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  • AC Revelations Multi-Player Beta to Open for All PSN Members

7th September 2011

AC Revelations Multi-Player Beta to Open for All PSN Members

ubisoft canadaFollowing the success of the Assassin’s Creed Revelations multiplayer beta (initially restricted to Playstation Plus subscribers and selected Uplay members on Playstation 3), Ubisoft has announced that the beta will be available to all Playstation Network members from September 8-11, 2011. The beta client will be available – in limited download – on the Playstation Network.

The multiplayer beta offers access to nine characters (The Sentinel, The Vanguard, The Guardian, The Vizier, The Thespian, The Deacon, The Bombardier, The Trickster and The Champion), three maps (Knight’s Hospital, Antioch, Constantinople) and four playable modes (Wanted, Manhunt, Deathmatch, and Artifact Assault), which are only a sample of the final multiplayer content. Read the rest of this entry »

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6th September 2011

Space Marine Ready For Battle

Relic EntertainmentFor those not yet aware, Warhammer® 40,000®: Space Marine® by THQ studio Relic Entertainment has shipped for the Xbox 360®, Playstation®3 and Windows PC. Combining intense melee and ranged combat, Space Marine puts players into the boots of one of humanity’s elite soldiers, genetically engineered and equipped with state of the art weapons and armor. Players are dropped right into the action as they battle to defend an Imperial Forge World, a planet sized factory, from an invasion by the savage and brutal Orks, using the most devastating weaponry mankind has at its disposal.Space Marine

Space Marine also features 8 vs. 8 class-based multiplayer where players take on the role of either Space Marine or Chaos Space Marine in a battle to the death. Players can choose the balanced Tactical and Chaos Space Marine, the heavy weapons focused Devastator and Havoc or the jump pack equipped melee specialist Assault Marine and Raptor.

A free downloadable Co-operative gameplay mode called Exterminatus will also be made available to all players in early October. This mode pits a team of four Space Marine players against numerous AI controlled enemies in a fight to survive. Featuring dynamic challenges and global leaderboards, Space Marine’s co-op mode will keep players engaged for months to come.

The game includes a full progression and upgrade system tied to both multiplayer and co-op. Players will earn experience and unlock new weapons and perks which allow them to customize their loadouts to suit their play style. Progression will also unlock more options for the game’s customizer, which allows players to create a unique character to suit them, with over 1.8 Billion possibilities available at launch.

In addition to leveraging Steamworks’ Auto-Updating, Achievements, Match-Making, Leaderboards and Stats, the PC version of Warhammer® 40,000® Space Marine® will support Steamworks Cloud technology.

A premium quality Collector’s Edition is available to purchase from THQ.com, featuring a 10″ Purity Seal, Art Book, Game Soundtrack, 25 foiled character cards and a premium box. The Space Marine Collector’s Edition has a SRP of $99 (console) and $79 (PC).

A demo of the game is now available to download now for the Xbox 360,Playstation 3 and Windows PC. Space Marine is available to purchase now from a variety of retailers for a SRP of $60 console and $50 PC, and is rated M for Mature.

 

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2nd September 2011

Dog Pile Gets A Pirate Challenge

skymodoJust in time for the Labor Day Weekend developers JoshOClock and ArtWitz Design (working under the SkyModo label) have released a brand new version of their critically acclaimed and highly praised “Dog Pile” title, updating the game on its entire range of platforms for the Apple iPhone®, Apple iPod touch®, Apple iPad® and Android. In celebration of the extended holiday weekend, the game is currently available as a free download, but only for a limited period of time.

This new and improved version of “Dog Pile” features 12 brand new levels in a unique Pirates Theme called dog pile-pirates“Pirates Challenge”, much harder than previous stages, and primarily aimed at more experienced players. The update also includes two new objects, Cannons and Breakable Crates with the dogs uttering things like “Walk the plank you scurvy Dog”!

“Dog Pile” is a hilarious and cute match-3 spinoff, featuring the best gameplay components from all genres. Throughout a series of ingenious and brilliantly designed levels, your fat puppy falls from the top of the screen into what can best be described as a pinball-style environment! Incorporating realistic physics you must “touch, swipe and tilt” to aid your furry little friend match up with his buddies at the bottom of the screen before time runs out. The sound effects and music add so much to the game you just feel like cranking up the volume full blast, and the cutesy and adorable graphics begs you for just “one-more-go” like a dog begging for a bone. As you become better at the game, and you rank up points and dog bone biscuits, you have the option to go shopping, upgrading your dog pack to feature awesome accessories such as cool eye wear and hats!

