Village Gamer

Montreal – Ubisoft has officially announced the release date for the first DLC expansion for Assassin’s Creed 2. The Battle of Forli expands the Assassin’s Creed II Sequence 12 experience by delivering a missing piece of the storyline. Join Machiavelli and Caterina Sforza to defend Forli from the Orsi Brothers. Accomplish a daring rescue and prevent the Piece of Eden from falling into the hands of the Templars. Uncover new depths to the historical conspiracy by gaining access to six challenging new memories including the opportunity to pilot Leonardo’s flying machine across Romagna.

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Battle of Forli is rated M (in keeping with Assassin’s Creed’s rating) and will be available on Thursday, January 28 2010 on Xbox Live for 320 MS Points as well as a on the PlayStation Network for $3.99.

Burnaby – Electronic Arts will celebrate the single largest sporting event on the planet with the only official and exclusively licensed videogame for the EA Canada-developed 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Now everyone can play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, Wii™, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) and mobile in April 2010 in anticipation of the real-world tournament which begins in June.

EA SPORTS™ 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa will feature all the emotion and passion of the fiercest national rivalries battling on the world’s biggest stage, with all 199 national teams that took part in qualification, all 10 official stadiums to be used in South Africa and stadiums from each qualifying region. Gamers will be able to play as their home nation from qualification right through to a virtual reproduction of the FIFA World Cup Final™ and feel what it is like to score the goal that lifts a nation. Everything fans love about the World Cup will come to life in spectacular detail, including confetti rain, streamers, & fireworks—just like the official tournament.

For the first time ever in a videogame compete in a full and authentic online World Cup tournament. Carry the hopes and dreams of a nation into battle against fans from rival countries, from the group stage through the knockout rounds to the chance to be crowned 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa TM champion. For fans of nations that failed to qualify for South Africa this is the chance to replay and re-write history. Plus, gameplay innovations capture the journey from qualification to the final tournament with home and away strategies for every nation, situational tactics in-game, and altitude effects that fatigue players faster and even impact the flight of the ball.

Presented in an art style that celebrates the cultural vibrancy of the first FIFA World Cup TM to be held in Africa, EA SPORTS 2010 FIFA World Cup on the Wii is an action-packed soccer game that brings friends together in their living rooms to compete for the 2010 FIFA World Cup TM. Travel around the world virtually to take on all 32 nations competing in South Africa in head-to-head challenges in Zakumi’s Dream Team mode. Start the journey with random players and then build your team by stealing an opposition player after each victory. Win a challenge and pick a player until you have conquered the world. Plus, take your team to a friend’s house on your Wii Remote.

Vancouver – At the Paradox Interactive Convention in New York last week, Kerberos revealed that their next project is the much awaited sequel to the critically hailed Sword of the Stars 4X franchise. Today, Paradox Interactive summarizes some of the details revealed.

In Sword of the Stars 2, gamers will be reacquainted with the original six races from Swords of the Stars I and its expansions as well as reveal the dark secret of the original series, the Suul’ka – an ancient race that is responsible for tampering with the Liir, Zuul, and other races in the SotS universe! Sword of the Stars 2 is in early production and is scheduled for release in 2011.

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Toronto – PEER 1 Hosting, Inc. has announced the opening of its US$40 million data centre, located in Toronto. At more than 40,000 square feet, this new data centre is more than twice the size of a professional hockey rink and marks the first time PEER 1 Hosting is offering all three hosting solutions – colocation, dedicated hosting and managed hosting – in Canada.

The opening of the flagship data centre is also the first time PEER 1 is offering all three hosting solutions under one roof, enabling small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) to conveniently choose the right solution for their business.

“The Internet is a vital platform for our customers, and it continues to grow,” said Fabio Banducci, president and CEO for PEER 1 Hosting. “Our new state-of-the-art Toronto data centre ensures we stay current and provide the fastest and most reliable network to serve our customers, now and in the future, while providing PEER 1 with enhanced flexible capacity to support its own growth.”

This is the most efficient data centre PEER 1 Hosting has built to date, with increased power densities, high reliability, and robust security. Building it in four sections, with each section built as a separate Performance Optimized Data Centre (POD), enables customers to expand their data centre capacity faster than ever before, while allowing PEER 1 to cost-effectively manage growth.

The new data centre utilizes some of the most efficient products and technologies on the market. This includes a redundant critical cooling infrastructure using both a local well for primary water supply and a connection to the city’s water system.

“We’re also using redundant high-efficiency Variable Frequency Drive centrifugal chillers to reduce cooling costs and condenser towers with economizers,” adds Ryan Murphey, vice president of facilities and data center operations for PEER 1 Hosting. “This enables PEER 1 to lessen the environmental impact of the data center by taking advantage of “free cooling” when the temperature drops below 10C.”

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