New Star Grand Prix has been updated to version 1.07

New Star Grand Prix has received a major update. Along with a host of new features it has been translated into 12 different languages. It is available now on PC and Mac from www.newstargames.com.

New Star Grand Prix has been updated to version 1.07. New features include the KERS boost system, slipstreaming and a speedometer HUD. It is also now playable in 12 languages. (English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Polish, Finnish, Turkish, Slovenian.)

New Star Grand Prix is a top-down racing game inspired by classics such as Super Sprint and Micro Machines, but brought bang up to date to feature all the teams, drivers and tracks of the 2009 Grand Prix season. It features a full career mode that spans up to 10 seasons where you must compete against the world’s best drivers on 17 real-world tracks. During your career you will need to manage your finances and relationships with the team boss, pit crew, friends and fans. You can gamble at the casino and even purchase sports cars, but it is on the track where you must really prove yourself. Races feature changeable weather conditions, tyre wear, car damage and fuel loads, all of which affect your car’s handling and will require careful monitoring if you want to make tactical pitstops. The camera can be zoomed in or out to suit your driving style and after the race you can upload your best laptime to the online leaderboard. The game also features a comprehensive track editor that will allow you to design and race on your own tracks.

Trial versions for PC and Mac are available from www.newstargames.com/nsgp.html and the full version for can be purchased for $9.99. Please contact Simon Read for a review copy.

Based in Oxford, UK, New Star Games is a small independent company with a passion for sports games.

Arabic Rappelz Hamaleel Newspaper promotion

The first Arabic 3D MMO Game and virtual world, Arabic Rappelz, has started a cooperation agreement with the famous newspaper Hamaleel in a bid to promote Arabic literature and culture among the Internet generation in the Middle East

The first action is this agreement comes as Arabic Rappelz is celebrating the World Book and Copyright Day on April 23rd 2009.

Hamaleel is sponsoring a 3-days competition where players are asked to answer questions related to World and Arabic literature and culture with virtual and real world gifts.

Arabic Rappelz is the first Arabic MMO game to be published in the region, it was commercially launched on March 16th, 2009.

Hamaleel Newspaper is an independent weekly newspaper that focuses on local and Arab literature

About Game Power 7
A publisher and developer of online MMO games and related digital media, Game Power 7 emerged as the first gaming company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Game Power 7 is a subsidiary of Weiss Investment, a leader in media business in MENA and Southeast Asia regions, and the owner of the Spacetoon and Space Power TV stations and media hubs.
Game Power 7 published the first online MMO game in the region, Arabic Rappelz, thus, taking the risk of this untapped market in MENA
The company has built a state-of-the-art game localization and culturalization facility that provides global game developers with value-added game publishing services
Game Power 7 is based in Dubai, UAE.

Go on a PSP(PlayStation Portable) shopping spree with new v5.50 update

System software update v5.50 for PSP now allows unregistered users to check out PlayStation Store and view the Information Board

The doors to PlayStation Store have just opened wide thanks to the latest system software update for PSP (PlayStation Portable). The v5.50 upgrade means you no longer need a PlayStation Network account to do a quick bit of window shopping – you can check out all the latest games, trailers and demos available for download from your PSP.

But that’s not all the upgrade offers. PSP users will now be able to view PlayStation Network’s Information Board on the PSP system’s XMB (XrossMediaBar) interface– the live news feed detailing the latest exciting PlayStation Store offers – on their screen (as long as they are WiFi connected).

This upgrade is available from April 21. For more information about the upgrade and these features please go to www.eu.playstation.com

