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Casual Games Leader’s Take on the “Zombie Survival” Genre Pits You and Your Front Yard Against Legions of Lovably Laughable Undead

PopCap Games today announced the immediate availability of Plants vs. Zombies^™, a humorous action-strategy game suitable for all ages. Conceived and designed by George Fan, senior game designer at PopCap’s San Francisco studio and the creator of Insaniquarium^™, Plants vs. Zombies pits you against legions of invading zombies bent on overwhelming your lawn and making their way to your front door. To defeat the hordes of living dead trespassing on your lawn, you must purchase and plant a wide range of lovable mutant flowers, vines, trees and other foliage that has zombie-combating powers and abilities. Plants vs. Zombies carries a retail price of US$19.95 and is available online for PC and Mac at www.popcap.com as well as other leading game portals including RealArcade, MSN Games, STEAM, Wild Games and Yahoo! Games.

“We love zombie games as much as everyone else, but unlike other undead offerings we wanted to create a zombie game that would appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers alike,” explained George Fan, senior game designer at PopCap. “It’s been great to see both casual and hardcore gamers in our beta test group get totally absorbed in the game, clicking intensely as the zombies chomp on their front yards.”

Featuring five different modes of play, Plants vs. Zombies presents you with a front lawn and encroaching zombies striving to reach your front door and defeat you. Choose from an ever-increasing assortment of specialized, zombie-battling plants to slow down, confuse, weaken and ultimately destroy the vegetation-munching undead before they can traverse your yard and reach your front door. Thoughtful selection of plants, judicious use of resources and clever planting/placement decisions are key to overcoming more than two dozen different kinds of zombies, each with its own combination of “skills” and behaviors. Additional obstacles and challenges in later levels include the setting of the sun, a creeping fog that obscures part of your view – even a swimming pool that takes up much of your lawn.

Features of Plants vs. Zombies include:

·         Five different modes of play: Adventure, Survival, Puzzle, Zen Garden and Mini-Game Challenges

·         50 levels in the main Adventure mode and more than 50 more in the other game modes, with limitless replayability

·         More than four dozen plants, from cherry bombs and peashooters to melon-pults, wall-nuts and sunflowers

·         Dozens of different zombie types, including back-from-the-dead miners, businessmen, football players, even a zombie bobsled team!

·         Suburban almanac tracks your progress and provides vital stats on plant and zombie types

·         Crazy Dave’s trunk-o’-the-car shop where you can purchase special “power plants” and other zombie-exterminating tools as well as potted versions for your Zen Garden

·         New fluid animation technology for prettier plants and zippier zombies

·         14 original musical pieces that dynamically adjust to the intensity of the game in real time

·         So frighteningly fun you’ll soil your plants!

reat titles for PC and Mac available for download for half-off April 27th thru April 30th

Today marks the beginning of a four day promotional event for all PC and Mac games available at www.gameagent.com. All purchases made through gameagent.com will be automatically discounted 50% at checkout this weekend.

The sale encompasses all titles offered on GameAgent, from the recently-released Men of War, Cryostasis and PuzzleQuest: Galactrix on PC to the blockbuster title Call of Duty 4 on Mac.

PC Games
1701 A.D.
1701 A.D. The Sunken Dragon
Cryostasis
Death Track: Resurrection
futureU The Prep Game for SAT
Made Man
Men of War
PuzzleQuest: Galactrix
Stubbs the Zombie

Mac Games
Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare
futureU The Prep Game for SAT

Gameagent.com launched in September 2008 and has continued to expand its catalog in recent months with additional content for PC and Mac gamers. Look for new games to be added to the digital download site throughout the rest of 2009 and beyond.

To fall deeper in love with Aspyr and their amazing line of products, visit http://www.aspyr.com and see just how much fun you can legally have.

EGOSOFT’s final installment in critically acclaimed franchise now available

EGOSOFT announced today that the latest chapter of the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions, is now available at all major US retail outlets.

X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions features a host of new missions, new ships and much more – and is also available on Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games and digital content with over 15 million accounts around the world. This updated version of X³: Terran Conflict is being published by IGS Interactive Inc.

“It’s been a long road, but it feels great to finally give US gamers a chance to go and purchase this fantastic final installment in the X series,” said Bernd Lehahn, managing director of EGOSOFT. “The critical response to X³: Terran Conflict has been nothing short of phenomenal, and we’re confident that X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions will only build on that success.”

As with the previous titles in the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions is a single-player space simulation featuring fast-paced first-person space combat, free-form open exploration of a huge dynamic universe, and large-scale management of the player’s own intergalactic corporation.

