Village Gamer

Congratulations to Vancouver’s IUGO Mobile Entertainment – their iPhone game Zombie Attack has made PocketGamer’s Top Ten List of iPhone Zombie Games. Zombie Attack is a Defend Your Tower styled game, however instead of a tower, you must defend your beloved shack from the advancing undead. You can choose from an array of zombie-blasting weapons including, flame throwers and cannons to battle the brain-starved combatants. With easy to use tilt and touch controls, you’ll be killing zombies, earning points and raking in the cash to upgrade your weapons and firepower in no time.

Features

* Mow down and dismember zombies to keep your shack standing
* Cartoony, over-the-top effects, from explosions to flying heads
* Build four types of turrets: Gun, Flame, Axe and Rocket
* Choose between touch or tilt control for the survivor that builds your defenses
* Use the survivor to give a turret an attack boos, or to lure zombies into firing range

Zombie Attack was released November 6 2008 with a 9+ rating, and is available in the iTunes App Store for only $1.99. Congratulations also to Ryan Arndt of Certain Sound for working his audio magic on this title.

Edmonton’s Bioware has released Pinnacle Station, a new Game Add-on for Mass Effect™.  Available for both the Xbox 360® and PC, this DLC pack introduces an intense combat challenge to the Mass Effect universe. Picking up where the first game ended, players will enter Pinnacle Station, a top-secret Alliance training facility. Featuring 13 scenarios ranging from fast-paced combat simulations to high-stakes winner-takes-all wagers, players will push their combat skills to the limit, encountering aggressive simulated enemies while unlocking a mysterious new location. Once inside, players will be able to acquire rare weapons, special armour as well as obtain new achievements. One important piece of recon – players cannot access Pinnacle Station unless they have achieved Spectre status.

“At BioWare, we’re committed to providing ongoing support for all our franchises. With Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station, you’ll execute challenging new combat missions that will allow you to reenter the Mass Effect galaxy with a bang!” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager and Senior Vice President, Electronic Arts, and co-founder and CEO, BioWare. “Regardless of whether you choose to start Mass Effect 2 as a standalone adventure, or import your Mass Effect saved games, we know that you will enjoy Episode 2 for all of its intense action, dramatic plot twists and memorable characters.”

The Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station Game Add-On became available yesterday for 400 Microsoft points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. It is also available for the PC version at $5 and can be found in EA’s online store. The 1.02 patch for Mass Effect is required for the installation of Pinnacle Station and is  both available for download today on the Mass Effect web site as well as included in the Pinnacle Station download.

Toronto’s Koei Canada has released Warriors Orochi 2 for the PSP®. With Warriors Orochi 2, KOEI reunites its two biggest franchises, Dynasty Warriors® and Samurai Warriors® for the sequel to its hit Tactical Action game. Jam-packed with 96 playable characters, Warriors Orochi 2 transports gamers to Imperial China and to Feudal Japan where they will do battle against a venomous overlord and his menacing legions.

Shattering time and space, the venomous Serpent King Orochi kidnapped history’s greatest warriors in a scheme to test his might. The heroes eventually defeated Orochi and his menacing army. Now the slain Orochi lies in the netherworld, and a mysterious alliance is hatching a plan to resurrect Orochi.

With four different storylines featuring characters from Samurai Warriors® and Dynasty Warriors®, Warriors Orochi 2 includes three new game modes: Dream, VS and Survival, as well as “Tag Team”-style matches that pit fighters in head-to-head arena combat.

A star-studded lineup boasts 96 playable characters including the massive boar-like Gyuki and the faceless Dodomeki. New playable characters exclusive to the PSP system include the graceful San Zang and the warrior-monk Benkei. New features exclusive to the PSP system also include: 2-Player VS mode plus Co-op play in Story, Free and Dream modes, 12 new scenarios in Dream mode, and a Japanese and English voice option.

Learn more about Warriors Orochi 2 for PSP system on the official product minisite. Also visit “Warriors Orochi 2 Dedicated” to download music tracks and over a dozen specially-modified high-resolution movie clips to create your own Warriors Orochi 2 fan video. Warriors Orochi 2 is based on an original work by Omega Force. Play is for 1 to 2 players. Multi-player play is via ad-hoc wireless only. This game is rated “T” (Teen – Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence) by the ESRB.

Vancouver – In the midst of IUGO’s A.D.D. (Another Dumb Distraction) iPhone game of over 100 frantic and controversial mini games sitting in Apple’s review queue for almost 3 months, IUGO has decided to take down the Lite version of the game. “The idea, of course, was to have both apps launch around the same time” states Sarah Thomson, Director of Business Development for IUGO. “There is such a disparity in the release dates now that the Lite version holds no real purpose at this point.” IUGO has even gone on to suggest that they most likely will not release the Lite version again, even if and when the full version launches on the App Store.

