Multiplayer Revealed

On September 1st, we held our highly anticipated, global hands-on multiplayer press event in Los Angeles. At the event, we introduced a variety of new features to expand on Call of Duty’s awesome multiplayer experience. Wager Match is a brand new multiplayer game mode. Watch the trailer now.

Along with Wager Matches, we introduced several other new features. Customize your character and weapon to levels never before seen in a Call of Duty game. Create the perfect insignia in the new Emblem Editor. Direct epic gameplay videos in Theater Mode. And much more. Stay tuned for more in-depth information about these new features.

*The wager game mode depicted and discussed in this video is for entertainment purposes only. COD Points have no monetary value and may be used for in-game purposes only.

Humanity, loss, race, friendship, acceptance – heavy topics for any medium, and especially difficult for videogames. After finishing Minerva’s Den, the final piece of DLC for 2K Marin’s BioShock 2, these are the things I’m contemplating regardless.

If you read my preview last week for Minerva’s Den, you’ll know that a) this is new, singleplayer DLC for BioShock 2 that takes place in the computing heart of Rapture, and b) that I was sort of indifferent to BioShock 2 – I didn’t hate it by any means, but it just sort of existed. For all intents and purposes though, Minerva’s Den is a better experience than its parent game. 2K Marin has used BioShock 2 as a platform to deliver a final, moving, personal story set in the underwater city.

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It’s the end of the first season and Matt Ryan is joined by August Lusch as they discuss Neverwinter in 2011, Call of Duty: Black Ops dedicated servers, the necromancer profession in Guild Wars 2, Hyperballoid HD, and more.

For more information about Guild Wars 2 necromancers:
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/08/26/guild-wars-2-necromancer-revealed/

For more information about Hyperballoid HD:
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/05/22/hyperballoid-hd-for-the-ps3/

For more information about Call of Duty Black Ops:
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/08/24/call-of-duty-black-ops-to-be-dedicate…

For more information about Neverwinter in 2011:
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/08/26/guild-wars-2-necromancer-revealed/

Blizzard has announced the first patch on the one-month anniversary of the release of its highly-anticipated first sequel to the extremely successful StarCraft series. This patch is in direct response to early fan feedback on their forums and community sites. While the majority of the work being done for the patch is to balance the game and avoid some unbalanced rushing options currently available, attention is being paid to the modding community as well adding some extra features for them.

Below is the official release from Blizzard:

Greetings, citizens of the Koprulu sector! StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is celebrating its one-month anniversary and we’re extremely excited to witness the amazing community that’s come together around the game. To that end, we want you to know we are hard at work on the first feature and balance patch, and expect to have it completed and available by the middle of September. Patch 1.1 will contain a number of improvements including additional mod features, Editor improvements and bug fixes, some custom game improvements, support for NVIDIA’s 3D Vision, and more. We’d also like to share some specific plans for this patch with you.

To begin, we’ve heard a lot of feedback from our global community about standardized hotkey options. We’re happy to announce that in patch 1.1 we are going to make the Standard (US) and Standard for Lefties (US) hotkey options available in all regions.

Balance Changes

We have several balance changes in store. One general change we’re making is that friendly units will no longer provide vision after being killed. Enemy units previously revealed will no longer be targetable. Now let’s break down the additional balance changes we’re implementing.

Maps

We’re going to be adding destructible rocks to the Desert Oasis map to make natural expansions easier to protect. In addition, the center map watchtower area is being narrowed.

Protoss

We have two key changes in mind for the zealot: the build time is being increased from 33 to 38 seconds, and the warpgate cooldown is being increased from 23 to 28 seconds. Zealot rushes are currently too powerful at various skill levels, particularly those that rely on rapidly assaulting an enemy base from nearby “proxy” gateways. We feel the window players have to scout for and fend off this rush is too small. We also want to address the problem of protoss being able to dump minerals a bit too quickly with the combination of warpgates and Chrono Boost.

Terran

There are several changes in the works for terrans. Reapers against zerg are stronger than expected. Due to the zealot build time increase, reapers would be a bit problematic in combination with proxy barracks, bunkers, and/or marauders against protoss. Therefore, we have decided to increase the build time of reapers as well from 40 to 45 seconds. Fast reaper + bunker, or fast marine + bunker rushes are problematic against zerg. Although this rush would never outright destroy the zerg player, we feel zerg suffers too much of a disadvantage from either having to cancel the fast expansion, or getting trapped inside the main base for too long, so we are also increasing the bunker build time from 30 to 35 seconds.

Siege tanks in large numbers are performing too well in all matchups. In the mid- to late-game, siege tanks are too dominant against all ground units. We want a small set of light and unarmored ground units to perform better against siege tanks. With this in mind, we’re changing the Siege Mode damage of the siege tank from 50 to 35, +15 vs. armored; to correspond with this, damage upgrades will be changed from +5 to +3, +2 vs. armored. This change reduces the base damage of the siege tank against light and unarmored units, as well as the splash damage.

Battlecruisers currently lack good counters from the ground and still perform very well against a wide array of unit types. We’re aware that it is not easy to get battlecruisers out for the cost, but at the same time, it is possible in both 1v1s and team games to create stalemate situations to bring them out. Overall, we feel that battlecruisers are too strong for their cost, and the terran-forced stalemate situations are causing less interesting gameplay. We will be lowering their damage against ground units from 10 to 8.

Zerg

Ultralisk damage is being decreased from 15, +25 vs. armored to 15, +20 vs. armored. This reduction is comparable to the changes being made to the battlecruiser and siege tank. Like the battlecruiser, ultralisks are simply too powerful for the cost, even though they are difficult to muster. Also, in combination with other units, ultralisks are difficult to counter from the ground. The ultralisk building attack (Ram) is being removed because the damage rate is too similar to its normal attack, which will be used against buildings instead. When ultralisks target tightly packed smaller buildings such as supply depots, the Ram attack is actually outputting considerably less overall damage than its normal attack, as Ram only hits a single target.

And Beyond…

We are reading your posts on the forums and creating lists of features and bugs to address in future patches. We have mid- to long-term plans to further evolve the Custom Game experience, and soon, enhance our social features with the addition of chat channels. We will be sharing more specific information in the coming weeks. As with all of our previous games, we will support StarCraft II for many years to come. Your feedback and participation is critical in making this not only the best game it can be, but also the most engaged gaming community in the world. We look forward to the implementation of patch 1.1, as well as sharing our plans for our future gameplay and Battle.net features.

In the original Guild Wars, the necromancer made up one of the most solo-friendly classes as players embraced builds that allowed you to be accompanied by nearly a dozen of your closest undead friends. The “minion master” was a stable later on for all classes solo as you chose your henchmen carefully. Now it’s time to think Guild Wars 2 and things have certainly changed up a bit.

The official website for Guild Wars 2 explains more:

Necromancers have a unique set of special skills:

Wells—Wells are persistent spells that allow a necromancer to control the area around him. Created at the necromancer’s location, wells affect targets within the skill’s range. Well of Blood, for example, applies a regeneration boon to all allies within it. A necromancer can only have one well skill active at any time.

Minions—The necromancer summons undead minions to attack foes and do his bidding. Every minion-summoning spell has an associated secondary spell that appears after the minion has been summoned. This secondary spell destroys the minion while providing a powerful effect to the necromancer. For example, necromancers have a healing skill called Summon Blood Fiend that creates a minion that heals its master while it attacks. After the minion has been summoned, the Summon Blood Fiend skill is replaced by the skill Taste of Death, which allows a necromancer to destroy the minion to gain a larger amount of health.

Marks—Necromancers can also place marks–ground-targeted spells with a variety of potent effects. For instance, Mark of Blood damages enemies while placing a regeneration boon on nearby allies. Marks will trigger after a set period of time, but a necromancer can always trigger their marks on command by hitting the skill again.

Fear—Necromancers use a condition not available to any other profession: fear. A removable condition, fear makes an enemy flee directly away from a necromancer for a short period of time. For example, a necromancer can use Doom to instill fear in a single target.

The videos below demonstrate some of the various spells made available to you as a necromancer:

“Doom”

“Bone Minions + Putrid Explosion”

“Grasping Dead”

“Locust Swarm”

“Life Siphon”

Weapons

When outfitting himself for combat, the necromancer can choose from the following weapons. The necromancer weapons are:

• Main Hand: Axe, Dagger, Scepter
• Off Hand: Dagger, Focus, Warhorn
• Two-Handed: Staff

Life Force

Life force is a special type of energy used by a necromancer. Once he reaches a certain life force threshold, a necromancer can activate Death Shroud (see below), entering a spirit form and leaving his body behind. Each of his weapon sets have skills that give a necromancer life force, and he gains an even larger amount of life force for kills that happen nearby. Finally, there are utility skills that build up life force, like Ghost Armor, a skill that improves a necromancer’s armor and adds life force every time he takes damage.

Death Shroud

Death Shroud is a special ability–usable by a necromancer at any time–that utilizes his life force as a secondary health bar. Instead of entering a downed state when his health is reduced to zero, a necromancer automatically activates the Death Shroud ability and assumes a spectral form. In Death Shroud, a necromancer has a number of special skills. For example, a necromancer can summon a shadow fiend, a special minion unique to this form. With the ability to tap into Death Shroud, necromancers are certainly one of the most durable professions in Guild Wars 2.

“Dead Rising 2″ is uncannily similar to its zombie-filled predecessor. The same zany sense of humor, the same campaign structure, the same use-anything-within-reach-against-the-zombie-hordes combat. There are obviously new features to discuss (co-op, combo weapons and a much swankier graphics engine), but the core of the game is relatively untouched. In this preview, I’ll be breaking down the old and the new and how they collide.

The Old

Campaign Structure
Just like in the first game, you’re given a set amount of time in “Dead Rising 2″ wherein you have to survive. In this case, the hero of “DR 2″ is blamed for the latest zombie outbreak and he has to use that time to prove his innocence. Story missions can still only be done at set periods of time, and if you miss one, the rest of them cannot be completed on that playthrough.

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WHAT:
Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts are looking for video game enthusiasts of all ages and fans of the Star Wars^®: The Clone Wars^TM animated television series on Cartoon Network to be the first to get hands-on in the open BETA testing that begins today for Star Wars^®: Clone Wars Adventures^TM. Get a sneak peak of the highly anticipated free-to-play online virtual world and provide feedback to help put the finishing touches on the final game scheduled to be released later this year on September 15th.

