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Venture into the Wild for a Sneak Peek of the Upcoming Animal Paradise Wild

Empire Interactive released the first selection of screenshots for the eagerly anticipated Animal Paradise Wild for Nintendo DS. The newest addition to the Animal Paradise family will take players to Animal Island Park, home to wild animals from all over the world, where they will explore distinct areas of the island including the Savannah and Jungle, each boasting their own unique species.

Prepare for Evasive Action Beginning February 16 on WiiWare

Akinai Games, the downloadable games division of leading videogame publisher, YUKE’S Company of America, today announced a February 16th release date for Evasive Space for Nintendo’s WiiWare™ game service. The new title, developed by High Voltage Software, is a top-down space adventure featuring unique use of the infrared capabilities of the Wii Remote™ to pilot your ship. As Konki, race against the clock on collection-based missions to rescue the stars from the insidious Dr. Dark Matter. Evasion is the key to survival as your goal is not to blast adversaries, but to skillfully avoid them while traversing through a variety of hazardous intergalactic environments for an experience that will challenge your reflexes.

Key features of the game include: 
- Guide Konki through 20 hazardous space missions spanning four worlds 
- Deftly pilot your ship with innovative use of the Wii Remote’s infrared pointer capabilities 
- Pick up items and ship upgrades to enhance skills and increase your chances for survival 
- Four person multiplayer matches locally on your home console 
- Compete for best times with Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection online leaderboards

Evasive Space will be available for download on February 16th through the Wii™ Shop Channel for 1,000 Wii Points™, and has been rated “E” for “Everyone” with Mild Fantasy Violence by the ESRB.

To learn more about Evasive Space, visit the official website atwww.evasivespace.com.

GamersGate announced today that it will offer its entire catalog “client-free” beginning January 28, 2009. With this new feature, GamersGate is poised to step to the front of the digital distribution industry.

“GamersGate will now offer gamers more convenient access to their games without forcing them into a client,” said Theodore Bergquist, CEO of GamersGate. “We want to offer the most accessible experience with the quickest loading times and this is a big step in that direction. With the evolving nature of retail, we’re extremely pleased to help reinvent the process by putting the power in the gamers’ hands.”

GamersGate will offer its entire catalog from over 90 publishers including Eidos, SEGA, THQ, 2K, and, Bethesda “client free.”

GamersGate has aggressively provided the digital distribution arena with some of the most desired services including GameNerve and the recently announced mictrotransactions software, MicroSuite.

To find out more about GamersGate, please visit http://www.GamersGate.com.

Hudson Entertainment released a new batch of screenshots for Snowboard Riot, a distinctive snowboarding game unlike anything players have ever encountered for WiiWare.

In Snowboard Riot, snowboarding reaches new heights when players take to the slopes with action-packed racing utilizing weapons such as homing bullets and invisibility! Battle with up to 4 boarders using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to race online and blow away the competition. Weapons such as mines and turbo are available to give players an edge fighting it out on the mountain.

Gamers have several control options, as they can use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or the Wii Balance Board to carve their way to victory. Just like a real snowboard, players can lean left and right on the Wii Balance Board, providing a realistic snowboard experience. Boarders can also choose from four characters to bomb the slopes, and can customize their look with Oakley apparel and goggles to improve their performance.

Snowboard Riot is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

For more information on Snowboard Riot, please visit http://www.HudsonEnt.com

The Record-Setting First-Person Shooter Opens Tomorrow for All to Play at: Http://crossfire.subagames.com/

G4BOX Inc and Wicked Interactive Ltd., North American publishers and distributors of interactive entertainment media, together announced today the open beta launch date of their free online military first-person shooter, Cross Fire.

The Open beta will go live tomorrow, Friday, January 30, 2009 at 12 PM EST. In the open beta, anyone and everyone is invited to play the game for free, without any download or subscription fees. At 12 PM EST on January 29, 2009, the Cross Fire servers will go down in preparation for the open beta launch.