Killzone 1.24 Patch Details

AI - Bots now skipping disabled/destroyed MGs in warzone when requesting mounted guns.
AI - Do not claim waypoints for the previous character when it’s dead.
AI - Fixes bots getting stuck trying to arm/disarm S&D object when mission is already over.
Campaign - Fix for potential progression bug in Salamun Bridge.
Clan - User name, not users clan displayed in rankings
Clan - Winning 10 Clan Challenges causes the user to become stuck on the medal awards screen.
Controls - Lean & Peak - Zoom hold on and out of ammo it switches between regular/scope view rapidly.
Cosmetic - Blue screen tint which indicates scout cloak is occasionally enabled and will remain indefinitely.
Cosmetic - White squares on the grenade counter merge together when displayed in 1080p
Create Game - “Badge Combination” option does not work properly
Create Game - Online - “clan only” presets apply even after a player leaves a clan
DLC - DLC pack 1 - ’Steel & Titanium’ support DLC - New Loading screens advertising the first DLC pack.
Exploit - Helghan Industries - Player getting out of map fix.
Exploit - Radec Academy - User is able to gain access to the roof when revived in a specific location.
Exploit - Reviving player stuck in wall collision can result in him spawning outside level
Exploit - Salamun Market - One sided wall allows people to be seen and shot from outside where they cant see or fire out
Exploit - Tharsis Depot - Player can get out of the “normal” play area and can get into some sniper/camp spots
Feature - Invite player from friendslist Feature - Join Clan Member list added.
Feature - Join Game - 17-24 players filter.
Feature - MP - Moving while seeing scores after pressing SELECT
Feature - The radar/map now has a larger radius
Feature - Three additional ’Harcore’ Ranks added to the top limits.
Front-end - Add support to display more than 8 maps when creating a game /challenge/tournament
Front-end - Sorting ascending and decending ranks working better in ’Rankings’
Front-end - When in a squad, the Valor Trophy is visible in the Squad Tab, however the users rank is not being displayed on top of it.
Mods - Official tournament to be displayed first followed by custom created tournaments
Mods - Additional functionality made avalable to the in-game moderators.
Network - Server side fix for full games being displayed incorrectly.
Network - User is unable to use the ’Join Clan Member’ tab due to Network Error Code 20002.
Online - File-synching with the Japanese release of Killzone 2 on the 23rd of April.
Sound - Turret placing sound continues when killed.
Stability - Crash when synching gamestate after a full mapcycle
Stability - Hang on a screen with a blank message window just before a message appears.
Stability - Reducing the load on the server related to syncing the buddylist
Stats - If a clan wins 24 Clan Challenges and goes to the result screen, the medal acquisition screen, which normally displays when you win 25 games, will display.
Stats - Number of air-support grenades used by tacticians does not add to the stats of joined user correctly.
Stats - Number of spawn-grenades used by tacticians does not add to the stats of joined user correctly.
Stats - User sometimes does not receive 1000 valor award when winning 10 Clan Challenges.
Text - % character not displayed correctly on the creating game dialogue box after selecting to create game.
Text - If a client receives an invite from a clan which has a ’$’ character in the clan name, the recipient will get kicked
Text - Minor Italian localization fix.
Text - Minor Japanese localization fix.
Tournament - Game decides winner if one of the two teams doesn’t spawn in
Trophies - Fix for Wargod trophy unlocking pre-maturely

Source: PS3Blog

Battle Rage - The Robot Wars video game Q&A session

With the impending UK release of BATTLE RAGE: THE ROBOT WARS a third person shooter with elements of a beat’em'up game that allows a player to control giant robots. This being the first real ‘REAL 3D’ console game, by using stereoscopic glasses on the Nintendo Wii, the team behind the development taken time out of their schedule to provide an insight into the game’s 3D engine. Below, Rob Dorney Art Director and Karl White Technical Director talk about some of the main aspects of the game.



1. How is it real 3D?

KW: Most computer games are created using 3D models but the player still only sees a flat image of these on their 2DTV. Each image is flat just like a photo. You can try to imagine depth from shadows and the size of objects, but really each frame of the TV image is totally flat. In the ‘real world ‘ we see objects in real 3D, objects are solid and they appear near to us or far away. Our in-game stereoscopic render works the same way that our normal eyesight works in the real world by providing a different view to each eye, so our in-game objects appear as real 3D objects. It really does separate the game environments and characters according to their distance from the player, the effect of which is very immersive. The stereoscopic effect forces your eyes to refocus when you look around the environment, just like they would in reality.

RD: With any graphical advances like this, the effect is more pronounced in some environments than others. In BattleRage’s case, the designers took particular care to lay out the environments so there was plenty of very selectively placed items that help accentuate the 3D immersion.

2. How important will 3D gaming be?

RD: We feel there had to be a next step away from 2D control methods and 2D screen imagery- it’s been done for 20 years now. The next evolution in control has come from motion sensitive devices, the Wii remote being the primary commercial success in this field, and the next visual advance will certainly be into 3D interactive entertainment. We saw a trend forming with TV manufacturers and the movie industry starting to look into 3D and felt the video game market should also be at the forefront of this revolution. Titles like BattleRage will sow the seeds with many developers and we’re convinced there will be many other titles that try their hand at developing new 3D rendering technology, as we have.

3. How does it work?

KW: Having two eyes we see two slightly different images with each eye. The brain works out from the slight variation in each image the correct distance away for everything it sees. Our stereoscopic effect essentially works by drawing the game environment twice - once for each of your eyes. The rendered images differ because each eye will see the environment from a slightly different perspective, with objects in the immediate foreground being seen very differently in one eye than the other. It’s this difference which makes the stereoscopic 3D effect work. These two images are then overlaid; one in red, one in cyan and the combined images form a new stereoscopic image. The red and cyan lenses in your glasses block out the colours that make up one of those images allowing us to 'tell' each of your eyes what they should see.

