Ninjabee announces new Xbox Live arcade

NinjaBee, a division of Wahoo Studios and a leading independent developer of Xbox LIVE Arcade titles, has announced details about its newest title, A Kingdom for Keflings. This innovative city-building title comes from the studio that developed and published the popular games Band of Bugs, Outpost Kaloki X and Cloning Clyde.

A Kingdom for Keflings puts players in the shoes of a giant who has the ability to design and construct an intricate city for the local Keflings. Each giant starts out with a small handful (literally!) of helpful Keflings who follow the giant's every command. These Keflings can be trained to become lumberjacks, miners, transporters, sheep shearers, scholars, and various other professions as they help build the kingdom from the ground up.



"We wanted to make a city building game where the player is more personally involved instead of controlling an abstract floating hand," said Steve Taylor, President of NinjaBee. "A Kingdom for Keflings transports the player to a world they create and allows them to relax, enjoy the world and create a strategy that works for them."



A Kingdom for Keflings will feature fun and light-hearted gameplay with stunning visuals and original music to match. Players will build through all four seasons, with a dynamic musical score that changes depending on the progress of the city. Players of all ages can customize their kingdom by painting buildings and walls, planting trees and topiaries and constructing statues and other works of art. The online multiplayer option allows up to four giants to build a kingdom cooperatively over Xbox LIVE. A Kingdom for Keflings will be released later this fall on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Hardy Boys to debut on Nintendo Wii

The Adventure Company continues the development of adventure games for Wii. The PC adventure based upon the successful "Hardy Boys" –series, scheduled for Q4 2008, will be converted to Wii and hit the stores in Q2 2009.

"The Adventure Company" is dedicated to the continuous evaluation of new adventure titles for PC and console systems in order to tighten and optimise the line-up in 2009. The Nintendo DS is evaluated as another potential platform for adventure brands, ensuring the fulfillment of TAC (The Adventure Company) criteria like for example easy-access gameplay and enduring puzzling fun.

About The Hardy Boys

With over 100 million copies of their beloved books in print, America’s original crime scene investigators, Frank and Joe Hardy, are riding a wave of classic retro popularity com bined with a whole new attitude. Since 1928, Simon & Schuster and Grosset & Dunlap have published The Hardy Boys classic editions, currently selling over 1 million copies annually. The new contemporary series Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, featuring the boys as spies for American Teens Against Crime launched in 2005, with an additional Super Mystery published every summer.

GamesCampus.com download the open beta starts August 5

San Jose-based online game publisher, Gamescampus.com (www.gamescampus.com, run by OnNet USA), announced today it will begin the open beta test for its newest game, Asda Story, tomorrow, August 5th, 2008 at 9:00PM Pacific Standard Time.

With the start of the open beta test the company has also announced a special new program for players of the game-The Guaranteed Fun Promotion. The company is certain that players will be satisfied with their Asda Story game experience, so much so, that they are staking money on it. Any player who signs up for and plays the game (for
free) for 30 days and isn't satisfied with their experience can ask the company to pay them $30 USD. For the full details visit http://asdastory.gamescampus.com/event/fun.html.

The open beta session will commence on August 5, 2008 at 9:00 PM PST and will run through late August at which point the game will officially launch. Gamers are invited to join the open beta by going to the official website at www.asdastory.gamescampus.com where they can create an account and sign up to participate.

"We chose to bring this game to the west because we believe in its potential. The Guaranteed Fun Promotion is our way of showing our belief in the game and is even better than a money-back guarantee because you don't have to spend a penny to play Asda Story," said David Chang, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Gamescampus.com. "We are just asking you to invest your time in playing our game, and if after playing for 30 days you don't feel it has been the great game experience we feel it to be, we want to hear your feedback and we'll give you $30.00. It is as simple as that."

In order to ensure players have spent enough time with the game, players must reach level Level 40 by September 4th, 2008 to qualify for the program. Again full details for the program can be found here http://asdastory.gamescampus.com/event/fun.html. The open beta for Asda Story will also be celebrated with many other in-game events that are detailed on the Asda Story site. With the Guaranteed Fun Promotion and in-game events players will have a lot of exciting reasons to be one of the first players to try the game.

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.

