Kid Icarus Wii Concept Artwork Revealed

The Kid grows up. First-ever artwork for Factor 5's rumored project, starring adult Pit, revealed.

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UPCOMING BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY SINGLE-PLAYER AND MULTI-PLAYER DEMO

You’ve been drafted to ‘B’ Company! DICE, a studio of Electronic Arts today announced that a demo for its highly anticipated summer release, Battlefield: Bad Company will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace* and PLAYSTATION Store* on June 5. Players will land on the battlefield as part of the ‘B’ or Bad Company, a wayward band of soldiers more interested in the pursuit of gold and personal financial gain than following the rules. Gamers will get a sneak peek at how tactical destruction changes the way shooters are played, both offline and online in the single player and multiplayer demo.

Players can also gain early access to the demo by pre-ordering the game through participating retailers in North America and Europe. More details on this special pre-order campaign can be found at www.battlefield.com/badcompany.

Players who missed their opportunity to participate in the closed beta get a second chance to experience the intense multiplayer Gold Rush mode on the Oasis map while the single player portion starts gamers at the beginning of their ‘B’ company career. The single player portion of the demo sets the stage for players as they’re introduced to the humorous and sometimes irreverent set of characters that make up the ‘B’ company. As gamers embark on their quest for gold, they’ll experience the same classic Battlefield gameplay including access to numerous vehicles, weapons and open maps as well as the new tactical destruction that only Battlefield: Bad Company can deliver.

In stores on June 25 in North America and June 27 in Europe, Battlefield: Bad Company is developed by Sweden-based developer DICE.

BioShock movie in development, Gore Verbinski directing

Universal has signed a deal to turn Bioshock into a movie. Director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) will head the project and Aviator writer John Logan may write the screenplay.

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MyAerodrome.com launched

I would like to announce the opening of MyAerodrome.com, a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace but set up specfically for flightsimmers, pilots and anyone interested in aviation. MyAerodrome.com is completely free to use and it's easy to sign up.

Social networking has become a major phenomenon on the Internet, but it's too easy to get lost on the big general interest sites. That's why MyAerodrome.com was started, to cater specfically to the needs of flightsimmers who want to meet other flightsimmers. At MyAerodrome.com you can meet other flightsimmers and share photos, view videos, create a blog, check the news and more. The site of course is brand new and will only grow bigger and better as more people join.

MyAerodrome.com is not meant to replace any of the flightsim sites you use now, but to complement them, offering you a different way to interact with your fellow flightsimmers.

Please visit MyAerodrome.com today and sign up and join the fun!

http://www.MyAerodrome.com

Super Smash Bros. Brawl rumbles onto the Wii in Europe on 27 June

Who's The Best Brawler Of Them All?

Time to settle old scores and let the Wii decide with the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The next super-charged generation of brawling rumbles onto the Wii with Super Smash Bros. Brawl hitting the shelves in Europe, on the 27 June 2008. Packed with a whole host of new features including a bulging character roster, an accessible and intuitive combat arena editor, multiple battle modes, an engrossing single player storyline and for the first time, the ability to take battles online, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is set to bring the fast, furious and frenetic world of the brawl to the masses!

Super Smash Bros. has always been about pitching Nintendo’s iconic characters against each other and settling long-standing arguments on who is the toughest in four-player bouts. Keeping this concept at its heart, Nintendo has upped the challenge by introducing 16 new characters into the fray – bringing the total playable to 35 – including familiar heroes such as Solid Snake, Wario, Diddy Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog. Never before have gamers had to master their combat style so finely, practicing and perfecting signature moves and combos to ensure they remain on top of the brawling pile.

The introduction of Wi-Fi combat via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection adds a complete new dimension to the brawl, particularly the intense hallmark four character battles. For the first time, friends and strangers alike can be challenged online either in cooperative teams, or alone as individual fighters. Twisting the concept of spectator mode, coins built up during play can now be bet on matches by viewers making every game as important as the last. If that wasn’t enough, players are also given the ability to share photos and replays, team up for enjoyable minigames, and even share created environments.