The ultimate virtual destination for a new generation of Star Wars fans, Clone Wars Adventures is an action-packed virtual world where players can go online to experience fun minigames, daily activities, events, rewards, lively social environments and competition. Clone Wars Adventures lets players duel iconic adversaries with their own custom Lightsaber, speed through the galaxy in a custom Starfighter, defeat enemies and take down starships.

Clone Wars Adventures is a free-to-play game, but players who want to take the galactic action to the next level can purchase a monthly Membership subscription for $5.99, while a variety of epic items can also be purchased through Station Cash^® micro-transactions. The Clone Wars Adventures Galactic Passport is scheduled to be available at thousands of retail locations in North America later this fall and will include a 90-day membership, 500 Station Cash, the ability to unlock the Togruta playable character, a Yoda monitor topper, and more.

WHEN:
Clone Wars Adventures BETA registration is open now. Prospective Jedi masters and Clone Troopers can register for BETA and test their Lightsaber skills, helping to fine tune the game for launch this September!

WHERE:
For the opportunity to participate in the program visit the game website www.CloneWarsAdventures.com and click on the BETA registration link.

Fans of the Neverwinter Nights series rejoice! Cryptic and Atari have released an announcement of an upcoming addition to the series simply called Neverwinter. Promoted as a co-op experience with a custom building tool aptly called ‘Forge’, the newest release is looking more like an MMO and less like the single-player slaughter-fest previous campaigns have been unfairly publicised as being. While the original Neverwinter Nights came with a campaign that was just functional as a co-op experience, further expansions and releases were more socially friendly.

The original Neverwinter Nights also gave dungeon masters an extremely useful world builder complete with a plentiful array of scripts at their disposal to create everything from single-player quests to gigantic persistent worlds experienced by up to 55 players at any given time. Neverwinter Nights 2 brought forth a significant boost graphically though early compatibility and resource issues caused some to shy away and keep with the original title for their Dungeons and Dragons questing needs.

Below is the official press release sent out by Atari on the official website:

ATARI AND CRYPTIC STUDIOS ANNOUNCE NEVERWINTER™  COMING IN 2011 FOR PC

Storyline for new Co-op Roleplaying Game Inspired by R.A. Salvatore’s Upcoming Book Trilogy

Los Angeles, CA (August 23, 2010) — Atari, one of the world’s most recognized videogame publishers and Cryptic Studios, the acclaimed developers behind City of heroes, City of Villains, Champions Online and Star Trek Online, announced today the development of Neverwinter for PC. Neverwinter is a new online roleplaying game based on Wizards of the Coast‘s global property Dungeons & Dragons and the beloved city of Neverwinter.

Once a bustling location, Neverwinter has faced a great many disasters in the past hundred years. Rule of the city remains unclear following the unfortunate demise of the last Lord of Neverwinter and factions still battle for dominance after the all-consuming Spellplague took a high toll on the population. Even Neverwinter’s dead are beginning to rise from their graves and march upon the city they once called home.

“We’re beyond thrilled to develop a brand new version of Neverwinter. It’s been years since the original became a gaming icon and we’re honored to work with such a great franchise,” said Jack Emmert, COO of Cryptic Studios. “We’ve been working closely with Wizards of the Coast and R.A. Salvatore to create an authentic D&D adventure filled with compelling fiction and exciting gameplay.”

In Neverwinter, players choose to become one of five classic D&D classes and team up with friends or computer-controlled allies to form five-person co-op groups. Players also create their own storylines and quests utilizing an extremely user-friendly content generation system, tentatively codenamed Forge.

“Wizards of the Coast is excited to invite millions of fans back to Neverwinter with the launch of R.A. Salvatore’s Gauntlgrym,” said Liz Schuh, Brand Director for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. “And we’re excited about the prospects for great digital gaming experiences based on this epic world.”

Neverwinter for PC is scheduled to release in Q4 2011 and is part of a multi-platform event, including a book trilogy from New York Times best-selling author R. A. Salvatore and a tabletop roleplaying game from Wizards of the Coast. Book one in Salvatore’s Neverwinter trilogy, titled Gauntlgrym, releases on October 5 of this year and lays the groundwork for the Neverwinter storyline. The novel previews the settings, characters and monsters from the PC game and details the events that lead up to this highly anticipated PC gaming experience.

To learn more about the game, please visit: www.PlayNeverwinter.com

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I’ve been a vocal critic on Microsoft about Games for Windows (a very complex initiative, with a somewhat unclear vision), their lack of investment in PC Gaming, and their move to kill Ensemble Studios. On top of this they killed some of the best franchises which made Windows the Bentley standard for gaming, like Flight Simulator X.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they are finally coming around and re-investing in PC Gaming. Microsoft is bringing back two of their best gaming franchises via Microsoft Flight and Age of Empires Online. They probably realize that their over emphasis on console games is killing the quality of content, turning games into commodities, which ultimately makes Windows pointless in a few years.

I think in a few years Windows is basically insignificant without gaming. Not dead, but not worth the current sticker price. With Google Chrome OS/Android, Apple MacOS/iOS, and HP Palm webOS coming into the mix you will see a world where the operating system become a key differentiator in a product ecosystem. The game developers will create content for the largest platforms and that’s that.

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These days, you don’t have to worry about misleading box art, thanks to sophisticated video game graphics. In the 70s and 80s, though, companies tried to grab a consumer’s attention with fancy artwork that bore no resemblance to the actual game. Atari, in particular, was one of the biggest offenders, particularly with its 2600 console.

We already covered a handful of the system’s box art, and now it’s time for the second round. We pulled some classic Atari efforts from Microsoft’s Game Room to show you what old school players had to deal with.

The Misleading World of Atari Box Art: Part One

The Misleading World of Atari Box Art: Part Three

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Modern Warfare 2 made waves for everything from controversial scenes to lack of dedicated servers. One particular feature missing from the release was the ability to be modded. In this sense, many proclaimed that Infinity Ward dropped the ball when they could have been that much bigger if they just allowed dedicated servers and game mods. Thankfully, Call of Duty: Black Ops has done an about-face on this policy stating that they will, in fact, include these features on the new release.

A Treyarch employee confirmed this development on the official forums:

We plan to open the game up for modding sometime post-launch. We do not know yet to what extent you will be able to mod the game. There are some purely technical issues related to engine and internal tool enhancements that do not easily fit the modtools paradigm. We have looked at it close enough to see that it is non-trivial and we will have to pick it up again post-launch. Right now we are completely focused on finishing the game.

And, dev console: confirmed.

-pcdev-

While these features may not be immediately available upon release, they are a promising change to some of the more frustrating features of Modern Warfare 2.

aYa-Manku is a puzzle game that looks to be a great blend of Breakout and Pong with a modern twist.

AppStore: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aya-ma…

Official website: www.dust-bit-games.com

EverQuest II fans of old can rejoice once more as Sony Online Entertainment has launched a free-to-play scheme to the game. You are now able to join the aging MMORPG without having to open your wallet though you will find yourself limited to specific classes and races. You will have four races and eight classes to choose from.

In addition, at the bronze (free) level you are limited to receiving in-game mail only and have a maximum of two bag slots. You are also limited to 20 active quests, a restricted broker system, joining guilds only, 2 character slots, adept spell tiers, and no shared bank slots. These restrictions are eased only slightly by a $10 one-time fee giving you a silver class subscription. The restrictions are still fairly tight though if you enjoy slightly more bag slots and the ability to create a guild then this might be a good price point for you.

EverQuest II Extended is easy to sign up for and no credit card is required for the bronze level subscription. Whether or not this tiered subscription plan is a final attempt at increasing the player base before giving up on EQ2 is yet to be seen. Several MMORPGs in the past have gone free-to-play prior to shutting down and while this would appear to be another case of the same principal, Sony Online Entertainment is maintaining the regular subscription fees as well as a $200 yearly subscription providing a gold and platinum level accounts.

Click for full size matrix.

If you decide to pay for the gold-level $14.99/mo account, you will be able to send and receive in-game mail and enjoy all of the perks you currently do. Platinum (yearly) subscribers have a higher level cap of 90 and 10 player slots. You can sign up for the free account here.

When I was just a young boy in the very early 90s, my father ran a BBS called “Smoke Signals” which was a pre-internet method of sharing content and playing games with people around the community using modems. Back then, connection speeds were hardly anything to brag about, 2400 baud being the standard later to be replaced by the much faster yet still primitive 9600 baud modems. Games that existed on BBS servers were referred to as door games and consisted of titles like Terra Forma, Trade Wars, Legend of the Red Dragon and others. These games gave each player a limited amount of moves per day in order to keep someone from staying logged in all day since only one person at a time could access a BBS (yes, it was that primitive). Trade Wars was my favorite of these games as it allowed you to explore and conquer a randomized galaxy while competing and working with other real players that you may or may not have known in person.

A few years later my brother introduced me to multi-user dungeons (MUDs) and one in particular called Arctic, which I have written and talked about before. Arctic played a lot like the heavily-text based door games, though it allowed hundreds of people to log in at one time making it a truly interactive multiplayer experience. This quickly became my favorite pastime as I’d race home from junior high every day, fire up my mother’s computer and ping the ISP again and again hoping to get past the frustrating busy signal and receive a solid connection. Even though these environments were entirely text driven and hardly anything a modern gamer would consider even interesting, at the time it allowed imagination to enter the experience without some cheesy 2D graphic getting in the way.

Years progressed and PC gaming advanced graphically. Games like Baulder’s Gate, Diablo, and others made waves among avid D&D players. I found myself blown away when I took my first steps in to the MMORPG Everquest. While it wasn’t a technological marvel in the graphical sense, it was a giant leap forward for your average MUD player.

Neverwinter Nights came out after half a decade of anticipation and I found myself yet again in awe of how far the RPG genre had come. For the first time since the MUD days, D&D rules were being strictly adhered to in a PC environment. Persistent RP worlds were built and launched, one of which being City of Arabel which included enforced role playing expecting every player to stick to a character in the game world. City of Arabel was and continues to be based on a city that exists in canon Forgotten Realms. Neverwinter Nights allowed dungeon masters to alter the script and setting so much that, depending on which world you logged in to, the experience varied so greatly it was like playing an entirely different game. Custom textures, scripts, add-ons, spells and more allowed you to customize the gaming environment a great deal which made it a perfect match for dungeons and dragons fanatics that wanted to take their pen and paper game to a more visual experience.

