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PC Games: OGPlanet Everyone's Irish at OGPlanet this week, with a treasure trove of St. Patrick's Day events in the company's line-up of online games. On March 17, St. Patrick's Day, everyone who plays at least 10 games in Rumble Fighter will receive free Sharp Elf Ears, a perfect complement to the five-piece Saint Patty's Pajama set available in the OGPlanet Shop. Even better, players who purchase at least three pieces of the five-piece PJ set between now and April 7 will receive extra bonus items to enhance their characters. It's a lucky month in OGPlanet's other games as well. Each day between March 16 and 20, players who purchase a 5-pack of Silver Tickets for CABAL Online has a chance to win 10 bonus tickets-all it takes is a little luck. Players looking for a little help in the luck department need look no further than La Tale,where each purchase of a festive St. Patrick's Hat comes with a free Luck Gain Powder. No four-leaf clover needed! And finally, the OGPlanet leprechauns are giving one lucky player a little extra gold between March 16 and 22. Each day, they'll pick one player who purchases Astros, OGPlanet's in-game currency, to receive double the amount of Astros they bought. - Grand Ages: Rome Kalypso Media today released another trailer of the successful city builder GRAND AGES: ROME. It illustrates the built of an impressive city in fast motion. GRAND AGES: ROME is available in the UK for a recommended retail price of £29.99 DS Games: Gardening Mama Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced that Gardening Mama for Nintendo DS™ will ship on March 31st. Developed by Cooking Mama Limited, the team that created the award-winning Cooking Mama franchise that has sold 3.7 million units domestically, Gardening Mama stars the iconic culinary cutie in the first ever gardening game. Gamers anxious to get growing can download a playable demo currently in approximately 10,000 Nintendo kiosks at major retailers nationwide. Gardening Mama transforms the stylus into a universal gardening tool that players will use to plant, nurture and harvest 37 different varieties of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Gamers can manage their garden through the seeding, blooming and maturation phases, and then produce items from the plants they've grown. A robust multiplayer mode lets up to four friends compete to grow the biggest harvest and Treasure Box mode lets players share items they've grown with online friends. In addition, players can change Mama's outfit to their liking while customizing the screen design to their preference. Gardening Mama will launch March 31st for a suggested retail price of $29.99. To watch the gameplay trailer and learn more, please visit the official site. Wii Games: Glacier 2: Hell on Ice Mamba Games, a new dynamic multi-platform video games publisher today announces the next project in their 2009 line-up with the worldwide publishing of ‘Glacier 2: Hell on Ice’ exclusive for the Nintendo Wii developed by Team 6 Studios. Due for a September 2009 release ‘Glacier 2: Hell on Ice’ is Mamba Games first Wii project with 2 more due to be announced shortly. Jason Codd, Commercial Director of Mamba Games quotes “We are thrilled to be working on our first global Wii game and ‘Glacier 2: Hell on Ice’ fits with our strategy perfectly. The visuals are stunning for the Nintendo Wii and the playability is crazy, manic and is a huge amount of fun” ‘Glacier 2: Hell on Ice’ starts at the very top of the Alps: Are you ready to reach insane top speeds by driving down the mountains of death? While it goes faster and faster downhill, watch out for dangerous cliffs, dodge falling rocks, go aim your rockets, heat up your machineguns and deploy mines to take out your opponents and finish first place! ‘Glacier 2: Hell on Ice’ is an arcade combat racing game which takes you to hell and back. Make sure you are faster than your opponents or you can blow them to bits with an arsenal of weaponry. Make your way across the ice, survive incredible jumps, and eliminate your opponents!! ‘Glacier 2: Hell on Ice’ offers an advanced effect system specially designed for the Nintendo Wii to bring the arcade-action really alive! Various insane vehicles are yours to choose from, all with their own characteristics and weapons. Snipers, shot guns, machine guns, chain guns, everything is possible as long as it does heavy damage and take you to victory! WARNING: This is not for the faint hearted!!! Glacier 2 Features: - Over the top combat racing action. - Incredible jumps, spins and masses of destruction! - 7 fully tuned super rides, all equipped with various, deadly weapons -18 ice cold levels full of traps, cliffs, mines, falling rocks, canyons and spectacular jumps. -Full support and designed specifically for Nintendo Wii Remote iPhone and iPod Touch: Inspector Gadget Equipped with an amazing array of gadgets, including a mallet-wielding robot arm and spring-loaded shoes, the world’s first bionic detective, Inspector Gadget™ has crash landed onto Apple iPhone and iPod touch devices and is available from the AppStore for $5.99. Inspector Gadget makes its iPhone debut with a little help from Namco Bandai Networks Europe, who developed the game in conjunction with Cookie Jar Entertainment, the producer of the hit cartoon series. The game is being published internationally for Apple iPhone and iPod touch devices by Namco Networks America, a publisher and developer of mobile games and entertainment for mass-market casual gamers. Using various gadgets and gizmos, players help guide the world’s most absent-minded detective battle against the evil Dr. Claw in a classic platform action game. Players guide the Inspector in his mission across six action packed levels and six mini-games. The game features both Story mode and Quick Play mode, which allows players to play previously unlocked levels. iPhone users are able to play as Inspector Gadget, his niece Penny or his uber intelligent and ever-faithful dog Brain as they progress through the game. To navigate through the game, touch