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Battle the Jamaican Bobsled Team on the Wii Balance Board in Downhill Racer

SouthPeak Games announced today that it will be publishing Sled Shred for Wii. Focused on downhill sled racing on everything from tubes and toboggans to discs and bobsleds, Sled Shred promises to give players a thrilling experience as they try and earn their way into the World Winter Games, racing with and against the world-renowned Jamaican Bobsled team. Sled Shred is scheduled for release in fall 2009.

“We are very excited to bring this unique racing experience to Wii with Sled Shred,” said Richard Iggo, VP of Marketing at SouthPeak Games. “A sledding game is a natural fit for Wii owners, and we can’t wait to see everyone using their natural body movements to steer their sleds down those slopes!”

In Sled Shred, players form a team determined to prove themselves in a quest to compete at the World Winter Games. The Jamaican Bobsled team will be present in the game’s story mode to coach and challenge players. Sled Shred offers a variety of different vehicles to race, including inner tubes and bobsleds, on more than 10 different snowy courses. Players can challenge one another or race together against the computer in free play mode, and have the option of using the Wii Balance Board accessory to control their vehicles as they race.

Sled Shred is scheduled for release this fall. For more information visit www.southpeakgames.com.

In case you haven’t read, Atlus USA’s website (http://www.atlus.com) was down for a few days after someone hacked it and made it so that those who went there downloaded malware. 

From their emailing: “In case you were not yet aware, the official Atlus website (http://www.atlus.com) is back.  Loaded with all the exact same features you’ve come to love (but now with 100% less malware), the main page, game-specific sites, and message boards are all live again and ready for your endless browsing.”

Glad to see you guys are back and can find humor in it all. And great job on the quick actions to take it down once it happened.

Sword-and-Gun Action Fighting Title to Return at Holiday 2009

Today Ubisoft announced Red Steel 2, exclusively for the Wii. Red Steel remains one of the most successful Wii titles and the only brand created specifically for the launch of the platform. Red Steel 2 is being developed by Ubisoft Paris and will be available for the 2009 holiday season.

Red Steel 2 returns with an artistic style and flair created just for Wii. Set in a desert-bound, high-tech metropolis, Red Steel 2 is a revolution in the action-fighting genre, taking full advantage of the capabilities of the Wii MotionPlus accessory. Your movements are faithfully replicated on-screen, putting the emphasis on swinging, shooting and fun! With the ability of the Wii MotionPlus to sense the strength of a swing, you will literally be able to make an impact on your adversaries through power and precision.

“Red Steel was a unique opportunity for Ubisoft to work in tandem with Nintendo to create a title exclusively for the launch of the Wii console,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing US at Ubisoft. “Red Steel 2 is another milestone for the company as it is the first Ubisoft title with full Wii MotionPlus integration.”

Just as Red Steel broke ground as the only third-party brand created for the launch of the Wii, Red Steel 2 will be the must-have game of Holiday 2009 for those who wish to stretch their own capacities and fully experience a game that was built from the ground up to take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus.

More details on Red Steel 2 will be revealed in the June issue of Nintendo Power magazine. For more information on Red Steel 2, please visit www.redsteel2.com.

RTS Arcade Title Starring a 30-foot Tall Joseph Stalin Released Along with New Music Video

Mezmer Games today released the highly anticipated arcade-RTS game Stalin vs. Martians. The game is a joint development of BWF, Dreamlore Studios and N-Game Studios. 

Stalin vs. Martians is an absolutely over-the-top PC thriller. Fun and accessible, it takes a simple arcade-like approach to the genre of real-time strategy. The player controls the Red Army, as it defends Earth from the Martian Invasion of 1942, a highly classified military operation which even today remains a closely guarded state secret. Stalin himself conducts the mission briefings and later even becomes a playable unit. 

“Late last week, Stalin informed us that he’d be ready on the 29th,” said Tom Söderlund, Executive Producer at Mezmer Games. “And when Stalin tells you that he’s going to be ready, you listen and act accordingly. We had no choice but to unleash the game today.” 

To commemorate this defining moment in PC gaming history Mezmer has also unveiled a new Stalin vs. Martians video. The music video “S.T.A.L.I.N.” by the rock group Firelake, features geckos, mushrooms and other alien life forms headbanging like there is no tomorrow.

The new music video can be viewed here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdBhTwxp9LQ 

Read more on the official website:http://www.stalinvsmartians.com/en/

More Accolades For Digital Eel’s Newest Game!

What’s better than winning an award for best audio? Winning two awards!

BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity, the most recent release from well known indie masters Digital Eel, has earned itself an Ernie for best in game audio from Bytten! If you’re not familiar with the Ernies we’ll let Bytten explain them to you:

“The Bytten Ernie awards reward independent games that stand out of the crowd. Our resident reviewers, Andrew Williams and Steve Blanch, have selected a number of games that they have played in the past twelve months, choosing games that excel in a particular area or games that show originality and deserve recognition.”

Bytten (http://www.bytten.com/index.php) is one of the oldest gaming sites specializing in independent gaming news and reviews. We’re sure Digital Eel is quite honored to receive recognition from Bytten.

Here’s a snippet of what Bytten contributor Steve Blanch had to say in awarding BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity its Ernie:

“Brainpipe is noteworthy as a game not only because of the degree to which the player interprets and utilises the in-game audio during play, but also the quality of the audio itself, which is excellent.”

Read his full comments here.

Of course if you missed the big news last month Digital Eel also took home the Excellence In Audio award at the 11th Annual Independent Games Festival held at the Games Developer Conference in San Francisco. This makes the second win in that category for Rich Carlson, Iikka Keranen, and artist Phosphoros, who also won in 2006 for Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space.

The award winning BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity is published by Shrapnel Games and is waiting for you to head on over to our online store, the Gamers Front, to purchase. At only $14.95 can’t you hear it calling to you?

For less than the price of dinner for two, a tank of gas, or two hundred and twenty seven feet of velcro, you can experience mind altering and pysche shattering gameplay either on Windows or Mac, purchasable as a download. Dare you traverse ten levels of ever increasing difficulty as you meander through a colorful subconscious? Can your will trump your desire as you embrace the glyphs on your path to enlightenment?

Transform today! Follow the official product page to purchase digital tranquility or to immerse yourself in the official demo. You can find both the purchase link and the demo here.

If you only buy one award winning game of audio triumph featuring fantastically trippy one button arcade action this year make sure it’s BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity!

For more great gaming be sure to stop by www.ShrapnelGames.com where you’ll find our complete catalog of great titles. From real time military grade command simulations to air traffic control gaming to gods and monsters, Shrapnel Games is home to a diverse selection of titles that will all please the gamer looking for intelligent additions to his or her collection. We even have a robust selection of freeware titles that will provide you with long hours of enjoyment. Now in our tenth year be sure to make Shrapnel Games your first stop when looking for independent games of distinction.