Village Gamer

Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that tennis legend John McEnroe will headline a roster of some of the sport’s all-time greats to be featured in EA SPORTS™ Grand Slam® Tennis. An enigmatic personality both on and off the court, McEnroe will make his videogame debut in EA’s new tennis franchise. The game is being developed under the EA SPORTS brand by EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C. It will be available first for the Wii™ and ships to North American retailers on June 16th, 2009.

“It’s great that EA SPORTS has embraced tennis into its family of games. I think it’s a solid sign the sport is thriving and I hope it will continue to generate more interest and excitement in tennis,” said McEnroe. “Having Wimbledon exclusive to this game is huge because Wimbledon is such a special tournament, for the entire sport of tennis and for me personally.”

One of the greatest tennis players of all-time, McEnroe won seven Grand Slams, including three at Wimbledon, and amassed 77 singles titles. He stopped playing singles on the main ATP tour at the end of 1992 but has remained heavily involved in tennis, playing on seniors tours and providing television commentary for a number of networks at the Grand Slams. McEnroe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999. Off the court, he hosted his own talk show and written an autobiography, titled “You Cannot Be Serious”, a phrase he made famous through his on-court outbursts during his career.

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The Ultimate Two-Man Private Military Team is Back in Action Delivering New and Groundbreaking Cooperative Gameplay

Montreal – EA Montreal, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced ARMY OF TWO™: THE 40th DAY. The ultimate two-man private military team of Salem and Rios return in this epic sequel where they must survive and prevail in a city under siege. EA Montreal is once again leading the next evolution in co-op shooter games offering a fresh, innovative and fluid co-op experience with a deep arsenal of customizable weapons so players can team up with their friends online for the fight of their lives.

With ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY, we’re pushing the tactical two-man military team into new battlegrounds offering a completely organic and rich co-op experience to deliver an action-packed co-op shooter this winter,” says Reid Schneider, Executive Producer, EA Montreal. “As chaos blankets Shanghai, China, you must rely on your partner to survive as you weave through a broken city left devastated in a mysterious wake.”
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Montreal – Meridian4 is thrilled to announce that their physics-based hardcore casual game; Obulis will soon appear on Steam for sale to their millions of hard-core gamers.

“Obulis will be a great fit for Steam’s audience of gamers who love a unique and challenging puzzle game. The game has already received rave reviews from the press and it has appeared on many top ten lists in 2008 and we are excited about getting it out to a wider audience.” said Andy Sher, CEO at Meridian4.

Obulis will be available March 19th on Steam and will sell for $9.99.

About Obulis
Based on IonFX’s award-winning mobile game of the same name, Obulis takes things to the next level by fusing highly compelling gameplay with outstanding graphics, music and state of the art physics effects.

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SEGA® Corporation today announced an exclusive partnership with International Sports Multimedia (ISM), the official licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to develop Vancouver 2010™ – the Official Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games. The game is being developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software for PC, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Vancouver 2010™ is an authentic simulation of a host of events from the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, focusing on the adrenalin rush that comes from the extreme speed of winter sports. Including the all new challenge mode, it will allow players to immerse themselves in the world’s greatest sporting event like never before.

“Vancouver 2010™ will set a new standard for the Olympic-themed video games genre,” commented Hugh Binns, Director of Eurocom Development Ltd., developers of Vancouver 2010™. “With the innovative first person mode to immerse players even more in the game, an all new challenge mode providing hours of entertainment and stunning high definition graphics, Vancouver 2010™ will be a fantastic experience.”
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Vancouver – 2K Sports has announced that The BIGS™ 2 will be developed by Vancouver studio Blue Castle Games. The sequel to the hit arcade-style Major League Baseball game The BIGS™¸ will be available this summer for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo. Known for its over-the-top style of gameplay, The BIGS 2 focuses on the “big” fast-paced moments in Major League Baseball with new opportunities to go up against MLB legends, more mini-games like Home Run Pinball, and a variety of other thrilling new features.

“Fans have been clamoring for a follow-up to The BIGS since it launched two years ago, so we’re excited to now deliver The BIGS 2,” said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of development, 2K Sports. “In the spirit of celebrating the most epic moments in Major League Baseball, The BIGS 2 offers a refreshingly fun and unique experience of dramatic walk-off homeruns, miraculous wall catches, acrobatic diving grabs, and many more incredible plays you’d usually see only in a highlight reel.”

