Archive for November 18th, 2008

GAME WITH FAME presents…Play Rock Band 2 with Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

tenacious-d

Satirical rock band Tenacious D, featuring Jack Black and Kyle Gass, will be on Xbox LIVE® November 20 to play Xbox LIVE members in Rock Band 2 and to celebrate the recent release of The Complete Masterworks 2 DVD . If you’re an Xbox LIVE Gold member, and you want a chance to play with Tenacious D, send a friend request to the following Gamertags and be online half an hour before (8:00 P.M.) the Game with Fame session starts on Thursday, November 20, 8:30 P.M. ET.

Tenacious D consists of Jack Black who has starred in numerous films (Shallow Hal, School of Rock, Nacho Libre, and more) and Kyle Gass who is an actor and guitarist for both Tenacious D and the rock band Trainwreck, where he takes on his alter-ego of Klip Calhoun. The Complete Masterworks 2 DVD of Tenacious D is a follow-up to the group’s first platinum-selling DVD. The new 2-disc DVD includes a full-length live concert of the band at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, a one-hour documentary about the making of their movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny and the (lack of) critical acclaim it received, and bonus features including music videos and the band’s appearances on the MTV Awards, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

If you get a chance to play with Tenacious D, we want to hear about it! Send us an e-mail with the subject: “GWF – Tenacious D.” Be sure to include your Gamertag and home town.

Xbox Live Game With Fame featuring Tenacious D
WHEN: November 20th
TIME: 5:30PM to 7:30PM (PST)
WHERE: Los Angeles
GAME: Rock Band 2
GAMERTAG: JBTenacious, KGTenacious
LINKING URL: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/calendar/gamewithfame/2008/1110-tenaciousd.htm

White Tiger Costume Now Available in Fiesta

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Feeling frisky? Tap into your inner feline with the new White Tiger Costume now available in the free MMORPG Fiesta. Meow!

This cool new four-piece costume is now available in the Fiesta Store, and doesn’t just look look good — it makes you as ferocious as a tiger too with a whopping 10% critical bonus rate!

Stop by the Fiesta Store now and pick up the White Tiger Costume to earn your stripes!

Related Links:
Fiesta website: http://fiesta.outspark.com
White Tiger Costume: http://store.outspark.com/fiesta/item/1343

MTV Games, Harmonix and Electronic Arts Ship Rock Band® Track Pack Volume 2 to Retail Stores Nationwide

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Cambridge, MA – November 18, 2008 — Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game development company, andMTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced Rock Band® Track Pack Volume 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the WiiTM home video game console from Nintendo has shipped to retail stores nationwide. Pricing for the game is $29.99 MSRP for all platform versions.
Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2 features 20 amplifying tracks recorded by some of the most popular rock artists in history from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Mötley Crüe to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Duran Duran. Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2 can be played as a standalone game for all console versions using Rock Band and Rock Band 2 peripherals. Fans who buy the track pack for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system can also export all 20 songs to their console for play with Rock Band and Rock Band 2 using a free offer from Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network or the PlayStation Network.[1]

Rock Band 2, currently available for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system, has received numerous Editor’s Choice Awards and a combined metacritic score of 92. Rock Band 2 has revolutionized music gaming with the ability to export most of the songs from the original Rock Band disc[2], Online World Tour, daily Battle-Of-The-Bands Tournaments, Auto-Calibration to eliminate TV lag, wireless drums with quieter, velocity sensitive drum heads, support for up to three cymbals (sold separately), No Fail Mode, and a real Drum Trainer. Rock Band 2 will be available for the PlayStation 2 system and Wii in December 2008. Rock Band is currently available for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system and PlayStation 2 system and Wii.

Rock Band® Track Pack Volume 2 is rated “T” for Teen with a descriptor of Lyrics by the ESRB.

EA is the exclusive distribution and marketing partner for Rock Band.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

Atlantica Online wins a top award at ChinaJoy Debut

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

New MMORPG from NDOORS Receives Golden Plume Award for Best Foreign Online Game
 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Nov. 18, 2008 – Atlantica Online, the new strategic turn-based MMORPG, won a Golden Plume Award for Best Foreign Online Game. The prestigious prize was bestowed upon the best games in China by the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (ChinaJoy) on Nov. 4 in Beijing.

Atlantica’s victory comes as the game is preparing to enter beta testing in China. Atlantica developer NDOORS Inc. signed a publishing deal with Chinese gaming leader The9, which publishes World of Warcraft in China, last April. Beta on the Chinese edition of Atlantica is expected to begin in early 2009.

