Village Gamer

Waterloo – Majesco Entertainment Company, an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, has announced Flip’s Twisted World exclusively for Wii™. This unique puzzle platformer places the world literally in the palm of players’ hands as they navigate topsy-turvy worlds where up and down, and left and right are only a matter of perspective. Developed by Frozen North Productions, Flip’s Twisted World is expected to launch in January 2010.

“Flip’s Twisted World offers a truly innovative take on the traditional platform game by sidestepping conventional design in favor of a three-dimensional, perspective-altering approach,” said Gui Karyo, Executive Vice President of Operations for Majesco. “With a charismatic main character, fantastic puzzle landscapes and a unique gameplay mechanic, Flip’s gives platform game fans something to look forward to in the new year.”
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Official Website: Chains
Format: PC
Genre: Action

One of the first things I noticed about Chains is that there was no tutorial; that’s fine, I could probably figure this out. When the first level, Trident, loads there is a clear message on the screen “Clear 100”. After a moment the level loads and the balls begin to fill in the empty spaces. I sat and watched them fill it, waiting for some kind of direction as to exactly how to clear these multi-coloured balls that had filled in the level and after a short time a box came up and with instructions. This was going to be a lot of fun, no more mind numbing word games, just a brightly coloured and interesting version of connect the dots!

On to the next level! Clear 200 without losing any, and the balls start falling down into this little trapped area with a gate held closed by a counterweight. This was the first time I actually lost a level; sad probably since the first went by so well. My second biggest complaint with the game was that the helpful hints would take enough time to read that by the time I was back to the game the number of balls piled up caused me to fail the level. This happened a couple times before I learned that the game auto pauses when it loses focus. Awesome idea, I really liked this. Now when the hints would come up I would alt tab to some other program and move it out of the way so that I could take my time to read over the hints.
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Montreal – Interactive entertainment company Ludia Inc. today announced that its premiere game, The Price Is Right, has sold one million units across multiple platforms since its launch in March 2008. Based on information from retail and digital distribution channels, a Price Is Right game has been purchased on average almost every thirty seconds since its release online, in retail and on the Apple App Store.

“We are very proud that The Price Is Right game has given so many players countless hours of enjoyment on the platform of their choice, said Alex Thabet, Founder and CEO of Ludia Inc. “The strong sales of this game show title in retail and digital channels proves that our multiplatform strategy can result in tremendous reach and ongoing sales potential.”

“After more than 37 years, The Price Is Right remains a highly successful television game show with phenomenal longevity,” said David Luner, Senior Vice President, Interactive & Consumer Products, FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), North America, the program’s licensor. “Ludia’s The Price Is Right game hitting this impressive milestone is very exciting to see, and is a strong affirmation that the brand continues to resonate in new ways with fans of all ages.”
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Vancouver – THQ Inc. today announced Warhammer® 40,000™: Space Marine®, from renowned internal studio Relic® Entertainment, will bring Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 science fiction universe to life on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system for the first time. The Action-RPG title will put players in control of individual units throughout a narrative-driven story campaign and in wide-scale online battles. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine will be unveiled at E3 2009 in THQ’s booth – number 5300 in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“The Warhammer 40,000 universe has a huge global following and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine will bring that world to life on the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 systems for the first time ever,” said Kevin Kraff, vice president, global brand management, THQ Inc. “Relic Entertainment is leveraging years of experience developing games within the universe to create an Action-RPG experience unlike anything seen before.”
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Vancouver – IUGO Mobile Entertainment is proud to release their newest Freeballin’ update – a new pinball table based on their ToyBots franchise. The table features artwork from ToyBots, and brings the number of table maps up to five.

I’ve been playing Freeballin’ since its release, and the game is truly fun to play. Each of the levels features highly detailed artwork and in-level missions to achieve. Each of these missions involves getting the ball to go where needed and hit specific targets, such as crushing cars. All of the level maps vary in setting from an inner-city locale to tropical jungles and a colourful dreamscape table. In true game play fashion, there are boss battles to win and high scores to make higher. The audio track for this game is energetic and fits each table perfectly. The only problem I’ve had with the game at all is sometimes pressing the screen a little hard for flipper control, and I keep waiting for the “TILT” message to light up.
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Gormley – For the first time ever, you can experience Don Bluth’s classic arcade game Space Ace, the follow up to the revolutionary Dragon’s Lair on your iPhone or iPod Touch, developed by Digital Leisure

This release of Don Bluth’s legendary animated arcade game features video transferred directly from the stunning high definition master, delivering the sharpest images and most vibrant colors ever – even far better than the original laserdisc release!