I played this game almost daily for years until a good friend of mine introduced me to Guild Wars, Eve Online and later World of Warcraft. While these MMORPGs are extremely popular and widely played around the world, they offer only a limited amount of character customization. These titles are great for players that enjoy challenging missions, teamwork and large communities. I can’t help but to feel, however, that limited character choices and abilities coupled with extremely long-term effort requirements in order to squeeze every ounce of that monthly subscription fee out of the average player makes many MMORPGs slightly disappointing. I don’t mind spending six months building a character but at one point or another it becomes a job with the only reward being that you have the same build and character as 50,000 other people that have put in the same six months of effort.

Then along came Dragon Age, an RPG that allows your choices to directly effect your overall gaming world. You don’t have just one or two of these decisions, but hundreds of them. Even if you complete the game a dozen times, there are still paths and plots left to explore. While I personally would like to see more class options, the origins that your characters may have are each very unique and the entire plot leading up to the end changes based on your origin of choice. The first time I completed the campaign, I was shocked to discover that I had met only half of the possible companions. Each companion has an entirely different story you can pursue with each story having its own side quests.

Dragon Age raised the bar, in my opinion, of what an RPG should be. It brought back memories of being in Junior High racing home to log in to the MUD and take on the goblin camp south of Solace. In my opinion, more games like Dragon Age would be a very good thing for old RPG fans like myself, and a welcome change of pace to the sad 8-hour movies games have turned in to. Game developers, you’d be amazed at just how much giving those little choices in your single-player campaigns can change a player’s experience for the better.

Rumors have been circling about the highly anticipated third edition of the extremely popular Diablo series. While Blizzard has a reputation for making announcements years before games see the light of day, the current rumor mill hints that an announcement of great importance will take place at Blizzcon this year.

G4TV added to the speculation in a story:

We have no idea if that means that the fifth and final class will finally be revealed, that we’ll get a release date, or they’ll tell everyone that they’re joining up with Steam and offering everyone the game as a free download while Diablo segues into a subscription mode. Okay, that last one is just a nightmare we made up to keep your hopes down so you’ll be elated when it’s actually good news.

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Recently at Gamescom, Blizzard revealed more information about Artisans in Diablo 3. Below is a featurette released by Blizzard concerning this development.

BlizzCon 2010, Blizzard’s massive annual event – the celebration of all things Blizzard – is a bit more than two months away, scheduled for October 22nd. During the wait, Blizzard is offering a few opportunities for its fans to win good money by putting their creative side to use – offering big prizes in Fan Art, Movie and Music contests.

The Fan Art contest, undoubtedly the most popular and easiest contest to participate in, offers the following prizes:

• First Place:
  Wacom Cintiq 21UX and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online
• Second Place:
  NVIDIA video card, one copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5, and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online
• Third Place:
  One copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5 and one BlizzCon Virtual Ticket to watch the event live online

You can see what the Cintiq 21UX is about in the following video:

The virtual BlizzCon ticket is worth $40, and includes the following:

• Expanded live coverage over four Internet channels offering 50+ hours of HD BlizzCon programming
• BlizzCon 2010-exclusive World of Warcraft in-game item
• Access to exclusive BlizzCon merchandise
• Complete coverage of panel discussions, tournaments, and game-related announcements, plus exclusive interviews and epic closing ceremonies
• Enhanced video on demand and DVR functionality

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The makers of Dr. Awesome and DOOM RESURRECTION welcome you to the mysterious and beautiful world of the Splode! What’s that you ask?

What’s a Splode? Well a Splode is the most magical and cute of all the magical and cute creatures in the world! You see, few people realize that the world around us is a dark and quiet place. It’s all quite depressing actually! Thankfully for those of us that are afraid of the dark, the Splodes are here to bring music and light into our world! It’s an important job that the Splodes are eager to do. Now, for the first time ever, a device has been invented that allows you to assist the Splodes with their important task.

By interacting with the Splodes you can trigger a chain reaction of music and color that will bring life to the world around you. Do you have what it takes to assist the Splodes with their important mission?

Enjoy all the fun game modes, random music and beautiful graphics on your iPad, iPhone 4 or iPhone 3G/3GS. Also, stay tuned for future updates featuring new music, additional game modes and other surprises!

Visit http://www.splodegame.com for more information or download the game now at the App Store by clicking the link below:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splode…

While it may not appear that a lot has changed on the platform since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the multiplayer trailer gives a strong impression that some very cool new tricks are up your sleeves as you take on live opponents. Co-op play has also been featured as part of the multiplayer experience for Black Ops allowing you and a friend to take on the campaign in a new way.

The release date is set in for November 14th.

MTV Multiplayer has published a short article explaining the announcement as well as some information about some special unlocks available.

Starting at 1PM today, Rockstar is offering double experience in “Red Dead” multiplayer, so you’ll level up twice as fast.

‘Red Dead Redemption’ Multiplayer Getting Double XP This Weekend » MTV Multiplayer.

Hello and thank you for visiting dailypwn.com.

Currently, the site is undergoing a serious reconstruction as we prepare for season two of our online television show and a daily batch of audio and video podcasts. During this time posts will be few as efforts are concentrated on improving the site.

Thank you very much for your patience and please check back soon as we expect everything to be back up and running by August 15.

Matt Ryan

Just after the release of BioShock 2′s Protector Trials single-player game pack, it’s been revealed that the game will get an intriguing new piece of DLC entitled Minerva’s Den.

The strategy to support major games with post-release downloadable content has fast become industry-standard, enhancing product lifecycles and often providing significant revenue opportunities. With Grand Theft Auto IV, publisher Take-Two helped pioneer the model whereby these add-ons go beyond map packs and simple content items into full-scale single-player episodes, and now its 2K Games label is extending that strategy into BioShock 2.

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While the title of this article might make you wonder exactly what I’m trying to accomplish here, the fact is a new game for the iOS called “My Virtual Girlfriend” is in the wild and available for you to download.

From the official website:

My Virtual girlfriend takes you through all the aspects of a virtual relationship. You begin by setting up a dating profile for yourself and pick the attributes you find most attractive about a virtual girl partner. Our matching system generates the best 3 matches based on your preferences and you pick one to begin your journey with.

After a brief introduction, you begin your new virtual relationship with the ultimate goal of winning her over. This is accomplished by your interactivity with her. Responding to her dialog with emotes or choosing an action or activity.

There is also a touch mechanism that allows you to interact with her through touch. She’ll react differently depending on her mood and the area of touch.

Since each virtual girl is unique in personality, it is up for you to decide the best actions to take with her, different things appeal to different women, and just like in real life- you either gain or lose points depending on what you do.

It’s easy to identify if she is happy or sad, because as her mood changes, she will display it visually and it will be apparant in her attitude and dialog as well. So keeping her happy is the idea. However, If you just can’t seem to work things out- She will leave you and at that point you can just go right back to the dating screen and find a new one.

While the concept of a game like this might make you guffaw at the notion that it is only for the lonely, the experience of attempting to get along with these virtual females is about as good as one would expect from a mobile game. At $2.99 it might be worth a download for anyone that enjoys games in the Sims style looking for something with more of a direct interaction.

Blitz Games Studios announced their newest mobile game for iOS, Droplitz Delight, with a trailer featuring some of the most upsetting happy faces you’ve ever seen. This game appears at first glance to be based on a two-part premise. The first being that puzzle games are big right now and one that links point A to point B by directing a path between them will likely be a big draw for casual gamers. The second is the notion that the cuter the soundtrack and visuals, the more appealing the game will be to… well I’m not entirely sure what that bit is about.

From the official website:

Spin and twirl dials to make paths and help these adorable misfits to safety. Twists-a-plenty in this humorous, colorful carnival of addictive puzzle action! Droplitz Delight ‘revolves’ around you! Make forked paths to help the Droplitz multiply! Master chain reactions for massive scores. Never give up, never surrender!

While the original Droplitz gives you roughly the same puzzles with a much less annoying first impression, Droplitz Delight is strongly promoted as being a great game specifically for mobile customers.

Torchlight has a sequel in development and some of the new features are certainly turning heads in the gaming world. PC Gamer, a popular gaming news site and magazine, nabbed an exclusive interview detailing what players can look forward to in the new release.

Below are some of the key features listed on the official website.

KEY FEATURES

• Multi-player – Play with your friends over a local area network, or over the Internet. A free matchmaking peer-to-peer service lets you make new friends for exciting co-op play.
• Customizable Characters – Players create and customize a character from one of four classes available and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic, class, and gender choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character can be custom-tailored to each player’s needs.
• Moddability – Torchlight II will release with an updated version of TorchEd, the Torchlight editor. Players have the option to create their own mods, adding even more content to the world. You and your friends can download the same mod and play together!
• New User Interface – Torchlight II boasts an entirely new, improved user interface, designed to be easier than ever for new players to pick up and play. Thanks to this intuitive interface, players have immediate access to a rich and varied world, with little experience necessary.
• Overworld Areas – Torchlight II has large randomized overworld areas to explore with weather, time of day cycles, and random events that provide players with even more content to experience.
• Random Dungeons – Delve into randomly generated dungeons within the game at any time for extra experience and rare loot. Dungeons in Torchlight II have even more branching paths to explore with friends filled with random events, rewards and dangers.
• Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks onto new characters.
• Pets – Players choose a pet to accompany them. Pets level up along with the player, and help in battle, learn spells, carry items, and perform a variety of support services.
• Fishing – Fishing returns in the sequel! Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to relax by one of the many fishing holes and see what they can catch. Fish have unique benefits for the player and pet, while a number of other rewards can also be discovered.

Though an exact release date has not yet been determined, Runic Games, Inc. has given an estimate of Spring 2011.

New Game Mode
This new gametype will transport you to a winter wonderland. One where all the dots rain pre-frozen from the heavens, gift-wrapped and ready to die. Because in Frostbite land every day is Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Muslim Christmas. But here’s the catch: Those frozen dots are falling towards that steamy hot spring at your feet. If my high school education serves me: frozen dot + steamy hot spring = thawed dot! And in an arena marred by an unfortunate weapon shortage, thawed dots spell big trouble. Looks like you’ve got some thorough shattering to do.
Luckily, a weapon shortage is not a weapon drought. And the pickup we’re tossing you every-so-often just happens to be the perfect safety net for a dot blizzard.

New Weapon
Intuitively enough, the new burnicade pickup will engulf your cursor in a burst of hellish flames, launching you across the arena in a blaze of glory. But the real payoff is the barricade of burning justice you’ll leave in your wake. This fire is deadly to dots, but not to you, because we think there are already quite enough things trying to kill you.