Blue Castle Games is also developing Dead Rising 2 for CapCom which has not yet been given a release date.

Fans Unanimously Vote to Have Boxing Legends Share Cover Worldwide

Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that “The Greatest of All Time”, Muhammad Ali, and “Iron” Mike Tyson will share the cover of one of the most anticipated games of 2009, Fight Night Round 4. Fan voting on www.AliorTyson.com started in late December 2008 and the final results favored having both legends together on the cover. Fight Night Round 4 is being developed under the EA SPORTS™ brand by EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C. and will ship to retailers worldwide this summer.

Muhammad Ali, the most celebrated boxer of all time, was famous for his quick tongue and his even quicker hands that wore down his opponents fight after fight. Ali was the first fighter in history to win the undisputed heavyweight championship three times, and is highly revered for his contribution to the sport of boxing. Mike Tyson, a knock out legend, will join Ali on the cover. The youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight championship, Tyson enthralled the world with his precision, power, and ability to put away his opponents in the first round. These two boxing icons finally come face to face in Fight Night Round 4.

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Montreal – Interactive entertainment company Ludia Inc. and Entertainment Rights have announced that Ludia will create video games based on publishing phenomenon and ultimate world traveler, Where’s Waldo?®. Through the exclusive multi-year deal, the pop culture icon will leap from the pages of his best-selling books to engaging new games for consoles, PC/Mac, iPhone and iPod touch—for the first time ever. The first in the game series, “Where’s Waldo?: The Fantastic Journey” is slated to launch across several major platforms later this year.

“Waldo is one of the most recognizable characters in the world, and his adventurous spirit and cross-generational appeal is exactly what will be invoked in this family game series,” said Alex Thabet, Founder and CEO of Ludia Inc. “This deal broadens the Ludia portfolio and is in line with our successful strategy of taking immensely popular brands, translating them into rich interactive entertainment experiences for the whole family, then making them widely available on the platforms of their choice.”

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Quebec City – Beenox Studios has been given the nod to develop Guitar Hero® Greatest Hits, which was announced by Activision’s President and CEO Mike Griffith on February 2.

Slated for release this coming June, Guitar Hero® Greatest Hits will be a compilation of 48 top hits from previous versions of the Guitar Hero® franchise, all updated for full band play on Guitar Hero® World Tour. The Greatest Hits release will be produced from Guitar Hero® master recordings and feature several play modes – career mode, rockstar creator, Guitar Hero® music studio and an eight player online battle of the bands.

Gamers will be able to rock out in such globally diverse locations as the Amazon rain forest, the Grand Canyon and the polar ice caps. There will also be some improvements to the User Interface, player navigation and a better quickplay system, and DLC from GHTunes will be compatible with this new title.

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Vancouver – THQ Inc. today announced that Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War® II, developed by Vancouver’s Relic Entertainment, marked its first week debut as the best selling PC game across major video game markets worldwide, including the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia (according to the NPD Group, Inc., ELSPA/GfK Chart-Track and GfK.)

“We have built ‘Dawn of War’ into a premier PC gaming franchise based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe,” said Brian Farrell, THQ president and CEO. “We are pleased with consumers’ strong response to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II across many of our key markets and believe the game’s success clearly demonstrates our primary objective of delivering high quality games with strong global appeal. Warhammer 40,000 is a rich and growing universe and we look forward to expanding our offerings based on this brand in the future.”

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Vancouver – IUGO Mobile Entertainment is proud to announce its new pinball game Freeballin’ for the iPhone! Named by IUGO’s very active gamer community in a recent contest, Freeballin’ will be one of the newest products from IUGO on display at the upcoming GDC.

Here’s a taste of what’s to come in IUGO’s awesome upcoming title:

Endless hours of pinball entertainment spread across four unique, beautifully rendered playfields, including the Jungle and Cityscape themes. Over a half a dozen playfields in total, including boss battles!

Play in three distinct gameplay modes:
Score Attack is the classic pinball experience to get the highest score possible with your limited supply of orbs
Time Attack forces the player to get to a target score as quick as possible
Adventure Challenge has the player collecting artifacts from three different themes with the help of game-changing powerups.

Freeballin’: This is pinball like you’ve never seen before!