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> February 20, 2007
Rising Star hits Gold
Coming Soon to an Arena (And PC)
Near You: Shady O’Grady’s(tm) Rising Star Music Career Simulation Has
Gone Gold
Full Downloadable Version Available Rising Star Playable Demo Available
Next Week Birmingham, Michigan - Feb 20, 2007 Gilligames, an independent
developer and publisher of PC games, today announced that their musical
simulation/role-playing game, “Shady O’Grady’s(tm) Rising Star”
for Windows PCs, is now available as a download for $29 at
www.gilligames.com. The CD- ROM version is available for $36, and will
ship on March 1, 2007. A free playable demo will be available for download
next week.
About Shady O’Grady’s(tm) Rising
Star Rising Star captures the struggles and successes of up and coming
musicians as they work to recruit band members, gain popularity locally
and throughout America, and ultimately, get the lucrative recording
contract of their dreams. In Rising Star, you start out as an 18-year old
rookie musician in one of 10 music types: rock and roll, jazz, ska, rap,
pop, blues, metal, punk, folk, or country. Choose your home from over 120
cities located throughout the U.S., and recruit compatible musicians for
your band. You’ll start off as poor, starving artists, and slowly work
your way to stardom. Make enough connections with the club owners and
bands, and soon you’ll score your first gig. You’ll get to enter
Battle of the Bands, and eventually you’ll deal with larger venues,
managers, producers, record contracts, product endorsements and more.
Other Rising Star features include:
RPG-style experience/leveling system,
with six assignable skills: Songwriting, Playing, Stage Presence,
Production, Repair, and Business. Make band decisions based on your
musicians' Inspiration, Health, Happiness, and Ego levels. Dynamic
musician attitude system - recruit compatible musicians, and kick out
egotistical musicians living in their own private Idaho that no longer get
along. Unhappy and uninspired musicians may quit on their own. Over 800
different types of equipment, including real brands with images supplied
by American Musical Supply (www.americanmusical.com) to let your band rock
on. Over 120 cities to roam and conquer each randomly generated and
presented in 3D for exploring. Thousands of locations: Homes, bars,
theaters, stadiums, clothing stores, music stores, studios, hotels &
motels, manager offices, parks, cemeteries, and hospitals are all useful
aspects of the game, providing lots of things to do. Customize your band's
appearance with thousands of combinations of hairstyles, hats, glasses,
shirts, pants, pants, and wrist/hand wear. Live out your rock and roll
fantasy. Earn money doing odd-jobs to survive while trying to earn a
reputation for your new band. Customize your van's appearance with over 50
different paint jobs Success depends on decision making, not twitch
skills. Trash hotels & motels with the advanced physics engine. Go
ahead and throw that lamp at the TV and see what happens. A living world
of working bands, spread over the continental USA. Built-in tutorial to
help beginners understand the wealth of information and options Soundtrack
of original music from real independent bands. Map editor, allowing you to
add, delete, or modify existing cities. Equipment editor, allowing you to
add, delete or modify existing equipment & supplies. Easy to add your
own content, or share content with other players.
About Gilligames
Headquartered in Birmingham, Michigan,
Gilligames was founded by Todd M. Gillissie, a self-taught programmer,
musician, graphic artist and sound engineer. In 2002, Gilligames created
their first commercial title, “Space HoRSE,” which was published by
Shrapnel Games. For more information go to www.gilligames.com
Website: http://www.gilligames.com
> February 19, 2007
DK Country hits Virtual Console
Capcom plans Lost Planet Maps
Ubisoft gets Totally Spies license
Revisit the Classic Run Through
the Jungle in Donkey Kong Country on VC
Feb 19, 2007 - Today Nintendo adds
four classic games to the popular Wii video game system’s Wii Shop
Channel. Nintendo adds new games to the channel every Monday. Wii owners
with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download
the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at
retail outlets. This week’s new games are:
Donkey Kong Country SNES 1-2 players 800
Wii Points Donkey Kong Country is an incredible island adventure, and the
first game to feature Donkey Kong’s sidekick, Diddy Kong. Challenged by
the crazed tribe of reptilian Kremlings, the Kongs face their cunning
adversaries armed with lightning-quick moves, chest-pounding muscle and
awesome aerial acrobatics. The duo also gets help from a host of friends
and family, from Funky Kong, Cranky Kong and Candy Kong to Rambi the
rhino, Expresso the ostrich, Enguarde the swordfish, Squawks the parrot
and Winky the frog. This game has more than 30 levels, plus dozens of
hidden caves and secret rooms - more than 100 areas in all. Help the Kongs
recover their stolen banana hoard!
