Village Gamer

A dash of kitchen simulation, a smattering social elements and a heaping spoonful of Zombies is on the Fall 2011 menu over at Beeline Interactive Canada (formerly Capcom Mobile Canada). Play as a Zombie Chef and cook Zombie Food, prepare ingredients and put them in the stove or oven for just the right amount of time. A brand extension of Zombie Cafe, players of both games will be able to unlock unique content across both titles.

While Zombie Cookin’ is free to play, players can accelerate gameplay or acquire unique items by purchasing “Bones,” the game’s in app premium currency.

• Master more than 50 recipes
• Send your zombie hoard out to discover macabre, unusual and downright disgusting ingredients.
• 18 finger cleaving, brain scooping mini games.
• Decorate and increase the efficiency of your kitchen with better stoves, windows, floor coverings and more.

Rock Hippo Productions Ltd has announced that MicroVolts, the fast and furious MMO-TPS  is officially going live on June 9th, and since many players have already started their own clans, Rock Hippo decided it’s about time these clans received a home. The new Clan Hall is the place to create, manage, or join a clan and compete to see who’s best of the best in the MicroWorld. A new map is going to be revealed on June 9th, players can also look forward to a new character set, new weapons, and new costumes. A hint of what’s to come can be seen in the “Build Your Legend” trailer.

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The official release of MicroVolts will also mark the grand opening of the new online shop, where players will find exclusive weapons, parts, accessories, items and sets to help make their character truly unique. On Saturday, June 18th the “Free the Hippo” Tournament will take place, and the winners of this Free For All tournament will receive a ton of Micro Points and a Hippo-In-Style character set as prizes. Be sure to check the MicroVolts web site for tournament and in-game event updates.

“Not everyone will survive,” warned EA BioWare as they announced that the epic action RPG Mass Effect™ 3, will arrive at retailers worldwide beginning March 6, 2012. In Mass Effect 3, an ancient alien race known only as “Reapers”, has launched an all-out invasion of the galaxy, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction.

As Commander Shepard, players must lead the counter assault to take it back. Only Shepard can determine how events will play out, which planets will be saved from annihilation and which alliances will take form or be abandoned as the forces of the galaxy are rallied together to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all.

“With Mass Effect 3, we are delivering blockbuster action and heart-wrenching emotion on a scale that far exceeds anything we’ve ever done before,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series. “This is an all-out galactic war and how you choose to lead and play will ultimately determine how – and if – you can save the galaxy.”

BioWare also unveiled the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition, a special edition of the game featuring exclusive bonus content and unlockable items (conditions and restrictions apply), including in-game appearance packs, a Dark Horse Comic Book, a hardcover art book, an exclusive extended soundtrack, exclusive lithograph and an exclusive N7 patch. Designed to delight both new and seasoned fans, the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition also gives instant access to the N7 Arsenal Pack which features four tactical guns exclusive to this special edition. The Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition is available for pre-order now at participating retailers for $79.99 in limited quantities.

Mass Effect 3 and the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition will be available for the Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 and PC, with the Xbox 360 version Kinect™-enabled, allowing players to immerse themselves into the Mass Effect universe even further through new voice recognition technology. The Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition will be available in a digital format on the PC exclusively via Origin, EA’s new digital store destination.

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Gamers who purchase the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition on the PC via Origin will receive exclusive bonus content and unlockable items in digital format. This includes in-game appearance packs, a digital version of the Dark Horse Comic Book, a digital version of the art book, an exclusive extended soundtrack, a digital version of the exclusive lithograph and the N7 Arsenal Pack. The digital version of the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector’s Edition will not include the N7 patch.

Electronic Arts Inc. has announced its latest live service for FIFA Soccer 12 players with an internet connection. (You must accept EA’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service in order to play). called EA Sports™ Football Club that will bring the world’s most passionate sports fans together and engage them within the massive FIFA online community. EA Sports Football Club—the heartbeat of FIFA Soccer 12 —connects players to the real-world game with fresh, new content all the time, enabling them to support their favorite club in new ways connected to real-world events, and connect and compete with friends, rivals and millions of other players around the world.

“The millions of fans playing FIFA online have shown us there is a constant appetite for a deep connected experience, driven by a love of the sport,” said Matt Bilbey, Vice President and General Manager of Soccer for the FIFA Soccer franchise. “EA Sports Football Club is a new social experience that brings the world’s soccer fans together, engaging and entertaining them in new ways that have never been done before in a sports game.”

EA Sports Football Club creates a new social experience where fans can connect and compete with their friends and millions of other fans playing FIFA Soccer 12, where status, bragging rights and progression are all measured and ever-changing. For the first time ever, everything that happens within EA Sports FIFA Soccer 12—and against friends—is measured in a meaningful way. Every match matters, all season long. Earn experience points and level up to build your status. Track friends, challenges and status through the web. Share and compare accomplishments and spread the news on social channels like Facebook.