Our special Comic-Con video is now online via MSN and Bing video, and downloadable on Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live (links here may only work for the US). Zaboo convinces Codex to resume game play by transporting them to a world of inspiring song and dance. Vibrant costumes and a large cast of extras give it an over-the-top look and feel. The music video and song will be available for purchase soon. Please share this video! And if you’re on Twitter, please link and use the hashtag #GAMEON

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We’ve never made any secret of our dislike for the series but we’re well aware we’re in the minority on that, so if you log in to Steam from 26th August the new game can be yoursfor a measly £17.99. Although you’ll get 10 per cent off and some extras thrown in if you pre-order.

The game will contain over 60 single-player missions, a landscape creator, more than 45 different weapons and a “currency based customisation system” with which to buy extra hats for your worms (well, they’d hardly need new shoes).

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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first game in Blizzard’s highly anticipated real-time strategy sequel trilogy launched on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, the blockbuster PC title — which is expected to sell 10 million copies or more — had some bumps during its launch.

There were a number of minor bugs, but nothing show stopping at first.  Then the reports of melting GPUs hit.

Among those affected was Adam Biessener of Game Informer whose card melted while he was live blogging about his game experience.  He bemoaned, “Three hours of cursing later, I’m posting this from my wife’slaptop because both my graphics card and my work laptop appear to be fried.”

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Nintendo Co. this week recorded a first-quarter loss due to declining sales of the Nintendo DS handheld combined with a stronger yen. The company this week said it held a loss of $288.5 million between Apr. and June.

Nintendo DS sales fell 47 percent from the year prior to 3.15 million units. Software sales fell 28 percent to 22.4 million units.

Meanwhile, sales of the Wii console increased 36 percent to 3.04 million units in the quarter.

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Ah, Dragon’s Lair. Put one button wrong and WHAM!, it was all over in a comical haze of cartoonish demise. Seeing hapless knight Dirk the Daring crushed and stabbed and zapped was a more routine experience than actually succeeding with the rescue of fair maiden Princess Daphne, but we loved it. Why? Latent masochism, probably. It’s still a nostalgic tour de force of stupid fun, and Wii owners are getting Dragon’s Lair, Dragon’s Lair 2, and er, Space Ace, all in the one bundle.

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Ferrari Challenge developer System 3 has this weekend revealed the sequel, and its third current-gen racer, Ferrari: the Race Experience, coming to Wii as a full disc release, and PS3 as a downloadable PSN title.

System 3 says the game “evolves the series” and “opens the Ferrari stable up to an even wider audience”, featuring “the latest and greatest Ferrari dream machines, dazzling new circuits, a brand new Career mode and a completely overhauled handling system,” according to the PR.

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Black Ops better stop this claymore ownage!

London, UK – July 24 – Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games today announced that Street Fighter X Tekken is in development for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360TM video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®. The title will make history as fighters from these two bastions of the fighting genre come together for the very first time.

Utilising the same technology that powered Street FighterTM IV & Super Street FighterTM IV, TekkenTM characters such as Kazuya Mishima and Nina Williams will make the transition into the Street FighterTM universe having been re-imagined using the much loved art style of these seminal titles; while retaining their unique characteristics and signature moves as they go head to head with classic brawlers from the Street Fighter franchise in what promises to be the ultimate match up.

As in Street Fighter IV, gameplay will feature fully realised 3D character models battling for domination in both new and familiar highly detailed 2D environments that are brought to life with engaging animations. In addition to modes such as Versus and Training that will feature new enhancements to make the fighting experience more in-depth and enjoyable, Street Fighter X Tekken will include Tag Team combat where players select two fighters to deliver knockout assist attacks and special combos.

The announcement, which took place at Comic-Con in San Diego in front of thousands of Street Fighter fans, was made by the Producer of Street Fighter X Tekken, Yoshinori Ono, and Tekken series Director, Katsuhiro Harada. Commenting on the origins of this project Yoshinori Ono said: “This is history we’re making. Two fighting games that have rivalled each other are finally standing on the same stage. This isn’t just a showdown between Tekken and Street Fighter, but a decisive battle for Capcom and Namco Bandai Games. So I’m going to give it my all.”

Google has added a licensing server to the Android Marketplace which will allow an app to verify whether the user has purchased it or not before opening.

In order to use the new service an app must be sold through Google’s Android Market store and be on a device running Android 1.5 or later which also has the Market app installed. Free apps can’t make use of the service.

Communication with the licensing server will be done exclusively by the Market app itself using RSA public-key encryption.

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Hot off the heels of releasing its first MMO project, APB, UK-based game developer Realtime Worlds revealed a new project today that combines social media with social gaming for PC.

Project: MyWorld is a new undertaking that is similar to Google Maps and replicates real world countries in three dimensions. The platform takes topographical data and then spits out a 3D Sim City-style map that users can then go in and edit or add sizable structures and landmarks.

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As sequels go, StarCraft II took its bloody time. But the excruciating 12 year wait for fans of the sci-fi strategy base builder was finally over last night as the game enjoyed a global midnight launch all around the, er, globe. A truly historic occasion and cause for widespread rejoicing amongst the PC community.

The game’s maker, Blizzard, catalogued the event by posting a bunch of photos on its StarCraft II Facebook page. And it looks like it was a rip-roaring success. Thankfully, to ensure it wasn’t just wall-to-wall beards and men and unwashed armpits, someone had the good sense to hire a few women, which consequently added a little feminine sexy to proceedings.

I’ve taken the liberty of raiding Blizzard’s photo collection for the purposes of bringing the sexy, sexy ladies of the StarCraft II global midnight launch to the attention of GamesRadar patrons. Here they are:

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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is available for purchase around the globe. Battle.net 2.0 is live, and hundreds of thousands are enjoying war, in all its glory… and all its horror.

SC2Blog staff attended launch parties around the world, celebrating 3 years of following StarCraft 2′s development in the public eye, and picking up their own, pre-ordered copies. Those who have chosen to get Collector’s Editions have received one of the most beautiful gaming artifacts to have ever hit mass production.

The Collector’s Edition comes in a big, beautiful double “sliding door” package, giving it a unique and rugged look that is unlike any other. Due to its size and the distinct pseudo-metallic texture, the box immediately stands out in any store or gamer room.

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The internet pretty much became one big Starcraft site yesterday, as Blizzard released one of the most anticipated games in recent memory, Starcraft II. The original Starcraft was an enormous hit, and there has been a lot of anticipation as people try to discover whether the sequel lives up to their memories of the original.

Starcraft II returns us to the conflict between the Terran, Protoss, and Zerg. This installment, Wings of Liberty, focuses on the Terran forces. All three factions are available in multiplayer, but the single player campaign is all about the Terran.

Yeah, I said single player. That’s the first thing that struck me when I started playing Starcraft II: the single player campaign is simply amazing. The original Starcraft followed the standard real-time strategy formula of story. Here’s a base for you, there’s a base for them, go wipe it out. Between missions, you got a bit of text explaining the story or a short cutscene.

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In this episode we discuss the launch of StarCraft II, virtual worlds and their impact on Relay for Life, Crosswords for the iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), and a news blitz.

Topics Covered:

Crosswords: http://www.standalone.com/iphone/crosswords/
Second Life: http://www.secondlife.com
Relay for Life: http://www.relayforlife.org/secondlife
Green Lantern Game: http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/07/22/comic-con-2010-warner-working-on-gree…
Violent Video Games: http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/07/23/violent-video-games-could-help-save-l…

Exclusive World Premiere! The official machinima music video for Avenged Sevenfold’s hit single, “Welcome to the Family,” from their new albumn, “Nightmare,” (in stores 7/27/10) and featuring a never before seen cut of footage from Activision’s upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Source: Machinima.com

Alien Swarm is a game and Source SDK release from a group of talented designers at Valve who were hired from the Mod community. Available free of charge, the game thrusts players into an epic bug hunt featuring a unique blend of co-op play and squad-level tactics. With your friends, form a squad of four distinct IAF Marine classes.

Title: Alice: Madness Returns
Release Date: Spring 2011
Platforms: PC | PS3 | 360
Genre: Adventure | Horror
Label: EA Games
Age Rating: RP (Rating Pending)

Eleven years ago a horrific fire took Alice’s family from her and left her terribly burned—and her mind terribly scarred. Afterwards she was confined to Rutledge Asylum, struggling to come to terms with her demons by slipping into her fantasy world of Wonderland. Now, after ten years, she has finally secured her release–yet she still bears the heavy psychological burden of that tragic event.

In Alice: Madness Returns, Alice is released from the asylum to a London psychiatrist’s care. As nightmarish hallucinations continue to haunt her and invade her reality, she seeks to understand her torment in order to recover herself. Her mind in tatters, she is unable to resolve the fear and neuroses prompted by her strange memories, dreams, and visions. Her relocation to London seems only to add to their number and intensity.

Perhaps she’ll do better in Wonderland. She always has. She travels there, seeking what the “real” world can’t provide: security, knowledge, and the truth about the past. But in her absence, Wonderland too has suffered. Something has gone horribly wrong, and now a great evil is descending upon what once was her beautiful refuge.

Can Alice save Wonderland—and herself—from the madness that consumes them both?

Designed by American McGee

Source: Electronic Arts

New to Allods Online? Catch a glimpse into the world of Sarnaut and adventures in the Astral.

For more information about Allods Online, visit their official website linked here.

Several new trailers for the upcoming Lego Universe MMORPG have been spotted as Comic-Con is underway. Here are a few of them.

Violent video games could be used to save lives, a computer scientist has said.

Codes used to create virtual worlds for “shoot ‘em up” games such as Doom 3 and Half Life 2 could be modified to build 3D fire safety simulators, according to research by Durham University.

The games’ sophisticated software could be converted to recreate real buildings, then modified to create a number of emergency scenarios, much more easily and cheaply than traditional virtual reality programs.

The study, published today in the Fire Safety Journal, found that games in which the player saw the environment from the first person perspective and normally involved the player using weapons to fight a number of enemies, had the greatest capability to be converted.

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This extended trailer was released as the final unlockable reward from Blizzard Entertainment‘s Join the Dominion! promotional site. As people took the Dominion army entrance exam, submitted propaganda in an art contest, and shared the site and content with their friends on Facebook, over 20 rewards were unlocked. View the unlocked rewards and the Join the Dominion! site at www.starcraft2.com/dominion/

Get your Sims an all access pass to the hottest spots in town. What will your Sims get up to after dark?

Official Site

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Virtual worlds are still a very new concept in the world of technology while the idea of existing inside virtual spaces has been around since the dawn of the information age. While many of these concepts are used exclusively for gaming, virtual worlds like Second Life occasionally use their immense sense of community to do a lot of good in the world.

