Village Gamer

Montreal – Meridian4 and Frogames have been hard at work tweaking Penguins Arena, their action-packed, non-stop battle for survival – FPS (First Penguin Shooter) and have fixed a few things and added others.

The update to Penguins Arena: Sedna’s World has been released and is available through normal digital distribution channels. The specific changes include:

• Added “Custom maps” game mode, which allow players to play maps created with PAME (Penguins Arena Map Editor)
• Added 4 new custom maps created by fans (Thanks!)
• Fixed case of penguins falling into the water but are still alive (The ‘Tread Water’ bug)
• Fixed some achievements not being able to be unlocked
• Fixed crash when a player tries to join a full server
• Fixed not being able to bind the ‘E’ key
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EA SPORTS Downloadable Title Prioritizes Accessible Fun with Low Cost of Entry

Burnaby – Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that 3 on 3 NHL® Arcade – an all-new downloadable experience from EA SPORTS Freestyle™ – is now available worldwide on the PlayStation®Network for $9.99. The game will be available on XBOX Live Arcade, for 800 MS Points, on February 11, 2009. Developed at EA Canada by the team that produced the critically acclaimed NHL 09, winner of 10 Sports Videogame of the Year Awards, 3 on 3 NHL Arcade is a no rules, fast paced, hockey experience that gamers of all types can enjoy.

From the exaggerated player-looks of 40 of the NHL’s top stars to game changing power-ups, 3 on 3 NHL Arcade is a light-hearted hockey game that appeals to everyone. With no rules to hinder the action, you can deliver devastating checks that send your opponent over the boards, or check the goalie if he skates out of the crease to play the puck. Feel like you need to turn the tide? Grab one of eight power-ups to change the momentum of a game and fly down the ice with a super-speed skater to beat a mini-goalie with a trick move for that highlight reel finish.
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Edmonton – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced that the release of Dragon Age™: Origins on PC has been rescheduled to the last half of 2009 from the previously announced early 2009 release date, coinciding with the release of the console versions of Dragon Age: Origins.

“Dragon Age: Origins is shaping up to be quite amazing in its level of quality and polish,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA. “I’m really proud of our team, who are working very hard to make Dragon Age: Origins the biggest and most exciting BioWare game yet, and we will work to ensure it not only meets, but exceeds the expectations of our loyal audience of fans.”

Dragon Age: Origins is the spiritual successor to BioWare’s critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate™, featuring deep character customization and roleplaying, morally challenging decisions, tactical party-based combat, and a wealth of gritty, mature sub-plots that together make it one of the most highly-anticipated PC and console releases of 2009.

Vancouver – PowerUp announces a major update to the NOMBZ: Night of a Million Billion Zombies ONLINE public beta release!

The update includes numerous bug fixes, performance optimizations, and feature refinements, much of which is in response to player feedback received during the first two weeks of our public beta. Also included in this update are several new levels for both the single and multiplayer game modes, along with two new environments.

NOMBZ ONLINE continues to evolve in response to player feedback, as PowerUp pursues its goal of making NOMBZ ONLINE the best free 3D browser-based zombie game on the web!

Vancouver – Black Box, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio announced today that the highly-anticipated Skate 2 has shipped to retailers worldwide. Skate 2 ups the ante in delivering all the grit, creativity and culture of skateboarding with all-new tricks that allow players to truly skate it their way – on and off the board.

“Skate 2 is the perfect next chapter for the Skate franchise,” said Executive Producer, Scott Blackwood. “We expanded and deepened our original ideas and incorporated feedback straight from our passionate fans. With all new features, more challenges and a rich world, the game continues to celebrate skateboarding, while still innovating the genre in an unparalleled way.”
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Vancouver – Relic Entertainment’s newest RTS title, Dawn of War 2, is now available for pre-purchase on Steam for $49.99 USD. But wait, there’s more! Gamers who already own Dawn of War: Soulstorm (either a retail or digital download version) can enter into an early access beta. If gamers don’t already own Soulstorm but want to get in on the early beta, Steam is offering the expansion pack for 75% off of the retail price. The beta will open to everyone on January 28. Gamers can play on five unique multi-player maps, and it will be available for download free of charge via Steam.