We chose the colour separation technique so that the effect could be seen by anyone (including people who are colour blind!) and without any special hardware. Instead we spent time refining the effect so it would be as effective and immersive as possible. There have been films which use the same process but due to how the film is displayed, personal eyesight and slight colour differences in the lens to view the film, the images are often blurred or a ghosting effect happens, which spoils the 3D effect. With the video game we run a personal setup to correctly align the player, TV and lens to provide a perfect 3D experience.

4. Plans for more?

RD: Very much so; the press feedback we’ve had since announcing the technology has been exceptionally positive so it’s very clear to us that the market is ready for the 'next big thing'. We’ve invested considerable time, cost and manpower into both engine-side technology and peripheral technology, to make immersive 3D titles and BattleRage will be just the first to reap the rewards of this investment. Other titles include games for all ages, styles and genres. We have just applied for patents on new technology using the Wii motion sensing devices to detect your head movements so not only can you see in 3D you can actually move around in 3D. Tilting your head will look around objects or moving closer to the screen will view the objects close up and the player will move around a world by just looking in the direction they want to move. It is very close to virtual.... reality a sort of 3D-VR simulation device, but I’m afraid that at this stage I’m bound by NDA so can’t talk too much about those, sorry!

5. What is the future for 3D gaming?

RD: The future is exceptionally bright for 3D video games. We think you’ll see developers exploring all manner of new immersive experience technology in both the visual area and in tactility. There will no doubt be casualties where people push a boundary too far too early, but for the first time in a while, innovation seems to be at the forefront of developers imagination. In the immediate future things like inventive control devices, more use of voice recognition and 3D rendering technology will be pushing back the traditional boundaries of entertainment.

RD: The original late 80’s VR revolution was probably a little before its time, but it proved that people were fascinated by immersive experiences. Nowadays with much more accessible and powerful technology at our disposal, not to mention a bunch of very talented and creative programmers and designers, there really is a 3D revolution upon us. If for no other reason, BattleRage will be remembered as the game which really started it all!

BATTLE RAGE: THE ROBOT WARS is a third person shooter with elements of a beat’em'up game that allows a player to control giant robots. It will offer standard visual mode or visually stunning 3D graphics mode. Battles between the robots take place on carefully selected battlegrounds (so called “arenas”) and they are short, quick, brutal skirmishes. The player can fight alone (versus one, two or even three opponents) or in a team against a common foe. Every robot has its own weapons (for melee and distance combat), additional enhanced weapon types can be collected on the arena.

The player can customize their robot’s parameters in the single player and multiplayer modes to create their own unique fighting style. Also many new, powerful robotic upgrades will be waiting for the player to unlock in the story mode. The Tournament has begun.

Features:
Single player and Multiplayer modes.
Arcade mode with a separate Storyline for each of the robots characters.
Robot Customization.
Compelling mechanics (Rage, Rush, Power Triangle).
Special Attacks (push, stun and other unique abilities for each robot).
Robots allowed to fight with 3 weapons at the same time (two ranged and one melee).
8 unique starting robots.
20 weapons.
10 arenas.
Innivotive 3D graphics.

Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars multi-player option video game trailer

You will play as Huang Lee, who is on a typical mission to revenge his father's death and, in true Asian style, to restore the honor of his family by punishing those who dared to mock it.

But his trip won't be easy, as the criminals found in the Chinatown neighborhood are extremely dangerous and will make a lot of trouble for him. The gameplay fragments in between the classic GTA-style artwork show a lot of fun things like running around while explosions happen at every step, in a very arcade manner as even Rockstar Leeds have said.

Watch the video...

Wii Fit stay at the top of the UK video games chart

ChartTrack UK weekly game chart

Week ending 18 April 2009



1 WII FIT NINTENDO 1
2 THE GODFATHER II EA GAMES 2
3 FIFA 09 EA SPORTS 5
4 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES SEGA 3
5 RESIDENT EVIL 5 CAPCOM 4
6 PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE NINTENDO 7
7 MARIO KART WII NINTENDO 9
8 WII PLAY NINTENDO 8
9 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ACTIVISION 6
10 CARNIVAL: FUNFAIR GAMES 2KPLAY 16
11 GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR REDOCTANE 14
12 STREET FIGHTER IV CAPCOM 10
13 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE ACTIVISION 11
14 DR KAWASHIMA'S BRAIN TRAINING NINTENDO 15
15 RAYMAN RAVING RABBIDS TV PARTY UBISOFT -
16 WHEELMAN MIDWAY 12
17 BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE D3P 13
18 LEGO INDIANA JONES: ORIGINAL ADVENTURES LUCASARTS -
19 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV ROCKSTAR -
20 MONSTERS VS ALIENS ACTIVISION

