NCsoft Covers New Ground in City of Heroes

Newest expansion takes players to ancient city to save the present day

NCsoft Europe, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced the release of City of Heroes “Issue 12: Midnight Hour.” The newest free expansion for current subscribers, Issue 12 brings to life a special covert group from the game’s lore, highly-anticipated Villain Epic Archetypes, more powerset options and character slots for players, plus a whole new Greek- and Roman-inspired zone to explore!

City of Heroes Issue 12, developed and published by NCsoft, brings the Midnight Squad out of the lore and into the game. The Midnight Squad is the clandestine organization of mystics, scholars and mages who hold a secret that could bring the alien group, the Rikti, to its knees. Players are encouraged to help the Midnight Squad uncover the secret that could help save Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles from further alien assaults.



Part of this secret will be revealed in a new zone called Cimerora, which uses the Ouroboros time travel system introduced in Issue 11. This zone, inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, is only accessible by working with the Midnight Squad. Once the player has access, both villains and heroes must face deadly creatures and defeat an unexpected threat. As a reward for their accomplishments in Cimerora, players can unlock special Greek- and Roman-inspired armor and costumes.

Another key feature in Issue 12 is Villain Epic Archetypes. Now, villains who reach level 50 unlock two brand new epic archetypes; Wolf Spiders and Blood Widows. Wolf Spiders can specialize into Bane Spiders or Crab Spiders, and Blood Widows can develop into Night Widows or Fortunatas. Each specialty enjoys a unique set of wickedly powerful attacks.

Issue 12 also introduces Powerset Proliferation (http://eu.cityofheroes.com/game-guide/feature-updates/powerset_proliferation_powersets_revealed), which vastly increases the variety of villain and hero characters that players can create. Some powersets, previously only available to hero archetypes, are now available to designated villain archetypes, and vice versa. To help accommodate all of these new character options, the development team has opened additional character slots. All current subscribers receive two new character slots for use on the server of their choice. Other slots may be acquired as a part of the Veteran Rewards (http://eu.cityofheroes.com/game-guide/veteran-rewards/) program, or for purchase. Details can be found on the City of Heroes web site (http://eu.cityofheroes.com/news/article/3165/).

“With the introduction of Villain Epic Archetypes, new costume options and Powerset Proliferation in Issue 12, we knew players would want to be able to create new characters,” said Matt Miller, lead designer. “Expanding the number of character slots in this way ensures that our players can use all these new features. We think it’s a great solution that adds value to the service.”

To join the adventures of the most successful comic-book themed game on the market, players can purchase the City of Heroes “Good Versus Evil Edition” game pack at retailers across Europe or through digital download via http://eu.plaync.com/eu/store/, which includes complete City of Heroes and City of Villains games, as well as a set of exclusive bonus items. Customers receive the first month of play free and both games can be played for the single monthly subscription price of £8.99 / €12.99.

For more information about City of Heroes, go to http://www.eu.cityofheroes.com/.

Stronghold Crusader Extreme goes gold - Prepare Yourself For The Medieval Mayhem

Firefly Studios’ ‘Stronghold Crusader Extreme’ has gone gold. That means fans of the series have less than a week wait before they can get their hands on all new Stronghold gameplay, now, more extreme than ever.

Stronghold Crusader Extreme takes all the medieval mayhem of its predecessors and kicks things up a notch. With new features like opponent AI and maps, an all new extreme trail, and full-scale epic warfare with over 10,000 units, gamers won’t want to miss out on any of the action.

Stronghold Crusader Extreme releases May 28.

IGN: Ninja Gaiden II Review

If, as many have said in the past, Ninja Gaiden on Xbox is the greatest action game ever made, then Ninja Gaiden II on Xbox 360 is just a sequel.

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ArchLord subscription-free MMORPG pass half a million players mark

Codemasters Online is pleased to announce they have opened the doors to their 500,000th player of its popular subscription-free MMORPG, ArchLord.

Since moving to free-to-play, ArchLord has seen explosive new player growth over recent months with more players than ever taking on the challenge to compete to become the all-conquering ArchLord and with it rule the entire game world.