Tyranid Ambush

Early reports from Village Gamer’s own rabid Dawn of War staffer include several expressions of approval, however many of the descriptive words he utilized can’t be repeated here. He did emerge from the beta long enough to say that the new GUI is great, along with several game mechanics which have been carried over from Company of Heroes, another Relic title. He likes the new squad tactics and objectives which require more strategical thought and planning on the part of the gamer – he followed this with an ominously Orkish sounding “if you want to beat the enemy, you have to be the enemy.”

Mike also reports that the voice-acting and audio quality are top-notch, with some great character writing and one-liners. So far, his favourite in-game expression has something to do
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THQ and Relic Entertainment to Deliver Innovative Tactical Gameplay and Stunning Cinematic Visuals in Highly Anticipated Sequel

Vancouver – THQ Inc. today announced that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, developed by the award-winning Real-time strategy (RTS) developer, Relic Entertainment, has reached the gold master stage of development and is now entering manufacturing. Set in the grim, war-ravaged world of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 science fiction universe, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II delivers visceral combat, stunning visuals, and destructible environments throughout a non-linear single-player experience as well as a fully cooperative multiplayer campaign via Microsoft’s free Games for Windows – LIVE service. Developed exclusively for Windows PC and powered by an enhanced version of Relic’s proprietary Essence Engine 2.0, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is scheduled to be on store shelves at retail outlets nationwide on February 19, 2009.

“Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II will build on the critical acclaim and commercial success of the Dawn of War franchise, letting players experience RTS gaming like never before,” said Kevin Kraff, vice president of global brand management, THQ. “Combining non-linear gameplay, cooperative multiplayer, cinematic visuals, and destructible battlefields brings a new, innovative dynamic to the genre.”
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Canada’s leading On-Demand eCommerce provider builds streamlined shopping cart checkout for online shoppers into SaaS platform

Toronto – OrderDynamics Corporation, a Canadian On-Demand eCommerce solution provider, is pleased to announce continued enhancements to its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform in order to solve the real business challenges of online merchants.

OrderDynamics Customers have another powerful eCommerce Shopping Cart feature to streamline the checkout process for their shoppers. Shopping cart abandonment occurs when shoppers leave the checkout process before completing the sale. With the click of a button, online merchants can include shipping options onto the same web form, and remove the final confirmation page, unlocking a single-page checkout while still maintaining brand flexibility, design control, and a standards-based layout.
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Canadian software publisher ParetoLogic is pleased to announce newest utility software, ParetoLogic DriverCure. This is the 11th product in the ParetoLogic product lineup which includes popular applications such as RegCure Registry Cleaner, XoftSpySE Anti-Spyware, and the award winning free PGsurfer parental controls program

Victoria BC – Recently named one of Profit Magazine’s “Hot 50”, Canadian software publisher, ParetoLogic, is the creator of the ever-popular registry cleaner RegCure and anticipates a similar level of success with its newest product, ParetoLogic DriverCure. Designed to alleviate the common problem of diagnosing outdated hardware drivers and software applications, DriverCure promises to quickly identify all the drivers and software programs on board a given computer system, indicating available updates and facilitating the download of said updates. The software features an impressive database of vendors, ensuring that even the lesser known brands of hardware (bios/motherboard, hard disk controller, network devices, CD/DVD/, ), input devices (keyboard, mouse) , and peripherals (digital camera, printer/plotter/multi-office, scanner, game controller) can be detected and updated. Read the rest of this entry »

StyleTap releases the first public preview version of StyleTap Platform for Symbian OS, which allows more than 30,000 existing mobile applications to run on the more than 150 million Symbian smartphones that have been shipped. StyleTap-compatible applications can now run on millions more devices than applications for any other mobile platform

Toronto – StyleTap Inc. today announced the release of StyleTap Platform for Symbian OS™, which allows over 30,000 existing mobile applications to run on current and future smartphones from Symbian vendors including Nokia, Samsung and Sony-Ericsson.

StyleTap Platform for Symbian OS brings the largest and most diverse library of smartphone applications to the largest community of smartphone users, with more than 150 million Symbian smartphones shipped to over 250 major network operators worldwide. StyleTap Platform is compatible with the vast majority of applications originally written for Palm OS® devices, and now enables them to also run on Symbian smartphones. This gives consumers unprecedented freedom to choose the smartphone that meets their needs while getting the most feature-rich and proven mobile applications.
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