“Atlantica is The9’s most anticipated title,” said Jun Zhu, CEO, The9. “The title has a great premise with its combination of reality and fantasy and the legend of Atlantis. Atlantica will make a big impact in China’s online game market, especially with its exciting turn-based battle system.”

 

Atlantica has already made an impression on the Chinese, who are tapping into the Atlantica action on the Korea- and U.S.-based game servers.

“It’s an honor to be awarded the prestigious Golden Plume, especially considering Atlantica has yet to launch in China,” said Cho Seong Won, CEO, NDOORS Inc., which is based in South Korea. “We can’t wait to finish the localization process and prepare new content for gamers in China. We plan on living up to the expectations, which have just been set higher by this honor.”

Atlantica has been winning other accolades in addition to the Golden Plume. In Japan, where it is being published by Nexon Japan and is in open beta, Atlantica has hit number one in a most popular games list at 4gamer.net, one of Japan’s most influential webzines. In North America, Atlantica has reached number one on MMORPG.com’s “Most Popular” list and has been the top free-to-play game for three straight months at TenTonHammer.com.

With its licensing deal with Taiwan’s leading publisher Gamania, Atlantica will be reaching four of the major gaming markets in the world.

Atlantica Online is a strategic, turn-based RPG that merges traditional RPG gameplay and heavy strategic gameplay elements with a mercenary and nation management system. The turn-based combat gives players the chance to control a party of up to nine characters. In the mercenary system, players can recruit and develop mercenaries of different classes for their combat squad. The nation management system allows guilds to plan the conquest of cities and even whole nations.

Outspark $25 Gift Card Giveaway

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Outspark $25 Gift Card Giveaway

This Tuesday to Thursday Outspark will be holding a daily drawing for a $25 gift card with a custom image of the Outspark GMs on it! To enter, simply buy the special select items for the day. Check back every day, because the special items change each day and bring another chance to win!

Feeling thirsty? Need that extra edge to get through the toughest battles in Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice? Grab some potions from the Outspark Store today! Every player that purchases a potion from the Outspark Store will automatically be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card!

Prizes:
1st – $25 GM gift card
2nd and 3rd – 3,500 SparkCash
4th and 5th – 1,750 SparkCash

Keep your eyes peeled to Outspark.com to find out each day’s winners and the next special item!

Related links:

Fiesta website: http://fiesta.outspark.com
Secret of the Solstice website: http://solstice.outspark.com
Fiesta news post: http://fiesta.outspark.com/news/?view=news&document_srl=3095
Solstice news post: http://solstice.outspark.com/news/news/3096

Kutoka Interactive launches “Didi and Ditto Preschool – Mother Nature’s Visit” for kids 2 to 4 years old

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Children Have So Much Fun Playing The Game They Won’t Even Realize They Are Learning Valuable Skills in Math, Science Music and Art


MONTREAL- (November 18, 2008)
  Kutoka Interactive, producer of the award-winning Mia edutainment software series, is proud to announce the launch of the third title in its beloved Didi & Ditto series of fun and educational software for the PC and Macintosh. The new game continues the company’s tradition of high-quality production values: appealing characters, unique and distinctive graphics, feature-film quality animation and solid educational content. The engaging learning adventure, Didi & Ditto Preschool
- Mother Nature’s Visit, is targeted at children ages two to four years old and will catch and keep children’s attention with exciting activities related to pre-reading, pre-math, science, music and art.

In this adventure of the brother/sister twins Didi and Ditto, we find our two zany beavers preparing a reception for Mother Nature’s visit to their hometown called Smart Valley, a special, wacky world where spiral trees and funny characters abound. Zolt, a sneaky purple wolf, is trying to ruin the party by breaking all of the musical instruments and hiding all of the food.

He then plans to step in and be the hero when Mother Nature arrives. Didi and Ditto notice that Zolt is acting strange and decide to keep an eye on him. It is up to the player to decide which beaver will watch Zolt very carefully while the other one helps Hootdini get ready for the festivities.

In the game, children will work on recognizing letters and numbers, counting, classifying, identifying shapes and sounds, as well as developing observation abilities, understanding oral instructions, and more. These skills are seamlessly incorporated into the game play as the player helps Didi and Ditto. There are 16 entertaining activities and lots of funny animations. As in the previous Didi & Ditto games, children can choose to play the game as either the female character (Didi) or the male character (Ditto), a choice that can be very important to a preschooler.

A Grade-Based Learning Series
Each title in the Didi & Ditto series is designed to strengthen and reinforce what children will be learning at school and covers multiple subjects. At the start of each game there is a choice of three difficulty levels giving the games a great deal of replayability. “For many years, parents have mentioned their desire to have software for their preschoolers”, said Richard Vincent, Kutoka’s CEO and Creative Director.

