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Today's Press Releases PC Games: Unknown Today Frictional Games released a first teaser of their upcoming survival horror game, "Unknown". The video gives a quick demonstration of the game's mood and style, as well as demonstrating the maturity of the in-house developed HPL2 game engine. The engine has been expanded to include tools for testing, creating and editing levels - all of which have been used to create the level in the teaser. The tools are used during the production of the game and are also going to be part of the final release, allowing for end-user content creation. "Unknown" has recently entered full production and is preliminary scheduled for an early Q2 2010 release. - EverQuest II: Elements of Corruption EverQuest® II’s game update “Elements of Corruption” features conflicts rising between old enemies as the island of Lavastorm is invaded by Void creatures. Players will be treated to multiple feature updates and changes to Lavastorm itself. This update also brings new solo content, robe appearance, and weapon slots, along with new sets of armor that will be available for purchase, featuring new stats and appearances. “Elements of Corruption” Features: • Lavastorm Revamp: Lavastorm has undergone a huge make-over. The beach areas at the entrance have been extended as the Void creatures encroach on Najena's territory. In her efforts to fight back, it appears that Najena decked out the Lavastorm elementals with some eye-catching new armor! There are more than 20 new quests available for levels 45-55 and a whole new set of level 80 solo content. • New Dungeons: Players will notice three new dungeons in this update. Groups of tradeskillers can provide emergency help to a stranded raid by building the escape portal in their own version of the Palace of the Ancient One. Up to twelve adventurers can enter Najena’s Ward of Elements in an attempt to save Najena from the agents of Munzok. Full raid groups will be asked to venture into Munzok’s Material Bastion and find ways to defeat Munzok the Corruptor himself. • Guild Hall Trophies: Want to show off your guild’s awesome fighting skills? Now you can display a trophy mounted with the head of the raid mob you killed to display in your Guild Hall. For more details, log on to www.eq2players.com. - Shot-Online San Jose-based online game publisher, Gamescampus.com (www.gamescampus.com, run by OnNet USA), announced today the launch of the much anticipated new graduation system for its popular MMO golf simulation game Shot-Online. Beginning today, players can participate in the all-new system which allows players to reach up to level 120 and become a Master Pro. Graduates will earn a host of benefits including graduation memorial clothes, new titles, graduate-only tournaments and much more. The game can be downloaded and played for free at http://shotonline.gamescampus.com/index.asp. To qualify for this exciting new level of competition, players must be Level 100, have a Tour Pro title and complete the qualification test where they must play four courses with a specific score. They will then play against a selected non-playable-character (NPC) and then go to NPC Anthony Bestra and he will certify the player's qualification. Once certified, players will go to NPC Harold; tie or score better than Harold and then become a graduate of Shot-Online. The benefits of being a graduate include graduation memorial clothes that only graduates can wear, new titles of "Senior" for level 101 and "Master Pro" for level 102 or above, graduate classmates (this group will now show up on a player's friends list), graduate-only courses, tournaments, class tournaments and so much more. Another key feature of the graduation system is the "Master Pro and Student Relationship" where Master Pros (level 102 or above) can take a player under their guidance as his or her student. By forming the Master Pro/Student relationship, players, both the Master Pros and the Students, will receive more EXP and key items such as "Magic Cubes". For more information on these new features please visit http://shotonline.gamescampus.com/event/graduationsystem.asp "We're excited to bring this level of competition to Shot-Online," said Tony Liu, producer of Shot-Online. "We think that players will find the new graduation system not only challenging, but also highly rewarding." - Ashen Empires: Dungeons of Dransik Iron Will Games today announced Dungeons of Dransik, the next expansion for the MMORPG Ashen Empires. When released, Dungeons of Dransik will utilize a free, downloadable editor called the Ashen Empires Content Creator. Players will be able to make their own custom dungeon-crawl adventures and then share them in game. The Content Creator is a light download with intuitive controls that make it easy to design a variety of interesting dungeon adventures without knowledge of scripting or coding. Several art packs will be available to purchase for Dungeons of Dransik, which comes with a large set of free artwork. The Ashen Empires Content Creator allows for infinite game-play possibilities by giving users tools to place NPC’s, triggers, objects, teleporters, and traps on their highly customized maps. Content Creators can also set names and level ranges for creatures on their maps to further customize their creations. After creating a custom map, players will purchase space to upload their maps to the game server. Iron Will Games will also offer the option to bind it to exclusive and scenic locations. Others can then access and play user-created maps at no cost. Dungeons can be named, rated by others, and tagged with a difficulty level. Doug Gesler, Iron Will Games