So what is the fate of A.D.D.? “We’ve received 3 identical emails from Apple stating the game is taking an unusually long time to review and that they apologize. That’s all we know. It seems the game is neither rejected nor has it been approved,” says Sarah. She goes onto to explain their thoughts on the substantial delay, “Sure we’re frustrated and wish we’d hear either way. If the content is too hot then we’re happy to go back in and re-work it,” suggests Thomson.
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Toronto – KOEI Canada today announced that the best-selling WARRIORS OROCHI®2 is coming to PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system on August 25, 2009. Based on an original work by Omega Force, play is for 1 to 2 players with Multi-player play available via ad-hoc wireless.

With four different storylines featuring characters from SAMURAI WARRIORS® and DYNASTY WARRIORS®, WARRIORS OROCHI 2 includes three new game modes: Dream, VS and Survival, as well as “Tag Team”-style matches that pit fighters in head-to-head arena combat.

A star-studded lineup boasts 96 playable characters from the DYNASTY WARRIORS and SAMURAI WARRIORS series including the massive boar-like Gyuki and the faceless Dodomeki. New playable characters not found in the original console release include the graceful San Zang and the warrior-monk Benkei. Shattering time and space, the venomous Serpent King Orochi kidnapped history’s greatest warriors in a scheme to test his might. The heroes eventually defeated Orochi and his menacing army. Now the slain Orochi lies in the netherworld, and a mysterious alliance is hatching a plan to resurrect Orochi.
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Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc announced today its initial Downloadable Content (DLC) plan for Fight Night Round 4. Recently named the Game Critic Awards “Best Sports Game of E3 2009”, Fight Night Round 4 has been winning over reviewers since its release on June 23rd.

The first DLC pack, which will be available for free to both Xbox 360® and Playstation®3 users by early August, will include a new training gym, new gameplay sliders, as well as a host of new equipment that can be used for outfitting boxers. Xbox 360 users will also receive an exclusive alternate version of Sugar Ray Leonard in their first DLC pack, courtesy of Pizza Hut.

EA SPORTS™ will also be releasing a free downloadable game update by early September that will allow gamers to use face buttons on the Xbox 360 and PS3 game controllers to throw punches, hooks, uppercuts and haymakers.

“The depth and variety of new content we have planned this summer is going to make one of the most critically acclaimed games on the market even better,” said senior producer, Dean Richards. “Among the new content in development, our new button control scheme will give fans a choice for how they want to throw punches in the game. We strongly believe that the refined Total Punch Control is the most intuitive way to throw punches in Fight Night Round 4, but we also want fans of the franchise to have an option.”

Fight Night Round 4 is currently available for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft. This game has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

Vancouver – No, that’s not 72 hours of straight playing. The long-awaited North American closed beta of NCSoft’s Aion began this past Thursday at noon Pacific time, and that’s when our resident PC game player, A.K.A. Cavechild, logged into the game – if he hadn’t been in need of sleep and food, he probably would have logged a straight 72 hours.

The Aion build used for this testing is version 1.0, the most up-to-date version available. Players are limited to level 20 and certain map regions – but with so much to do and explore even within in this limited area, players can remain very occupied for this test period.

When I interrupted Cavechild’s play to ask him about Aion, the first question I put to him was to name one thing he did not like about the game. There are only two things thus far that he doesn’t like in the game: the fact that this is not the full release, and the apparent inability to turn off announcements from player stores – the well-known WTB and WTS scenarios.  (For those unfamiliar with these acronyms – WTB is Want To Buy and WTS is Want To Sell).

According to the Lore of Aion, the shell world of Atreia was once connected by the Tower of Eternity but a great cataclysm caused by the Balaur shattered the tower, separating the two worlds of Atreia. One side of Atreia is now inhabited by the Asmodian faction while the other is populated by the Elyos. Players will be able to explore these worlds as well as regions made up of voids and floating islands. As with many worlds, the two factions have an intense hatred of each other, and there is constant warring in The Abyss, the area between the two shattered regions. While the races battle each other, they must also contend with the greatest evil of all, the Balaur, previously only known to the factions through their Lore. It would seem that the factions may have to work together against the Balaur in order for what’s left of their world to survive.
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Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that the highly anticipated Fight Night Round 4 is now available in retail stores worldwide. Recently named the Game Critic Awards “Best Sports Game of E3 2009”, Fight Night Round 4 is developed by EA Canada under the EA SPORTS™ brand. Fight Night Round 4 is the latest entry from the critically acclaimed Fight Night franchise, and is the first title ever that will allow players to pit “Iron” Mike Tyson against “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali.

Designed with a revolutionary physics-based gameplay engine, Fight Night Round 4 replicates the sweet science to an unprecedented degree of realism. Witness gloves grazing off an opponent as he dodges at the last second, or watch as a vicious uppercut rips through the block of a boxer who turtles for too long. With realistic physics, height and reach become major factors in how each boxer approaches a fight. Shorter fighters, like Tyson, will look to weave inside and deliver punishing hooks to the head and body, while taller fighters, like Ali, will use their reach advantage to pump their jab while staying out of range of their opponent’s punches.