The Legend of Kage NES 1-2 players 500
Wii Points This classic ninja-action game first appeared in arcades in
1985 and became instantly popular. As the Iga ninja named “Kage,”
players embark on an action-packed quest as they move toward a magic
castle where the Princess “Kiri” is held captive by “Yohshirou
Yukikusa.” To stay alive, players move vertically and horizontally
through forest and castle environments and execute massive jumps, all the
while using throwing-star knives and a sword to take down hordes of
enemies.
New Adventure Island TurboGraxf-16 1
player 600 Wii Points On peaceful Adventure Island, the islanders are
celebrating the wedding of Master Higgins and Tina, the “Miss Island
Queen.” Suddenly, the celebration is interrupted by the appearance of
Baron Bronsky and his henchmen, who kidnap Tina and the island children.
Master Higgins must set out to rescue the children and his beloved Tina in
this side-scrolling action game. Throw hatchets and boomerangs, hop on
skateboards and guide Master Higgins safely to the goal in each area. New
Adventure Island consists of seven exciting stages. Each stage is split
into four areas, with a boss waiting at the end of the final area. Defeat
all the bosses and release the kidnapped children. And waiting in the
castle of the final stage - the wicked Baron Bronsky. Help Master Higgins
defeat him and reclaim his bride.
Streets of Rage Sega Genesis 1-2 players
800 Wii Points The city was once a happy, peaceful place ... until one
day, a powerful secret criminal organization took over. This vicious
syndicate soon had control of the government and even the police force.
The city has become a center of violence and crime where no one is safe.
Amid this turmoil, a group of determined young police officers has sworn
to clean up the city. Among them are Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze
Fielding. They’ve decided to put their lives on the line and take back
their city through their special hand-to-hand combat abilities. They are
willing to risk anything, even their lives, on the Streets of Rage.
Go to the Wii Shop channel to download
these games in addition to already available classics like Super Mario 64,
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Gunstar Heroes, Sonic The
Hedgehog, Bonk's Adventure, and Super Mario Bros.! Click here for a list
of games available on Virtual Console.
CAPCOM TO RELEASE DOWNLOADABLE MAP
PACKS FOR LOST PLANET™: EXTREME CONDITION FOR XBOX 360™ Seven New
Multiplayer Maps Coming Over the Next Few Months
SUNNYVALE, Calif - Feb. 19, 2007 -
Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games,
today announced plans to offer downloadable multiplayer map packs for Lost
Planet™: Extreme Condition for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment
system from Microsoft. The first map pack will cost 400 Microsoft Points™,
with pricing on the following packs to be determined later. Lost Planet,
which carries a "T" rating for teen audiences by the ESRB
(Entertainment Software Rating Board), can be found on retail shelves
around the world.
"We’re committed to bringing new
content to the thriving community of Lost Planet fans," said Charles
Bellfield, vice president, marketing, Capcom Entertainment, Inc. "The
development team is steadily working on additional environments to provide
players with new ways to enjoy the intense Lost Planet brand of
action."
The first pack is planned to be released
via Xbox Live® Marketplace on or about March 9 and contains two new
multiplayer levels: "Radar Field," a close quarters facility
which is under construction and has a giant radar that provides a peak
vantage point, and "Island 902," a sprawling Pacific-themed
battlefield with several islands connected by bridges as well as vast
underwater areas. Additionally, "Battleground," a multiplayer
map originally offered exclusively to those who purchased the Collector's
Edition of the game, will be made available for free to all Lost Planet
players. The next two packs, as well as the free Battleground map will be
made available in the coming months.
