Just Cause 2 video game website launched - information, video and competitions

Eidos Interactive Ltd, creator of some of the world’s leading video game properties, announce the launch of the official Just Cause 2 website, packed with game information, new video content, screens and a competition with a money-can’t-buy prize!

Launched today at JustCause.com, the official website puts its main focus on community. Designed to offer the ever-growing fan base a place to have their voices heard, registered users are encouraged to participate throughout the site. Fans will be able to comment on the current news postings or media downloads, discuss the latest happenings in the extensive user forums or download a custom-made fan site starter kit to create their own Just Cause 2 website. For the ultimate Just Cause junkie, the site has launched with a community competition to offer five registered users the chance to have their names star in the game as colonels in the island’s military regime.

A content-rich destination site for both fans of the series and new players alike, JustCause.com will become a repository for news and features surrounding the game. The site will be updated regularly with every bit of news and information and will also feature an extensive media section with exclusive content available from launch, including trailers, walkthrough videos, podcasts, ring tones and more.

“In creating the official Just Cause 2 website, we wanted to create an editorially-driven site packed with entertaining and informative content which both fans and those new to the series could really become part of,” said Lee Singleton, General Manager of Eidos Game Studios. “What we are launching with today is the tip of the iceberg, with plans already underway for numerous community rewards for registered users; more competitions and great prizes; and community days nearer launch where registered users can be amongst the first to play the game.”

Developed by Avalanche Studios, Just Cause 2 is an adrenalin-fuelled, free-roaming action/adventure set in the island paradise of Panau. Playing as agent Rico Rodriguez, players can explore over 1000km² of tropical beaches, snow-capped mountains, arid desert and dense jungle as they attempt to eliminate their former boss and mentor who has gone rogue with agency money and secrets. Using a unique grapple and parachute combination, there is no vertical limit as the air becomes your playground: grapple a passing plane in flight, hijack helicopters or BASE jump from the tallest buildings or mountains. Just Cause 2 offers players the freedom to tackle missions the way they choose and with over 100 vehicles and countless upgrades and collectibles, the choices are limitless.

You can find the official website at www.JustCause.com.

New PlayStation 3 slim will not be PlayStation 2 backward compatable after all and No off switch!

It was hoped that Sony might be able to reinstate PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility in the new PlayStation 3 Slim, after removing it from the original machine. It won't.

"Backwards compatibility is off the table," Sony America marketing man John Koller said.

People buy a PlayStation 3 to play PlayStation 3 games, he went on to argue. "Now that we're at a point where we're three years into the lifecycle of the PlayStation 3, there are so many PlayStation 3 disc-based games that are available that we think - and noticed this from our research - that most consumers that are purchasing the PlayStation 3 cite PlayStation 3 games as a reason.

"And it's not just like 50 or 60 percent. It's well into the 80 or 90 percent range... Most of those are consumers who have not utilized their PS2 for a little while and they're ready to jump into the PlayStation 3."

Koller also said that he expects the Slim PlayStation 3 to replace the fat one - no longer in production - at retail in fairly short order. 80GB units would disappear next month, he said, although 160GB PlayStation 3 might stay on shop shelves a little longer.

He also revealed that the PlayStation 3 Slim no longer has a rear power switch, so environmentally-conscious gamers not wanting to leave it on standby all the time - which would pretty much negate its reduced power consumption - will need to turn it off at the mains.

Full spec and pricing for new console here on gamezplay.org...

Scribblenauts Nintendo DS puzzle video game - Fact Sheet

Scribblenauts is a completely original game play experience that anyone can play, offering fun for all ages with two styles of game play and more than 200 levels. In Scribblenauts, players use the Nintendo DS touch-screen to help their character Maxwell acquire the Starite in each level by solving a series of puzzles armed with their stylus, notepad and imagination.

Players jot down the word for any object that comes to mind in order to reach the goal. Every object behaves as it would in the real world, and players can combine countless objects to create completely new scenarios. Every level has more than one written object to use as a solution, opening up the game to endless replay.

In Scribblenauts, players advance through ten worlds, each with eleven puzzle and eleven action levels for a total of 220 challenges to complete. Each level has a “par” for the number of objects suggested to finish the level. Beating a level with under par, earns “Ollars”, the in-game currency, which players can use to purchase new levels and music.