EA Sports Football Club also ignites the passion of sports fans and deepens their connection to their favourite team through Support Your Club, a central experience in EA Sports Football Club that enables fans to represent their club and compete against rival clubs in everything they do in FIFA Soccer 12. Earn club points and lift your club higher in the Support Your Club League Tables or help them avoid relegation. Virtual league tables are reset each week to create new challenges, renewed rivalries, and fresh story lines.

Fans will be more closely connected to the sport than ever before. Real-world story lines will drive content in EA Sports Football Club, making the game feel fresh and new all the time. Gamers will relive crucial real-world soccer events through regular challenges. EA Sports Football Club will have a dedicated team deliver new content and challenges so that FIFA Soccer 12 will look, feel and play like the real-world season.

There will be no additional charge for EA Sports Football Club as the service kicks off with FIFA Soccer 12 on the PlayStation®3, Xbox 360® and PC when the game launches this fall.

Ubisoft^® announced the joint development of Just Dance^® 3 by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Montreal. The third game in the multi-million selling Just Dance franchise, Just Dance 3 marks the debut of the Just Dance series on Kinect™ for Xbox 360^®and the PlayStation^®Move forPlayStation^®3, and the latest installment of the series on the Wii™ system from Nintendo. Developed by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Montreal, Just Dance 3 will be released worldwide on October 11.

“The Just Dance brand has truly become a worldwide phenomenon with over 30 million people playing Just Dance,” said Olivier Ernst, director of Ubisoft Canada. “Fans play Just Dance at parties with friends, at home with the family, and as part of an active lifestyle to stay fit or even lose weight. Ubisoft is excited to bring Just Dance 3 to all motion platforms and give even more people the opportunity to enjoy the fun.”

Featuring more than 40 tracks across a wide range of musical genres, including pop, hip-hop, rock, R&B, country, disco, funk, and more, Just Dance 3 introduces a number of new game features that take advantage of the unique mechanics of each console. To get the party started, Just Dance 3 includes some of today’s hottest hits as well as classic dance tracks that everyone loves.

Confirmed tracks for Just Dance 3 include:

• 2 Unlimited – “No Limit”
• Black Eyed Peas – “Pump It”
• Duck Sauce – “Barbra Streisand”
• Groove Century – “Boogie Wonderland”
• Gwen Stefani – “What You Waiting For”
• Katy Perry – “California Gurls”
• Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”
• Laura Bell Bundy – “Giddy On Up (Giddy On Out)”
• LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock – “Party Rock Anthem”
• MIKA – “Lollipop”
• Taio Cruz – “Dynamite”

In addition to this exciting tracklist, Just Dance 3 introduces exclusive new game features on all three motion-control platforms, such as four-player choreographies and dynamic environments on Wii and the new “Shout Out!” feature on Kinect, which allows players to score extra points by belting out their favorite song verse. This, combined with the entertaining and unique choreography developed by professional dancers, will provide players with the fun and accessible challenges they are looking for and ensuring that Just Dance 3 will get the world dancing.

Ubisoft^® has  announced the development of Far Cry 3^®, marking the return of the highly-acclaimed video game franchise. Development on Far Cry 3 is led by Ubisoft Montréal with the support of Ubisoft Shanghai and Massive Entertainment. Far Cry 3 will be available for the Xbox 360^®, the Sony^® PlayStation^®3 and Windows^® PC in 2012.

With Far Cry 3, players step into the shoes of Jason Brody, a man alone at the edge of the world, stranded on a mysterious tropical island. In this savage paradise where lawlessness and violence are the only sure thing, players dictate how the story unfolds, from the battles they choose to fight to the allies or enemies they make along the way. As Jason Brody, players will slash, sneak, detonate and shoot their way across the island in a world that has lost all sense of right and wrong.

“Far Cry 3 brings something new and unexpected, while still building upon the foundations of excellence that are inherent to the Far Cry brand,” said Dan Hay, producer at Ubisoft Montréal. “Whether you’re already a fan of the Far Cry series or jumping into the franchise for the very first time, you’re going to be blown away by the gritty story and epic adventure we’re going to deliver.”

XMG’s Style Studio has hit its one millionth design milestone. Since its release in May of 2010, Style Studio has remained the only app that allows you to create, customize and share your own original fashion designs. A player can choose between colours, prints and styles, and superimpose them onto one of many articles of clothing. If there’s something they want to change, the designer also has the option of making alterations. For anyone hoping to bring style into their life in a fun, portable way, the app is perfect. Now, less than one year after its launch, more than 1 million items have been designed in Style Studio.

“Style Studio has the most extensive customization engine for clothing design ever seen on the iPhone” said Ray Sharma, Founder of XMG Studio. “While there are a few apps out there that allow you to apply colors to pre-set clothing items and mix and match them, Style Studio is the first app that actually allows the designer to choose different materials, make alterations, customize prints and apply add-ons or decorative elements to each piece of clothing.”