Lost Planet is an epic gaming
masterpiece combining a gripping single player campaign and intense
multiplayer modes with support for up to 16 players on the Xbox Live®
online game service. Taking full advantage of Xbox 360 system’s power,
Lost Planet contains sophisticated visuals, with an unmatched level of
detail as advanced light sourcing is used to ensure a realistic
presentation that enhances every explosion, smoke and particle effect.
Enormous world maps unfold as players battle hostile creatures in
blistering weather conditions across vast snowfields and deserted cities
either on foot or in armed, robotic Vital Suits.
For more information on Lost Planet,
please visit the official site at http://www.lostplanet-thegame.com or
join the growing community of fans at http://www.lostplanetcommunity.com
ABOUT CAPCOM Capcom is a leading
worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive
entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices.
Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including
best-selling franchises Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Devil
May Cry. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Tokyo and
Hong Kong, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More
information about Capcom can be found on the company web site,
www.capcom.com.
Capcom, Resident Evil, Mega Man and
Devil May Cry are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Capcom
Co., Ltd., in the U.S. or other countries. Street Fighter is a registered
trademark of Capcom U.S.A., Inc. Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox Live are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United
States and/or other countries. All rights reserved. All other marks are
the property of their respective owners.
UBISOFT GOES TOTALLY SPIES!
Ubisoft to publish video game based on
hit animated television show for holiday 2007 Paris, FRANCE – February
19, 2006 – Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game
publishers, announced that it has signed a deal with OUAT Entertainment to
publish Marathon’s Totally Spies! in PAL territories. Totally Spies!
will launch on PlayStation® 2, Nintendo DS™ and Games for Windows in
holiday 2007 and on Wii™ in the first quarter of 2008.
With an audience share of 50% (despite
the competition of a dozen children’s channels broadcasting cartoons)
Totally Spies! is the number one animated series in France, and is
broadcast around the world by major TV channels such as Cartoon Network
(US), Teletoon (Canada), Jetix (Europe), TF1 (France), Super RTL
(Germany), Mediaset (Italy), GMTV (England), La Forta (Spain), and more.
Totally Spies! is above all full-blown
comedy action, the story of three Beverly Hills college students, who
unwittingly become spies for the international WOOHP (the World
Organization Of Human Protection), following an intensive training course
to become super mega-fit agents, equipped with state of the art gadgets.
Totally Spies! will soon enter its fifth
season and stations worldwide have already contracted to broadcast the
series through January 2009.
"Totally Spies! fans have been
clamoring for an interactive experience, and we are trilled to team up
with Ouat and Ubisoft to deliver new products worldwide", says
Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, president of Marathon Media.
“Totally Spies! has made a great
impact with young viewers, both girls and boys alike,” said Alain Corre,
executive director EMEA at Ubisoft. “We look forward to bringing an
action and humor-filled gaming experience to the Totally Spies fans.”
> February 16, 2007
Q*Bert hops on Playstation Network
Torque Engine Advanced released
Official GRAW 2 website goes live
SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT INVITES
PLAYERS TO RELIVE THE 80s WITH Q*BERT™ ON THE PLAYSTATION®NETWORK
Q*bert™, the colorful, loveable and jumpy character the children of the
80s have grown to love, is now in High Definition on the PLAYSTATION®3
computer entertainment system, supporting resolutions up to 720p. Download
Q*bert from the PLAYSTATION® Network and navigate through the pyramid
levels, but watch out for his nemesis, Coily, and his gaggle of friends.
ABOUT Q*BERT: A Timeless Classic: Relive
the classic arcade action and simple elegance of one of the 80’s most
timeless arcade classics.