PRODUCT FEATURES:
• Create Your Own Interactive Experience: Objects you write down in the game are only limited by your imagination

• Everyone Can Play: Pick-up-and-play fun for everyone

• Touch-screen Controls: Easy to pick up and play on Nintendo DS™. If you can tap, you can play!

• Unlimited Replay Value: Use less objects to increase your score, or experiment with different objects for endless replay value. Write anything; solve everything!

• Playground Mode: Play the entire game in a sandbox style right on the title screen.

• Create and Share Levels Online: Share levels you create with the Level Editor via Nintendo DS Wi-Fi Connection.

• Innovative New Title from Leading Developer: 5TH Cell, the creator of the Drawn to Life franchise and Lock's Quest, has experience creating high-quality, innovative DS games.

PLATFORMS: Nintendo DS
RELEASE DATE: October 2009
PUBLISHER: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
DEVELOPER: 5TH Cell
PEGI RATING: 12+
USK RATING: 6
GENRE: Emergent Puzzle/Action

Queen Teen - The Clique Nintendo DS video game - Fact sheet

In Queen Teen: The Clique, based on the best-selling young adult book series by author Lisi Harrison, players assume the role of the new girl at school, taking on the challenges of climbing the social ladder to join the ultimate clique, the Pretty Committee.

Queen Teen: The Clique is an empowering game of social maneuvering where the player attempts to survive in one of the most harsh and unforgiving environments on Earth – Octavian Country Day School (OCD).

Player will use gossip, fashion and wit to make friends, join cliques, attend classes, and even work after school “jobbies” with a variety of exciting mini-games. Play a variety of exciting mini-games to earn cash or increase your cool.

Along the way a variety of challenges and tricky situations make the climb up the social ladder tough including getting invited to one of the hottest parties of the year. Queen Teen: The Clique highlights the sassiness of the “The Clique” books and a few lessons in popularity exclusively to the Nintendo DS™. Like the fans of the book know, the only thing harder than getting in, will be staying in!

PRODUCT FEATURES:

- Customizable Characters: Players will name and personalize their character’s complete look: clothing, hair, shoes and more!

- Countless Adorable Fashions: Players can make money at their after school “jobby’’ in order to purchase new styles.

- Alpha Girl Social Ladder: In order to rise from the new kid to queen-bee, players will navigate the halls of OCD by building relationships and gossiping about what is hot and what is not! Play through a collection of entertaining mini-games that can provide the required social tools to become the alpha girl.

- Popularity On-The-Go: Wireless multiplayer allows players to share their character with friends from their real-life clique, allowing them to unlock special gossip.

- Join the “The Clique” World: Interact with characters popularized in The Clique novels and explore the school of OCD in the first videogame based on “The Clique”.
RELEASE DATE: September 2009
PUBLISHER: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
DEVELOPER: Gorilla Systems
PEGI RATING: 3+
USK RATING: 0
GENRE: Adventure/Mini-game
PLATFORMS: Nintendo DS

Get your stylus ready for Touchmaster 3 video game on Nintendo DS!

TouchMaster 3 offers a compilation of 20 addictive games in one, appealing to all ages, experienced and casual gamers alike for easy pick up and play gaming. Players work through the collection of puzzle, action, card, strategy, and word challenges exclusively on Nintendo DS. Gamers can participate in single player, two person multiplayer or download play options. Unlimited replay is available through collectible bonuses and gameplay elements including Badges, Trophies, and Wizard points. Players can test their skill at games such as Bumperball, Slime Assault, Domino Run, Dice King 2, Prismatix 2, Wild Words and more.

• Wide Gameplay Variety: Experience 20 games in one with new puzzle challenges and rewards in this immersive assortment of addictive gameplay.
• 5 Different Game Genres: Play puzzle, action, card, strategy, and word games to become a TouchMaster expert. With this wide variety in one package, there is something for everyone.
• Become the Grand TouchMaster: Track game progress by collecting Trophies and Badges to earn wizard points and unlock new player titles. Get all 500 wizard points and become the Grand TouchMaster.
• Challenge Friends and Family: Compete with friends and family via two person multiplayer or download play using the game’s local wireless multiplayer feature to determine who is the ultimate TouchMaster.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey two mission demo The Battle Of Britain and The Battle Of The Bulge on PlayStation 3

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey PlayStation 3 demo available on PlayStation Network from 20th August 2009. The Xbox 360 demo has been on Xbox LIVE! since late July and now PlayStation 3 owners will also have the chance to sample two missions from two campaign mode scenarios - The Battle Of Britain and The Battle Of The Bulge.

