Village Gamer

Edmonton – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced that Seattle-based Green Ronin Publishing will launch a pen and paper role-playing game (RPG) based on the highly anticipated video game, Dragon Age™: Origins. The pen and paper game extends the Dragon Age universe, making it more accessible to passionate RPG fans looking for another way to experience the epic fantasy world of Thedas.

“We’re delighted to be working with Green Ronin to explore more of the Dragon Age universe through a pen and paper role-playing game. We’re excited to deliver Dragon Age’s unique dark, heroic fantasy to our audience in a brand new way – a perfect complement to the landmark game we’re launching on PC, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 this fall,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA. “Our development teams craft rich, deep worlds, and this is an excellent way to expand the franchise.”
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Burnaby – EA SPORTS™, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced that both EA SPORTS Grand Slam® Tennis and the Florida-developed Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 10 will ship to stores June 8 in North America, one week earlier than originally announced. EA SPORTS recently announced that the Wii™ version of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 will be available packaged with the Wii MotionPlus™ accessory in both North America and Europe. In Europe only, EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis will be available with Wii MotionPlus at launch.

“This was important for us to bring in our ship dates for Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 and EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis to hit right at the launch of the new Wii MotionPlus accessory in North America,” said Todd Sitrin, Group Vice President Global Marketing, EA SPORTS. “Fans deserve great games that use the new accessory, and now they’ll have two that deliver authentic sports motion as soon as the Wii MotionPlus hits stores.”

Both Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 and EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis have been rated “E” by the ESRB. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 has an MSRP of $59.99 when bundled with the Wii MotionPlus. Both products will be available for $49.99 without the accessory.

Title: Afro Samurai
Developer: Surge
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Release Date: January 27 2009
Platforms: Xbox 360 – PlayStation3
Genre: Action-Adventure
MSRP: $69.99
ESRB: Mature

Why do you want the headband? – Bad Guy
For revenge – Afro Samurai

Made by Surge for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, Afro Samurai is a third person action adventure game released in February this year, and is one of the best hacking and slashing titles this reviewer has played in the last couple of years. Based upon Afro Samurai the Japanese manga created by Takashi Okazaki and made into an animated movie voiced and co produced by the original BMF Samuel L Jackson is where Surge got their inspiration. The question lingers though how well do they translate that source material into a game?

The world of Afro Samurai is set in a futuristic feudal Japan, there exists 2 magical headbands held by only the strongest men/samurai in the world, legend has it that who wears the number 1 headband controls the world and granted the powers of a god. Since man is power hungry there exists the number 2 headband it is for those who wish to challenge the number 1 but can be challenged at anytime by anyone who chooses to take up the fight with the number 2.

This is where we start the story, as a child our hero Afro (named for his hair style) is forced to watch his father the current number 1 beheaded in a battle for the mysterious number 1 headband by the evil Justice the current number 2. So after seeing his fathers headband taken by Justice and having his fathers head tossed to his feet. Justice casts away the number two headband and tells Afro that if he wants his revenge, he better go train so he can get the number 2 headband and come back and avenge his father’s death. This is where the story of the video game kicks off.
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Vancouver – Black Box, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc., announced today two new content packs for Need for Speed™ Undercover. The Challenge Series is free and features 60 events across two new game modes including the opportunity to earn up to three new cars. The premium Boss Car pack will give players access to Undercover’s specially customized boss vehicles for $5.00 (400 MS points).

The Challenge Series and Boss Car packs are available now on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and coming soon on the Xbox 360® videogame system from Microsoft and the PC. This new content reflects an ongoing commitment of post-launch support to Need for Speed fans.