Classic Arcade Action Now for
PLAYSTATION 3: Navigate pyramid levels all now in stunning quality on the
PLAYSTATION 3.
Worldwide Online Leaderboards: Post and
compare your high score against the best players in the world. Who will
become the Supreme Noser?
For more information visit
www.station.com/downloads
or http://www.station.sony.com/ps3downloads/qbert/
WHEN: Q*bert® is scheduled for release
on February 22, 2007 for the suggested retail price of $4.99
GarageGames Provides Affordable
Next Generation Game Technology with the Release of Torque Game Engine™
Advanced
Powerful new game engine now accessible to everyone. Eugene, OR February
15th, 2007 -- GarageGames, the leader in powerful, affordable game
development tools, is pleased to announce the long-awaited release of
Torque Game Engine Advanced.
The 3D Torque Game Engine Advanced
(known throughout development as Torque Shader Engine) takes full
advantage of modern hardware technologies. Features include:
TorqueNet: Strong multiplayer networking
foundation built into the code. TorqueNet uses both UDP and TCP, with key
features including support of multiple data delivery requirements, partial
object state updates, ghost management, packet stream management, and an
optimized Notified Delivery Protocol. Allows hundreds of players to
connect to a single server within demanding FPS game lag and response
requirements. TorqueNet is the award-winning, industry-leading
client/server architecture developed by GarageGames that is being used in
commercial games such as Vivendi's Tribes 2, by NASA for Mars Rover
simulations, and more.
Torque Lighting System: Introducing
multiple shadowing algorithms, self-shadowing objects, bloom, specularity,
dynamic range, and more. Flexible in-game lighting editors and tools
support significantly increased game atmosphere and design efficiency.
Light objects can be configured as static or dynamic, omni or spotlights,
and are capable of illuminating multiple interiors, shapes and terrain.
Procedural Generation of Shaders that
support bumpmapping and normalmapping, detail maps, specular, cubemapping,
glow, refraction, reflection, texture UV animation, and fog.
Custom Materials: A powerful custom
shader interface allows easy integration of custom shaders and effects.
Users can drop in shaders from demos or tools such as FX Composer and
RenderMonkey. Also included are exclusive fallback hooks that allow full
control over how a custom material looks on all hardware platforms.
Modern Scenegraph and Batched Rendering
for creating complex scenes with huge numbers of polygons.
Puppeteer Mesh Animation System: Allows
the use of animated multi-bone skeletons for dynamic, flexible character
actions with a high level of detail. Fully supports motion capture data
for ultra-realistic animations.
GeoTerrain: Featuring multi-pass
texturing and lighting, and layered volumetric fog, the portal-based
interiors -- with detail brushes and animated lightmaps -- are able to
connect directly with the environment-mapped terrain. GeoTerrain can
easily be created using an alpha-channel height map, then edited within
the engine to customize levels.
Doorway: Seamless integration of
interior and exterior rendering.
Atlas Terrain Generation allows for
limitless, dynamically paging terrains, taking full advantage of modern
hardware for efficient rendering.
Water Renderers: Easy to use Waterblocks
with limitless size ocean bodies, normal map reflections, refractions, and
perturbed surfaces.
TorqueScript: Torque's own C-Like
scripting language is byte-code compiled and easy to learn. Easily add C++
functions and objects, then call them from TorqueScript.
3D Toolset: Edit every aspect of your
world, including terrain attributes, weather and fog, configure objects,
set triggers, and mission logic all in the WYSIWYG Mission Builder. Build
fully scriptable interfaces, write custom controls, edit, and test without
exiting the GUI Builder. Includes mesh exporters for Maya, 3D Studio Max,
LightWave, Blender, MilkShape and more.
Gaming Objects: Customizable FPS, and
third person game objects such as characters, vehicles, weapons,
projectiles, and simple AI.
Networkable Physics: Lightweight systems
allows for hundreds of players with collision detection, rigid body, and
vehicle physics.