controls sit on either side of the screen making gameplay simple and easy. Some of the detective’s greatest gadgets are also featured in-game for users to pit against his evil nemesis Dr Claw, including his Gadget ’Copter, Gadget Coat and Gadget Umbrella. Inspector Gadget recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and is broadcast in 24 languages across 55 countries around the globe, gaining fans with its memorable theme tune, “Go Go Gadget” catchphrase and gadget’s helicopter hat and roller skate shoe antics. “Inspector Gadget is a personal favourite for me, and a character who has gained a loyal global following, making him one of the most lovable icons of the cartoon crime-solving world,” Barry O’Neill, President of Namco Bandai Networks Europe. “Inspector Gadget and the iPhone is a perfect partnership as one of the world’s most famous gadget users meets one of the world’s most famous gadgets.” The new game gives players the chance to try out many of the Inspector’s awesome gadgets first hand, and is available immediately from the iTunes store. Multi-Platform Games: Guitar Hero Metallica Activision has released a new vignette and screenshots showcasing Guitar Hero Metallica in action. “Ride the Lightning” with musical icons Metallica and 21 other rockin’ acts in an all new Guitar Hero® experience – Guitar Hero Metallica. Enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience the intensity and skill of one of the greatest bands of all time. Shred on the guitar controller, rip on the drum kit controller and wail on the mic to a set list featuring over 45 explosive hits from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Alice In Chains, Bob Seger, Foo Fighters, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Queen. Fans will be able to rock as Metallica while performing in venues reminiscent of the band’s epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales. Other Games News: Mooch Today Mooch, LLC announced the launch of a new peer-to-peer video game trading site. After two years of development, Mooch is now offering a limited number of free accounts during the beta. By facilitating every aspect of the peer-to-peer trading process, Mooch gives video game players an affordable and easy way trade the used games sitting on their shelves for ones they want to play. Instead of exchanging used titles at retail stores for a fraction of the original price, Mooch subscribers can enter a list of the games they have as well as the games they want, and Mooch’s patent pending trading engine goes to work. Each step of the trading process is intelligently automated including finding potential trades, balancing each trade, and even allowing users to print postage directly from the site. “There are plenty of gamers, including myself, tired of trading in our used games at retail stores for next to nothing” said Jonathan Balser, CEO of Mooch, LLC. “So we built Mooch to take all the hassle out of trading games with other gamers. We’re providing a service that a lot of people really need, particularly given the economic pressure many of us are feeling right now.” A limited number of free accounts will be available during the beta period. Following the free beta, membership to Mooch will require an annual subscription fee of $19.99 - Learn How to Create Realistic Models and Environments for Games Learn how to create artwork required to land a job in the games industry with Escape's new classroom-based Games Course. Taught by Simon Fenton, former lead artist at Sony Computer Entertainment London, Escape's games course will teach students how to take art direction and create realistic models and environments for games. Using leading technology such as Maya®, Photoshop®, ZBrush®, CrazyBump and the renowned Unreal engine, this comprehensive 12 week course will equip students with the necessary skills, and a demo reel, for pursuing a job in game development. The course kicks off March 30 and will be offered fulltime, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Escape's London headquarters. To register or obtain more information, including a detailed course outline, please visit the title link. "Escape's goal is to focus on teaching the skills our students need to be successful in real production environments," says Simon Fenton, the course instructor. "Junior games artists don't write code or design levels, which is why we focus on teaching students on how to model, texture and light according to a brief. We also give them a sound grounding in artistic principle and an understanding of the technical limitations a games artist has to work under on a daily basis." Escape's Games Course will provide in-depth coverage of the following concepts over a 12 week period: Introduction to the User Interface; Animation Basics; Nurbs Modeling; Polygon Modeling and UVs; Introduction to Texture Mapping; Introduction to Lighting and Rendering; Introduction to Video Games; Exteriors and Lighting; Asset Generation; Enclosed Interiors and Advanced Lighting and Organic Modeling with Zbrush. The final week, titled 'Project Week,' allows students to finalize their work and put together a customized demo reel. "This is the perfect course for students interested in learning the fundamental skills required to pursue and secure a job in the games industry," said Paul Wilkes, recruitment director of Escape. "Not only does Escape's Games Course cover every aspect of creating models and environments for games, it also help students compile their work onto a demo reel, and our recruitment team helps them tailor that reel for specific job applications." Pricing and Availability: Escape's Games Course is fulltime and runs from March 30, 2009 through Sept. 28, 2009. The comprehensive 12 week course takes place Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT and is priced at 8,500 GBP. No prior knowledge of Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush, Unreal or CrazyBump is necessary; however, a basic knowledge of 3D and some familiarity with Photoshop is recommended.
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