As with previous instalments, the goal of Super Smash Bros. Brawl is simple: be victorious by battling other characters in the game’s numerous atmospheric and interactive environments, inflicting as much damage as possible and finally propelling opponents off the screen to score points. Using a combination of the two attack buttons and the control stick, players can grab, attack and produce blistering ‘smash’ attacks that have the potential to blow away challengers. With the added bonus of being able to play with Nunchuk and Wii Remote, Wii Remote, Classic Controller and Nintendo GameCube Controller, everyone will find a preferred method to battle.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl offers solo players an in-depth side-scrolling adventure mode called The Subspace Emissary that revolves around the invasion of a Subspace Army of formless enemies led by the evil Ancient Minister. Their plan is to cut up the world using Subspace bombs and transport the pieces back to the Subspace. Throughout the story mode players are forced to battle against numerous and tricky opponents such as Primids – the core units of the Subspace Army, familiar bosses like Petey Pirahna, also new bosses and allies who have become possessed by the Subspace Army and must be overcome in battle. Once beaten, allies are freed of their possession and join ranks with the resistance!

Another unique aspect of Super Smash Bros. Brawl lies within the game’s ‘Vault’, the Stage Builder – an incredibly accessible level design tool that allows users to create their own environments. By using a 2D-grid for the layout plan, custom stages can be of one to three default sizes, contain an in-game background and musical theme, and have a building-block layout unique to the creators own tastes. All maps can be shared with friends via a memory pack, or even submitted to Nintendo for the chance to be chosen as ‘stage of the day’ where it is sent to all other players in the Wi-Fi network.

Last, but not least, is the introduction of numerous new in-game items and assist characters to help players throughout their adventures. Notable new power-ups include Superspicy Curry - allows the characters to breathe fire, the Gooey Bomb – a passable bomb that sticks to terrain and opponents, and Smoke Balls – balls of smoke that block a competitor’s view. Assist characters are a first to Super Smash Bros. Brawl and are console controlled ‘friends’ of the player’s character that are called upon for temporary assistance. Examples include Dr. Wright from Sim City, Gray Fox from Metal Gear and Excitebike – a number of pixel bikers that race around and knock over combatants!

With 35 characters, Wi-Fi connectivity, an enthralling single player story mode, imaginative and fully customisable arenas, numerous battle modes… and much, much more for gamers to discover, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the definitive action game for any wannabe brawler. Let the battle commence on Wii with Super Smash Bros. Brawl!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is available in Europe for the Wii at an estimated retail price of £39.99.

AQ Interactive Set to Release Vampire Rain - Altered Species on the PlayStation 3

The Battle Between Mankind and Nightwalker Continues

AQ Interactive Set to Release Vampire Rain: Altered Species on the PlayStation 3

AQ Interactive announced today that it will bring Vampire Rain: Altered Species to the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system. The exciting stealth action game will be developed by industry veteran Artoon, which has developed such blockbuster titles as Blue Dragon, Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Yoshi's Island DS and many more.

"We are very excited to bring Vampire Rain: Altered Species to the PlayStation 3," said Artoon President Naoto Ōshima. "The incredible power of the PS3, will allow us to give gamers a fully immersive experience. This will include: 5.1 channel audio, over 50 hours of gameplay, extra bonus levels, a lot of completely revamped animations, character interactions and much more."

Vampire Rain: Altered Species is an intense game that takes place during a dreary night in a suburban, west coast city in the US. For some time now, mankind has been battling the ferocious and terrifying Nightwalkers, a race of superhuman vampires who crave human blood. People have been disappearing at night; the lucky ones are found dead, but those less fortunate are reborn as Nightwalkers, and are bound by instinct to forcefully recruit unwitting victims into the Nightwalker army. Gamers take the role of John Lloyd, a member of a US special government unit created to defeat the Nightwalkers, and the only human to ever survive a physical encounter with them.

Aside from featuring a blood-chilling, story driven single player campaign, Vampire Rain: Altered Species will also feature a robust multiplayer mode.

Blockdot Launches "Hillary Vs. Obama" Game

With the 2008 Democratic presidential primary in high gear, Dallas-based Blockdot has released “Hillary vs. Obama,” a hilarious game that brings new meaning to the term “political warfare.”

Pick the Democrat you support, then click your mouse repeatedly to punch, drag, and knock your opponent out of the race. The faster you click, the more “party points” you earn. You have only 15 seconds before the Secret Service will pull you off the candidate, so don’t hold back! For extra points, hit the Bill Clinton and Reverend Wright sock puppets that appear on the sidelines.

Will Hillary or Obama take the White House, or will their bickering burn out the voters — and lead to a McCain victory?

To play “Hillary vs. Obama” – or hundreds of other awesomely addictive games – visit Blockdot’s gaming portal www.kewlbox.com.

Trainz-spotters capture new images of Trainz - The Complete Collection

Next stop – Paradoxplaza! All those with an interest in model railways and trains alight here. From the home of Paradox Interactive, check out the first batch of images taken from Trainz: The Complete Collection.