Technology Officer says “The Ashen Empires Content Creator allows users to create the same caliber of maps and adventures that our design team delivers; from simple grind pits to intricate adventures, players can make their own vision come to life for others to explore.” Dungeons of Dransik will be free to download when it is released. Open testing will begin soon. For more information visit the Ashen Empires website and forums. - Everfall After months of hard work, ChaosTrend is proud to release their first independently developed game called Everfall. Enter the magical world of Barina and travel on a rollercoaster adventure that will take you to the edge of the Kingdom and back in your attempt to save the land from an unknown evil. You are the only hero left standing that can restore peace and beauty to the land once again, using the power of the wind to help you on your quest in this amazing, unique puzzler game. The talented team have spent the last 6 months coding an in-house game engine called the “ChaosEngine” from the ground up, utilising current technology and implementing a modular architecture which is fully scriptable using the CTS (ChaosTrend Script) scripting system. Everfall is the first title which was 100% developed using the ChaosEngine. Mobile Games: Baseball Superstars 2009 GAMEVIL USA, the LA-based mobile game publisher, today announced the release of "Baseball Superstars 2009" for the Android Market. “Baseball Superstars has become our trademark game over the years. This is the 2nd Baseball Superstars series we are launching on the Android Market, and we are excited to see where this will take us. The depth and details we've put into this game is beyond any other baseball game out in the market." says Eusoon Han, marketing manager at GAMEVIL. In Baseball Superstars 2009 for the Android G1, users can select from 10 teams, 4 stadiums, and unlock 12 hidden characters. There are 5 game modes to play: Normal Mode, My League Mode, Season Mode, Homerun Mode, and Mission Mode. The game is a full baseball simulation, but also includes RPG elements where users can create their players, manage their team, and enhance player’s abilities such as hitting, power and speed - either by training or by purchasing special items and equipment with their salary every season. Compared to Baseball Superstars 2008, which is already available on the Android Market, Baseball Superstars 2009 has major graphical updates with vibrant colors and has special effects to add excitement. Also, there has been a major overhaul in controls and game interface, optimized for the G1's touch screen. Baseball Superstars 2009 is now available and G1 users can find it under the Arcade/Action category. The Baseball Superstars series, GAMEVIL's top seller, has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide since its launch in 2002, establishing itself as one of the best mobile baseball games. For more details on the game, please visit www.gamevil.com Nintendo Games: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - Lost Challenges Add-On pack Worried that Banjo and Kazooie may be falling back into their lazy ways, L.O.G has created a fresh series of tests and seven additional multiplayer modes for players to continue building their own distinctive vehicle creations. Although Spiral Mountain has been rightfully won, L.O.G. has an enticing reward for completing his new challenges: another version of Klungo’s Arcade game. Additionally, L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges will include the blueprints from seven lucky Xbox fans from the United States, Canada and Japan whose winning creations were selected by RARE from the recent “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts” fan vehicle design contest. The winning contraptions can be unlocked by Banjo fans upon completion of the Stop ‘N’ Swop feature within “Banjo-Tooie” on Xbox LIVE Arcade later this spring. These incredible machines ranging from a beetle to a carousel and a robot prove that “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts” is a game where the only limits to your adventure is your imagination. L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges offers players the ability to earn up to 250 achievement points as they immerse themselves into 12 new challenges and 7 new multiplayer games. Releasing on April 7th, it will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 400 Microsoft points. - Gears of War 2 - Snowblind Map “Gears of War 2” fans around the world can engage in even more intense action in treacherous winter settings offered by the latest “Gears of War 2” Add-on, the Snowblind Map Pack. Trudge, crawl and roadie run through the harshest of weather conditions as you and your squadmates dive into four new multiplayer maps. Spanning tunnels, bridges, courtyards and offices, players can sharpen their skills on the four new maps in the Snowblind Add-on: Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard and Fuel Depot. All maps are playable on every “Gears of War 2” multiplayer mode, including the highly popular Horde mode: • Grindyard is a massive industrial complex located in a junk-processing plant from the days of Sera’s industrial excess. The office, now gutted, serves as a perfect place to fortify, but if you’re not careful, you’ll end up trapped inside the office with no hope of escape. • Under Hill takes players through snowbound tunnels that were once billed as a feat of Seran engineering. Head for high ground on the bridge and you’ll be rewarded with massive firepower, but be prepared to defend your position and try to escape being cornered. • Courtyard is a wide-open battle royale containing explosive weapons that