Last weekend Relay for Life was held in Second Life lasting a full 24 hours from midday Saturday to Sunday. This relay contained all the elements you would find in a real-life Relay for Life including an opening ceremony, luminaria, fight back ceremony and closing ceremony events ending in a brilliant fireworks show put on by Second Life’s RacerX Gullwing.

Second Life’s Relay for Life Opening Ceremonies

Throughout the past year, events and fund raisers were held to contribute to a growing pool of virtual currency that is then traded in for real-world currency sent directly to the American Cancer Society fund. During these events and including the 24-hour relay, over $221,000 USD was raised (over 53 million Linden dollars). The vast majority of this money was raised through micro-transactions often as low as fractions of a dollar.

Fantasy Faire was held in Second Life in mid April gathering some of the virtual world’s leading fantasy designers, enthusiasts and musicians for a 7 day festival benefiting the Relay for Life. During the event, over 2.5 million Linden dollars were raised towards the cause.

RacerX Gullwing’s Giant Snail Races went cross-country and held a race spanning miles and miles of virtual road through Second Life. Each snail purchase went towards the fund-raising and participants were able to make larger donations for slight advantages in starting line placement.

During the actual Relay events, tiny snails were raced through the main event island for Relay for Life. The island was riddled with obstacles including river rafting, abandoned mineshaft, springy mushrooms and a steep hill. As with the previous snail race, proceeds for the tiny snails went towards the fund.

A live auction for real-life items including sports jerseys signed by pro athletes ranging from football players to American cyclist Lance Armstrong. This auction went directly to benefit Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society.

Over 130 teams signed up for the 2010 Relay for Life and each team had a chance to create a unique campsite. Some of the builds were inspirational, some very artistic and many were a bit of both. These camp sights were judged and the most impressive one won a prize. Below is an episode of Designing Worlds on Treet.TV dedicated to taking a look at some of the impressive builds made by attendees.

Treet.TV held a telethon throughout the Relay events to help encourage viewers of their live stream to log in to Second Life and join in the festivities as well as donate to the cause. Virtual television hosts pitched in to offer their support and capture some of the very touching events on video for people to look back on in the future.

So the next time someone mentions how Virtual Worlds can help the real world, you will have at least one solid example of virtual communities coming together to make a serious difference. Second Life has been holding Relay for Life events for five years now and planning is already underway for next year’s festivities.

More information about the official Relay for Life – Second Life event can be found on the official site here.

The Relay for Life of Second Life weekend included many many special builds and a great course just made for the Limited Edition tiny snail. All for the cause of fighting cancer, this is a fun and crazy way to be a part of it. Go Relay!

Angelika Courtois 1st
Kalli Birman 2nd
Cinders Vale 3rd
whirligig Rutabaga 4th
Lykurgus Liebknecht 5th
bartelby Pegler 6th
Aryon Dagger 7th
Baldi McMillan 8th
Six Numanox 9th
florenze Kerensky 10th
Belle Loll 11th
DMom2K Darwin 12th
Tindallia Soothsayer 13th
Industria Dowler 14th
Holocluck Henly 15th
william Galileo 16th
Cryene Madonna 17th
Kumi Kuhr 18th
Delinda Dyrssen 19th

Image via Wikipedia

Note: Matt Ryan’s Second Life avatar name is Zen Paine.

There will be no reviews of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty before its launch on Tuesday next week, Eurogamer can reveal. All press will be experiencing it for the first time alongside the rest of you.

Blizzard was unable to offer an official comment at time of writing. However, we understand from our conversations with the developer-publisher that the new Battle.net service and its online features are so integral to the game that it would be both impractical and undesirable for press to review it before servers go live.

That, and designer Dustin Browder has previously confirmed to VG247 that the game will require a day one patch in order to give the famously perfectionist developer “a little bit more time to sort of get their ducks in a row.”

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GRAPEVINE, Texas, Jul 21, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) –

Midnight Launch Detected! GameStop (NYSE:GME), the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today announced that it will host events at 3,000 of its stores Monday, July 26, 2010, leading up to the 12:01 a.m. release of Blizzard Entertainment^(R)‘s highly anticipated Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. Starcraft II is the sequel to the ground-breaking, real-time strategy game, Starcraft, one of the most successful and beloved video games of all-time.

With festivities at stores kicking off at 9 p.m., GameStop is the place to be for all Starcraft fans, who will have an opportunity to compete in the “Choose Your Race” costume contest, a Starcraft original art contest and more! In addition, fans who purchase their copy of the game at midnight will receive a GameStop Boost Pack filled with incredible savings from Alienware, NVIDIA/EVGA and GameStop.

The times noted in this release reflect the local time in your market and time zone. Customers are asked to contact their local store to confirm the exact time of the event. Events may vary by location.

For more information on an event near you, log on to www.gamestop.com/SCII.

About GameStop Corp.

Headquartered in Grapevine, TX, GameStop Corp. is the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer. The company operates 6,486 retail stores in 17 countries worldwide. The company also operates GameStop.com and publishes Game Informer(R) magazine, a leading multi-platform video game publication. GameStop Corp. sells new and used video game software, hardware and accessories for video game systems from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. In addition, the company sells PC entertainment software, related accessories and other merchandise. General information on GameStop Corp. can be obtained at the company’s corporate website: http://www.gamestopcorp.com.

Fresh off their E3 convention in June, video-game makers are setting their sights on new audiences as they arrive at the Comic-Con convention opening Thursday in San Diego, California.

This time, game makers and developers are homing in specifically on games that have a comic character tie-in.

“DC Online Universe” (Sony Online Entertainment) and “Marvel vs. Capcom 3″ (Capcom) have direct relationships to the superheroes and villains from the comic book world. After all, readers of those publications also play video games.

Nintendo doesn’t attend Comic-Con every year, but when it has a game that might appeal to the comic world, the company shows up big.

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Image via Wikipedia

The new “Green Lantern” movie starring Ryan Reynolds will be the center of Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment’s presentation at Comic-Con International this Saturday. But it won’t be the only Green Lantern creation they unveil.

The studio is also hard at work on a Green Lantern video game that’s expected to come out along with the movie. According to DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson, it’s part of a bigger plan to put DC characters in more titles from the studio’s growing Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) video game publishing unit.

“On the game side there will be more following Green Lantern that we hope to directly be impacting creatively and otherwise,” she said.

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Motorola‘s Droid X is an impressive new contender in the emerging category of large form-factor touchscreen smartphones. The device’s high-end hardware specifications and massive 4-inch touchscreen set it apart from the rest of Motorola’s current product lineup. Although the Android-based device has much in common with HTC‘s recently launched EVO 4G, the Droid X succeeds where the EVO fell short—by matching an excellent feature set with all-day battery life.

The Droid X comes with a new iteration of Motorola’s custom Android environment, which offers tightly integrated social networking functionality. It has outstanding power management features and the best support for messaging that we have ever seen on an Android handset—characteristics that make up for the rough edges that are present elsewhere in the user experience.

In this review, we’ll take a close look at the Droid X and see how it compares to its rivals. Due to its numerous similarities with the EVO, this article will often reference issues that were discussed in our recent EVO review.

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In this special episode, Matt Ryan has a sit-down with one of the Treet.TV founders, Wiz Nordberg. They discuss mobile gaming, virtual worlds and the future of controllers.

Games Covered:
Crosswords – http://www.standalone.com/iphone/crosswords/
Plain Sight – http://www.plainsightgame.com/
Strategery – http://strategerygame.com/
Second Life – http://secondlife.com/
Pocket Metaverse – http://www.pocketmetaverse.com/

For more information about Wiz Nordberg and Treet visit:
http://treet.tv

During an interview with Treet.TV CEO Wiz Nordberg, I was introduced to a crossword puzzle game made for the iOS that backs the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. He described Crosswords by Stand Alone, Inc. in such a positive light that I felt I had to review it myself.

The first thing I noticed about Crosswords was the incredibly fortunate name this app was able to grab. As Wiz pointed out, the advantage to an entirely new platform is the ability for early-comers to grab the best names for their apps. Crosswords makes perfect sense and by name alone has probably received a lot more attention than many others buried behind a sea of easier discoveries.

Moving on to content, Crosswords has daily updates from virtually every major newspaper you may have heard of. From the Houston Chronicle to the New York Post, you likely won’t find yourself bored waiting for a new puzzle to solve. In some cases, puzzles appear in the app as much as two days before they are slated for release.

Once you have a puzzle selected, the interface is incredibly adapted to users with completely varying tastes. You can hold the device upright for access to an easy menu as well as a more full-screen view of the game field. Upon tilting to the right or left, the screen splits between the puzzle and the questions giving you faster access to the clues if you are more accustomed to jumping around to what you know before attempting to tackle what you are less sure about. You can also do a word-by-word view to simplify the overall process and remove a lot of the clutter from the puzzle. As much as I would normally hate such drastic variances in the interface when tilting the device, the developers knew exactly what they were doing here.

Price is a big factor when considering purchasing Crosswords. At $9.99 the sticker shock for an iOS app is steep. While you might pay twice that for a Nintendo DS version of pretty much the same game, many users are more accustomed to paying a fraction of this.

Having played Crosswords, I would say that if you are serious about your interest in Crossword puzzles, this is a very professional app that has all the perks you would expect from the price tag. If you’re only a casual puzzle solver then you may find other more budget-friendly apps your style.

Special thanks goes to Wiz Nordberg of Treet.TV for bringing up this app for review. Click here information about Stand Alone, Inc. and Crosswords app.

The Electronic Arts-owned Maxis studio will announce an action role-playing game set in the Spore universe at Comic-Con 2010 next week, but the developer is also seeking to employ an individual to work on a new online simulation game for the PC.

A job listing spotted by Superannuation asks for a development director for an unannounced “next-generation online simulation game” at the Maxis studio in Emeryville, California.

Although specifics on the project are unknown, EA is clearly looking for an experienced individual to help lead it. The listing requires its applicant to have more than five years of “project management experience on at least two shipped titles,” one of which must be a PC game.

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In an effort to reduce a sudden strain on download servers, Blizzard has arranged for StarCraft 2 to be available via download right away on their shiny new StarCraft 2 site. The basic idea behind it is that you can download the game today and purchase the game online on July 27th, giving you virtually no wait times to start playing as would be expected on release date.

If you plan on buying a box version of StarCraft 2, this option is not a good one for you as their site warns against pre-downloading content in this case. This could be due to DRM placed on the product, though the site doesn’t initially state why you can’t download it now and use the CD key off the box version to play.

