Free PC demo of Darkest of Days free-to-play version out 11th Aug 2009

Phantom EFX, a leading developer and publisher of entertainment software, with independent game development studio 8monkey Labs confirmed today the PC demo of Darkest of Days, a free-to-play version of the highly anticipated historically-based first person shooter, will be available on August 11, 2009.

“Custer's infamous last stand at the Battle of Little Big Horn, and the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history… these are just a few of humanity’s darkest days, and you can dive into both of these in the Darkest of Days demo,” said Aaron Schurman, Chief Executive Officer at Phantom EFX. “This hour-long demo lets players experience unrivaled carnage and to experience what it’s like to use futuristic weapons in period settings and see what happens when you alter history while fighting against hundreds of enemies during some of man's greatest struggles in History!”

The demo features some serious action, throwing players into the middle of raging battles, while also giving players great hands-on time with a variety of weapons. To get a more in-depth look at the rich weapons loadout, check out the weapons training video at Gametrailers.com.

Key features of Darkest of Days include:

• Brand New Engine: The dedicated team at 8monkey Labs has created an all-new, groundbreaking game engine known as Marmoset. The Marmoset engine not only breaks from the all-too present Unreal engine FPS clones flooding the market, but also allows for some amazing graphical capabilities. You’ll fight through epic battles filled with literally hundreds of NPCs on the screen at the same time, all with an advanced AI without a hint of graphical slowdown and all set against wide-open environments that are lushly detailed and dynamically lighted.

• Compelling Storyline: Darkest of Days is a compelling, action-packed first-person shooter to be sure, but it’s not just mindless run-and-gun, blow ‘em up gameplay. You’ll not only have to think about how to approach certain key battles and situations, but you’ll also have to take care when fighting – certain key people that were never meant to die will be marked with a special blue aura. If you kill them, you’ll face dire consequences…

• Wreak Havoc with Future Weapons in Antiquity: Something nearly every gamer that’s ever played a shooter based in the past has always wanted is the ability to bring a futuristic weapon back through history and kick some major butt. How differently would Custer’s last stand have turned out if the General was equipped with an M-16 assault rifle? You’ll be able to answer questions like this and more in Darkest of Days. While not every battle and situation will allow you to wield weapons from the future, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to unleash futuristic fury on your unsuspecting foes.

• PC powered by PhysX: Only available for the PC on NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, NVIDIA PhysX technology delivers real-time and hyper-realistic physical gaming effects in Darkest of Days. “Canned” reactions are a thing of the past with PhysX, which brings Darkest of Days to concussive life with blazing explosions and weapons impact effects, reactive debris, realistic water and fog, and lifelike environmental effects including smoke, dirt, dust, and wind.

To download the free-to-play version of Darkest of Days, please visit www.darkestofdays.com to view a list of sites that will host the official demo.

To pre-order Darkest of Days, please visit store.phantomefx.com. For more information about Darkest of Days, please visit www.darkestofdays.com.

Ninja Captains Nintendo Wii and DS game - Run from bulls, gondola racing, sledding down mountains and battling a giant robotic mouse! - with video

Nordcurrent have just announced their latest title for Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, Ninja Captains. Running from bulls in Spain, gondola racing in Venice, sledding down icy mountains in Antarctica, and battling a giant robotic mouse in New York are just some of the zany activities you perform in this hilarious party game.



The game not only offers 20 unique games that are both fun and challenging, but the Wii version also lets up to 4 players join the action and compete for high score supremacy. Top this off with a quirky sense of humour and a plot that revolves around a team of clumsy ninja cats accidentally travelling the world instead of saving their hometown from a terrifying mouse menace, and you’ve got a sure-fire hit with both friends and family!

Each game takes you to a different world famous city, playing on comical stereotypes to ensure the challenges you face are constantly new and exciting. Cities you visit include London, Sydney, Paris, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and many others. The gameplay is varied and exercises your speed, timing and coordination as you are called upon to perform activities that range from racing to climbing, balancing, dodging, dancing, and even surfing! The colourful and loveably awkward ‘heroes’ will draw you in even further with their epic mission that provides the perfect back-story to a journey that spans across every continent before ending up back in downtown New York for the final showdown with a massive robotic mouse bent on destroying the city.