Both unique systems ('Soul Mate System' and 'Real Costume System') were credited for helping to generate a high female user ratio for Asda Story (more than 20% of the total players are female) when launched in Korea and Japan. With these systems, players are able to personalize the design of their items and make the look of their characters stand out. Gamescampus.com is expecting to see similar ratios with females for the launch of Asda Story in the United States.

For more information about Gamescampus.com or Asda Story, please visit www.gamescampus.com .

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI goes to War on September 5

KOEI today announced that Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI will be released across Europe on PC this September. RTK XI is the latest instalment in this award-winning strategy series but the first to be released in Europe on PC. Combining political manoeuvring with city building and tactical warfare, RTK XI is a tremendously involving experience that will appeal to PC strategists of all flavours. It will be available in stores and online from September 5.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI website is now live and the playable demo can be downloaded here for free. Head to the link below to learn more about the game’s devious politics, where you get to duel directly with fellow leaders. Discover more about the ways in which you can develop your city into the capital of a thriving empire. And find out about all of the intricate details which combine to make RTK XI a genuinely epic, time devouring experience.

www.rotk.co.uk

About ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XI

From legendary video game producer Kou Shibusawa comes his next historical simulation masterpiece! Rediscover an ancient civilization with an explosive history in this most stunning edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms to date. Set during the end of the Han Dynasty and the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., RTK XI presents the most visually captivating evolution ever seen in the history of the series. Featuring an artistic style evocative of classical Chinese ink-paintings, and with debates and duels now rendered in real-time 3D animation, RTK XI pushes the boundaries and blurs the line between video games and art in this stunning recreation of the mood and feel of ancient China.

Players will need to dig deep within to prove themselves adept at both the military and political arts in order to bring China under one rule. Domestic affairs, diplomacy and warfare are all conducted on a single vast 3D relief map, dramatically bringing to life the epic scale of the adventure that lies before them.

As the ruler of a kingdom, each player will have complete control over their territories. More than 40 base commands give players the power to govern cities, manage their personnel, practice diplomacy, and much more. Complete freedom to develop markets, shipyards, outposts, forts and military units expand on the already substantial benchmarks established by previous editions of the series. Finally, players will watch the era come to life through the unique individual personalities of more than 780 officers and supporting characters that they will meet and interact with while engaged in one of RTK XI's eight gripping scenarios

For improved control over each military campaign, RTK XI's turn-based game play allows the player to plan their movements without undue time constraints, and then execute their battle tactics when ready. RTK XI also introduces an entirely new system for researching military techniques, as well as an Advanced Tactics System that allows players to drive or lure enemies into devastating ambushes. Skilled players will be able to link together tactics for maximum damage.

StreamMyGame - Play Crysis with SixAxis on PlayStation 3

Streaming software by StreamMyGame, that enables the latest PC games to be played on the PlayStation 3, now enables you to play PC games with your SIXAXIS controller.

The new StreamMyGame PlayStation 3 player includes a USB and Bluetooth pairing tool that enables the SIXAXIS to be used via cable or wirelessly.

"Both our new StreamMyGame PS3 player and the Bluetooth tool install automatically, just download and double click" said Richard Faria, StreamMyGames CEO. "In addition to streaming games from your local PC, the new player enables games to be streamed from remote PCs or PC servers housed in ISP exchanges".

Also included is a new configuration tool enabling gamers to map each SIXAXIS button and thumb controller to a different keyboard key and mouse axis so gamers can create map settings that suit their preferred gameplay.
"The new player works with Yellow Dog Linux Version 6 which is now really easy to install and recommended by Sony," said Richard. "We have included full details on our website of where to download YDL6, how to record it to DVD and how to install it".

Watch Crysis on the PS3 with SIXAXIS. Includes installation and configuration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUXVnpgEqZQ

"The ability to use the SIXAXIS to play PC games on the PS3 enables our PS3 customers to use a gaming control they are already familiar with and the flexibility to play games the way they want," said Richard.

About StreamMyGame
http://www.streammygame.com/ manufactures a revolutionary technology that enables games and applications to be played and used remotely around the home or over broadband.