In X³: Terran Conflict (the predecessor to 2.0), the long-lost Terran colony of Aldrin was rediscovered. Now, after numerous years of isolation, the Terrans are keen to bring the Aldrans back into the fold as part of their massive effort to colonize areas of space thought lost or inaccessible. No colonization is easy, however, and you will be asked to not only help in the shaping of the new frontier, but will also be called upon to provide protection for the colonization effort against forces determined to oppose the Aldrin Expansion. New Terran stations and complexes, a new Terran ship and a host of other new features are introduced as you play a decisive role in the shaping of this new Terran frontier.

“As with X³: Terran Conflict, IGS Interactive is extremely proud to be publishing X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions,” said Paul Lombardi, CEO of IGS Interactive Inc. “This is an absolutely stellar title for both fans of the X franchise and newcomers alike. EGOSOFT has truly outdone themselves.”

X³: Terran Conflict was released in European retail outlets and on Steam on October 17, 2008. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and X³: Terran Conflict currently boasts a 78.2% ranking on Game Rankings. IGN, the largest and most influential videogame site in the world, said that “Clearly crafted by a design team on a mission and with a vision, X3: Terran Conflict is a pretty and impressively ambitious voyage into the heavens that should satiate the thirst of anyone who pines for life away from earthly confines.”

For more information about the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions or EGOSOFT, please visit www.egosoft.com.

EPISODE ONE OF PENNY ARCADE GAME AVAILABLE AT DISCOUNTED PRICE

Get all of the thrills, chills and combo kills at half the price! Hothead Games today announced that Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is available on multiple digital distribution platforms at a discounted price now through April 12. Gamers may purchase the Windows, Mac and Linux versions via the indie digital distribution service Greenhouse (www.playgreenhouse.com) for under $10 and Xbox LIVE Gold members can experience the game named “Best Xbox LIVE RPG of 2008″ by IGN.com for only 800 Microsoft points.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is an RPG-Adventure game set in the comic-book-meets-pulp-horror-meets-H. P. Lovecraft deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivered to gamers via accessible episodic releases. Players join Gabe and Tycho, the crime-solving team of the Startling Developments Detective Agency, to combat savage enemies and solve mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia. The game is the result of close collaboration between Hothead Games and Penny Arcade, featuring distinct artwork and characters designed exclusively by Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, story and dialogue by Jerry “Tycho” Holkins, and both brought to life by the Hothead team.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is rated “M” for Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for all platforms

Aspyr Media and Activision Publishing, Inc. have teamed once again to rock the computer gaming world with the announcement of Guitar Hero World Tour for Windows PC and Mac. Transforming music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’ssignature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience, Guitar Hero World Tour for PC and Mac offers state-of-the-art wireless controllers to computer gamers for the first time, new online and offline gameplay modes and a Music Studio feature for composing and editing original rock and roll anthems. Guitar Hero World Tour is the most complete music game to-date with 86 on-disc tracks from music legends such as The Eagles, Van Halen, Metallica, Michael Jackson and The Doors and features in-game appearances by world famous artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Corgan and Travis Barker.

“Guitar Hero World Tour is the standard for music games on consoles and we can’t wait to unleash this incredible experience on computer gamers,” said Ted Staloch, Executive Vice President, Aspyr Media. “With full band play, support for the new wireless controllers, the ability to create their own music and an amazing array of customization options, Guitar Hero World Tour will be the definitive music game on PC and Mac. We are proud to once again be working with Activision to extend this powerful brand to an eager audience of gamers.”

Guitar Hero World Tour delivers more ways to play than ever before. Virtual musicians can live out their rock and roll fantasies by playing either a single instrument in-game, or any combination of instruments within the game, in addition to the full band experience. Building on all of the online gameplay modes from Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero World Tour introduces Battle of the Bands mode, which allows eight players to join online and challenge each other band-to-band to determine who is the best of the best. In the Band modes, up to four players can jam together, online or offline, as they progress through the game. In single-player Career Mode, players can jam on any of the instruments in-game utilizing the controllers in branching venue progression enabling them to rock out in the order of their choice.

The game’s innovative new Music Studio lets players express their musical creativity by giving them access to a full complement of tools to create digital music from scratch, utilizing all of the drum kit controller and guitar controllers, and then play their compositions in the game.

Guitar Hero World Tour for PC and Mac will be available summer 2009. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB.