“Dog Pile” is ideal to anyone, regardless of age, and its multiple stages with plenty of levels will keep you snapping at anyone trying to stop you from completing the game!

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2nd September 2011

Catching Up With Ezio and Revelations

ubisoft canadaUbisoft has announced that the Assassin’s Creed Revelations multiplayer beta is now available for download on the Playstation®Network, exclusively for PlayStation®Plus members and Playstation®3 Uplay members, and will be playable from September 3rd 10am, closing on the evening of September 11th. Players can preload to take the proverbial leap of faith into the action the moment the beta starts, on September 3.ACR Ultimate Edition

The multiplayer beta offers access to nine characters (The Sentinel, The Vanguard, The Guardian, The Vizier, The Thespian, The Deacon, The Bombardier, The Trickster and The Champion), three maps (Knight’s Hospital, Antioch, Constantinople) and four playable modes (Wanted, Manhunt, Deathmatch, and Artifact Assault), which are only a sample of the final multiplayer content.

In Assassin’s Creed Revelations, master assassin Ezio Auditore walks in the footsteps of the legendary Altaïr on a journey of discovery and revelation. It is a perilous path – one that will take Ezio to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, where a growing army of Templars threatens to destabilize the region.

Assassin’s Creed® Revelations will be available on November 15, 2011, with European and Australian gamers once again being offered special editions not available in Canada or the United States, and it’s the one edition which contains the Assassin’s Creed Encyclopedia. Well – one version of the Encyclopedia, because true to Ubisoft’s way, there are two editions of the book – a white version and a black version. The black version is the one included with the Animus Edition bundle, and does not include “Cartes Blanche” – a section that features Assassin’s Creed artwork by other professional artists or game fans. The only place to get the white version of the encyclopedia, which does include “Cartes Blanche”  is through UbiWorkShop, where it is available for pre-order, with a list price of $34.95USD.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJO52dAsQ5w]

Here, according to the Assassin’s Creed wiki, are all of the editions to be available, but the Ultimate Edition Bundle isn’t (as of this writing) even listed on the GameStop.ca site, and neither is the Collector’s Edition. In all honesty, the way Ubisoft has these editions broken down really doesn’t make a lot of sense, but many things the developer/publisher does don’t always make a lot of sense, so I suppose having these multiple editions shouldn’t either.

Special Edition

  • A copy of the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Game
  • Game soundtrack
  • Two multiplayer characters (The Crusader and the Ottoman Doctor)
  • Turkish Assassin Armour

Signature Edition – This edition can only be obtained by pre-ordering Assassin’s Creed: Revelations from Gamestop.

  • A copy of the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Game
  • Bonus single player map, Vlad the Impaler’s Prison
  • Weapon capacity upgrades – possibly the same ones listed in the Animus Edition?
  • A multiplayer character, The Ottoman Jester
  • A DVD of the Assassin’s Creed: Embers short animated movie
  • Game soundtrack

Ultimate Bundle Edition – this edition can only be obtained from Gamestop.

  • Signature Edition of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
  • Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood da Vinci’s Flying Machine replica
  • Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 7-inch Ezio Collectable

Collector’s Edition

  • A copy of the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Game
  • Collectable casing
  • 50-page artbook
  • A DVD of the animated short film Assassin’s Creed: Embers
  • Original soundtrack
  • Bonus single player map, Vlad the Impaler’s Prison
  • Two multiplayer characters (The Crusader and The Ottoman Jester)

Templar Collector Edition– only available from OpenGames Italia.

  • A copy of the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Game
  • Collectable casing
  • 50-page artbook
  • A DVD of the animated short film Assassin’s Creed: Embers
  • Original soundtrack
  • Bonus single player map, Vlad the Impaler’s Prison
  • Two multiplayer characters (The Crusader and the Ottoman Jester)
  • 8.5″ Statue/Figurine of Ezio Auditore

Animus Edition – available only in Europe and Australia

  • A copy of the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Game
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Encyclopedia
  • A DVD of the animated short film Assassin’s Creed: Embers
  • Game soundtrack
  • Bonus single player map, Vlad the Impaler’s Prison
  • Two multiplayer characters (The Crusader and The Ottoman Jester)
  • The Armor of Brutus outfit from AC: Brotherhood
  • Capacity upgrades for the Pistol, Hand-held bombs, and Crossbow
  • One exclusive customization item
  • ‘Ezio in Altaïr’s outfit’ multiplayer skin. (Only when pre-ordered at certain stores.)
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2nd September 2011

Cackleberries For Kids

Cackleberries, the latest online virtual world introducing children to the future of education is now open for familes to explore. This living community, full of fun learning and adventure, is the brainchild of entrepreneur Eronne Foster, a passionate mother cared so much about the future of children’s education and the promotion of a safe online environment to learn in that she assembled a team of educationalists, British Columbia’s finest animators and game developers to develop an imaginative world rich in learning and packed with entertainment.