The combination of wacky humour, addictive gameplay and exotic locations makes Ninja Captains a must-play title this year for anyone who owns a Nintendo Wii or DS... Don’t miss out!

Madden NFL 10 HD video game trailer

The culmination of all things Madden NFL has arrived with Online Franchise in Madden NFL 10. The latest Madden NFL 10 Video Documentary series is now available, which includes details and perspectives on the all-new, award winning Online Franchise mode direct from the development team.


Enjoy 32 team leagues, featuring anywhere from 1 to 32 human controlled teams, in Online Franchise mode that provides full team management, including trades, live drafts, depth chart changes, and moreand its all just one click away!


Online Franchise is the biggest feature to ever grace Madden NFL and its all manageable from your console, remotely through a web browser, or via a custom iPod Touch Application. Have full control of your team from anywhere you can log on. With new mobile updates and web connections, Online Franchise is available to you 24/7, and with immediate updates to your console, you'll never miss a down. Online Franchise revolutionizes gamezplay in that it acts as a true NFL season with 32 teams and a full season, including playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Online Franchise is exclusive to the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 versions of Madden NFL 10, which will be available in stores on August 14th.

Lead and Gold - Gangs of the Wild West video game - Third person shooter with team multiplayer

Lead and Gold – Gangs of the Wild West

- Third person shooter with team multiplayer

- In addition to a strong multiplayer focus, players will have the opportunity to practice versus AI driven teams either by themselves or in co-op mode.



- Supported platforms are still to be announced but the game is developed created with digital distribution both on console and PC in mind.

- The game is raising the standards for online distributed games by utilizing graphics and gameplay features similar to those used by a majority of today’s AAA-titles.

- Lead and Gold – Gangs of the Wild West catapults the player straight into the dramatic crescendo of the Western myth. Relive the high-noon duel on the main street of a frontier town or the intense firefight during a bank heist. Immerse yourself in gameplay drawing from a perfect mix of cool-headed player skill and the brutal close quarter brawl of the classic Western shoot out.

- Lead and Gold - Gangs of the Wild West is built with the GRIN Diesel Engine, previously used for Bionic Commando, Bionic Commando Rearmed and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.

50 Cent to star in Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 video game

50 Cent will be providing voice over work for squads in the multi-player portion of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. 50 Cent is getting more and more into games it seems, following up Blood on the Sand with some voice over work for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in what Activision is calling a 'casual cameo'.

Pictures of 50 Cent visiting Infinity Ward appeared on his blog (which we only read because we visited via Eurogamer) 'This is 50'. Infinity Ward spokesperson Robert Bowling later confirmed that 50 Cent will be featured in the game.

Specifically, 50 will be providing the voices of some squad members in the multiplayer portion of the game, which means you can get used to him saying things like "reloading", "air strike" and we might even be lucky enough to hear our favourite line from 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - "f***ing grenade!".

Bowling also confirmed that 50 Cent is by no means the only celebrity who has been signed to feature in the game and that more and more 'casual cameos' will be unveiled in the lead-up to release.

Infinity Ward was quick to point out that members of Good Charlotte are not on the cameo list though, despite being shown in pictures on the This is 50 blog. Apparently 50 Cent is just really good friends with Benji and Joel from Good Charlotte.

Source: Bit-Tech

Curling video game coming to Nintendo Wii

A Winnipeg company is aiming for development of a curling video game for Nintendo's Wii console, and appears right on target. Complex Games is producing Wii Curl in hopes of putting it on the market by late next year, after securing a prized licence with the Nintendo home gaming giant.

"Without a licence from Nintendo, you can't actually get access to their hardware ... so that's a big deal for us," president Noah Decter-Jackson said.



"Now that we've got the licence, we can develop our curling game for the Nintendo Wii."

The "very important milestone," said Decter-Jackson, follows development of a game prototype for an event in conjunction with the Canadian Embassy. After attending a video game conference in San Francisco, the company's management figured it had a shot.

Though the firm refuses to reveal what the Nintendo licence has cost, it says the game could be lucrative.