“Didi & Ditto Preschool fills that gap and is a an extraordinary high-quality fun game we are very proud of. This software helps children acquire age-appropriate knowledge and skills that will help them later, when they start kindergarten.”

Fun AND Educational

Children love to play the educational activities in Didi & Ditto because they were designed to be FUN. Another motivation comes from the fact that the activities need to be completed in order to finish the game. So, the game supports, as well as develops, children’s essential skills while they are having an terrific time playing. Children can play the whole game but they also have the option to choose specific skills to directly focus on and practice.

Pricing and Availability

Didi & Ditto Preschool – Mother Nature’s Visit is a hybrid DVD-ROM that is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh computers. The software has a suggested retail price of $19.99 U.S. and can be purchased at J&R, The Apple Store and other retailers nationwide or online directly from Kutoka athttp://store.kutoka.com.

Kutoka: 13 Years Already!

Kutoka is 13 years old already but even more amazing, its beloved and world-famous Mia Mouse character is 10 years old this year! Kutoka Interactive develops, produces and publishes high-quality interactive content. The company has won over 150 national and international awards for its highly acclaimed Mia and Didi & Ditto series. As well as distributing its own content, Kutoka has also been growing as distributor of third party products since 2001.

For more information, visit Kutoka’s Web site athttp://www.kutoka.com.

The official website of the MMORPG Dragonica is now open

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Gala Networks Europe Ltd., leading online game publisher, and Barunson Interactive Co. Ltd. are pleased to announce the opening of the official website for their next game: the free to play MMORPG Dragonica. Available at http://dragonica.gpotato.eu, this site provides extensive information about the game and its content.

As a free to play MMO based on omnipresent humor and fun, Dragonica takes place in a fantastic 3D sidescrolling world where the players will assume the role of brave warriors fighting for the survival of their kingdom. Available to everyone through simple keyboard controls and featuring a system of dynamic fighting combos, Dragonica focuses on features in order to encourage cooperation between players.

Scheduled for the first half of 2009, Dragonica will be available for free via the portal gPotato.eu. The official website allows visitors to discover brand new information on the game, as well as screenshots, artworks and videos. A new website, with official forums and community functions, will be opened at the launch of the game.

Please find enclosed new screenshots and artworks of Dragonica.

Fonix Speech VoiceIn Application Software Powers Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s EndWar Video Game

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
EndWar video game can be commanded by voice using Fonix VoiceIn

London, UK – November 17, 2008 - Fonix Speech, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fonix Corporation (OTC BB: FNIX), and Ubisoft announced today that the highly anticipated Tom Clancy’s EndWar, now available at leading video game retailers, features Fonix VoiceIn technology for its voice command interface. EndWar, initially available in US and UK English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and Polish is available for both the Microsoft Xbox® and the Sony PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems. A PC version in the same languages will launch in Q1 2009.

“Ubisoft chose Fonix speech software for its convenient user interface, low memory and processing power requirements. We needed to ensure that everything done in the game could be done by voice commands and Fonix VoiceIn offered us the technology to accomplish that,” commented Vincent Greco, worldwide technical coordinator at Ubisoft. “Fonix provided us with a unique set of tools for game development across multiple platforms.”

Early reviews of the game’s control scheme have generated enthusiasm in the press with such comments as Official Playstation Magazine: “What voice control does is make gameplay almost as fast as your ability to conjure an order in your mind. And the tech really is up to the job of recognising multiple orders in rapid succession. The resulting experience is fast, intuitive, exciting and fun – basically everything RTS games don’t tend to be.”

“Fonix VoiceIn provides dramatic and accurate voice commands to increase the user experience in video games,” says Steve Jones, Fonix senior sales executive. “Our software allows publishers to enhance their development teams with multi-platform voice command technology, without incurring additional, expensive development costs. EndWar with Fonix VoiceIn is expected to take the video gaming industry into a new realm of user excitement.”

King Arthur – The Role-Playing Wargame

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
“And then on the following day they came to Arthur’s court. They seemed like giants, wearing black steel and strange weapons. They were powerful and invincible warriors and people called them the Knights. No one knows who they are. No one knows where they came from. But they might be Arthur’s only hope to stand against the coming tide of wonders, mayhem and awe.”

NeocoreGames, a fresh and talented game developer team from Hungary would like to announce their new PC-only RPG/Strategy game King Arthur.

Three years in the making, this grandiose storytelling game by NeocoreGames is an innovative mixture of the best gameplay elements from the RPG and strategy games, with a unique and beautiful visual representation.