once formed the heart of Ephyra’s fashionable Civic Center. Lines of sight are far and clear here, and battles tend to focus around the elevated sniper nest. Watch your back and keep a fresh clip. • Fuel Depot, back by popular demand, Fuel Depot is a “Gears of War 2” remake of the fan-favorite “Gears of War” map, but winter has set in and the depot is now covered in a blanket of snow. Open and unforgiving, it takes a well-coordinated team to cover all the angles here. Also added to “Gears of War 2” are nine new Achievements worth 250 points: Here’s the complete list of achievements, points and descriptions: • “Rookie Gear” (10 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 5 (Public only). • “Seasoned Gear” (20 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 15 (Public only). • “Battle-Tested Gear” (30 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 25 (Public only). • “Battle-Hardened Gear” (50 points): Reach level 50 and play a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only). • “Veteran Gear” (75 points): Reach level 100 and win a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only). • “Never Eat Red Snow” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Snowblind Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty). • “Icy Dead People” (25 points): Complete waves 1 through 50 on any Snowblind Map Pack map in Horde (any difficulty). • “Frigid Body Dynamics” (5 points): Play a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode). • “The Weather Outside Is Lethal” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode). The “Gears of War 2” Snowblind Map Pack Add-on is available for download on Xbox LIVE Marketplace starting today for 800 MS Points. - Sacred 2: Fallen Angel cdv Software Entertainment USA and Ascaron Entertainment are pleased to release a new in-game action trailer for the upcoming action-RPG - Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. This action-packed video focuses on gameplay from the Xbox 360® version of the game, featuring the majestic High Elf and cybernetic Temple Guardian as they take on all comers. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is set for a May 12, 2009 release on the Xbox® 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. View the trailer streaming
Game Related News: Game Developers Conference Think Services’ 2009 Game Developers Conference® (GDC) hosted more than 17,000 game industry professionals last week at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. The world’s largest industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of interactive entertainment attracted the full spectrum of game industry professionals from known luminaries to aspiring and established game developers, to publishers and deal makers to members of the working press. With more than 500 lectures, panels, summits, tutorials and roundtable discussions covering all aspects of the games business, plus a robust Expo and Career Pavilion, the Game Career Seminar, the 11th Annual Independent Games Festival (IGF), the 9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, Game Connection America, and more, the five day conference provided innumerable opportunities for sharing knowledge, discussing opportunities, making new connections and celebrating the passion and dedication of fellow game-makers. GDC returns to the Moscone Center March 9-13, 2010. Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. kicked-off the GDC09 main conference schedule with a keynote address providing an insight into his company’s development processes and thoughts on the opportunities developers have on Nintendo’s platforms Wii, DS and DSi . Hideo Kojima, Corporate Officer, Executive Producer and Director of Kojima Productions, delivered a second keynote address focusing on how he has conquered various development obstacles with creative game design, using the driving game design philosophies behind the Metal Gear series as reference. GDC09 also included the 11th Annual Independent Games Festival and the 9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. Erik Svedang’s Blueberry Garden, an exploration game set in an ever-changing ecosystem, received top honors at the IGF, while Bethesda Softworks’ epic post-apocalyptic open-world adventure, Fallout 3, received the Game of the Year Award at the Choice Awards. “The success of this past week in San Francisco proves the resilience of the games industry,” said event director Meggan Scavio. “It is a testament to the spirit of our more than 20 year old conference and community, and evidence of videogames’ continued evolution into a mainstream form of entertainment, that the various constituents of the industry were able come together at GDC as they did year.” GDC09 also offered intensive tutorials, GDC Mobile, and a full lineup of summits focusing on emerging trends in the game industry. They included the AI Summit, the Casual Games Summit, the Game Outsourcing Summit, the IGDA Education Summit, the Independent Games Summit, the Localization Summit, the Serious Games Summit, and the Worlds in Motion Summit, all of which took place on the Monday and Tuesday of the week, March 23-24. All Access Conference pass holders can continue learning post conference with access to over hundreds of viewable sessions from GDC09 and past Game Developer Conferences® via myGDC Vault. For more information on myGDC, the professional networking and scheduling tool of the Game Developers Conferences®, visit http://mygdc.gdconf.com/vault For a complete list of GDC 2009 event information including GDC Canada, GDC Europe, GDC Austin, and GDC China, please visit http://www.gdconf.com/.
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