Village Gamer

Gormley – Digital Leisure Inc. a leading developer and publisher of interactive video-based titles and console games, announced today the launch of Sudoku 100,000,000 on the AppStore, designed exclusively for your iPhone and iPod Touch.

With over 100,000,000 Sudoku puzzles, you’ll never see the same puzzle twice in Sudoku 100,000,000. You can select the classic nine-by-nine Sukodu gameboards as well as Grand Sudoku, which challenges you to complete five intersecting Sudoku boards simultaneously! Just a beginner? Don’t worry – With three difficulty options, even the most novice player can complete a Sudoku with ease. But if you’re a seasoned pro, challenge yourself in ‘Expert’ mode and test your true skills. It’s time to get your thinking cap on and see how many Sudoku puzzles you can conquer!

Sudoku 100,000,000…the last Sudoku app you’ll ever have to buy is now available for only $1.99 usd on the AppStore.

Digital Leisure plans to follow up Sudoku 100,000,000 with classic arcade shooter Mad Dog McCree and other iPhone and iPod Touch titles in the coming months.

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 – The BIGS™ 2, developed by Blue Castle Games and published by 2K Sports, is now available in retail stores. This sequel to The BIGS features MLB® All-Star first baseman, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, as the cover athlete and spokesman for The BIGS 2. Fans now have the thrilling opportunity to enjoy bigger power-ups, amazing visual effects, and legendary game modes that elevate the arcade-style baseball experience to new heights like never before.

In addition to new player animations and improved pick-up-and-play controls, The BIGS 2 offers fans the ability to make more strategic decisions with the added Batter’s Wheelhouse, execute new Legendary Catches, and pull off amazing Big Slams. Exciting new game modes have also been added this season, including Become a Legend and the heavily fan requested, Season mode. Become a Legend picks up the story from the end of the Rookie Challenge mode from The BIGS, as gamers take on the role of a player that suffered a career threatening injury and is challenged to regain his Major League career by fighting his way back at the Mexican league to the Majors. Along the way, players compete in boss battles against MLB legends and steal players from other teams, eventually earning enough votes to get into the Hall of Fame. The BIGS 2 also features a brand new Season mode that offers full MLB team schedules, stat tracking and roster management that adds another layer of depth to the already addictive baseball experience.
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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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Title: Sky Babes vs Fly Boys
Developer: A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games
Release Date: March 2009
Platform: iPhone and iTouch
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Price: $ 0.99 USD

Sky Babes vs Fly Boys is a game of speed and strategy – you play as a freight pilot, and you need to outlast your competition by not going bankrupt. This is no small feat, as the AI in Sky Babes vs Fly Boys is rather intelligent – and fast. With the price of fuel constantly rising as play progresses, it becomes pertinent to make the best routing decisions and getting to the pick up locations before the other pilots.

Starting off in North America, players choose from four characters with distinctly different personalities – Baroness von Kargohaulin, Cassie Nova, Ace Boomer or The Duke. As delivery orders come available, cities pop up on the map, a white dotted line showing the cargo destination. It is very important to pay attention to each city that pops up, as you can earn more money and use less fuel by combining cargo deliveries. To select a cargo pick up location, all you need to do is tap the city’s icon followed by the drop-off point. To re-route your plane for a secondary cargo pick up, simply tap the second city’s icon. Cargo values are indicated by the number icon. For example, a cargo marker labeled “1” is worth $100.00 while a marker of “5” is worth $500.00. Diamond-shaped icons under your character’s name indicates how many cargo shipments you can carry on your plane, and if those spots are empty or filled. Read the rest of this entry »

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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Toronto – Wicked Interactive, a leading North American MMO publisher, today announced that it will launch a series of summer events for Yedang Online’s popular free to play MMORPG Priston Tale.

The Summer Events will consist of seven unique events during the month of July. Each of the events will begin on each Tuesday in July and will last for two weeks each. Priston Tale players will also receive increased experience rates throughout the month of July.

“We are excited to launch the Priston Tale Summer Events,” said Garvin Yeung, CEO of Wicked Interactive. “We hope that our players will enjoy and take advantage of the free fireworks and other great events we have lined up while they enjoy their summer playing Priston Tale.”

Event #1: Free Fireworks
The Summer Events will kick off by lighting up the night skies with free fireworks for all players of Priston Tale beginning July 1st to celebrate Canada Day, Independence Day in the U.S. and the beginning of summer.
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Montreal – It’s time for gamers around the world to embark on an all-new incredible adventure with their favorite sub-zero heroes in Ice Age™: Dawn of the Dinosaurs from Activision Publishing Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing). Based on the highly anticipated 3-D animated feature from Twentieth Century Fox, which debuts worldwide on July 1, the game allows players to command their favorite movie characters, including Sid, Manny, Diego, Scrat and the relentless one-eyed Dino hunting weasel, Buck, and venture into a mysterious underground world of dinosaurs, while solving puzzles and platforming through more than 15 exciting levels. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was developed for the console and PC platforms by Eurocom and for Nintendo DS by Artificial Mind & Movement.

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs allows kids to play as some of their favorite movie characters on their own, or, for the first time in the series, with their family and friends in multiplayer mini-games,” said Rob Kostich, head of marketing for licensed properties, Activision Publishing, Inc. “Family game night will take on a whole new meaning as you compete in hilarious challenges like Sloth Throw, Dino Targets and Sloth Chase using your Wii Remote™ or gamepad.”

“The Ice Age franchise is so successful because the characters are extremely engaging and the story is fantastic – two elements that are perfect for a video game,” said Gary Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President of New Media for Fox Licensing. “This game is fun for the entire family and will provide hours of entertainment.”
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