat an enemy, you gain additional skill-tree points.

There are three paths you can choose, each one having different rewards along the way:

Offense: Focuses on hitting harder, gaining critical strikes, leeching health from opponents, and conjuring firey pillars and meteors.

Defense: Focuses on taking less damage, improved blocking, the ability to heal yourself in combat, and the ability to resurrect from death.

Magic: Focuses on generating more energy to perform combos, channeling electricity into opponents, and summoning the wrath of incredible forces such as lightning and tornados.

At the bottom of each skill-tree, there are very powerful combo finishers. For example, the Magic tree has the ability to transform you into a hulking colossus. You must heavily invest in one skill-tree to gain access to these superpowers.

How do combos work?
The combo system in this game is a way for you to unleash devastating power against your enemy, using your stored energy to cast spells and perform complicated physical attacks.

Early on, you may learn how to leap into the skies and plunge your warhammer into the ground, creating a pillar of fire that burns your enemy to a crisp. As you progress you may learn more deadly combos, such as conjuring an ancient tornado to lay the ground asunder.

However, this is just the starting point. Prove your worth in the arena and you will earn devastating finishers such as a savage lightning storm or a fiery meteor.

To perform a combo, you need to have the minimum amount of energy in your meter. You earn energy when you connect with your hits, and lose energy when you get hit. More powerful combos require more energy, and some combos even take all of your energy in one shot!

You unlock the combos via the skill tree.

Is there a multi-player mode?
Rage of the Gladiator is a single-player only experience. We decided in advance that we wanted to focus on making the most enjoyable single player experience possible, rather than making a game that was just OK at both single and multiplayer.

*About Rage of the Gladiator*

Rage of the Gladiator is a fantasy-based fighting game. You play the role of Gracius, battling for his life in the arena against 11 unique enemies.

Your equipment consists of a magical war-hammer and a trusty shield. Wait for the right moment, then dodge, jump, or block your enemy's attacks. Next, unleash your rage by brutally pounding your enemy with your war-hammer and bashing them with your shield.

Each opponent has a unique style and pattern that you need to pay close attention to. Learn to exploit the weakness of each enemy with the proper timing and agility, and you will triumph.

As you advance past each battle, you will gain access to devastating combos. Early on, you may learn how to leap into the skies and plunge your war-hammer into the ground, creating a pillar of fire that burns your enemy to a crisp. As you progress you may learn more deadly combos, such as conjuring an ancient tornado to lay the ground asunder.

*Story*

This is the story of a land distant from your own. A beautiful land filled with lush rivers, rolling hills, and majestic mountains. We humans live in this land, and we are constantly at war with each other, striving for conquest.
But unlike your world, in this land we are not the only dominant creatures. Our land is also a savage land, teeming with mystical creatures such as dragons, beholders, and demons.

This is the story of the greatest of all the human cities, the majestic city of Avalance. Avalance is awe-inspiring in its scale and prosperity, and its ruler has been my father, King Marius.

Marius has always been a strong liege, protecting his people from the outsider humans and foul beasts that stalk us in the dark of night. However, not all is well in Avalance.
Over the last few weeks, darkness has descended on us, and we may not be able to escape it. I am Gracius, noble prince of Avalance, and this tale is my story.

This is a story of betrayal, greed, and power. This is the tale of how I was forced to fight against my will, a fight for my very life.

This is the tale of how I fought for my life in the arena.

Intel Threading Building Blocks Integration Now Available to Unreal Engine 3 Licensees

Epic Games announce that Intel Threading Building Blocks (Intel TBB) 2.2 has been incorporated into Unreal Engine 3. The newly released version of the popular parallel programming abstraction has been integrated with the 64-bit Unreal Editor, and as part of this collaboration, Intel has joined Epic’s premier Integrated Partners Program (IPP).

Intel TBB 2.2 is now available to publishers and developers licensing Unreal Engine 3, making it easier than ever for studios to leverage Intel’s scalable memory allocator for multithreaded computing. As with all new engine features and enhancements, Epic’s distribution of Intel TBB is available to Unreal Engine 3 licensees at no extra cost.

Intel TBB is an award-winning runtime library that simplifies the writing of multithreaded applications. Just as the C++ Standard Template Library (STL) extends the core language, Intel TBB offers C++ users a higher level abstraction for parallelism. To implement Intel TBB, developers use familiar C++ templates and coding style, leaving low-level threading details to the library. It is also portable between architectures and operating systems. With Intel TBB, developers get the benefits of faster programming, scalable performance, and easier to maintain code.

“Bringing Intel into the Integrated Partners Program and integrating Intel TBB into Unreal Engine 3 ensures our licensees are within reach of the best development tools available,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. “This partnership will help minimize the work required to author multithreaded applications for Unreal-powered games and, in the long term, provide developers with greater access to Intel Tools.”

“Intel is committed to providing the very best tools for parallel programming like Intel TBB and our new Parallel Studio suite,” said James Reinders, marketing director and chief evangelist, Developer Products Division, Intel Corporation. “By integrating Intel TBB in the Unreal Engine and sharing it with their licensees at no additional cost, Epic is facilitating parallelism to spur greater multi-core innovation among game developers.”

Free download Zelda poster

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L’esprit du Loup le 20 Novembre 2009 sur Nintendo Wii et PC

Midway Games France SAS, développeur et éditeur de loisirs interactifs, est fier de vous annoncer la sortie du jeu L’esprit du Loup le 20 novembre 2009 sur Nintendo Wii et PC.

Tel un loup, apprenez à vivre en harmonie avec la nature, et développez vos connaissances sur l’écologie avec Nicolas Vanier, voyageur du Grand Nord, qui vous guidera tout au long de cette aventure d’initiation à la protection de l’environnement.

L’esprit du Loup est le deuxième titre développé par le studio Strass Games s’inspirant des aventures de Nicolas Vanier. Les 2500 questions posées dans le jeu sont réparties en 4 thèmes inspirés des voyages de ce dernier : Cap sur le Grand Nord, Survis dans le Grand Nord, Défends ta planète, Ecolo fun.

Ce jeu séduit un grand public avec sa large palette de différentes activités. Créez votre profil, choisissez votre personnage, répondez aux questions, construisez un igloo, pêchez du poisson, descendez un torrent en kayak... Testez-vous à travers 6 modes tels que le Quiz Flash qui a pour but de répondre aux questions le plus rapidement possible, le Quiz éliminateur où les joueurs ne devront pas se tromper dans les réponses pour rester le dernier en course ou jouez encore aux 8 mini-jeux proposés.
Faites des parties seul ou jusqu’à 4, entre amis ou en famille, en alliant compétition et convivialité. Inspiré du film « Loup » de Nicolas Vannier, ce quiz vous enseigne la philosophie du développement durable : comprendre et aimer sa planète afin de mieux la protéger.