In any case, the date draws near when StarCraft 2 escapes from beta and makes its way in to the wild for keeps. As Sarge said in the original trailer released years ago, “Damn, it’s about time.”

Get your StarCraft 2 download on!

Amazon Germany has a 4GB Xbox 360 Arcade bundle posted. The 4GB of storage is small though that is to be expected from their budget edition. This 4GB is rumored to be in the form of either a USB stick or internal flash storage.

The listing on Amazon Germany has its release date set in August of 2010.

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Six new Guild Wars 2 screenshots have been released by NCsoft and we have them here in their entirety for your viewing pleasure. These shots feature the ranger class and pets.

Click on a thumbnail below for the full-sized image.

Today, Gamelion Studios announced that the highly anticipated physics-based 3D puzzle-platformer “Furry Legends” will be launched on WiiWare^TM in America on July 19th, 2010 for 1000 Wii Points^TM.

Until July 19th Gamelion is running a “100,000 Wii Points^TM” Facebook contest onwww.facebook.com/gamelion where participants (US-only) can win Wii Points at the games launch in United States.

About Furry Legends

In “Furry Legends” players take control of characters who are best described as a furry ball. “Furry Legends” will feature a couple of unique characters, each with its unique powers, allowing the player to perform various moves depending on the character selected. Players will be able to roll, jump, bounce, attack and perform other various moves with their spherical character. Gamelion aims to please both casual and hardcore crowds, with easy to pick up and hard to master gameplay, as well as brilliant, full 3D graphics packed with detail and a healthy dose of humor. The game features controls taking advantage of the Wii Remote^TM as well as a robust physics system, which will be used to solve different puzzles player might roll into.

Key features

• Robust physics engine, allowing the player to solve sophisticated puzzles
• Full 3D Graphics, with 2D gameplay
• Full screen post-processing effects
• Tons of humor
• Varied in-game environments
• Fun and cute characters
• Challenging levels
• Intriguing story

Game trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hAV9B2CE2g

Game website
http://www.furrylegends.com/

Beyond Black Mesa is a live-action short film being produced on a budget under $1,300. The teaser is out and it looks like this will be a fantastic independent film based on the Half Life story. For more information visit beyondblackmesa.com.

Hawx 2 has been announced and we have the trailer. More realistic flight and extra features are all highlighted by Ubisoft as this flight combat game readies for release. For more information visit hawx2.com.

LeBron James has picked Miami as his new team and screenshots featuring him in his new attire are already coming out of the NBA 2k11 development team.

Blizzard has had a tremendously negative response from players regarding a decision to force real names out in the open on the Blizzard forums. This move, aimed at combating the negative troll-rich environment was unpopular as player concerns over privacy and employment checks took center stage.

Guild Wars 2 art is quickly coming out and more details about how the long-anticipated sequel will handle death and healing are now available.

Although the word “beta” appears no where in the announcement, BioWare has announced they’ve begun what sure sounds a lot like a beta test for Star Wars: The Old Republic, with “game testing” officially underway.

If you’ve been selected for the initial wave of testers, this means you should now have been notified via email about how to access an early version of the game. Testing is being conducted to “provide valuable feedback to help us tune particular areas of gameplay and begin the process of balancing and tweaking our content,” the announcement explains.

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The latest Bungie Weekly Update revealed the studio’s fairly brilliant strategy for foiling the attempts of haxx0rs who planned on leaking the Achievements for Halo: Reach. All the team has to do, you see, is leak the Achievements first. Not the full, detailed list, mind you — just the icons, which are posted in the image seen above.

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School of Wizardry may sound a bit familiar to those that are acquainted with a certain boy wizard from England, but there are enough twists and turns to make it worth playing.

You are a studentin a wizarding school and must complete quests and duels to grow as a wizard. You are given a set amount of energy to complete and master lessons and your stamina will let you compete in wizarding duels against other players.

As you earn money through dueling and questing, you have the opportunity to purchase property, such as candy shops, that will get provide you with regular income. Certain quests require items that can only be purchased at the store such as robes and wands or awarded in other quests. Every time you master a quest or level up you are given a hall pass that can be traded in for energy refills or special items such as a hydra.

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Blizzard has officially canceled its controversial plans to force users on its Battle.net forum to post using their real names.

Writing in the World of Warcraft forums this morning, Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime announced that the decision was made after monitoring user feedback, most of which was against the idea of sacrificing their personal information in order to discuss the company’s games.

Morhaime also clarified that the forum plans are separate from the optional in-game Real ID system currently in use on World of Warcraft.

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Guarded doors, secret interrogations and broken promises are just the latest allegations laid out in the ongoing saga about the break-up between the world’s largest game publisher and the people in charge of creating Modern Warfare 2.

Activision created a “police state,” conducted secret “interrogations” of employees and held $54 million dollars hostage as they tried to threaten and cajole the team behind Modern Warfare 2 into making the next Modern Warfare game, according to an amended lawsuit filed in California today and obtained by Kotaku.

A group of nearly 40 past and present Infinity Ward developers banded together in April to file suit against the publishers of Modern Warfare 2 for half a billion dollars, alleging breach of contract and unpaid royalties.

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Inspired by the Half-Life Video Game series, this is an action packed short film centering around Adrian Shephard and a band of resistance fighters struggling to get out a warning about the impending invasion.

Independent short film – 2 years in the making – $1,200 budget – Endless hours of post – 1 Canon HV20

Check out: beyondblackmesa.com

Directed by Brian Curtin
Producer: Matt Hall, Mat Powell
Actors/Grips: Joy Gravel, Walt Thomas, Andrew Gothard
Composer: Nate Quarterman

Resolve Market Research has just completed a comprehensive study that looks at how the iPad is being used, and how the iPad is impacting other technology devices like e-readers, portable gaming consoles and netbooks.

The study, which was conducted online across a nationally representative sample, compared technology owners or people that intend to own devices in four different categories: the iPad, smartphones (including iPhones, Androids and BlackBerrys), e-readers and portable video game devices. The study also focused on how users perceive the iPad both before and after owning the device.

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As the August 10th launch of Madden NFL 11approaches, gear up with team-specific assets, featuring two divisions per week, through the month of July. This week, the focus is on the AFC East and AFC West.

The teams are rated as follows in Madden NFL 11:

AFC East Team Ratings

• New York Jets – 89 (4th overall)
• New England Patriots – 86 (8th overall)
• Miami Dolphins – 79 (17th overall)
• Buffalo Bills – 67 (31st overall)

AFC West Team Ratings

• San Diego Chargers – 85 (10th overall)
• Denver Broncos – 78 (19th overall)
• Oakland Raiders – 71 (17th overall)
• Kansas City Chiefs – 71 (27th overall)

Up next week: AFC North and AFC South

Source: EA Sports

For giveaway information, please visit -http://www.darkstaronecontest.com

1st prize – (one winner)

- DarkStar One – Broken Alliance Custom skinned Xbox 360^®
- DarkStar One – Broken Alliance custom skinned controller
- One year of Xbox Live
- One copy of DarkStar One – Broken Alliance for Xbox 360^®

2nd prize – (one winner)

- One DarkStar One – Broken Alliance custom Xbox 360 skin
- One copy of DarkStar One – Broken Alliance

The first 10 submissions to the Galactic Giveaway will automatically receive a DarkStar One – Broken Alliance custom Xbox 360 skin.

Ready to don your space-suit and blast into the adventure of a lifetime? DarkStar One – Broken Alliance is your chance to do just that, as it combines fast and furious in-the-cockpit starship combat with a deep storyline involving love, family, betrayal and mysterious alien races.
Play as Kayron Jarvis, a young and ambitious spacefaring adventurer as he attempts to unravel a family mystery, braving the depths of space, encounters mysterious aliens and blasts his enemies to dust in his uniquely customizable ship – the DarkStar One.

Developed by Gaming Minds Studio, part of the Kalypso Media Group, DarkStar One – Broken Alliance is presented in stunning full 1080p HD and 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. The game is set for a July release on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. For more information, visit the official website at www.darkstarone.com.

Source: http://www.darkstaronecontest.com/

Hull, UK – July 1, 2010 – Ngames, publisher of massively multiplayer online games that are as-sweet-and-addictive-as-candy, is offering gamers the chance to win a bounty of special in-game items during the open beta of its colourful 3D fantasy MMORPG, Fairy Story Online.

From 14.00 (CST) on July 3rd Ngames will open the doors on its stunning fantasy-themed MMORPG, Fairy Story Online. Casual glances from curious peeping toms will instantly fall under the spell of this enchanting MMORPG.

As proud ambassadors of the Clover Hunting Group, players of Fairy Story Online are challenged to prevent the 99th age of war: to bring back the light and restore peace to Sunshine City. Explore an expansive and spectacular 3D fantasy world by foot on or mounts; synthesize cute pets to fortify your kill attempts in battle; customize weapons and a range of protection clothing before engaging in battle with unique grizzly monsters; and interact with the vibrant online community.

New players will be greeted by fanfare and rewarded for making their first footsteps into the open beta with eight fabulous activities. They are guaranteed to win the hearts and minds of a diverse range of gamers over the period July 3rd – 31st – as if the lovable characters of Fairy Story Online alone are not enough to secure allegiance from new players to the Clover Hunting Group! The eight activities will include:

• Gifts for Closed Beta testers

To show their appreciation, each new players will receive a small gift.

• Login to Win

Simply login during the open beta phase to claim a free gift.

• Leveling Up Campaign

Players will be ranked according to their level progress (1) every week and (2) every month. The first ten players will receive game vouchers and a cute advanced virtual pet.

• 1.5x EXP Helps You Grow in the Weekend

Weekend play will be rewarded with a bonus 1.5x EXP (4 hours) reward. Speak nicely yo Bosom Sister from Sunshine City to claim yours. Don’t forget: you can gain more EXP by killing monsters then.

• $300 Worth of Boss Comes Along

Defeat on-coming monsters to stand a chance of winning a precious gift worth $300 of in-game currency.

• Pet Head Synthesizing Contest

Rich virtual pet gift will be given when specified head pet is synthesized

• I Love Sports

Pick up a basketball, rugby, baseball or even football dropped by one of the antisocial monsters to earn a gift.

• Pet Show; Items Show; Mount Show

Game Moderators will share all sorts of fantasy pets, colorful items and cool mounts in the game with players in advance.