Players will guide the legendary King Arthur in the game and conquer the warring provinces of Britannia until they unite the realm. Meanwhile, they will recruit the fabled knights of the Round Table and send them to adventures, personally improving them to become the most powerful heroes of the realm. They will build the majestic Camelot and govern a growing realm, while commandeering spectacular battles where many thousands clash on the field. Every decision they make will determine Arthur’s Morality as a king, creating their own legend – Arthur could a rightful ruler or ruthless monarch; either a Christian or a pagan king.

King Arthur is based on the rich mythology of the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon legends that inspired many artists in the past, from J.R.R. Tolkien to the modern masters of fantasy, but at the same time it has a unique and innovative approach to its chosen background.

King Arthur will be released in the first half of 2009 and offers more than 100 hours of gameplay and multiplayer gaming modes for all fans of fantasy and hardcore gamers.

NeocoreGames now offers screenshots and an atmospheric in-game trailer.

Stay tuned for more information next week!

NeocoreGames is game developer company founded in 2005 and located in Budapest, capital of Hungary. NeocoreGames itself specialized in software development for the gaming industry with own titles in the RTS/RPG genre. Today, as one of the most respected Hungarian gaming software developer, NeocoreGames has about 40 employees with high skills in the field of game development.

About the NeocoreGames family of products: Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come – based on the self-developed, groundbreaking Coretech 3D engine – was the first NeocoreGames title that hit the market in Q1 of 2008, with favourable reviews (GameStar 84%, PCZone 70%, Eurogamer 70%). Since 2005 NeocoreGames has been working on their main title, King Arthur, a revolutionary fantasy wargame which is considered as the next step on the path that started with Crusaders: TKC.
For more information visit www.neocoregames.com

Flex Your Mental Muscle With Namco’s Brain Exercise

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Casual mobile game is scientifically proven to stimulate the brain!

SAN JOSE, Calif.,—November 17, 2008—Namco Networks, a leading publisher and developer of mobile games and entertainment for mass-market casual gamers, today announced the availability of Brain Exercise across US national carriers. This game is scientifically proven to stimulate the brain and challenges players with a seemingly endless supply of fun and addictive puzzlers.

“Namco Networks is all about delivering fun, quality games,” said Scott Rubin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Namco Networks. “Brain Exercise makes training your brain fun. It tracks players’ daily and monthly progress, which makes it hard to put down.”

Namco’s Brain Exercise, which has been a top seller in Europe and Japan, is officially tested by Dr. Kawashima, the man behind the original brain training game on the Nintendo DS. With 10 fun, cranium-crunching categories involving memory, logic, calculations, visual and spatial perception, this is one exercise regime players will want to stick to. Brain Exercise’s categories are:
o Memory – Flashes a sequence of lights and asks the player to press the corresponding keys to match the sequence
o Arithmetic – Delivers simple arithmetic questions
o Rock, Paper, Scissors – The player is instructed to win, lose or draw against an opponent
o Inverted Numbers – Asks the player to input the numbers on the screen
o Predominant Numbers – Has the player identify which number appears the most in a crowded screen of numbers
o Red Minus Blue – Tests the player’s ability to calculate a sum based on blue negative numbers and red positive numbers
o Shape Construction – Challenges the user to create the target shape out of combining others shapes
o Answer the Question – Displays a target colored shape and ask the player to count the number of shapes matching the displayed target
o Rolling Shapes – As a shape rolls, the player determines the final orientation of the shape
o Follow the Pencil – Has the player predict which goals the pencils will reach

Brain Exercise keeps players’ minds awake and active with a personal coach who keeps you focused and on track as you compete in one of three modes—Brain Training, Brain Age and Practice. In Brain Training Mode, players participate in a daily training regime with three mini-games to stimulate different regions of the brain: the temporal, parietal and frontal lobes. Brain Age Mode tracks the player’s progress with in-depth stat tracking as they work their way towards a younger and sharper brain. During Practice Mode, players can play as many mini-games as desired without the results counting towards your daily training.

Cranking up your cranium with Brain Exercise has wide appeal and is perfect for the casual mobile audience with simple and intuitive controls. It offers a whole-brain workout packed in a mobile phone for instant training anywhere. Brain Exercise offers both a quick exercise break and hours and hours of fun with randomly generated puzzles.

For more information on Brain Exercise or other mobile games by Namco, please visitwww.namcogames.com.

Brain Exercise™ 2006-2008 NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
Nintendo DS TM is a registered trademark of Nintendo Inc.
All trademarks used are properties of their respective owners.