“We are very proud to be taking Cross Fire to the next level by launching the open beta,” said Stanley Yu, Chief Executive Office of Wicked Interactive. “We have invested a tremendous amount of time and energy in bringing Cross Fire to this stage, in order to provide players with the best possible game experience,” added Howard He, Chief Executive Officer of G4BOX, “The Cross Fire Open Beta will deliver a wealth of new features we know players will enjoy.”

The open beta launch marks the beginning of Cross Fire’s persistent military-ranking and stat-tracking features. Player-progress will be tracked from the open beta onward so that players may accurately gauge their skills against the rest of the Cross Fire community. The Cross Fire open beta will also introduce in-game friends lists and clan formation features, in addition to numerous new maps, weapons, and items.

To celebrate Cross Fire’s open beta launch, Subagames is hosting a number of events and promotions. During the first week of open beta, players will enjoy a 50% increase in the amount of GP earned in-game. This will allow Cross Fire players to purchase more of the new open beta weapons and items. In addition, the first 30 clans to register during the open beta will do so for free, at absolutely no GP cost!

Cross Fire is an online military first-person shooter for the PC, developed by SmileGate and Neowiz, and co-published by G4BOX and Wicked Interactive. Players assume the role of either a Black List or Global Risk mercenary, and then join an online team that must work together to complete objective-based scenarios. Cross Fire supports four modes of play including, Team Death Match, Search & Destroy, Elimination, and the exclusive Ghost Mode, in which you become an invisible stealth assassin! Cross Fire also includes a military ranking system, in-game friends lists, a clan formation system, and deep character customization options. Cross Fire is free-to-download-and-play. http://crossfire.subagames.com

Now part of the Subagames library of free MMOs. http://www.subagames.com

New Details About the Game’s Tributes to Classic Horror Films

Zombies? Check. Vampires? Check. Ninja Vampires? Check. Giant robotic scorpions built by mad German scientists? 1C Company is pleased to reveal more details about NecroVisioN’s horror-fuelled plot, which puts a whole new spin on the World War One genre.

NecroVisioN is a fast-paced shooter exclusively released for the PC in February 2009 under the 1C Company label. Developed by Polish developer, The Farm 51, it mixes historical accuracy with a twisted plot that sees players venturing into the very jaws of Hell itself to stop a zombie army and an evil demon overlord.

Set in 1917, the Great War has been raging for two long years and a new recruit, Simon Bukner, is a US Army soldier who is the latest to face the harsh realities of war. His first mission sees him getting lost deep behind enemy lines alongside his battalion of Allied troops after trying to break through the German positions and into Allied territory. The Germans attack hard and the Allies get pushed deeper into the enemy trenches until they’re ambushed and gassed.

Bukner manages to escape into an underground safe-house but everything has changed. The dead are rising from their muddy graves and attacking any living creature they can find. Now Bukner must try and escape through the scores of German soldiers, while fighting off flesh-hungry zombies. As Bukner shoots his way through the trenches he uncovers a truly horrifying plot to create an army of the undead.

In a bizarre twist, Bukner discovers that the zombie force is actually being created for the benefit of humanity. A shadowy group of vampires has enlisted the help of a necromancer to make them their own personal army of the walking dead. This unlikely alliance is a final effort for the vampires who are struggling to stop terrible demons from opening up a portal to Hell and wiping out every living thing on Earth. Now, armed with powerful vampire weapons and a magical artifact called the Shadowhand, Bukner must venture into the bowels of hell and stop the demons once and for all.

NecroVisioN will be released on PC by Aspyr Media in North America in Q2 of 2009

X-Blades

Light Blades

The power of Light is just as strong as other powers. Perhaps more so? I can actually use the Power of Light to envelope both my blades and guns and use it to inflict awesome damage! I can’t get over how beautiful it looks…or how deadly it is. (Requirements: Lightform)

Ray Of Light

Hmm…this is Ray of Light is actually very impressive. This spell consists of a ray of glittering light that is hurled against an opponent. It explodes upon impact, dealing out damage points galore. I’ve seen it do incredible amounts of damage to creatures of the dark. It will be interesting to what else it can do. (Requirements: Light Blades)

The Queen Spider

The Queen Spider is able to control her offspring. Covered in armor and gifted in the use of magic, she guards the upper floors of the castle. Apart from the spiders, which block the way to the Queen, small creatures that are invulnerable to magic attacks, to which the Queen is particularly vulnerable, surround her.