Fairy Story Online is an MMORPG that welcomes the experienced, as well as the first-time MMO player, through its friendly newbie guide and 24/7 online support:http://fs.game321.com/game_document/myfirsttime/139.html

You can learn about the three endearing character families from Fairy Story Online :http://fs.game321.com/game_document/gameintroduction/naughty/154.html

You can watch the Fairy Story Online video:http://bit.ly/fairystoryonlinevideo

You can also interact with Fairy Story Online via social networks:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fairystoryonline
Twitter: twitter.com/FairyStory_

Gameplay features:

• 3 charming character families
• Customizable clothing and weapons
• Easy-to-navigate map
• Vibrant online community
• Cute pets

Sign-up to the Fairy Story Online open beta from July 3rd and be prepared to fill a Hessian sackful of special in-game items that will make you the envy of all your friends. Invite them too, of course – and share in the genuine fun that is Fairy Story Online.

Official site: http://fs.game321.com/

NCSoft has released a new batch of high-quality artwork from their upcoming Guild Wars 2.

Click the pictures below for links to full quality copies.

The rise of the free-to-play western MMO hasn’t gone unnoticed at Blizzard, developers of World of Warcraft, the dominant western subscription MMO. Speaking to PC Gamer at their studios in Irvine, California, World of Warcraft’s lead designer, Tom Chilton, explained that “at some point, it may not make sense for us to have a subscription fee.”

Tom was speaking about the rapid expansion of free-to-play games in the west, and the terms under which Blizzard would consider a similar model for World of Warcraft. In the last year, classic western hardcore online games such as Lord of the Rings Online, Company of Heroes and Dungeons and Dragons Online have all embraced a free-to-play model, where microtransactions and item purchases are a substitute for a traditional subscription fee.

Yet Tom doesn’t think those games have gone free just to compete with World of Warcraft. “I feel like they’re doing that to compete with other games that are on a similar subscriber level to what they were at. I imagine that when one of them went free to play it cannibalized some of the other subscribers. I can definitely imagine that being the case with World of Warcraft. If another game comes along and blows us away it may not make sense for us to have a subscription fee. Or even further down the line, when we have another MMO out.”

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Related articles by Zemanta

• ‘World of Warcraft’ Not Free Today, But Maybe Someday (multiplayerblog.mtv.com)
• Blizzard Considering Dropping World of Warcraft Subscription Model (1up.com)

For more information on Magic: The Gathering:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/

For more information about Gemanite55:
http://gemanite55.com

For more information about Xbox Live:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live

For more information about League of Legends:
http://www.leagueoflegends.com/

News stories featured in the news blitz:
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/06/18/need-for-speed-hot-pursuit-demo-at-e3/
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/06/24/pr-ea-wages-war-on-xbox-live-arcade-with-risk-factions/
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/06/20/press-release-4story-has-32-nation-world-cup-cloaks-available/

I fondly remember Gold Mine Comics in Victoria, TX during my youth. Magic the Gathering was a new card game that took off with amazing speed and the store set up a game room in the back where you could play this addicting card game from open to close. At any given time, there were between four and fourteen people back there battling it out with their custom decks and debating the best builds.

Back then, the most expensive card I had ever seen was the elusive and rare Mox Jet card. It was priced at $100.00 and making $20.00 every two weeks as my allowance my dreams of owning such an amazing card were drowned out by my relentless need for more cards of any power or rarity so my decks were usually full of atogs and other weakling creatures.

As time went on, expansions were released and editions were updated. Arabian Nights was the first major expansion of MTG which was followed by updated core releases roughly four times a year since the first. The rules have been updated several times and the current rule set in play is Magic 2010 released in July of 2009.

MTG has also spread their reach in to the online realm as well including Magic the Gathering Online or Magic Online for short. In MTG Online, you are able to buy virtual cards and play them online with friends and random opponents. You can also trade, build custom decks and even take part in tournaments online. While many of the game’s avid followers have moved to the online version, many traditionalists prefer the face-to-face game play that having decks on hand gives you.

Magic also has an independent video game featuring pre-made decks out called Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers. This game features challenges both offline and online with NPC and real life opponents. Though you can’t make a custom deck of your own, you are able to play with the pre-created decks and use strategy to overcome your opponents rather than rely on having the most expensive deck to gain victory.

Magic the Gathering has been around for almost 20 years and thanks to modern technology and a refreshed interest, it appears that this collectible card game is going to be around for a long time to come.

“RISK: Factions has been designed to offer something for every level of strategy player,” said Chip Lange, General Manager and Senior Vice President of the Hasbro Division at Electronic Arts. “We’ve taken a pop culture favorite and injected doses of innovation and creativity across all aspects of the game to deliver a RISK experience that can only be achieved on a digital gaming platform such as XBLA. From original Classic mode to new Factions mode, and online multiplayer to an assortment of rule-set options, game-changing strategic weapons, quirky factions and eye-grabbing graphics, the quest for world domination just got more extreme and fun.”

RISK: Factions pits five fanatical factions against one another in an epic battle for global supremacy. Deployed as cats, robots, zombies, yetis or humans, RISK strategists can start by playing through single-player campaign mode to familiarize themselves with the factions and Hasbro’s 2008 RISK rule-set, upon which the video game is based. Alternatively, players can jump directly into the action in one of the game’s three multiplayer modes including: Command Room mode, featuring the fast moving objective-based 2008 rule-set; Classic mode, offering traditional play where players conquer the world by eliminating all other opponents; and World Conquest mode, a mix of Command Room and Classic modes.

The XBLA game also features online multiplayer capabilities for up to five players and local multiplayer options for up to four players. New maps, unlockable avatar items, bonus “overkill” moments, and strategic weapons also round out RISK: Factions’ inventive twists and turns, all created to test players’ strategic mettle and execution.

“The RISK game brand has always been about strategizing to rule the world, and now EA is offering players a chance to do so in a re-imagined digital environment,” said Mark Blecher, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Media and Gaming at Hasbro.

RISK: Factions was developed by UK-based Stainless Games with cinematics produced by Powerhouse Animation. The game is rated E10+ by the ESRB and is available now on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 800 Microsoft points, or approximately $10.00.

Additional RISK-inspired digital games under development include RISK for the iPhone(R) and iPod touch(R), both scheduled to launch on the App Store later this summer from EA Mobile. An online version of RISK is also currently available on Pogo.com.

Source: Electronic Arts

Software developers Worldweaver Ltd, based in Pinewood Studios (UK), announce upcoming features of DX Studio v4, due for release later this summer.

Key to version 4.0 will be a new player for Android devices (such as the Google Nexus One or the Motorola Droid), and a lightweight cross platform Java+OpenGL player.
Other important v4 features include instant edit and preview, editor based performance monitoring, additional water and terrain tools, and a significant performance upgrade to the rendering engine.

“We are very excited about offering cross platform support to our existing users. The ability to publish DX Studio built games on a wider range of devices has been an increasingly popular request.” said CEO and founder Chris Sterling. “We also hope the move will attract a significant number of new users to our engine, offering a cost effective way to build apps and games for the latest mobile phones.”

The price of DX Studio v4 will remain unchanged, with no upgrade fees for existing users and no additional license fees for publishing on the new platforms.

Full details of all the new features planned for the version 4.0 release can be found at www.dxstudio.com.

“When developing the game our goal was to capture all the elements that people love about the hilarious reality ABC show, and to above all make it fun,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing. “So far, we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from fans, who clearly can’t wait to step up to the challenge of the obstacle course.”

Wipeout: The Game is loaded with the elements that have made the TV show a smash hit. From the contestant demolishing Dreadmill to the fan-favorite Big Balls, all of Wipeout’s classic obstacles make an appearance in the game. Furthering the complete Wipeout experience that fans have become accustomed to is the inclusion of witty commentary provided by the show’s hosts John Anderson, John Henson and co-host Jill Wagner.

In Wipeout: The Game, up to four players can battle against each other in the game’s many challenges. As they compete for the ultimate win, players will get down and dirty with their opponents as they hurl objects and insults with the game’s signature Trash Talk Generator.

Wipeout: The Game for Nintendo DS^TM and Wii^TM is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB and is available now for a suggested price of $29.99. For more information, please visit www.activision.com.

ABC’s Wipeout episode, “Excuse Wii” which airs on Thursday, July 1 (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) will feature John Anderson and John Henson playing “Wipeout: The Game.” There will also be new episodes of Wipeout airing Thursday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 29 at 8pm on ABC.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – June 21, 2010 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today revealed that 22-year-old Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks will be the new face of the NHL^® 11 videogame from EA SPORTS^TM. With last year’s title featuring Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane, NHL 11 marks the first time that EA SPORTS has put back to back players from the same team on the cover of the NHL franchise. Jonathan Toews’ image will be on the front of all packaging when NHL 11 is available in North American retail stores this September.

Celebrating its 20th Anniversary with NHL 11, the EA SPORTS NHL^® franchise has won 22 Sports Game of the Year awards over the past three years and is poised to raise the bar yet again. With a revolutionary real-time physics engine that brings an unprecedented amount of realism to the franchise, gameplay innovations like broken sticks and a revamped face-off system, as well as the addition of the Canadian Hockey League, NHL 11 is set to be the most complete hockey videogame ever created

After being selected third overall in the 2006-07 entry draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, Toews has emerged as one of the most skilled centers in the NHL after just two seasons. After helping lead team Canada to a gold medal win during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Toews locked up the Conn Smythe, given to the most valuable player in the NHL playoffs, after playing a crucial role in leading the Chicago Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1961.Toews is currently the youngest captain in the NHL, and has registered more than 65 points in each of his first two seasons.

“I am really excited to be on the cover of NHL 11,” said Toews. “It’s been an amazing year for me and the team, and it’s nice to end it by being a part of a game I played growing up. The NHL games have always been great, so it’s an honor for me to be a part of the EA SPORTS family.”

“Jonathan Toews is one of the best centers in the NHL today,” said Jordan Edelstein, Vice-President of Marketing for EA SPORTS. “He is a great ambassador for the sport of hockey and his impact on the sport this year is undeniable. It’s great to have him in the EA SPORTS family.”

NHL 11 will be available for the PLAYSTATION^®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360^®video game and entertainment system with an MSRP of $59.99. It is developed by EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C. The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI.

“In global game server, what could be more perfect than a nation flag cloak? The possibilities are endless. Just think of all the different nation flags representing your nationality you can try on by tossing one of these cloaks over your shoulders. This garment is a must for new costume closets and a great addition to a pre-existing costume collection in 4story. These developer’s handcrafted standard style cloaks will be on sales only for 2010 world-cup period. Do not miss this chance” said the Chief project manager of Zemi Interactive, Hyunho Shin.