In Battle Of Britain: Red Skies Over Dover, players are given the role of an RAF pilot commanding the legendary Mk.II Spitfire. What starts as a routine 'mopping up' mission soon develops into a fracas in which the RAF faced their finest hour.

In Battle Of The Bulge: Tiger Hunt, the US Air Force P-51D Mustang is the weapon of choice as players are invites to pick off some German armour ploughing through the Ardennes. The mission will allow players to try rocket attacks on ground targets as well as sample the snow capped vistas of the December Belgian landscape.


IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey will be available from 4th September from publisher 505 Games in collaboration with 1C Company.

Sexy Alyssa Milano to play Ilyssa Selwyn in Ghostbusters video game - Who you gonna call? With video...

Atari today unveiled Alyssa Milano as the new love interest in the forthcoming blockbuster title Ghostbusters - The Video Game.

Alyssa Milano is best known for her roles in long running successful television series “Who’s the Boss”, “Melrose Place”, “Charmed” and most recently “My Name Is Earl” to name a few.

Milano joins members of the original cast from the beloved Ghostbusters movies to recreate the unique blend of humour and fright that established Ghostbusters as a pop culture sensation.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game prides itself in staying true to the Ghostbusters universe, so it just wouldn’t feel right if Bill Murray’s character, Dr. Peter Venkman, wasn’t turning on the charm. In Ghostbusters: The Video Game, he’s chasing one in particular: Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn is a smart and sassy archaeologist who doesn’t take too kindly to Dr. Venkman’s advances.

In the game, Milano’s character, Ilyssa Selwyn, is an expert in Sumerian and pre-Sumerian cultures and is visiting New York City as guest curator for the highly anticipated ‘World of Gozer’ exhibition opening in 1991 at the Natural History Museum. In the story line, Gozerian mythology has attracted a wide popular following since the still-unexplained events and attacks that occurred in the city in 1984. Ilyssa is working late at the museum the night before the opening when a cataclysmic force is unleashed and summons an ancient enemy back to New York City. Strange events continue to erupt around her: what secret does she know? It’s up to the Ghostbusters to help Ilyssa find the key and stop the forces of evil that threaten the balance of the universe. That’s if they can keep Peter Venkman from hitting on her every three minutes.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game, based on the smash hit motion picture franchise, is penned by original Ghostbusters writers and stars Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd. The other original Ghostbusters, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, lend their voices and in-game likenesses to the original story set two years after Ghostbusters II, with Manhattan once again overrun by ghosts and supernatural forces. The player joins up as a new recruit with the original team, testing a variety of unique equipment and gadgets, to track, wrangle and trap this wide range of awe-inspiring phantasms in an all new funny and frightening battle to save New York City from its latest paranormal plague.



Ghostbusters: The Video Game will be available on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Games for Windows, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Wii and Nintendo DS in North America on 16 June 2009 followed by worldwide release on 19 June 2009 to coincide with the 25th anniversary celebration of the film’s original theatrical release. For more information on Ghostbusters, please visit www.ghostbustersgame.com.

My Make-Up Nintendo DS video game out now - Fact Sheet

O-Games, a publisher of family, social and sports videogames, announced today that My Make-Up, a part of the MyGames series, is now available in retail stores nationwide for the Nintendo DS handheld device.

Designed especially with girls in mind, MyGames provides unique entertainment by bringing together personal and friendly content with real-life concepts around individual and social play.

My Make-Up is a fun new simulation game where you can create new makeovers using brushes, colors, creams, face masks, hydrating fruits and face paint. Try out new styles, make-up techniques, and pamper your skin with facial treatments. Create makeovers for special events like weddings, dances, or everyday styles.