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented,

“This is a key milestone in the growth of ArchLord. ArchLord is a premier free-to-play MMORPG offering significantly more depth and quality than most other free-to-play games and this recent achievement solidifies our commitment to the ongoing development and success of ArchLord.”

To cope with the increased popularity for the game, Codemasters Online will shortly be opening an all-new game world to cope with the game’s substantially increased demand as they gear up for the next free content update Episode 3 due in the coming months.

ArchLord is a premier free-to-play online role-playing game allowing players to download and play the game for free with no monthly subscriptions or commitments. The online game challenges thousands of players each month to raise an army, to compete to become the game’s all-ruling ArchLord and with it control of the entire game world impacting on the lives of thousands of ArchLord players.

To download ArchLord the premier free-to-play MMORPG visit the game’s official website www.archlordgame.com

Freaky Creatures Collectible and Interactive Game Package

"Freaky Creatures," one of the world's first player-customized, cross-platform, multi-player game universes for the tween demographic. "Freaky Creatures" comes packaged with one of 10 collectible toys and an accompanying USB key, which gives players access to download the game to their personal computer and mobile devices.

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As part of the agreement, WEA will distribute "Freaky Creatures" products in the United States through traditional game retail channels as well as online and mobile outlets.

"We are excited to partner with WEA, a company with the experience and distribution muscle necessary to bring this unique product to market," said Jamie Ottilie, President and COO of Abandon Interactive Entertainment. "'Freaky Creatures' speaks directly to the 8-to-13 year-old tween audience in a new way and thanks to WEA's ability to target non-traditional and digital retail channels, as well as their enormous reach within traditional music distribution outlets, they can better help us connect with this important target audience."

John Esposito, President and CEO, WEA Corp., said, "As our company continues to grow and seek out new opportunities across a number of platforms, WEA is delighted to work with the team at Abandon Interactive Entertainment in the marketing and promotion of this innovative, multi-player, cross-platform game."

Scheduled to launch in Spring 2008, the "Freaky Creatures" collectibles and game offer a unique physical and digital gaming experience. "Freaky Creatures" puts the gamer into a futuristic setting as a "Freaky Creature Trainer." To succeed, the user must create, raise, train, and customize his or her "Freaky Creatures" and compete in battles against other players. The cross-platform game play allows players to access their creatures from both their PC and mobile phone.

Imperium Romanum add-on

GamersGate host worldwide download premiere for Imperium Romanum add-on

GamersGate announced that it will host the worldwide download premiere of the first add-on to the critically acclaimed historical city builder Imperium Romanum. The Conquest of Britannia adds four new missions and a plethora of game updates as the player faces the challenge of conquering the British Isles.

Published by Kalypso Media, the add-on is scheduled for release on May 30 and has a Suggested Retail Price of €4.99/$5.99

GamersGate has also updated the Suggested Retail Price of Imperium Romanum to $29.99 / €29.99 effective immediately.

Find out more about The Conquest of Brittania and how to pre-order on GamersGate here.

The Reawakening beta test open free-to-play MMORTS

The Reawakening opens up the beta test for everyone and suddenly a stroll in the park seems pretty far away.

After an extensive closed beta testing, endless hours without sleep and fighting bugs, The Reawakening is now ready to move on to the public beta stage. Amazing feedback, constructive criticism and love letters from the truly devoted testers of the closed beta, has been invaluable and helped the team whip the game into shape.

Dreamlords The Reawakening is the follow-up to last year’s acclaimed MMORTS debut title from Swedish Lockpick Entertainment. Blending the popular RTS and RPG genres, The Reawkening is set in a ravaged world where the players each controls a Dreamlord, a celestial warlord, in their quest to restore order and peace.

Free to Play.

• Recruit and manage your troops, form alliances with other players or crush them…
  
• Bring your Dreamlord with you all the time in the game, equip it with various exciting gear and cool stuff.
  
• Simplified rules system, easy to get into – hard to master.
  
