Runes of Magic video game sends player into the Savage Lands Explore the dark secrets of the rainforest

Up high, hidden in the tree-tops of the rainforest, the Elves once erected their settlements in the Savage Lands. Now Frogster reveals the secrets of this new zone that will make its debut with the launch of Chapter II - The Elven Prophecy of award-winning MMORPG Runes of Magic.

Situated north-west of the Weeping Coast lies the bastion of the elves. The peaceful atmosphere of the thick forest might be deluding to hapless adventurers, making their way into the woods. But here they have to face the Apeman and worse of all the Naga, who broke through the defensive barriers in the west and started building defensive outposts to secure their supply lines.

Further away, adventurers will come across a small camp: The Fungus Village. Innocuous at the first glance, the Fungus-King and his guards will defend their lands ferociously against any intruder. Player will be able to explore the Savage Lands during the final launch phase of the second chapter in September. With the raise of the level-cap in August, the adventure starts for all characters level 52 and above.

More information can be found on the official Runes of Magic Website: www.runesofmagic.com

Runes of Magic a world full of wizardry and adventure
The German and English versions of Runes of Magic were released on 19 March 2009. Anyone can download the online role-playing game for free at: www.runesofmagic.com and can plunge into the game world after a short registration process.

With an extensive range of features, Runes of Magic is redefining the standard for free-to-play massively multiplayer online role playing games. Runes of Magic features an absorbing story through more than 1,600 quests, in a vibrant fantasy world. Players can choose from six main classes, combined with a secondary class, presenting 30 individual combinations of character classes over all. All characters possess unique skills with impressive combo attacks and can use mounts like war horses and more.

A particularly attractive feature is the ability for players and guilds to arrange and furnish their virtual homes. Thanks to an extensive crafting and reputation system, exciting PvP and demanding dungeons and boss monsters, there is something for everyone.

Taiwanese developer Runewaker developed Runes of Magic according to western MMO standards over three years. The studio is providing new challenges for players every four to five months with free add-ons and updates. You can find more information, pictures, videos, and the game available for free download via the official website: www.runesofmagic.com.

Features
Free-to-play: no monthly fees, free download
Extensive dual class system (six primary and secondary classes)
Versatile spell and attack combinations
Enthralling background story
More than 1,600 quests and quest series
No zone boundaries thanks to seamless architecture
Dungeons: Instanced, tile based, and persistent
Individually developable skills and spells
Armour sets with special bonuses
Dynamic item system with hundreds of runes for upgrading
Optional PvP system with arena battles
Ranking system with player-ranking lists
Multitude of unique mounts
Epic crafting system with the ability to improve existing items
Personalization of player houses through individual furnishing
Reputation system
Customisable user interface with the option to use Add-Ons
Map and radar system to easily find dealers, resources and quests
In-game auction houses for trading items
Teleport-Runes for instant travel
Mouse and keyboard controls for movement
Regular updates with new content
Guild castles in special zones
Cross-server fights in three-server-battle and guild wars in development

Facts
Title: Runes of Magic
Genre: Fantasy MMORPG
Platform: Windows PC
Publisher: Frogster Online Gaming
Developer: Runewaker Entertainment Ltd.
Release: 19 March 2009
PEGI: 12+

New patch for ArmA II PC military shooter patch 1.03 download now - full details

505 Games and Bohemia Interactive havereleased a new patch for ArmA II, the PC military shooter smash hit of 2009. The patch 1.03 is available to download now from www.arma2.com and will solve and improve/balance the following in-game issues:

IL-2 Sturmovik Birds of Prey over 50 missions Dogfights and Airfield Strikes - out 4th September Xbox 360 PS3 Nintendo DS and PSP

More information on the multiplayer modes available in forthcoming World War II flight combat title, IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey. As well as boasting over 50 single player missions, the multiplayer experience featured in IL-2 delivers even more thrilling aerial combat action. IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey will be available from 4th September for Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS and PSP. Download free demo now on Xbox Live

The official website (www.il2game.com) now hosts the new multiplayer trailer where allied and axis forces go head to head in ferocious aerial dog fights and bombing raids over war torn Europe. Also featured is an exclusive community update from Pavel Kulikov, Game Designer of the multiplayer modes and maps at Gaijin Entertainment in which he shares some behind the scenes stories from the making of IL-2 as well as tips to becoming a multiplayer ace. Details on the modes featured in the game are as follows:

Dog Fight

Dog fight is a traditional ‘free-for-all’ mode. After selecting initial game settings (number of players, difficulty level, planes available, game play map, time limit, points limits etc) players engage in aerial dogfights earning points for every downed enemy aircraft.

The winner is the first pilot to reach the point limit first or the pilot with the most points when the allotted time runs out.


Team Dog Fight

After selecting initial settings, players are divided into two teams. Like Dog fight, points are earned for every downed aircraft in the enemy’s team.