For the dailypwn.com review of 4Story click here.

More information about the performer: HIKAKIN Official Blog

“The Trine series is a bastion of pure gaming fun,” stated Aram Jabbari, Manager of Public Relations and Sales for Atlus, “Expanding upon what was considered one of the best cooperative multiplayer experiences in recent memory, Trine 2 introduces online cooperative support for up to three players, dramatically expanding the fun and appeal of the game’s spectacularly rich action platforming. In addition, the unique traits and abilities of the three character types in Trine 2 mean more now than ever before, with enhanced skill trees and progression ensuring perfect balance. As a result, the game’s new arsenal of thrilling physics-based puzzles delivers just as much challenge and satisfaction for a sole player as for three friends playing together.”

Boasting sumptuous visuals, a masterful musical score, and clever physics-based gameplay, Trine 2 is the perfect mix of old-school platforming action, original physics-based level design, and cooperative multiplayer fun!

Trine 2 is currently scheduled for release Spring 2011 via digital distribution. Details regarding platforms and availability will be released soon. For more information, please visithttp://www.trine2.com.

Source: Atlus USA, Inc.

The Need for Speed franchise has revived Hot Pursuit and it looks like they may have done some upgrades to their design and given realism another boost. Need for Speed is a long standing racing/driving franchise that focuses on supercars racing in urban and other unlikely locations. With Hot Pursuit, you get to play on either side of the law as either the chaser or the chased.

Here are two videos released by Need for Speed.

Trailer:

Fan Reaction:

The Dead Space 2 Limited Edition will include Dead Space Extraction in full HD for the first time ever. Dead Space Extraction on PlayStation 3 will offer the entire single-player game complete with all-new trophy support, as well as co-op gameplay, using the new PlayStation Move motion controller, in addition to the standard DUALSHOCK^®3 and SIXAXIS^TM controllers. Players will be armed with an arsenal of weaponry and an easy-to-use control system customized to take full advantage of the capabilities of PlayStation Move. Dead Space Extraction will also be sold separately as a standalone game via the PlayStation Store.

“We’re thrilled to couple two terrifying experiences in one box. With the Limited Edition, PlayStation 3 fans will receive real insight into the cause of the necromorph infestation and the destruction that followed. This is the genesis of the dark and twisted world Isaac inhabits,” said Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer on Dead Space 2. “The addition of support for PlayStation Move allows us to bring a truly unique experience that was previously unavailable to players and we can’t wait to see what they think.”

Source: Electronic Arts

Games optimized for Kinect will allow you to move exactly as you want your character to. Jumping, squatting, waving your arms around and any other physical activity is made possible by this new device.

It also has face recognition software built in so that you are immediately recognized and connected with your pre-saved avatar and stats. If you want to join someone that is already playing a game all you need to do is step next to them and you’re added immediately to the experience (at least in the demo games currently being shown to their keynote audience).

More information on Kinect will follow once their keynote is complete and hard data is made available.

More information about the Eve Online skill training tips:
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/06/02/eve-online-skill-training-tips/

More information about the SpaceNavigator review:
http://www.dailypwn.com/2010/06/05/3dconnexion-spacenavigator-review/

This is where 3Dconexxion comes in. Their line of 3D mice called SpaceNavigators allows you to control 3D applications without having to use the keyboard at all. Archatects, engineers, 3D artists, geologists and especially gamers have an array of applications that are beginning to support and even promote the SpaceNavigator as a sensible choice.

On first glance, the SpaceNavigator is one solidly constructed device. It is weighty in order to keep it from sliding across the desk during normal use. It has durable construction with a brushed steel base and rubberized control knob.  I can say that after thousands upon thousands of hours of heavy usage, the SpaceNavigator still looks and functions exactly as it did when it first arrived.

It works well with Google Earth, Photoshop, AutoCAD, Second Life and many other supported applications. In Second Life, the SpaceNavigator is used extensively by Treet.TV to control panning cameras as well as by residents to fly around sims and shop without having to walk their avatar around.

Control is smooth and very sensitive. Don’t expect to be instantly accustomed to how it moves as the difference between a slow crawl and zipping across the virtual plane is very slight. With some practice, the SpaceNavigator is the perfect tool for the job. Smooth pans around specific focus points are made possible by the use of a 3D mouse. Whether you’re exploring virtual spaces or filming your own machinima, there is no doubt that having one of these on your desk will change the way you work.

Eve Online has released their newest free expansion and it goes by the name Tyrannis. Did they include the long-anticipated walking in stations feature? What is new in this expansion?

More information about Eve Online:
http://www.eveonline.com/tyrannis/

Independent games are big and recent revelations in the gaming industry has made it much easier to get your game out to the masses. We discuss how The Daily PWN can help independent game developers get the word out about their creation.

Jack Belvedere is the founder of GOHA, the largest virtual world hockey association in existence today with a powerful set of teams ready for a new season. How did GOHA come about? Find out on this exciting edition of The Daily PWN Weekly Review

More Information about GOHA:
http://www.globalonlinehockeyassociation.com/

Our first tip is taking the time out to train learning skills. This class of skills allows you to learnn faster making your transition from noob to master as short as possible. Take some time out and learn as many of these skills as you can. Though their impact isn’t immediately apparent, spending time on them can cut all of your future skill training times in half. One month of learning skill training can give you an extra five month lead on someone that didn’t over the next year.

The next tip for the skill training impaired is to use the 24 hour skill training queue. When Eve Online was young players had to be careful to be available when skill training completed. This meant either delaying certain skills until their timing worked out for you or waking up at 3:00am to change skills. Thankfully, Eve responded to overwhelming demand for change by implementing a 24-hour skill training queue. This allows you to queue up skill training changes for the next 24 hours allowing you to login at any time that day to set skill changes for the next. With skill training in Eve Online, every second counts.

There is also a very healthy amount of third party applications out there to assist you in planning your character’s future skill training. They can do this by creating a virtual shopping list of skills in order to meet requirements needed to mount certain upgrades on your ships, fly the ships and even aid in your particular professions. Our favorite third party skill training application here at dailypwn.com studios is EveMon. This program not only helps you plan your character training out, but also gives you several tools to aid in mining, equipment fitting and more.

Whatever your chosen profeession inside the corporate space game known as Eve Online, remember to concentrate on the future when considering your training selections. Learning skills will help you get where you need to go faster no matter what you decide to do. The queue will assist you in making sure every second counts. Training skills is time intensive and often frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelmingly difficult to plan.

Full Article Here

Below is their official press release:

Reykjavik, Iceland – May 26, 2010 – CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today launched EVE Online: Tyrannis, the 13th free expansion for PC Gamer’s 2010 MMO of the year, EVE Online. Tyrannis will usher in new levels of player control as the pilots of EVE have turned their attention to the celestial bodies around them, casting surface inhabitants into the shadows of their powerful ships and exploiting the planets for the materials and profits they need to fuel countless ambitions. EVE Gate, the new web frontend and social networking platform for EVE Online, is a leap forward in extending the universe outside of the client, allowing access to in-game mail and features and bringing the community closer than ever before.

EVE’s Senior Producer, Torfi Frans Ólafsson, explains the benefits of Tyrannis for the EVE Community: “Having watched EVE grow for seven years, we’ve found it make the game an order of magnitude more interesting when we give more power to the players. You don’t have to be Sarah Connor to prefer empowering humans over well programmed machines. In Tyrannis we deepen the experience by handing over control of commodity production on planet surfaces and providing tools for collaboration in EVE Gate.”

Through Planetary Interaction, players will be able to scan the surfaces of the planets and place structures on them to develop, reap and profit from each planet’s natural materials. With over 65,000 planets awaiting discovery, this will be a great source of income for players and will scale well with their level of involvement—a low barrier to entry but a high reward for the most skilled industrialists. On release players can scout out their planet and begin training skills for the June 8th seeding of planetary command centers, which will allow them to gather, process and export natural resources and refined goods.

EVE Gate is the new portal into the EVE universe which allows players to interact with EVE through any web browser. The Tyrannis release is the first iteration of the project–an important feature that encourages and empowers greater player interaction and community building by allowing people to contribute to the EVE universe from outside the game client. Initially, it will have access to EVE mail and a calendar and allow you to post updates to your contacts, your corporation and alliances. These are the important communication tools to allow the playerbase to self organize—a critical part of a game where the players are the most powerful contributor to content.

In addition, we’ll be providing more options for accessing our API so players can continue to develop their own EVE-related programs. We’re also adding a massive amount of new in-game landmarks, which will soon inhabit a lot more of EVE’s solar systems, giving an even greater sense of history and space to New Eden. Live events have also returned, as shown in the recent Sansha Invasion. Though the forces of Sansha’s Nation have largely been repelled by brave capsuleers, the Nation’s invasion of New Eden is merely passing through the eye of a storm. When and where they will strike next is anyone’s guess.

Source: CCP Games

Their official press release is below:

Rockstar Games Presents Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Lite – Free for the iPhoneT and iPodR touch

Rockstar Games is happy to announce the release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Lite for the Apple iPhone™ and iPod® touch. Chinatown Wars Lite is your introduction into Liberty City’s criminal underground. As Huang Lee, help Uncle Wu “Kenny” Lee in his quest for revenge and control of the Triad Gangs of Liberty City. Immerse yourself in the first three missions from the full game and get ready for hotwiring, reckless driving, heart-pounding gunfights and plenty of hot pursuits.

Download this exciting experience for free at the iTunes App Store and get behind the wheel of one of the most critically-acclaimed handheld titles of this generation.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is compatible with iPhone™ and iPod® Touch Firmware 3.12 and above.

Players can choose from one of six teams to play in exhibition mode, under various weather conditions in the San Francisco stadium. The demo preps players for an explosive season as Backbreaker’s training camp mode helps sharpen running, passing, kicking and tackling skills before they step onto the field. Players can train further for the full Backbreaker experience with the Tackle Alley mini game. Already a popular download for iPhone and iPad, Tackle Alley gives players the option to play solo or test the split-screen local multiplayer function as they try to gain yards and avoid sacks and tackles.

When Backbreaker hits the shelves on 25th June, players will be thrust into the middle of the action on the football field like never before. As the first sports video game to feature NaturalMotion’s critically acclaimed Euphoria engine, Backbreaker offers realistic, physics-based motion, crisp high-definition graphics and a camera angle that follows the perspective of the player. Revolutionizing the way American football games are played on this generation of consoles, Backbreaker features an intuitive pick-up-and-play control scheme in Arcade Mode, with the more challenging Pro Mode turning off AI assists.

Source: Bastion