The Ancient Six-Winged

The oldest living Six-winged has been hiding in cliffs, where his only friends were the little Pangos, which used to share their food with him. They protect him desperately during attacks, so you can only hurt the Ancient Six-winged after freezing the Pangos. He prefers to attack his opponents from a distance due to his extreme sensitivity to heat. He is, of course, vulnerable to light and Fire magic.

It’s out, and the final screens are as well….it’s a fun little DS title (review coming this weekend after A lets me play the dang thing!). Here’s the latest

Big Bang Mini

Abyss

The final world has you playing underwater. Not only do you have to avoid shooting the red mines in the Abyss World, but you will have to keep picking up air bubbles to keep yourself from drowning at the same time. Drag yourself over the air bubbles to keep your air supply up during each level. If you find that there are too many enemy bullets on screen, just use the Lasso to get rid of them. Aim carefully, as hitting the mines will cause instant death. Try using the Homing Missiles until the amount of enemy fire becomes manageable with the Lasso. Slow pace and precision shooting will be necessary when mines are on screen. The Lasso doesn’t need to recharge, so use it as much as you can in each level.

World Upgrade: Lasso

The Lasso will cause all the enemy fire inside it to disappear. To create it, just draw a complete circle on the touch screen. Be aware, the enemy fire will take a second to disappear completely. The Lasso can be created anywhere on-screen, even with your ship on the inside.

December Software Sales Help Set New Record

Overall computer and video game industry hardware, software and peripheral sales climbed to $21 billion in 2008, with entertainment software sales comprising $11.7 billion of that total figure-a 22.9% jump over the previous year- the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today. The industry set the new record, calculated by market-research firm NPD Group, on the strength of a December sales month in which industry revenue ($5.3 billion) topped $5 billion for the first time in any single month. By comparison, as recently as 1997, the industry generated $5.1 billion over the entire year.

“Even in difficult economic times, the video game industry continues to support our country’s local, state and national economies with record-breaking sales figures and rapid technological innovation,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Our industry’s exceptional creators, artists, and storytellers, coupled with a commitment to providing unparalleled entertainment, have fueled high-octane growth, turning video games into the most sought-after medium on the market today.”

“The $11.7 billion in software sales generated in 2008 is more than total industry revenues were in 2005, but even with the strong market growth of the gaming industry over the past few years, what we are seeing is an accumulation of more sales by a select group of titles,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “In 2005, when the current console generation began to be introduced, the top 20 games of the year accounted for 9 percent of total unit sales. Today, the top 20 account for 15 percent of total unit sales.”

The NPD Group revealed that, in 2008, total U.S. video game console software sales reached $8.9 billion (189.0 million units), PC game sales hit $701.4 million (29.1 million units), and portable software topped last year’s record sales with $2.1 billion (79.5 million units) in revenue. Overall, retailers sold approximately 297.6 million computer and video games last year.

In 2008, family-friendly video games once again dominated the market, with games that the Entertainment Software Rating Board rated “Everyone 10+” and lower accounting for over half of all sales.[1] Games rated “T” for “Teen,” meanwhile, accounted for 26.7 percent of all sales, while “Mature (M)” games made up only 15.9 percent of the market. Underscoring the trend, the “Family Entertainment” video game category again finished the year as the most popular game genre, with more than 19 percent of all sales.

The Entertainment Software Association is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. The ESA offers services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, owning the E3 Expo, business and consumer research, federal and state government relations, First Amendment and intellectual property protection efforts. For more information, please visit www.theESA.com.

The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, visit http://www.npd.com.