The winner is the team that reaches the point limit first or has the most points when the allotted time runs out.


Strike

Strike is a multiplayer mode where teams attempt to destroy as many of the enemy’s ground targets as possible, while defending their own. The winner is the team with either the most points when the timer runs out, the team that reaches the points limit first or the team who wipes out all of their opponent’s ground targets. Points are awarded for both aerial and ground targets, although ground targets are worth more points than those in the air.


Capture the Airfield

In Capture the Airfield, players attempt to capture and hold as many opposition airfields as possible. An airfield is considered captured once a player lands and spends a specified amount of time on the ground without being destroyed. All airfields in this mode being the game as neutral, so securing airfields quickly is crucial.
Each team is granted a specified number of team tickets at the beginning of the game. Each time a player respawns, one team ticket is used up. Once a team has no tickets left, it cannot return to the battlefield.
The team controlling the lowest number of airfields suffers a penalty of their ticket pool being depleted second by second. The bigger this disadvantage, the quicker the ticket pool is depleted.
The winner is the team that has the most tickets left either at the end of the match or when an enemy team loses all tickets and planes.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey gives you the chance to participate in the most famous confrontations of the era piloting fighters, battle planes or heavy bombers across a range of daring and action packed missions. There are 6 theatres of war in which to engage – The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Berlin, Sicily, the Battle of the Bulge and Korsun – representing the main airborne battles of World War II in Europe.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey will be published by 505 Games in collaboration with 1C Company on 4th September for Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS and PSP.

Limited edition Cities XL video game 16 bonus items in this next generation city-simulation game

Monte Cristo Games and Namco Bandai Games are thrilled to be able to reveal the limited edition and standard editions for Cities XL, their innovative next generation city-simulation game. The Limited Edition includes 16 bonus items in a special pack and will only be available from key UK retailers.

The Cities XL Standard Edition box will include the installation DVD for the game, two instruction manuals, a 7-day trial code for the online Planet Offer and a trial offer on a second DVD so that one of your friends can discover the game.

On top of that, the Limited Edition box will include the following additional content:

• Five additional maps for solo mode,
• Five exclusive landmark buildings, (Berlin’s Victory Column, Kiev’s St. Vladimir’s Cathedral, New York’s 40 Wall Street, Paris’ Opera Garnier, San Francisco’s Grand Hotel),
• One exclusive city hall: Los Angeles’ City Hall,
• Two permanent blueprints: the Mayan pyramid of Chichen Itza and London’s Big Ben. These blueprints will be available from the start and can be built as many times as you wish.
• A bonus in-game t-shirt to make your avatar even more unique,
• an honorific medal to display proudly on your personal profile page on CitiesXL.com,
• Three postcards
• A 41x34cm poster

You will soon be able to pre-order the Limited Edition in the UK; there will be more information in the following days.

About CITIES XL

CITIES XL enables gamers to develop cities on realistic 3D maps, which feature a variety of environments from mountain ranges to beaches and islands. The cities you will build are based on American, Asian and European-influenced architectural styles. You must create the right combinations of job opportunities, social services, leisure activities, and special events within your cities in order to keep your citizens occupied and happy. Whether you’re planning and building a new zoo, public park, residential neighbourhood or transit system, there's always a fresh and exciting challenge for would-be city managers and mayors in CITIES XL.

Batman - Arkham Asylum video game to Support NVIDIA PhysX Technology

An immersive adventure unfolds in stunning detail

Eidos Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and NVIDIA Corporation announce the Games for Windows LIVE release of forthcoming DC Comics-licensed videogame, Batman: Arkham Asylum, will feature NVIDIA PhysX technology, which allows for the creation of incredibly realistic worlds full of interactive materials and objects.



As a result, PC gamers will get to experience intense realism and fully immerse themselves in Batman’s journey into Gotham City’s asylum for the criminally insane.

Hardware accelerated by supported NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, PhysX technology provides an even deeper level of engagement for players of Batman: Arkham Asylum by utilizing the processing power of the NVIDIA GPU to render stunning in-game physics objects in the environment that not only add to the overall look of the game, but create an immersive and believable world.

With PhysX technology enabled, players can explore darkened corridors packed with volumetric fog which reacts to Batman’s movement and cobwebs which tear with his passing. Combat becomes a maelstrom of motion as office papers are thrown into the air alongside soda cans and litter as Batman lands each punch upon The Joker’s henchmen. Throughout the game, the decaying gothic architecture is realized to an incredible detail with wall tiles chipping and breaking, stone pillars crumbling upon impact, and particles from breaking glass and debris shattering and falling down around Batman’s feet.

“Supporting NVIDIA PhysX technology has allowed us to add that little bit extra to the PC version of the game,” said Sefton Hill, Game Director at Rocksteady Studios. “As Batman interacts with the world, the aging asylum creates a more immersive, believable world which really draws the player in.”