In Space Ace you play the heroic Ace who must stop the evil Commander Borf from taking over the Earth! Borf plans to reduce all of humankind to infants and take over the planet. Only two people have the courage and strength to stop Borf and save Earth: the beautiful Kimberly and the heroic Ace. But as they approach Borf’s stronghold, Ace is hit by the Infanto Ray, changing him into a child, and Kimberly is kidnapped by the evil madman! Armed with only a laser gun, Ace must find and destroy the Infanto Ray, rescue Kimberly and save the Earth!

The fate of Earth is in your hands! Read the rest of this entry »

Montreal – Today Ubisoft® announced that it is collaborating again with Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White in Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage. Developed by Ubisoft Montréal, the game will be available exclusively for the Wii™ system from Nintendo and will be on store shelves for the holiday season in 2009.

“Working with Shaun on the first title was an excellent experience,” said Antoine Guignard, producer of Shaun White Snowboarding : World Stage at Ubisoft. “The great public reception of Shaun White Snowboarding and the wonderful collaboration with Shaun made it a slam dunk for us to reunite to create a fun, new adventure for fans.”

Players will hit the slopes with Shaun White and his crew, but this time the stakes are higher as you pursue the world’s top competitions from a half-pipe in the middle of New York’s Time Square to the most prestigious competitions of France, Canada and Japan.

“Ubisoft has been a great partner, and I’m excited for World Stage,” said action sports phenom Shaun White. “It’s cool to give people insight on what my life is like on the competition circuit.”
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Vancouver – Live to tell the tale of becoming a notorious pirate captain or suffer a fate of eternal damnation. Disney Interactive Studios today announced the development of Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, an epic, action role-playing game (RPG) from Propaganda Games, Disney’s video game development studio here in Vancouver.

Armada of the Damned is an entirely new experience within the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. The game takes place before the events of the blockbuster films. Players will take on the role of a pirate and embark on epic land and sea adventures. Numerous moral and character choices will need to be made that affect their character and the original story within the world. Players will explore a massive open world while fighting enemies, mystical creatures and Mother Nature, both to gain experience and stay alive. Supernatural elements familiar to the Pirates of the Caribbean world will also affect their character’s story and influence their choices.

“Armada of the Damned is a dynamic action role-playing game that captures all of the franchise’s excitement, unpredictability and action while delving into narrative elements never before explored within this unique universe,” said Dan Tudge, vice president and general manager, Propaganda Games. “Our team’s collective experience with industry-leading RPGs and action titles provides a strong foundation for us to create and build a compelling action role-playing title.”
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Montreal – Meridian4 and White Birds Productions are thrilled to announce that they have signed a global digital publishing agreement for their critically-acclaimed adventure title; Nikopol. After re-acquiring the rights for Nikopol from Got Game Entertainment, White Birds are excited to re-introduce the title to a new and larger audience with Canadian publisher Meridian4.

“We are very happy to work with Meridian4 on the digital distribution of Nikopol. Not only does Meridian4 have an excellent access to all major distributors, but they also have a real marketing and editorial approach, bringing a lot of added value to the title. We hope that this first partnership will be followed by new ones soon” said Michel Bams, co-founder and VP Marketing at White Birds Productions.

“Meridian4 is excited to be working with White Birds on their latest Adventure game; Nikopol. We have spoken to them many times and have always been impressed by their vision and their quality titles. We are delighted that this opportunity arose for us to work together.” said Andy Sher, CEO at Meridian4. “Nikopol is a compelling adventure title that will grip players from the outset and won’t let go till the very end.”

Toronto – DreamCatcher Games and JoWood Productions announce that a sequel to the successful SpellForce saga will be released this winter. SpellForce 2 – Faith in Destiny for the PC combines real time strategy with exciting role-play elements. Be part of the story, when all the loose ends tie up in a grandiose showdown between good and evil. Only you can conquer the shadows of the past and reveal the demonic conspiracy.

“Developing another game in the SpellForce saga is an exciting opportunity for us. Faith of Destiny is developed incorporating feedback from the community and feedback from those who have assisted in the development of previous Spellforce games,” says Clemens Schneidhofer, PR Coordinator at JoWooD Productions. “I’d like to add that we bow before the loyal fans of the brand and want to thank all of them for their amazing support.”

“SpellForce 2 – Faith in Destiny will continue the successful Spellforce brand,” adds David Skreiner, Associate Producer at JoWooD. “With its brand new multiplayer features and the countless detail improvements, SpellForce will, once more, set new revolutionary impulses to the genre.”