“Information technology provides us with opportunities to make learning material more visual, interactive, and accessible,” Eronne says. “We encourage children to learn through creativity, playful thinking, social integration and computer skills. Cackleberries is designed to allow young children between the ages of 3 and 7 to play and learn. It’s not just about reading and math, but embodies life skills, social practices and cultural integration.”

Cackleberries, named after an Australian word for “egg,” reside in a live, ever changing, exciting virtual world. Aside from the wondrous characters and structures illustrated by Vancouver artist Ken Rolston, many unique features contribute to this learning environment.

“We have strived to make the learning seamless” says Eronne, “in the reading skills component, for example, it is the word bar that helps children learn. It brings together both visual and audio cues. Multimedia learning is enhanced with this combination of visual and auditory stimuli, and the beauty is that children are fast tracked into learning outcomes without even realizing they are learning. ”Eronne Foster

A highlight of Cackleberries experience is the safety aspect. Using Adobe AIR, developers of Cackleberries are able to build and deploy rich web applications and content directly to the desktop. They have developed a proprietary “Cackleberries Desktop Safety Icon.” The safety icon takes your child into the online world of Cackleberries with no access to the wider internet and no one on the internet has access to your children. The wondrous characters children interact with are carefully crafted computer generated avatars that deliver the fun and education.

“While many parents have recognized the advantage of online supplemented early education, there is nevertheless a fear of allowing children unrestricted access to the internet,” says Eronne. “At Cackleberries we are passionate about providing the safest online environment for your children to play, explore, and learn in. We take early childhood education and online safety very seriously, and consult with some of the top experts.”

“It’s important that parents are able to engage and help direct their children’s play and learning outcomes,” continued Eronne. “We are building a growing resource centre with current information on parenting, early childhood education and child safety. To this end the Cackleberries team has developed Club C for grownups. Club C is for anyone who has a child in their life – parents, grandparents, educators and caregivers.”

In Cackleberries world children develop their own avatars, which are engagingly interactive and kick start the child’s creativity. Children participate in a growing, living world, with houses, streets and communities that evolve around them. The creators imagined a place for children where everyone is accepted, differences are never feared and innocence still exists.

“We are always developing exciting new learning delivery methods which encompass a wide skill set,” enthuses Eronne.  “As borders open between nations, ethnic diversity has become part of the mosaic of life. Cackleberries teaches acceptance, understanding and caring; and shows our young audience how to celebrate, not fear differences.”

 

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2nd September 2011

Stylish Girl Now On Android

After experiencing the great success with their two iPhone apps “Stylish Girl” and “Cool Guy” (more than one million downloads and over 100000 active users worldwide), the Toronto based DDN Media team has decided to expand their fan club by inviting Android users in it. They gave advantage? to the girls first and developed stylish girl“Stylish Girl” for Android so that they could feel as stylish as their iPhone friends.

Stylish Girl is a multifunctional fashion app focusing on three major fashion elements:

1. users’ virtual closets where they can create numerous outfits

2. Shopping by allowing users to combine items from the online fashion stores with their own and shop from their phone directly

3. fashion news on style and tips from professional stylist The social element anchors the fun by the allowing users to post links and pictures of items and outfits with comments to twitter and Facebook

Stylish Girl was presented by Apple on New York Fashion Week as a successful symbiosis of mobile technology and fashion and later included in their well-known campaign for the app store”There’s an app for that.”

“Our strength lies in the number of users. We love and them and respect their feedback always replying each of them. Many of those emails were surprisingly from Android who have seen the app at their iPhone friends and wondering if they would ever be able to use it on their android devices. The Android version was on our to do list for some time already but we have finally hired another developer and shortened the process getting the Android users closer to fashion style and shopping by making Stylish Girl inseparable part of their lives. And this is not the end of surprises. The soon coming app. upgrade includes a pop up shop and the version for guys is on the way as well,” says DDN Media co founder  Dubravko Naumov.