An all new career mode, titled Legacy mode, challenges you to move up the ranks from an upstart amateur to become the greatest of all time. Create a boxer from the incredibly robust create-boxer feature, or import your own face into the game using the Photo Game Face tool and bring your virtual self into the ring. Make rivals, challenge for and defend belts as you journey to cement your name among the greatest names in boxing.
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Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that starting July 9 gamers can download and compete in Skate 2’s Maloof Money Cup Pack, based on the largest pursed event in the history of professional skateboarding. The pack will be available in the PLAYSTATION® Store for $3.00 and on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for 240 points in North America.

“Skate 2 has been embraced by the gaming and skateboarding community across the globe, making it the perfect stage for the Maloof Money Cup’s videogame debut,” said Joe Maloof, President of Maloof Companies. “Now players everywhere can experience the world’s greatest skateboarding championship and revel in the high-stakes excitement of the competition for themselves.”

Skate 2’s Maloof Money Cup Pack will feature separate gameplay events both online and offline – freeskate, single player vert and street contests that put gamers against world class pros, and an online mode in which gamers will be able to compete against their friends in new activities and challenges for bragging rights. Xbox 360 gamers get an added bonus as there are 250 achievement points up for grabs.
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Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that the highly anticipated Fight Night Round 4 is now available in retail stores worldwide. Recently named the Game Critic Awards “Best Sports Game of E3 2009”, Fight Night Round 4 is developed by EA Canada under the EA SPORTS™ brand. Fight Night Round 4 is the latest entry from the critically acclaimed Fight Night franchise, and is the first title ever that will allow players to pit “Iron” Mike Tyson against “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali.

Designed with a revolutionary physics-based gameplay engine, Fight Night Round 4 replicates the sweet science to an unprecedented degree of realism. Witness gloves grazing off an opponent as he dodges at the last second, or watch as a vicious uppercut rips through the block of a boxer who turtles for too long. With realistic physics, height and reach become major factors in how each boxer approaches a fight. Shorter fighters, like Tyson, will look to weave inside and deliver punishing hooks to the head and body, while taller fighters, like Ali, will use their reach advantage to pump their jab while staying out of range of their opponent’s punches.
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Montreal – The fight for global supremacy is officially on with the announcement that Transformers™: Revenge of the Fallen game from Activision Publishing Inc. is available now at retail stores nationwide. The PC version of the game was developed by Quebec’s Beenox Studios, and is rated “T” by the ESRB. Based on the blockbuster feature film from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, the Transformers™: Revenge of the Fallen game allows players to become their favorite AUTOBOTS® and DECEPTICONS® and engage in massive single and, for the first time ever, online multiplayer battles as they fight to protect or annihilate all of mankind.

“The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen game will give fans the chance to experience the most robust and explosive TRANSFORMERS game ever,” said Rob Kostich, head of marketing for licensed properties, Activision Publishing. “Featuring a huge roster of playable TRANSFORMERS, the game delivers massive firepower in a frenetic single player experience, along with several multiplayer modes players can experience with friends online.”

“Because of our close relationship with Activision, the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen game features an unprecedented amount of content to fully immerse players into the TRANSFORMERS universe,” said Mark Blecher, General Manager of Digital Media and Gaming, Hasbro, Inc. “It is amazing how far interactive entertainment has come – the new video game takes the characters we all know and love and allows for even deeper interaction via online multiplayer across the globe.”
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Gormley – Majesco Entertainment Company, an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced that the Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack for Wii developed by Digital Leisure, has shipped to retail. When ruthless outlaw Mad Dog McCree goes on a rampage with a nasty pack of wanted fugitives in tow, they leave death and destruction in their wake. You are the only gun-slinging bounty hunter who can take him down in this three-in-one collection of classic arcade games that includes: Mad Dog McCree, Mad Dog 2: The Lost Gold and The Last Bounty Hunter.

Players use their Wii Remote or Wii Zapper accessory as the ultimate six shooter in this Wild West adventure featuring live actors. Fast reflexes and precision shooting are the keys to survival when outlaws ambush from every angle and nail-biting showdowns are only a bullet away. As they pursue Mad Dog and four other wanted fugitives, players can choose from three different difficulty levels to hunt them alone or join forces with others in two multiplayer modes – Posse and Rebel. In Posse Mode, players work together with up to three friends in pursuit of a combined high score, while in Rebel Mode they work independently with up to four bounty hunters for individual high scores. Whether sharpshooting solo or with a posse, the Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack lets players deliver their own brand of Wild West justice and walk away with their gun smokin’!

Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack for Wii is rated T for Teen and packs three complete arcade classics onto one game disc. The game is available now for the suggested retail price of only $19.99.