Xbox 360™ Portable. Create your game
with Torque Game Engine Advanced, and port to Xbox 360. (Requires separate
license to Torque 360 game engine)
Battle Tested: TGEA has been used in
several shipped titles including our own hit Xbox Live Arcade title
"Marble Blast Ultra".
Source Included: The C++ source code
provides near limitless ability to modify and improve upon the engine.
Incorporate custom-built AI code, optimize the engine to suit a particular
game's needs, or simply use the resources that all of the other Torque
Game Engine Advanced users are creating and contributing to the community.
"We are very pleased with the release of Torque Game Engine
Advanced," says GarageGames CEO and CTO Josh Williams. "This is
another big step forward in our effort to make top-notch development tools
available to anyone who wants to make games. Even though this engine will
best serve advanced developers, it includes many tools that will make
next-generation gaming effects easier to create and much simpler to
manage. Through our Early Adopter efforts, the GarageGames community has
been vital in making Torque Game Engine Advanced an engine that rivals the
top-tier 3D engines at a fraction of the cost.
Torque Game Engine Advanced is available
at a substantial discount to Indies and hobbyists. The Indie license is
available for $295 and, as always, license holders will have access to the
full C++ source code and never pay any royalties, ever. For larger
developers, the Commercial license will be available for $1495 -- also
with the source code included and without royalties. All products can be
purchased through the GarageGames website.
GarageGames is located in Eugene, Oregon
and on the web at www.garagegames.com. As the makers of Torque Game
Builder, Torque Game Engine, and Torque Game Engine Advanced, they have
been providing game development tools and technology at an affordable
price since 2000. Torque Game Engine was the original technology behind
the Tribes series of games, and has been used since to develop countless
games on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Xbox 360, notable among which is
GarageGames' own Marble Blast series of games.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced
Warfighter ® 2 - *Official Website Live - Video Developer Diary 3
Available Now!*
February 15, 2007 – Ubisoft, one of
the world's largest videogame publishers, today announces the launch of
the official website for the upcoming Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced
Warfighter ® 2, the sequel to the massively popular squad-based action
franchise, and next gen smash hit of 2006. This official site will be the
quintessential point of contact for all things GRAW 2. Along with the
launch of the official website, we also continue with our series of video
developer diaries with the third installation, detailing the authentic
creation of the world in GRAW 2. Keep your eyes peeled for more
information on GRAW 2 as it approaches its March 2007 release. Until then,
take a look below for a quick run down of what to find on the official
website and a link to download the latest video developer diary:
Official GRAW 2 Site URL:
http://ghostrecon.us.ubi.com/graw2/
The following is a breakdown pf what is
currently available on the GRAW 2 product site. Be sure to check back for
continued updates with fresh new content…
· MAIN:
o Hit the main page to get the latest
and greatest news on GRAW 2. This is your virtual doorway into GRAW 2
heaven.
· GAME INFO:
o In the Game Info section you can learn
about everything from the new features in GRAW 2, to getting background
information and visuals on much of the in-game content such as Characters,
Support, Weapons and more!
· MEDIA:
o Jump into the Media section to get all
the bells and whistles. Here you can check out all the latest and greatest
in-game screenshots and videos, or even grab some wallpapers and IM icons
to show your love for GRAW 2!
· PRESS:
o Check out the Press section to hear
what the professionals are saying about GRAW 2. All of the most recent
previews and impressions can be found right here.
· FORUMS:
o Speak your piece and let your voice be
heard by joining in the official GRAW 2 forums.
Video Developer Diary 3: "On the
Edge Of the Border”:
For the next installment of the video
developer diaries we get a behind the scenes look at the process of
creating the environment found in GRAW 2. Keeping the environment
authentic is no simple task. Hear about the cutting-edge methods of
capturing the distinctly different feels of Juarez, Mexico and El Paso,
Texas. Can you say dual HD cameras…? How do you keep a continuous fluent
experience with such a diverse mixture of environments and the specific
types of gameplay they can create? Those answers and more await you in
this new video. Get to clickin'…