Batman: Arkham Asylum™ exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum – Gotham City’s psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City’s most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum. Using a wide range of Batman’s gadgets and abilities, players will become the Invisible Predator and attempt to foil The Joker’s demented scheme.

The NVIDIA PhysX development platform consists of a robust physics engine, API, and middleware designed to give developers and animators unprecedented creative control over the look of their final in-game interactivity by allowing them to author and preview physics in real time. To take advantage of PhysX technology in Batman: Arkham Asylum, players must have a compatible NVIDIA GPU and a copy of the Games for Windows LIVE version of the game, which will be available beginning September 15th, 2009, in North America, and September 18th, 2009, in Europe and Australia.

Batman: Arkham Asylum will also be available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system from August 25th, 2009, in North America and August 28th, 2009, in Europe and Australia.

Cricket Revolution - A Breakthrough Indie video game title Unveiled!

The much anticipated cricketing title, Cricket Revolution, launch announced at www.cricketrevolution.com. Available worldwide on September 18th via Steam, Valve’s leading platform for digital content distribution and management, the game is set to bring completely new dynamics of multiplayer gaming to cricket fans around the globe.

Cricket Revolution is an independently developed title focusing on high adrenaline multiplayer gameplay based around the sport of cricket. With a new and innovative cricket gaming engine at its core, the game brings a new level of depth and engagement to cricket video games. Legions of fans from the cricketing world will now have the opportunity to pad-up and walk out on the pitch to test their mettle against friends and foes alike across the globe in a battle of wits, dexterity, and strategy to dominate the playing field.

The game boasts an in-game community and match making system for gamers to find opponents instantly while keeping track of every statistic from each match played. Results of games are posted online on the game’s site, giving each player the opportunity to track their career, mull over every detail of their batting and bowling stats dear to cricket fans, and progress on competitive ladders of varying difficulty on their way to cricketing glory.

Cricket Revolution offers gamers multiple play modes, including online play, LAN play, and single player modes against an advanced and adaptive AI. Coupled with hundreds of fully motion captured actions, complete team customization, online awards, achievements, and tournaments, the game is poised to cause a stir in the world of cricket sports video games this fall.

Cricket Revolution has been developed and produced by Mindstorm Studios, an independent game developer based out of Pakistan. The game is primed to launch around mid-September on Steam and will be the first title to be independently developed, published, and globally released from the country. The title will be available exclusively for the PC at first, with the developer planning on a Wii port in the near future.

Sealed Deck Tournaments are now live in SAGA, the collectible MMORTS free accounts.

The long awaited SAGA Sealed Deck Tournaments launched flawlessly today after many months of Beta testing. The sealed deck format brings together skill, strategy and luck, evening the odds between long time collectors and new arrivals to the SAGA community. This is essential because SAGA is an MMORTS, where players collect and level up their troops through quests and are rewarded with powerful battle gear.

Without the sealed deck format, a new player would have about as much of a chance at winning as any level 1 player trying to PvP in a traditional MMO against level 80 veterans.

The SAGA tournament system was designed by Silverlode Interactive marketing director Slava Zatuchny, who invented many tournament formats for the Wizards of the Coast game Magic: the Gathering back in 1993; Slava ran such events at game conventions and later produced online tournaments with such prestigious companies as THQ, Interplay and Sony Online.“The sealed deck format has always been my favorite style of tournament play … there is no greater excitement to be had than playing with completely unfamiliar troops against opponents whose tactics you can’t possibly predict” says Slava Zatuchny, “I’m ecstatic at the results from applying the format to an RTS game.”

The automated tournament system allows events to start as soon as 8 players join the tournament queue, and also allows multiple tournaments to run simultaneously. Tournament Tokens are awarded as prizes after each battle round and can be redeemed in the SAGA in-game store for many rare and powerful items and units, as well as exclusive out-of-print items such as the faction packs sold in hobby stores.

While tournaments do have a nominal fee to join, the Tournament Tokens won by playing can be used to reenter additional events and even offer the potential for ‘going infinite’ (the ability to continue playing and winning at no cost). SAGA Credits - which can also be used to pay for tournament entry - can be acquired for Free by filling out surveys and offers from Silverlode’s partner Sometrics. Registration for SAGA is completely free and gives more than enough troops to begin adventuring, and there are no monthly subscription fees. Go to www.playsaga.com/tactics.php to sign up for a free account.

Bricks4Ever Xbox Live video game free giveaway Friday

Running Pixel is pleased to announce “Bricks4Ever Giveaway Friday” one day of instant contests every gamer can enter to win dozens of our Indie Games.

On 7th August the contest will start on Running Pixel web site and on Twitter in a 24h marathon of questions, little enigmas and quizzes.