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1st September 2011

The Baconing is Now Released for All Platforms

Hothead GamesIndie game developer Hothead Games is very excited to announce that gamers can now eat up their tastiest action RPG, The Baconing on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PlayStation®Network, Windows-based PC, and Mac. This epic adventure of bacon goodness is available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 for 1200 Microsoft Points, and on PlayStation®Network, Steam, and the Mac App Store for $14.99.

Mike Inglehart, Producer on The Baconing commented: “This stand alone sci-fi adventure is our best game yet. If you like Hothead’s games, be prepared for plenty of our charm, humor and adventure. If you never played a DeathSpank game before, jump in with The Baconing – it’s very, very tasty and available for everyone, regardless of what system you want to play on.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F48fnGVMbg&hd=1]

In The Baconing, hero DeathSpank, oblivious of an ancient Thongolith myth, carelessly pulls on all six Thongs of Virtue at the same time, summoning an unspeakable self-evil, the AntiSpank. DeathSpank must bear the incredible heat and enter the Fires of Bacon to destroy five of the six thongs to vanquish the AntiSpank.

With an improved tactical combat system, players can defeat evil on their own or partner up with new side-kick, Bob from Marketing and other characters for local co-op play. Along the way, DeathSpank travels through sci-fi inspired worlds, meeting a hilarious cast of characters, and obtains new Weapons of Justice and suits of armor as he fights to return peace to his beloved Spanktopia.

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1st September 2011

Euroleague Basketball Represented In NBA Jam On Fire Edition

EA SportsElectronic Arts and Euroleague Basketball have announced a licensing partnership that makes the global interactive entertainment software company an official partner under the video gaming category. Under this agreement EA Sports will include Turkish Airlines Euroleague players in the upcoming release of the mythical arcade game NBA Jam: On Fire Edition.NBA Jam On Fire Edition

This is the first time that European clubs will be officially represented in the NBA JAM franchise, one of the most successful video games in sports history. All fans will be able to choose any of the four participating teams in the last Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four. Dimitris Diamantidis and Mike Batiste of Panathinaikos Athens, Lior Eliyahu and Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, Bo McCalebb and Ksistof Lavrinovic of Montepaschi Siena, Sergio Llull and Carlos Suarez of Real Madrid will be amongst the players representing the four Euroleague teams in the 2–on–2 basketball games.

Currently in development at EA Canada,  NBA JAM: On Fire Edition will change the way players play this iconic franchise. All your favorite moves, spins and dunks are still available but now includes a host of gameplay improvements.  NBA JAM: On Fire Edition brings you even more to this basketball arcade classic.  Enhanced gameplay, ground breaking artificial intelligence and exciting online features continue to bring countless hours of enjoyment to this over-the-top experience.  The game will be available via digital download.

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1st September 2011

Bearville Passes 20 Million Avatars

frima studioFrima Studio and Build-A-Bear-Workshop® have announced that Bearville.com™, the online virtual world extension of the Build-A-Bear Workshop brand, has surpassed 20 million avatars. Bearville™ is a premier virtual world experience for children, families and fans of the Build-A-Bear-Workshop brand. Co-developed and maintained with Frima Studio, Bearville is a free online virtual world and entertainment destination where Guests bring their furry friends to life, interact with other users, play games, take on virtual jobs, buy virtual items and explore.Bearville

Since its launch in 2007, Bearville has entertained millions of young fans and earned a spot as one of the top children’s virtual worlds. With exciting adventures, avatar customization and mini-games, Bearville has solidified Build-A-Bear Workshop as a leader in kids interactive entertainment. With the success of Bearville, the company continues to extend its brand from retail shops into e-commerce, online virtual worlds, mobile entertainment apps, and more.

“We’re extremely proud to reach the twenty million avatar milestone with Bearville and are thankful to all of our loyal fans who visit the virtual world each day,” commented Maxine Clark, Founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear-Workshop. “This achievement reinforces our commitment to provide a fun, interactive experience for our guests.”

“Frima Studio has been a critical partner for us in developing the online world on Bearville.com. From concept to twenty million Guests, Frima has been with us every step of the way,” noted Dave Finnegan, Chief Information Bear, Build-A-Bear-Workshop. “Their strategic partnership, creative thinking and technical expertise have been essential to the success of Bearville.”