Jump Online and Start Banging Beats with the Patapon 2 Mini-Game – It’s Free and Ready to Play on Your PC or Mac

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced today that SPIL GAMES will host an exclusive Patapon™ 2 mini-game across many of their online game portals for one week only from March 9th to March 16th 2009. This official flash mini-game is fully playable on both PC and Macs, showcasing the musical fun and inventive gameplay of the newly released Patapon 2 – Out now on PSP (PlayStation® Portable).

The Patapon 2 mini-game, developed by Kerb to promote the launch of Patapon 2, allows you to try your hand at banging out beats to command your tiny tribesman with the rhythm of your drum. Patapon 2is the follow-up to the hugely popular Patapon™, a fun-filled adventure that combines unique gameplay with rhythm and music, requiring you to create cool drumming combos and lead your tribe to victory. There’s plenty of musical fun to be had – whether you want to play with your mates or enter a cool music carnival! With its funky rhythms, cool graphics, and a brand-new team mode, it’s a title you’ll want to get your hands on when it arrives this March.

SPIL GAMES is the world’s ultimate online game destination, providing online games through more than 50 game portals localized in 20 languages worldwide. As a primary distribution partner, SPIL GAMES launched the LocoRoco™ 2 mini game across all 50 of their gaming portals.

Test out your drumming skills with the Patapon 2 mini-game – it goes online at www.agame.com from March 9th to March 16th 2009. You can also visit www.gamesgames.com/game/Patapon-2.html.

Massive New Outbreak of Cross-Over Cult Hit Begins Today on Nintendo DS; Additional Strains Coming Soon to iPhone, Micosoft’s Xbox 360 and XBLA, and More; Art Contest Launched

PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today announced a three-month period of pure Peggle pleasure, with the arrival of the company’s cult video game hit on a host of new platforms, in each case customized for the device or service. Peggle Dual Shot, the much-anticipated, platform-optimized adaptation of Peggle becomes available today for Nintendo DS (US$29.95) and later this month Peggle will arrive on iPhone and Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) service. In April, Peggle Nights will arrive on retail shelves. Peggle will also be available next month for Xbox 360 as part of PopCap Arcade Volume 2. And in May PopCap will release Peggle for smartphones running Google’s Android© operating system. Further, PopCap announced the availability today of a new, free, online bonus level pack for Peggle Nights, and unveiled a unique Peggle-based art contest.

To celebrate this ultra-extreme occasion, PopCap is holding a three-month long “Peggle Fever” celebration at PopCap.com featuring daily giveaways of games and merchandise, free access to the new bonus level pack for Peggle Nights, and more. Peggle Fever also features a first-of-its-kind Peggle art contest, with the grand prize winners receiving all-expense paid trips to PopCap’s Seattle headquarters as well as having their creations included in a future installment in the Peggle series. More details of the contest, which begins today and runs until June 3, 2009, are at www.popcap.com/promos/peggleart.

Combined with Peggle’s existing availability on PC, Mac, iPod, mobile phones and the Web, the new adaptations arriving over the next 90 days will make Peggle one of the most widely available casual games ever. Not to mention one of the most “customized,” as PopCap co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Jason Kapalka explains: “Peggle is a pretty special little game, and it deserves all the attention to detail and high touch polish we’ve given it. We’ve gone beyond just porting Peggle and have really opened up new territory for the game with the iPhone’s input and control mechanisms and by partnering with Q Entertainment on the development of Peggle Dual Shot for Nintendo DS. Add to that the cool multiplayer modes in the Xbox 360 and XBLA versions, and these are really adaptations of the game designed to tap the unique aspects of each respective device and service. It’s been really cool to see how the game has evolved and expanded.”

Separate press releases detailing the launch of Peggle Dual Shot and the art contest were issued today. To date, Peggle and Peggle Nights combined have been downloaded more than 45 million times – yet the games remain modest commercial successes by PopCap standards. Nevertheless, the Peggle titles are the most lauded casual game series in the last two years and have garnered nearly 100 rave reviews, with a devoted cult following that encompasses a surprisingly wide range of people. From great-grandmothers to seriously hardcore gamers including the editorial staffs of several leading video gaming magazines, Peggle has fans of every imaginable type.

Second Installment of Casual Cult Classic Now Available for Macintosh

PopCap Games today announced that Peggle Nights, the second installment in the immensely popular Peggle series, is now available for the Apple Macintosh line of personal computers. Peggle Nights carries a retail price of US$19.95 and is available now for download at www.popcap.com. Peggle Nights and the original Peggle have been downloaded more than 45 million times and have garnered numerous critical accolades and “game of the year” awards. PopCap also announced the imminent arrival of the second free bonus level pack for Peggle Nights, sporting a “Spring” theme.