A fresh giveaway rain for Xbox gamers is coming.

Would you like a free game? Of course you would!

Bricks4Ever Giveaway Friday gives all gamers the chance to win dozens of Xbox redeem codes .

The rules are simple:

Download the free trial of the Xbox Live Indie Game
'Bricks4Ever'

Karos Online - NHN launches official European website, closed beta signup now

More details revealed about dynamic dungeons.
NHN announce the launch of the official European website for Karos Online, its first free-to-play MMORPG to be published in Europe. At www.karosgame.com, players can now register and sign up for the closed beta test, which will be starting later this month. Discussion forums have also been opened to allow the community to chat about Karos Online, and additional information about the game will be posted there to help fans prepare for the closed beta. An English release is scheduled for early autumn 2009, with German and Turkish versions to follow.

NHN has also revealed details about the game's dynamic dungeon system, which will be playable in closed beta. In addition to traditional MMORPG dungeons full of monsters and epic loot, two types of original dungeons will be available in Karos Online:

* Event dungeons, instanced for parties of up to five players, will offer adventures marked by spectacular happenings: as a party progresses into the dungeon, the environment will evolve in response to their actions, with bridges collapsing, ceilings crashing to the ground and passages appearing to reveal the path ahead.
* Maze dungeons, integrated in the open world with no party size limit, will surprise and bewilder players with walls that move and shift constantly to affect the party's path, offering a dynamic, action-packed game experience.


Dungeons are arranged in progressively difficult stages, with the later levels - including battles against fearsome boss monsters - accessible only to those who have proven themselves worthy. Each victory in the dungeons will grant the player a ticket, which can be used to advance to harder challenges.

Karos Online - Stunning 3D Action Fantasy MMORPG

Karos Online (http://www.karosgame.com) is a brand new free-to-play fantasy MMORPG developed by Galaxy Gate (lead developers of Laghaim and Last Chaos), to be published in Europe by NHN. An English release is scheduled for early autumn 2009, with German and Turkish versions to follow.

In Karos Online, players take the role of a hero determined to defeat the curse of darkness falling over the world of Asmara and ascend to ultimate glory by becoming the mythical Karos warrior. Through questing, guild clashes and mass PvP, they enter the fight for domination over the world's vital energy source, Fletta. Fletta gems provide the basis for the game's unique and complex alternate progression system; alongside traditional leveling within the game, Fletta energy can be used to increase stats, give buffs, buy resources and enchant items.

With a strong RPG component, wide range of class skills and fantastic visual combat effects, Karos Online offers a rich player experience and an exciting end-game for guilds, including castle sieges and resource control points. There are a variety of dynamic dungeons to explore, with shifting paths and surprises to challenge players as they progress in level. The economy is well-developed, with mining, fishing and crafting elements, and a consignment system for storage and an auction house.

Karos Online offers rare graphical quality for its small client size, and will be accessible to a vast range of computers with minimal requirements. Videos demonstrating graphics and gameplay are now available on the official website at www.karosgame.com, and more features will be revealed as the closed beta test, scheduled to start in mid-August, gets underway.

Karos Online features

* Breathtaking 3D graphics and combat action effects
* 5 different races and 9 original classes, evolving into 36 different specialized classes
* Dynamic, evolving dungeons with shifting paths and surprises
* Guild wars, territory control and 500 vs 500 castle siege battles
* Alternate Fletta level progression system
* Elaborate mining, fishing and crafting system
* Small client size (700MB) and low minimum PC requirements
* Keyboard and mouse control both available

Buckshot Pump-action shotgun controller for Nintendo Wii shooting games

Lock, Load and Let the Machismo Fly; This Ain't for Sissies, Folks!
Looking like something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie, the Buckshot Pump-Action Shotgun for Nintendo Wii is one of the coolest accessories to hit the video game market since, well, forever. This sucker packs a nasty punch and is sure to inspire the macho fantasies of gamers around the globe.

The Buckshot encases a controller that is similar in function to a Nintendo Wii Nunchuck and uses the pump reload feature to access the B button while the trigger accesses the A button. The rubber grips ensure an easy hold and a fast reload time, making it ideal for such games as Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: World at War, Links Crossbow Training, House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, House of the Dead: Overkill, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, and much more!

Product Features:

· Access B Button using Pump Action

· Access A Button via the Trigger

· Integrated Controller with Similar Functions to a Nintendo Wii Nunchuck

· Rubber Grips Ensure a Firm Hold

· Available in Red and Black

· Compatible with your favorite Nintendo Wii shooting games!

· Suggested Retail Price: $34.99

“Shooting games just became a whole lot more intense with the release of the Buckshot,” stated Titi Ngoy, President of Innex, Inc. which holds the exclusive distribution rights to the product. “The Buckshot will deliver a new level of adrenaline to any shooting game.”