This comprehensive game of railway simulation brings together the vast content from a number of previous titles including: Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006, Trainz Routes 1, 2,3 & 4, Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004, Trainz Ultimate Collection and Trainz Paintshed.

The screenshots on view are taken from:

- Surveyor: route and scenario builder
- Paintshed: train customisation utility
- Railyard: asset inspection utility
- Driver: in-game action simulator

Railroad trains simulator game for windows PC

LORD OF THE RINGS - CONQUEST - 'Conquest' Grants Players Freedom to Fight Epic 'Rings' Battles Any Way Desired

Pandemic Studios, an award-winning developer of blockbuster video games, is proud to announce the development of The Lord of the Rings: Conquest for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, PC and Nintendo DS platforms. Pandemic Studios is a division of Electronic Arts.

In a partnership with New Line Cinema, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an action-packed game created by the same Pandemic Studios team behind the best-selling Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront II titles. Set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” universe as depicted by the Academy Award-winning films, players will finally fight the entirety of these epic battles any way they want. In addition to crusading as the heroic forces of good, for the first time ever in a ‘The Lord of the Rings’ action title they’ll conquer Middle-earth while playing as the legions of Sauron’s evil army, including Cave-trolls, Oliphaunts, the Balrog and Sauron himself. The game is set for a global release in fall 2008.

“Our Pandemic Studios creative teams have years of expertise bringing giant battlefields to life,” says Andrew Goldman, Pandemic Studios co-founder and general manager. “We’ve always wanted to harness our experience in a fantasy universe with warriors, archers, mages and castle sieges. Of course, there is truly no better fantasy world to recreate than the enormity of Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ realm.”

“We’ll freely admit that we’re rabid fans of The Lord of the Rings fantasy,” says Josh Resnick, co-founder and general manager at Pandemic Studios. “Our experience creating massive, rich, action-packed games means that The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will give fans exactly what they want: full control of the blade, bow and magic to fight its epic battles any way they want – even if they choose to play from the evil side.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Pandemic Studios on this game,” commented David Imhoff, Senior EVP of Worldwide Licensing & Merchandising for New Line Cinema. “They bring not only their incredible technical and creative abilities but also a great passion for The Lord of the Rings.”

The world premiere of game footage and the first trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will premiere exclusively on Spike TV’s GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley on Friday, June 20.

This announcement reveals the third blockbuster video game project in the works at Pandemic Studios’ Los Angeles-based headquarters alongside the upcoming Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™ and Saboteur™, both in development for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION®3 and PC platforms. For more information on The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, please visit: http://www.pandemicstudios.com/conquest.

PalmStorm announces Plantastic! the award-winning puzzle game for Windows PC

PalmStorm proudly announces that Plantastic! has been released for Windows PC by Big Fish Games.

PalmStorm teams up with Big Fish Games to release the enhanced version of PalmStorm's award-winning handheld puzzle game, Plantastic! for the Windows PC platform.
Plantastic! for PC features even more addictive gameplay than before, more hidden gags to laugh at, more than 35 collectable trophies, and high-resolution graphics. One thing remains the same: the award-winning flowery fun for the Master Gardener in all of us!

About Plantastic!:
Plantastic! is a fun combination of puzzle and strategy game where you put on your gardening gloves and collect beautiful bouquets. Plant flowers side by side in rows of three or more, but be careful, as new flowers arrive frequently and you may end up in flower-flood! Keep an eye on pesky Mr. Mole and whack him silly as he is trying to steal flowers from your garden.
Plantastic! features five very different game modes and three difficulty levels. Gentle learning curve, fun powerups, colorful cartoon graphics and wacky sounds makes Plantastic! the ultimate casual gaming experience.

Plantastic! recently awarded at Mobile Rules! 08 by Nokia for its innovative gameplay and multi-player features.

About PalmStorm:
PalmStorm Ltd. is a privately held company founded by industry veterans with more than 13 years in the industry as an average.
As creators of award-winning casual games, PalmStorm is committed to develop innovative, fun games that most people like playing, even on the go...

Using its own proprietary multi-platform technology, PalmStorm develops games for smartphones, PDAs and desktop PCs. As PalmStorm became licensed Nintendo developer in 2007, Nintendo DS has been added to the already wide range of supported platforms.

PalmStorm thoroughly understands development of handheld games, and all the component parts necessary to create them, from many years of practice. With its versatile and balanced team led by a strong management PalmStorm ensures quality and on-time delivery.