The New Asda Story PvP Testing Server is open GamesCampus celebrates with Tournaments Starting April 21

A new PvP test server for its popular MMORPG, Asda Story. In celebration of the PvP test server launch, GamesCampus is also hosting the first-ever Asda Story PvP tournaments starting April 21. Asda Story is available to download at http://asdastory.gamescampus.com/.

Along with the opening of the server, the first PvP Tournament will take place from April 21 to April 22. Players on the PvP server will get to use free skill resets, upgrade items, and potion items from the item mall as well as 10K Gold!

"Asda Story players have really been looking forward to the unveiling of the player versus player gameplay and we are very excited to finally let them test it out," said Jiwoo Park, Producer of Asda Story at GamesCampus.com. "The feedback we receive from this test will help us to implement PvP features that suit the needs of the Asda Story community. "

The tournament for players Level 39 and below (1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 2) will take place on April 21, with the tournament for Level 40 and above players (1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 2) taking place on April 22.

Following this test of the PvP server, a full PvP combat system will launch in May of this year.

Based on a colorful, bright and cheerful world, Asda Story is a free to play exciting fantasy-style anime 3D MMORPG game that features a unique 'Soul Mate System.' The unique party system offers two players the ability to align to become 'soul mates' and allows them to wear unique costumes and use special skills. Another key feature of the game is the 'Real Costume System,' which gives players some of the most extensive personalization and design options ever seen in an MMORPG.

Free arcade MMORPG Dragonica European Closed Beta Test starting in mid-May

The free arcade MMORPG Dragonica roars into life with the European Closed Beta Test starting in mid-May

Dragonica is the brand new arcade-style 3D side-scrolling MMORPG that is roaring into life across Europe during the Closed Beta Test (CBT) during mid-May 2009. It will be published in Europe as a free to play MMORPG in English, French and German at the www.gpotato.eu gaming portal.

With tens of thousands of players already pre-registered and growing by the day, there is growing anticipation for Dragonica’s combo-based combat that is ready to take netbooks, notebooks and desktops across Europe by storm. In play tests conducted in Ireland during March and April, players have applauded the precise combat which is a vast change from clicky mouse-based combat which dominates MMORPG’s. Dragonica has also lots of potential for competitive gaming with a strong competitive component in the multiplayer modes.

During the ten day Closed Beta test, the Dragonica team will be on hand to welcome players into the world and run a whole schedule of in-game events to keep players entertained. There will be lots of in-game prizes up for grabs, and the players will have the opportunity to ensure that their character names are kept for the Open Beta, following a few weeks after the Closed Beta in June.

Registration for the Closed Beta lottery, as well as information about partner sites running beta key competitions can be found at the official European Dragonica website at http://dragonica.gpotato.eu

About Dragonica

Dragonica, the upcoming free-to-play arcade-style 3D side-scrolling MMORPG is developed by Barunson Interactive and the European version will be available to download from the www.gpotato.eu gaming portal in English, German and French. With original keyboard-controlled gameplay, combo-based action that rewards skilful players, a vibrant 3D universe and plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour along the way, Dragonica has universal appeal. By attracting all types of people the game has lots of fun and interesting content to keep players busy including four evolving classes, several PvP modes, over a thousand quests, in-game achievements, an open market system to trade your excess items, pets, housing and wedding systems and much more to come!

Stalin v Martians delayed until end of April - download free songs here

The Epic arcade-RTS from Black Wing Foundation needs a few extra days

Mezmer Games today announced that the arcade RTS game Stalin vs. Martians has been postponed due to the long march across the Siberian tundra. Stalin vs. Martians will be released later this month, when it will be available on all digital distribution platforms.

In the meanwhile, you can prepare yourself for the heroic battle by viewing the epic Stalin vs. Martians trailer featuring a techno-dancing Stalin and download free songs from acclaimed Stalin v Martians soundtrack at http://www.stalinvsmartians.com/en/av.html
Stalin commands you to dance!

The Stalin vs. Martians pre-order is still open on major online retailers such as GamersGate and Direct2Drive at a 20% discount from the retail price of $19.99 / €17.99.

“A dictator is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to,” said Tom Söderlund, Executive Producer at Mezmer Games.