2nd
February
2009
Montreal – Mia’s Reading Adventure – The Bugaboo Bugs has won a Gold Medal from Mom’s Choice Awards. Developed by Kutoka Interactive of Montreal, Mia’s Reading Adventure is for children aged 5-9. The game follows primary school curriculum and enables the player to lead Mia the Mouse through a reading adventure. Designed to entertain, teach and spur imagination, the Mia series of titles feature lovable 3D characters who also happen to be house pests who have moved into Mia’s mansion.
Mia’s Reading Adventures, comprised thus far of six chapters, “includes 12 exciting reading and writing skills activities each with 4 distinct levels of difficulty. Topics covered: associating images to words, adverbs, phonics, rhymes, spelling, sentence structure, vocabulary, reading comprehension, word recognition and more.” Mia’s Reading Adventure comes in DVD-ROM format, and runs on both Windows and MAC platforms.
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posted in Awards, Educational, Everyone By: Tami | Print This Post
30th
January
2009
Global Studio Teams Drive Quality and Innovation in Three New Games
Vancouver – Fifteen years; more than 40 countries; close to 100 million games sold. Need for Speed™ has helped to define automotive culture for millions of fans with its embrace of the car lifestyle and its cool rebellious attitude. Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) unveiled the details of what is in store for the franchise over the next 12 months, as the property expands to new platforms, new categories and new media.
Need for Speed is committed to providing unique and customized experiences for all types of racing fans by establishing three independent series; simulation, action and arcade racing. Each series will be developed by a highly-specialized team dedicated to delivering the ultimate racing experiences to car enthusiasts around the world – whether they be interested in adrenaline action, arcade fun or authentic simulation.
“We recognize racing videogame fans are very passionate and unique – they want customized gameplay experiences. Whether it’s more of a realistic driving game with accurate car physics or over-the-top cop chases, we are making different games for different audiences,” said Keith Munro, vice president of marketing, Need for Speed. “Each game provides a deep, engaging and rich racing experience. We’re giving players the option to choose the best racing title that suits their style of gameplay.”
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posted in Driving, Game Dev, Rating Pending By: Tami | Print This Post
21st
January
2009
Vancouver – Black Box, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio announced today that the highly-anticipated Skate 2 has shipped to retailers worldwide. Skate 2 ups the ante in delivering all the grit, creativity and culture of skateboarding with all-new tricks that allow players to truly skate it their way – on and off the board.
“Skate 2 is the perfect next chapter for the Skate franchise,” said Executive Producer, Scott Blackwood. “We expanded and deepened our original ideas and incorporated feedback straight from our passionate fans. With all new features, more challenges and a rich world, the game continues to celebrate skateboarding, while still innovating the genre in an unparalleled way.”
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posted in New Releases, Sports, Teen By: Tami | Print This Post
21st
January
2009
Vancouver – Relic Entertainment’s newest RTS title, Dawn of War 2, is now available for pre-purchase on Steam for $49.99 USD. But wait, there’s more! Gamers who already own Dawn of War: Soulstorm (either a retail or digital download version) can enter into an early access beta. If gamers don’t already own Soulstorm but want to get in on the early beta, Steam is offering the expansion pack for 75% off of the retail price. The beta will open to everyone on January 28. Gamers can play on five unique multi-player maps, and it will be available for download free of charge via Steam.
Tyranid Ambush
Early reports from Village Gamer’s own rabid Dawn of War staffer include several expressions of approval, however many of the descriptive words he utilized can’t be repeated here. He did emerge from the beta long enough to say that the new GUI is great, along with several game mechanics which have been carried over from Company of Heroes, another Relic title. He likes the new squad tactics and objectives which require more strategical thought and planning on the part of the gamer – he followed this with an ominously Orkish sounding “if you want to beat the enemy, you have to be the enemy.”
Mike also reports that the voice-acting and audio quality are top-notch, with some great character writing and one-liners. So far, his favourite in-game expression has something to do
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posted in Mature, New Releases, RTS By: Tami | Print This Post
19th
January
2009
THQ and Relic Entertainment to Deliver Innovative Tactical Gameplay and Stunning Cinematic Visuals in Highly Anticipated Sequel
Vancouver – THQ Inc. today announced that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, developed by the award-winning Real-time strategy (RTS) developer, Relic Entertainment, has reached the gold master stage of development and is now entering manufacturing. Set in the grim, war-ravaged world of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 science fiction universe, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II delivers visceral combat, stunning visuals, and destructible environments throughout a non-linear single-player experience as well as a fully cooperative multiplayer campaign via Microsoft’s free Games for Windows – LIVE service. Developed exclusively for Windows PC and powered by an enhanced version of Relic’s proprietary Essence Engine 2.0, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is scheduled to be on store shelves at retail outlets nationwide on February 19, 2009.
“Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II will build on the critical acclaim and commercial success of the Dawn of War franchise, letting players experience RTS gaming like never before,” said Kevin Kraff, vice president of global brand management, THQ. “Combining non-linear gameplay, cooperative multiplayer, cinematic visuals, and destructible battlefields brings a new, innovative dynamic to the genre.”
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posted in Mature, New Releases, RTS By: Tami | Print This Post
17th
January
2009
Chapter 1 of the Trilogy Now Available on iPhone and the iPod Touch
Toronto – TransGaming Inc., announces the immediate availability of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords®, Chapter 1: The Battle of Gruulkar at the iTunes App Store for USD$9.99.
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is an award-winning title that has been customized for the iPhone and iPod Touch and will be uniquely released as three dynamic chapters in an episodic manner with a downward pricing model through the App Store. The trilogy gives consumers the choice of an instant-action play option or over twenty hours of immersive game play in each chapter based on an epic storyline. Delivering over eighty hours of total game play through the trilogy, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords redefines what a mobile game should deliver. This award-winning game is a must-have for casual and hard-core gaming enthusiasts.
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posted in Everyone 10+, New Releases, Puzzle By: Tami | Print This Post
10th
January
2009
Vancouver – Grubby Games, an independent Vancouver game development studio co-founded by Ryan Clark and Matt Parry in 2004, has been named to the final nominees list for the upcoming Independent Games Festival Awards. Their new 2D physics-based Incredibots game is in the running for an award in the Technical Excellence category.
Grubby Games co-founder Ryan Clark says that he came up with the idea for Incredibots after playing a physics game which allows the player to control a small tracked vehicle. “I really enjoyed playing with that little tank! I decided that if such a simple little application was so much fun, a full-featured robot editor would be far more fun!”
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posted in Awards, Educational, Everyone, Game Dev By: Tami | Print This Post
9th
January
2009
Three New Battalions and Six New Upgrades Included in the Latest Content
Montreal – Ubisoft today announced the release of the “Faction Elite Pack” downloadable content (DLC) for Tom Clancy’s EndWar™ available for the Xbox 360® entertainment system from Microsoft and for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The DLC is available for 300 Microsoft points.
The “Faction Elite Pack” DLC will include three new battalions (one per faction) and six new upgrades (two per faction). These new elite battalions include the legendary JSF 15th Special Operations, the Spetsnaz Alpha Brigade, and the Enforcer Corps Battlegroup. The “Faction Elite Pack” will also grant immediate access to six exclusive unit upgrades including Ceramic Armor for the Spetnaz Guard Brigade and Caseless Ammunition for The European Federation’s Gunships to name but a couple.
posted in New Releases, RTS, Teen By: Tami | Print This Post
8th
January
2009
Second Update Released for 4X Space Strategy Game A Murder of Crows
Toronto – Leading video game publisher Lighthouse Interactive and acclaimed developer Kerberos Productions continue to prove their commitment to the dedicated Sword of the Stars community, by releasing the second update (1.6.4) for A Murder of Crows (PC) to the public shortly after a surprise, early release to gaming fans on the Kerberos and Lighthouse message boards.
The following key features are included in Update 1.6.4:
• Auto-pause feature added to single-player games.
• Added tech negotiation news event art.
• Fleet list can now be filtered by Flagship or Deep Scan.
• Slavers are back!
• Research bonus added for killing the VN grand menace.
• New avatars are available Read the rest of this entry »
posted in Everyone 10+, New Releases, RTS By: Tami | Print This Post
8th
January
2009
EA SPORTS Announces First Title Exclusively Developed For Nintendo DS Coming In March 2009
Vancouver – EA SPORTS™, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., today announces EA SPORTS™ Football Academy – a collection of mini-games and challenges that improves football knowledge in a fun and entertaining way. EA SPORTS™ Football Academy, currently in development at EA Sports in Vancouver, will launch exclusively for the Nintendo DS in March 2009.
EA SPORTS Football Academy offers an entertaining way to learn football strategy, positioning and technique. Players build their knowledge by completing tasks and take their improved skills onto the pitch to compete against their friends. Additionally EA SPORTS Football Academy offers a variety of mini-games that provide fun for fans of all ages.
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posted in Everyone, New Releases, Sports By: Tami | Print This Post