“This has been an exciting project for us from the start and we’re honored to have been a trusted partner of Build-A-Bear-Workshop for almost five years now,” remarked Steve Couture, CEO, Frima Studio. “Bearville is one of our biggest projects here at Frima, an incredible family brand and a very forward thinking entertainment company.”

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1st September 2011

Big Blue Bubble Announces Five New Titles

Big Blue BubbleBig Blue Bubble Inc. has announced that the will be releasing 5 new titles across iOS and Android devices, PC, Mac and Facebook in the next business quarter. Not all titles will be available for all platforms, please see individual titles for details.

“We’re excited to see our next round of amazing original IP be released simultaneously and Burn The Rope Worldsacross multiple platforms.  The range of genres covered will further cement our standing as Canada’s top gaming company.” said Bryan Davis, Director of Business Development of Big Blue Bubble.

Burn The Rope: WORLDS, the sequel to one of Big Blue Bubble’s most successful games, brings totally new and unique gameplay mechanics combined with the well-known gameplay and visual style.  Burn The Rope: Worlds is a challenging game where players try to burn as much rope as possible in each level, but there’s a catch – naturally. The fire only burns upwards, leaving the player to tilt and turn the phone to keep the flame alive.

As the player progresses through the levels, he will encounter bugs crawling along the rope. Different bugs have different reactions to the flame. For example, burning the ant changes the color of the flame so rope of the same color can be burned, and burning the spider shoots out a web bridge so the player can access parts of the level Fling A Thingthat were inaccessible before. Burn The Rope Worlds will launch in September 2011 for iOS, Android, PC and Mac.

Fling a Thing is a simple game where you shoot your Thing in the air and collect all the bubbles.  The player advances onto the next level when all the bubbles are collected.  The player has a limited amount of shots and when they run out, the round ends.  The Thing is shot in the air by touching and pulling it back like a slingshot.

Once released it bounces around the screen collecting bubbles and power-ups. The goal is to collect as many bubbles as possible and beat your last high score. The player needs to pay attention to the Suckies’ Hunger Meter because when it’s empty they can head on over to the “Feeding Ground”. As the player taps the bubbles, the Suckie jumps up and collects them, filling their Hunger Meter. Fling a Thing will launch in September 2011 for iOS and Android devices, PC, Mac and Facebook.

Dark Incursion is a side scrolling hack and slash game that gives the player a full stereoscopic 3D experience. It takes place in an alternate reality in the late 1800’s, amidst an industrial revolution and a world war.  The Dark Incursionplayer is the character, Anya, who is one of the few who know about a secret military laboratory developing biological weaponry that could devastate the entire planet if it got out of control.

The player has a multitude of melee and ranged weapons at their disposal to eradicate the abominations from the city. Weapons and attributes are upgradable to best suit their play style. The deeper they get into the secret bunker the more advanced and powerful these monsters become. To top all of this off, the player must complete their mission before the government gives the order to send these bio-soldiers on to the battlefield where there will be no stopping them. With a vivid steam punk art style using new 3D technologies, the creatures will literally jump off the screen. Dark Incursion will be released in September 2011 for iOS and Android devices, and will be available for PC and Mac in October 2011.

Hamster CannonHamster Cannon is a physics-based puzzle game in which the player combines and launches various hamsters out of cannons to collect Golden Noms.  The player will select three different hamsters out of a possible eight – each with their own special skills.  The player will use angles and bouncing to navigate the levels with a myriad of different surfaces that can react differently depending on which Hamster is being used.

The points awarded for collecting Noms can be traded in the In-Game Store to unlock different upgrades. Hamsters are fired out of the cannon at a high velocity, and the player has the ability to adjust the angle of the cannon to maximize the special skills of each hamster. Hamster Cannon will be available for iOS and Android devices, PC and Mac in September 2011iOracle

iOracle is one of the most unique trivia games out there! It has players predicting actual real world events, in order to earn the admiration of their fickle followers, who come and go based on the accuracy of the player’s predictions.  The more questions they get right, the more followers they will earn. There will be new questions asked every day, with answers being supplied on the following day.

Players will have their own temple which they can decorate to attract different types of followers. Each follower type asks a different variety of questions – sports, movies, weather, etc. In-app purchasing will also be available to help players get past tougher questions, decorate their temple, or customize their avatar. This will all contribute to the players goal of accumulating more followers.  iOracle will launch in October 2011 for iOS and Android devices as well as Facebook.

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