• Dreamlords – The Reawakening is a free-to-play MMORTS that will be available at www.dreamlords.com in a near future.
  

Bangai-O Spirits - Japanese puzzler on Nintendo DS

Bangai-O Spirits is a compelling blend of fast-paced shooter and puzzler genres, seasoned with strategic and tactical elements. Developed in the eccentric, much-loved style of TREASURE Co., Ltd., it is a DS re-imagination of the Japanese team’s ‘90s cult classic game Bangai-O.

The DS title provides gamers with addictive shooter gameplay, punishing super-moves and a sensory overload of onscreen fireworks, with strategic and tactical elements and TREASURE’s familiar quirky design style. The game also offers competitive multiplayer modes for 1-4 players via local wireless, a powerful level editor tool which allows players to edit in-game levels or create new ones from scratch, and the revolutionary new ability to transfer data among DS systems through sound data transfer technology known as Sound Load —a first for DS handheld systems.

Never before utilized for DS systems, the Sound Load technology in Bangai-O Spirits allows players to transfer level data among DS handheld systems via the use of sound and the DS microphone. The technology works by taking the level data and turning it into a sound file which is output through the host DS speaker. This data is then interpreted through the microphone of the recipient DS, and the level transfer is complete.


It is also possible to upload and circulate sound files of level data from Bangai-O Spirits online via the Internet, or to save files to a recording device like a PC or jump drive for transport and distribution, allowing gamers to catalogue, share and compare levels online easily with gamers all over the world. Widening the range of play and interaction even further, gamers can also deliver high score and gameplay footage as transferable sound files by using Sound Load. More details about this unique feature will be forthcoming soon.



“It is an honour to bring a ground-breaking game by a respected developer like TREASURE to game enthusiasts,” said Yoji Takenaka, chief operating officer, D3PE. “Bangai-O Spirits contains many key elements that define a truly enjoyable videogame—the innovation in both technology and gameplay make this a must-have title for everyone who owns a DS system.”

Here's 11 minutes of your time that you won't mind losing.

Just... wow.

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Free to play football MMO - World's first virtual football video game

Football Superstars is a free to play football MMO, published by UK Company CyberSports. It is the world’s first virtual footballing world - an interactive online virtual world designed for football fans to live a top footballer’s lifestyle and is due for release in late 2008.

Once downloaded, players re-create themselves online as a footballer and then have free reign in the state of the art interactive virtual world. Players can play their way from three-a-side up to eleven-a-side matches, gaining attributes and skills in order to specialise in their chosen playing position.

Once the basic skills have been learned on the training pitch, players can choose between unranked casual games, ranked Football Superstars league matches organised by the game and player organised league matches with player manager clubs. All of which will be backed up by extensive web support from developer Monumental Games, which would include downloadable replay videos of every competitive match. All the players – with the exception of the goalkeepers – are controlled by humans, leaving it as close an experience to the real thing as you can get, with the run of play shaped by the twenty human players.

The individuals you play with and against are all of the same skill level as yourself, so your aim as in the real world - is to become a better virtual footballer. You can then play at ever higher levels and enjoy all the financial and lifestyle trappings that will inevitably follow. In simple terms, the better you play the better and more fulfilling your experience in the virtual world will be.

Players are paid for the games they play in Football Superstars currency, of which there are two types-dollars and bonds. The bonds can be bought with real money and used to purchase special privileges and items. Again, following the real world, the higher the level you play the higher your wages, all of which can then be spent in the game’s two vast virtual towns, which have the capacity to host millions of other football fans online at the same time.

Away from the pitch you can socialise in restaurants, bars and clubs and visit shops where you can buy the latest branded football equipment – which aids your progress on the pitch – and designer clothes. You can train in gyms to enhance your physical attributes, which also improves your playing skills, or flirt with the paparazzi in a bid to enhance your fame and status and gain access to the most exclusive clubs and venues.

The result of all this career and lifestyle building is the chance of that big dream transfer, on the pitch glory, off-the-pitch glamour and the opportunity to become the world’s ultimate Football Superstar.