Home Sweet Home 2 - Kitchens and Baths

Home Sweet Home 2: Kitchens and Baths

Big Blue Bubble is pleased to announce the sequel to Home Sweet Home, the smash-hit D.I.Y. home design casual game with over 4 million downloads.

Home Sweet Home 2: Kitchens and Baths takes you into the hip lifestyle of uptown apartment living to create the kitchens and bathrooms of your client’s dreams. Decipher the clues to figure out what your client needs and design a room with your own creative touch. Then bring in your crew and watch your design come to life! With hundreds of new furnishings and appliances from twelve different categories and an all-new collection of brain-teasing riddles, Home Sweet Home 2: Kitchens and Baths is sure to challenge even the most savvy home designers!

Home Sweet Home 2: Kitchens and Baths should be available on all major game portals by the end of August.

With over 30 high profile games in its portfolio, Big Blue Bubble Inc. is one of Canada’s leading video game developers. Each of company’s three divisions (Mobile, Console and Casual) is dedicated to making the best possible games by combining innovative designers with top-caliber artists and experienced programmers. By maintaining a strong focus on the development of technology and showcasing it through award-winning games, Big Blue Bubble will continue to lead the way in becoming a cornerstone of the casual gaming world.

Madden NFL 09 demo on Xbox Live and PlayStation network now

Come Experience the First Sports Game that Adapts to You

The 20th anniversary of Madden NFL football is less than two weeks away! Gamers can check out Madden NFL 09, the first sports game that adapts to you, with the Madden NFL 09 demo that is now available on Xbox Live and Playstation Network. Players can try out the new Virtual Trainer mode, which allows users to customize the difficulty and gameplay settings, as well as preview the new Madden Moments game mode.

At the start of the demo, players can get a sneak peak of the new Virtual Trainer mode as they are immediately dropped into the Madden Test - used to assess a players Madden IQ. Throughout the game, a player’s Madden IQ is constantly updated and adjusted, as are the difficulty and play settings which are based on the Madden IQ. The Madden Test consists of four core game play mechanics: Passing, Rushing, Pass Defense, and Rush Defense.

Madden Moments allows gamers to replay a team's key moment from the 2007 NFL season. In the demo, the Giants Super Bowl-winning drive is the featured Madden Moment. Players will take over the reins of Eli Manning and the Giants with about two minutes to go and attempt to score and walk away with the NFL championship.

Madden NFL 09 is scheduled for release on August 12 and introduces over 85 new features and enhancements. Madden NFL 09 also includes a brand-new broadcast presentation package featuring Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond, online leagues, and the most realistic graphics in franchise history.

How long can the PlayStation 2 go on?

After nine years of running strong, how are the PS2's golden years?

read more | digg story

Sony targets India with kabaddi game

Sony is teaming with Gameshastra to create Indian sports titles for the local market.

The format holder has already pledged support for the expanding Indian market, earlier this year signing 13 developers to create games specifically for Indian consumers.

"We feel that the Indian gaming market with its current growth has reached a level where a new concept like this can be tried and we expect it to do very well," commented Sony Europe COO Jim Ryan.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Gameshastra in this endeavour and have every belief that it will be a huge success."

The game will feature a number of sports including kabaddi, kho kho and guilli danda and will be released in Spring 2009.

"A typical Indian gamer is a city-bred youth who has no idea about traditional Indian games," offered Prakesh Ahuja, CEO of Gameshastra.

"These games have an inherent Indian rustic appeal to them which will be appreciated by Indian gamers if presented in an interesting format. We are confident that the old world charm of these games would appeal not only to people in India but also to the Indian diasporas worldwide."

Source: Games Industry

Crime could pay for Grand Theft Auto IV

CONTROVERSIAL video game Grand Theft Auto IV has been nominated for a top award at the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival.
The game, created by Edinburgh-based company Rockstar North, is the latest in the long-running franchise which sees gamers given the chance to run around lavishly-created virtual cities carrying out all manner of criminal activities.

This latest instalment has earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours.

In its first day on release the game sold 3.6 million copies and earned more than £150 million.

At the Edinburgh awards, established to recognise innovation and design in video games, it will be up against the revolutionary Wii Fit, the incredibly popular Rock Band game and best-selling Halo 3.

The winner of the Edge Award will be announced on Monday, August 11

Source: The Scotsman