Style Studio is available in the iTunes app store for $2.99 for any Apple mobile device running OS 3.0 or higher.

Toronto’s Uken Games has released Crime, Inc. HD to the iTunes App Store. This free to play game of crime and corruption is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 3.2 or later. Players of this game will be tasked with building their crime crew, equipping minions with custom weapons and sending them on special assignments designed to fund your crime syndicate.

The goal is to build up your family and destroy your rivals in epic battles as you take down each crime boss one fight at a time, winning bounty to become the ruler of the seedy underside of society. In-game purchases will also help you build your kingdom of crime when you bribe and pay-off others to gain respect. As this game plays in real time, an online connection is required to play the game, which is rated 9+ for the infrequent use of mild realistic violence, and those players with an iPad can play in full screen HD.

Other titles by Uken include Villains, Forces of War,  Dark Galaxy, Age of Legends and TowerUp! Plus.

PROTOTYPE 2 from Radical Entertainment for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC takes the unsurpassed carnage of the original PROTOTYPE and continues the experience of becoming the ultimate shape-shifting weapon. As the game’s all-new infected protagonist Sgt. James Heller, players will cut a bloody swath through the wastelands of post-viral New York Zero (NYZ) as they build up a genetic arsenal of deadly biological weapons and abilities, and hunt and consume their way toward the ultimate goal…to kill Alex Mercer.  PROTOTYPE 2 is not yet rated by the ESRB, but will most likely receive an M rating.

Spider-Man™: Edge of Time – Playing the roles of Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man: Edge of Time propels gamers on a high-octane, adrenaline-fueled adventure in which the two versions of the heroic web-slinger must urgently work together across time to save each other and prevent a disaster that ultimately leads to the death of Amazing Spider-Man. Against the backdrop of a rich, tightly crafted narrative by acclaimed Marvel veteran Peter David, the game features two individual timelines evolving in parallel and narrative-driven “cause-and-effect” moments, uniquely utilizing “picture-in-picture” moments where the actions of one Spider-Man have immediate effects on the other Spider-Man and his surroundings. The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo 3DS versions are in development at Beenox Studios, while Other Ocean is developing the Nintendo DS version. Spider-Man: Edge of Time has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

X-Men™ Destiny will let players control the fate of one of three brand-new mutant characters forced to choose between saving humanity or ensuring its destruction.   The game allows players to customize the path, powers and development of their character and to decide their role in the mutant cause alongside, or against, some of Marvel’s greatest X-Men franchise characters.  Gamers will evolve their mutant skills through a unique upgrade system that allows them to choose how they will mix and match the powers from their favorite X-Men and Brotherhood characters, then engage in fast and furious combat against a variety of opponents bent on defending their beliefs.  X-Men Destiny is being developed by Silicon Knights for Xbox 360™, PlayStation®3  and Wii, while Other Ocean is developing the Nintendo DS™ version. This title has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Hothead Games has made an exclusive Canadian launch of its latest iPhone title Kard Combat, and the developer is asking for your feedback before the game goes to a global release. Available as a free download, Kard Combat is Open Feint enabled, and offers In-App purchases to expand the game’s play as well as a multi-player mode.

According the game’s official site, The Kard is an elite order of wealthy magi. Collectively, they use their immense power to rule over the Forbidden Kingdom from the Black Tower. However, every thousand years there is a shift and they each vie for control of the Tower in a battle of cards and magic.

Players can choose from either a quick duel or a full campaign in Tower Mode. In Tower Mode, each battle takes place on a successive floor of the Black Tower. It is the player’s goal to ascend the Tower floor by floor, ultimately defeating Master Mage Harkus. Only in his defeat can players realize their destiny and determine the fate of the people for the next millennium.

Tower Mode battles often have unique win conditions and special Kards in play that can drastically alter the strategy that players need to employ to defeat their opponent. The deck is made up of over 100 hand-crafted cards and there are four mage-types, each with their own special powers, from which to choose.

According to the game’s site, Kard Combat has a lot of the depth of a collectable card game but without the massive time and money investments that they typically require. At its heart, Kard Combat is a strategy game where players learn how to use the Kards they are dealt at the beginning of a duel most effectively.

It’s much more of a game of skill than chance, though. Players will often be able to choose their reward for winning a battle in Tower Mode, including Kards that will then become part of their deck. While not a traditional CCG, there is collection involved. Each mage has their own set of unique Kards for you to collect as you fight your way up each floor of the Tower. These unique Kards open up very different strategies to the player.

Check out the game’s site where you can learn more about Kard Kombat and look at more of the game’s awesome artwork. Kard Kombat is rated 12+ for the following:

• Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
• Frequent/Intense Horror/Fear Themes
• Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.