Peggle Nights features 60 all-new Adventure mode levels and 60 new Challenge mode hurdles, along with a new “Peggle Master” power-up, new kinds of style shots, achievements, and other special bonuses. The game takes players into the “dream worlds” of each of the eleven Peggle Masters, providing five beautifully rendered and themed levels for each character’s secret dreams and aspirations. Peggle Nights supports downloadable expansion packs, and early next month PopCap will release a free 10-level “Spring” themed bonus level pack, the second free expansion pack to be released for the game.

“Braid” for Mac and “The Maw” for Windows Coming Soon

Hothead Games revealed today its plans for a one-of-a-kind model of collaboration with other top-notch independent developers. This unique collaborative effort marries indie studios’ creative game designs with Hothead Games’ multi-platform development and digital distribution expertise to bring award-winning titles to new gaming platforms.

Among the first to join in this effort is Jonathan Blow, whose 2008 launch of Braid via Xbox LIVE Arcade amazed gamers with its innovative game play and distinctive art style. Hothead Games is partnering with Blow to bring his ground-breaking game to the Mac platform and has secured exclusive digital publishing rights to that version.

Further, Hothead Games has forged a new fellowship with The Maw developer Twisted Pixel. Launched last month on Xbox LIVE Arcade, Hothead will deliver The Maw to the Windows platform, integrating special features to make the crowd-pleaser compatible with multiple as-of-yet-unannounced digital distribution platforms and services.

“We focus on finding new distribution opportunities so that they can focus on what they do best: developing their next great game,” said Hothead Games COO Joel DeYoung. “These two titles represent only the tip of the iceberg. We’re committed to working with indies and helping them be successful, so look for lots more announcements to come.”

Digital Eel’s Latest Title Available For The Mac!

No longer do Mac users have to look to their PC brothers in envy when it comes to Digital Eel’s latest game, BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity. Originally released in December for Windows it is now also available on the Mac, at the same low price of only $14.95 and available for immediate download through the Shrapnel Games online store, the Gamers Front.

BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity is a game of international intrigue, exotic romance, and an ostrich named Gwen. Okay, it’s none of those things. In actuality BRAINPIPE is a hypnotic (some might even say mesmerizing, but since mesmerizing and hypnotic mean the same thing why not just call it hypnotic?) journey through the subconscious which leads to either transcending the human race or abject failure. It’s also a computer game. But not a blender.

In BRAINPIPE the player, which would be you once you have purchased the game, maneuvers through a ever-shifting kaleidoscope tunnel using a one-click interface while attempting to collect glowing glyphs and avoiding the savage obstacles that threaten your very sanity. Blast down the tunnel, amassing a score that will impress friends and co-workers. In many ways BRAINPIPE feels like a classic arcade game as seen through the Digital Eel lens; easy controls, addictive gameplay, and the siren song of the high score table.

BRAINPIPE has already been recognized by many fine folks around the world. Bob Mandel of The Adrenaline Vault has it as one of his top casual games of 2008, calling its gameplay “addictive”. He also says, “You get sucked into the mesmerizing setting immediately, and you will not want to blink or turn away for even an instant.” He could have used hypnotic setting, too, ya know.

Joseph Vanburen awarded BRAINPIPE 4 out of 5 err, balls, and feels the game is “…a testament to Digital Eel’s sense of pushing the envelope in game design and content.” Play This Thing!’s 99th also thinks that Digital Eel “…outdid themselves” with the game.

But wait, there’s more! The Academy Awards of the independent gaming world, the Independent Games Festival, has nominated BRAINPIPE in the Excellence In Audio category. The awards will happen on March 25th at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Last time Digital Eel was up for the award they won for Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. Will they do it again?

To check out all the features of BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity, download a demo, and purchase the game please visit its official product page.

You can also find a nifty gameplay video on the BRAINPIPE forum.

BRAINPIPE:A Plunge to Unhumanity is available as a download for Mac and Windows, priced at a steal of $14.95, through publisher Shrapnel Games.

For more information on other titles by Digital Eel published by Shrapnel Games, or to browse our catalog of award-winning strategy and niche titles from other developers, please visit us at www.shrapnelgames.com, currently celebrating a decade in business. Our latest releases include the real time simulation title Battle Group Commander, Episode One by ProSIM and War Plan Pacific from KE Studios.