Throw a party and share your creative makeovers with up to three DS friends through DS Wireless Communications. Transfer your favorite makeovers to My Make-Up or My Dress-Up friends for the complete outfit and make-up look. Have a fashion party and chat with all your My Make-Up, My Dress-Up and My Secret Diary friends exclusively with ‘MyGames Chat’ over DS Wireless Communications.

My Make-Up Game Features:

· Create an avatar with custom face, hair, eyes, eyebrows, cheeks and lips

· Choose from a variety of tools, brushes, sponges, pencils, facial creams, and hydrating fruits

· Makeover yourself and Friends with the latest make-up and make-up styles

· Do makeovers for special events

· Exchange makeovers through DS Wireless Communications

· Paint faces and create face masks

· Choose from a palate of endless colors and stencils

· Exchange messages

· Store your favorite makeovers

My Make-Up is rated “E” for Everyone by the ESRB.

Make way for a new wave of Rhythm Action and Musical Games - DanceDanceRevolution, Karaoke Revolution and pop’n rhythm

Konami, the original creators and innovators of rhythm action games, bring back much loved classics with updated appeal and exciting new features!
Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced a new wave of rhythm action and musical games, that will be shown at this year’s gamescom in Cologne, Germany, giving a taste of things to come for fans of Japanese pop culture and all things Bemani.

pop’n rhythm, the classic arcade game which has a long history in Japanese Arcades and where players are challenged to hit button ‘poppers’ to the beat, will be playable on Nintendo Wii in Cologne. The new version will give fans a fantastic opportunity to see this crazy and addictive game, transferred onto the Wii and utilising the console’s unique control system.

DanceDanceRevolution is also back, and bigger and stronger than ever before! Making its debut on the PLAYSTATION 3 in Spring 2010 and with a new iteration for Xbox 360, the games enjoy a massive list of licensed tracks, impressive graphics with customisable characters and a brand new ‘Octo-Move Mode’. Dancers can now use all eight directional arrows on the dance mat, which means greater freedom of movement – just like real dancing! Similarly, there are even more ways to burn calories whilst having fun! DanceDanceRevolution Producer Naoki Maeda will be present at gamescom, too, and will present the publisher’s line-up of dancing games.

Finally, Karaoke Revolution is heading to Europe. Karaoke has never looked so good, with in depth character creation, stunning stages where users can strut their stuff and sing their heart out to a multitude of licensed tracks. Karaoke Revolution is coming to PLAYSTATION 3 and Nintendo Wii in November 2009, being compatible with most available microphones.

Yu-Gi-Oh! returns to PSP with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4 video game

Konami has announced an exciting addition to its PSP (PlayStation Portable) roster of Yu-Gi-Oh! titles, in the form of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force 4 – due for release in November.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force 4 marks the first appearance of the new animated TV series on PSP, and uses plot elements from the show’s ‘Dark Signers’ episodes within its Story Mode. The new game’s graphics have been designed to perfectly recreate characters and settings from the TV show, with stunning anime likenesses bringing the game’s 14 duelists, and a huge supporting cast, to vivid life. Likewise, the same visuals are used to detail the many traps, spells and monsters that are used during battles, with in-game cameras panning to show off the various conflicts from a series of stunning vantage points.

The game’s Story Mode provides a focal point for single-player use, and recreates the Neo Domino City and Satellite locations of the TV show. Players can move freely around these areas, and a different scenario will unfold dependent on which character the user opts for, and the story will evolve organically based on decisions the player makes. Players also use the exploratory elements of the game to meet new people, challenge them to duels and to add and buy new Trading Cards for their deck.

The dueling elements of the game have also been expanded, with each of the game’s many characters holding their own decks. The strength of these decks acts as an in-built difficulty level, with players working their way through the increasingly challenging rivals as they look to build their deck and establish themselves as the Champion Trading Card Duelist. In total, over 300 hours of gameplay await – enough for even the most ardent Yu-Gi-Oh! fans!

The social aspect of the Trading Card Game has also been retained, with the option for multi-player games for up to four Yu-Gi-Oh! fans. One-on-one duels, or two-against-two and variations thereof are all supported, and the online capabilities of the PSP are also used for additional download elements., Users can enter the passwords found on real Trading Cards and use them in the game in order to improve their card decks and their strategies

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force 4 represents a new high for the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, and Konami will also include three exclusive Trading Cards within each game’s packaging.