"They have the largest console, and the most popular console in the world," Decter-Jackson said.

"Getting on the Nintendo Wii is a huge deal."

One of their goals is to throw out a product much more realistic and in line with the actual sport than an existing curling video game which is part of a large Nintendo Wii package.

"You have to make some concessions and tweak things to get it there. But having an idea of how the basic motions are, helps craft the game," said Adrian Cheater, Complex's technical director.

"We sort of draw on people we know with much more experience in the game to get a more accurate representation of what the game is."

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Collector’s Edition video game in UK

TECMO KOEI EUROPE LIMITED proudly announces details of the Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Collector’s Edition, along with a fantastic value pricing structure, setting the RRP at £49.99. Set for release on October 2nd 2009, the Collector’s Edition will be on sale exclusively at HMV. The release coincides with the release date of the standard edition of the hottest, most intense and challenging action-packed ninja adventure game.

The Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Collector’s Edition includes...

• A copy of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, exclusively for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system.
• Limited Edition 80 page ‘Ninja Gaiden Treasury’ featuring:
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 prologue comic written and designed by Team NINJA, which sheds more light on the intriguing storylines of Ninja Gaiden.
-Character and Concept Art Gallery .
- Lite-Strategy Guide including: Weapon Profiles for the 4 playable characters. Combos & Ninpos. Hints and Tips for Story Mode and Team Missions.
- Commentary from Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 producer Yosuke Hayashi, the Lead Artists behind the game and one final Tidbit from Team NINJA….
• Complete, limited edition original soundtrack CD.
• Exclusive downloadable costume available through the PlayStation Network.

“Tecmo Koei Europe is staffed by gamers, with a gamers’ eye on what makes a worthwhile purchase. With the announcement of the Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Collector’s Edition, we’re sure fans of the series will love what’s in store for them”, said Will Curley, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Setting the RRP of the Collector’s Edition Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 at £49.99 we believe gamers will feel they’re getting a lot of Ninja Gaiden and extras for their cash”.

Red Orchestra 2 - Heroes of Stalingrad PC video game announced

The sequel to Red Orchestra, the leading realism-based multi-player WWII shooter on the PC. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad will take the award winning Red Orchestra franchise into the next generation of gaming. Cutting edge graphics and audio built using the Unreal Engine 3, inventive features and streamlined realism will deliver an unrivaled WWII experience.

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad will focus on the Battle of Stalingrad and the surrounding operations, both German and Russian, from July 1942 to February 1943. The game allows the player to experience one of the most brutal battles in all of human history. The game consists out of two campaigns - the Red Army and German missions.Delivering unrivaled accuracy and attention to detail, along with gritty, vicious combat in multiplayer, co-op and solo modes the game will feature everything from quick, brutal firefights to more intricate and challenging simulation modes.

The developers have built upon their huge success with the last title and have added a slew of new features including:
RO multiplayer taken to new heights: In addition to the award winning Territory game type from RO, all new gametypes such as Firefight and Countdown add greater diversity, replay ability and fun.
Persistent Stats Tracking and Player Progression: Grow in rank, earn medals, improve abilities, and become a Hero - all visible to the complete online gaming community and embedded within the game.
Heroes: Obtain the ultimate goal and become a Hero online.

Players with hero status inspire troops around them and cause fear in their enemies. Heroes have access to the best and rarest weapons and equipment, and will stand out visually from the rest of the soldiers.

Stalingrad Campaign: The Stalingrad campaign will feature the multi-player maps used in a campaign layout recreating the battle for Stalingrad from both the German and Russian sides.

First person cover system: Experience the ultimate firefights that a cover system allows, from the immersion of a first person view. Peek or blind fire over and around cover and more.

Squad Command: Command fire teams on the battlefield using an easy to use first person interface.
WWII weaponry redefined: true to life ballistics, bullet penetration, breathing, adjustable sights, free aim, weapon bracing, photo-real graphics and more.

Co-op: Players can connect with their friends and battle the AI in multiple game types including the Stalingrad Campaign, Skirmish Mode, and more.

Morale: Experience what it is like to be a soldier in one of the bloodiest conflicts in history and the importance of a soldier's state of mind and how it can turn the tide of battle.

Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches comes to Germany, Austria and Switzerland after all - called Rhiannon: Fluch der Vier Zweige

Wales-based PC adventure developer Arberth Studios is preparing for the imminent release of its game ‘Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches’ in the German language into Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it will be called ‘Rhiannon: Fluch der Vier Zweige’. The game is currently undergoing approval at the German Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK), which recommends the minimum age of players.

Arberth’s Noel Bruton explains, “the German release of Rhiannon was originally to take place around February 2009, but all that came to a halt when the then publisher, Lighthouse Interactive, suffered its financial difficulties. We’ve now found new routes to market and are pursuing them keenly.”

Legend-based and puzzle-filled adventure for the PC promises bone-chilling ghost stories and spine-tingling mysteries before Halloween

The lack of a German version did not prevent bilingual German speakers from playing it. A number of the German adventure forums contain posts from appreciative players of the English version – one even has a German language walkthrough of the English game.

Bruton continues, “Last week we informally mentioned on a few of the German adventure forums that we were thinking of releasing the German version. We were struck by how positive the reaction was, and this has urged us to pursue a proper launch. No release date has been finalised yet, as there are considerations such as the USK testing and the availability of pressing plant capacity to sort out. But it will almost certainly be this side of Halloween.”

Bruton admits a very personal interest in seeing Arberth products on sale in Germany. “I had a great time as a student of German, living near Stuttgart years ago. I’m enjoying brushing up on the language. But I didn’t translate the game – the localisation was done by German professionals.”

Timeloop video game comes to iPhone and iPod Touch - with video

The game launches at a promotional price of $0.99/£0.59/0.79€ which is amazing value for money for a beautifully realised game which includes 32 levels of time-warping puzzles, not to mention cats, professors and hair dryers.
Released in tandem with the game is ‘Timeloop Lite’ – a free ‘taster’ of the full game. Timeloop Lite features five whole levels from the full game – the first four levels which ease you into the game plus



There are 32 levels in total and they all basically comprise a set of interconnecting rooms that are for the most part locked. You are a highly trained robot and to fix the doors, it's just a matter of going up to the door and the control panel, tap the icon and fix the problem. The tricky bit is that if you move away from the control panel, the door will lock itself again. This is where your other self steps in to help out. While your first incarnation is keeping the door open, your other self can walk through and tackle the next set of problems. If needed, a third robot can be summoned and walk all the way through to rescue the prof. Each time you reincarnate, time spins back and you see the shadow of your former self scurrying through the level repeating the moves you made. The key point to remember is that the first robot cannot interact with the second robot. Say the first robot unlocks a door for the second robot to pass through and the second robot then opens another door. The first robot cannot then walk through this second door because it wasn't open in the first instance. Lets not get in a debate about time travel. I know Back To The Future might have done things different but these are the rules of TimeLoop.

This is a mind boggling game at the outset and kudos to the development guys who thought up this crazy game. There is a countdown for the remaining oxygen and you do only have a set number of timeloops that you can generate. We've had the preview build for a few weeks and at first we were busy clock watching and trying to be super efficient and we basically overcomplicated the game. After leaving the game alone for a couple of weeks to fester in the back of our heads, it all became clear. With your first robot, a general rule is to do as much as you can and go as far as possible with it until time runs out. The TimeLoop will automatically engage once the time runs out and then you can take your second robot through the first set of open doors and continue in the quest. It's not the most efficient approach but it should just get you through most of the levels. For the real puzzle maniacs, the game does have an award system but getting the gold score is very very difficult and requires excellent timing and control.

The controls are all touch based. Tap the screen for the robot to walk there and tap the control box for the robot to fix the device. It's all pretty straight forward although sometimes your robot may slide across the walls trying to get through the door because you haven't directed it in a straight line through the opening. The graphics have that mad scientist feel to them with zany colours and just a general wacky feel to it all. The sound is actually quite good and the wails of the trapped scientists are particularly funny.

TimeLoop is a very well thought out game and should keep you amused for a good few hours. If you are keen to get all the gold, then this will definitely entertain and frustrate you for many more.