Challenge Series:

• Highway Wars is the ultimate fusion of Undercover’s signature Highway Battles with the adrenaline fueled competition of sprint racing. In this mode, players will race at top speeds through traffic filled highways against three AI opponents in a winner take all battle to the finish line.
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Gormley ON – Sharpen your sword and get ready to guide Dirk the Daring as he races through time to save the beautiful Princess Daphne from the clutches of the Evil Wizard Mordroc in Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp. This long awaited sequel to the award-winning game Dragon’s Lair has been completely restored and enhanced with an all-new 5.1 surround sound mix and is now available on Blu-ray from Digital Leisure.

From legendary animator Don Bluth (‘An American Tail’, ‘The Land Before Time’) Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp allows you to play the heroic Dirk the Daring, who must stop the Evil Wizard Mordroc as he has kidnapped Princess Daphne and taken her through time! But you must hurry, for once the Casket of Doom has opened, Mordroc will place the Death Ring upon Daphne’s finger in marriage and she will be lost forever… in the Time Warp!

Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp was authored in the Blu-ray Java environment (BD-J) and features completely remastered animation, and an all-new surround sound mix, creating a fully arcade-authentic experience.
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Toronto – Emanuel Rosen, author of “The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited”, will give a keynote presentation at Search Engine Strategies (SES) Toronto 2009. The largest search engine marketing conference in Canada, which will be held at the Sheraton Centre Toronto June 8-10, 2009, also announced that it is adding “Monetizing Your Audience: Live Site Clinic” to the agenda.

Emanuel Rosen

Now in its sixth year, SES Toronto is considered the definitive digital event for marketers, corporate decision makers, webmasters and search engine marketers (SEMs), including pay per click (PPC) advertisers and search engine optimization (SEO) professionals. The event is organized and programmed in cooperation with the SES Advisory Board, Search Engine Watch and Andrew Goodman, the founder and president of Toronto-based Page Zero Media.
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Sword-and-Gun Action Fighting Title to Return at Holiday 2009

Montreal – Today Ubisoft® announced Red Steel®2, exclusively on Wii™ system from Nintendo. Red Steel remains one of the most successful Wii titles and the only brand created specifically for the launch of the platform.

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

“Red Steel was a unique opportunity for Ubisoft to work in tandem with Nintendo to create a title exclusively for the launch of the Wii console,” said Olivier Ernst, general manager at Ubisoft Canada. “Red Steel 2 is another milestone for the company as it is the first Ubisoft title with full Wii MotionPlus integration.”

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Developer: IonFX
Publisher: Meridian 4
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: Windows PC

Background: 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.

I have had Obulis for a few weeks now, and while I generally try for a quick turn-around on game reviews, this one took me a bit longer than normal. The reason being was that I wasn’t sure if I liked the game and didn’t play very far into the game at first. I then set it aside for a few days, and as it turns out, there are some areas of the game-play which I truly liked, admittedly much to my surprise.  There were only two or three areas which I felt were negative, but they relate directly to my personal preferences – and as I advanced through the game, one of those negative issues became not so important anymore.
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Montreal – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, announced today that it will publish WET™, an innovative action game from Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M). WET, in development for the Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, is slated for a Fall 2009 release.

WET is a highly stylized third-person shooter that seamlessly blends acrobatics, gun play, and sword kills. With dual pistols and a samurai sword, you can engage in combat while sliding on floors, running on walls, jumping, flipping, and performing amazing acrobatic moves – leaving a massive body count in your wake.

“We’re very excited about the opportunity to bring WET to all gamers,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “Our proven success as a publisher which focuses on select, innovative titles matches up perfectly with WET’s new class of gameplay.”
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Toronto – The Adventure Company has released a trailer for Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper, a Windows® adventure title releasing in North America on May 12, 2009. Click here to view the trailer.

Sherlock Holmes, one of the world’s best known detectives is matched up with the most dangerous serial killer in England’s history, Jack the Ripper. The Year is 1888, London has been overtaken by a series of gruesome murders and police are left baffled, with no leads. The murders continue and Sherlock Holmes steps up to the case, setting out on a terrifying adventure to seek out the identity of Jack the Ripper.
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