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Friday, November 14, 2008 Shipping Announcements

by Rainier on Nov. 14, 2008 @ 10:15 a.m. PST

Another day, another batch of games shipped to stores. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are announcements for:

Alone in the Dark: Inferno (PS3) - Europe

Alone in the Dark: Inferno features modified gameplay elements including camera, inventory system, and hero control which have all been reworked for maximum immersion and fun. In addition, Alone in the Dark: Inferno includes an all-new action sequence revealing a previously unseen enemy of epic proportions.

Modifications include:

  • Full 360° camera control: enhanced camera controls allows complete freedom of the camera and better handling of third person movement for even more immersive gameplay enabling players to view the fire and mass destruction they are causing in all of its glory.
  • Fine-tuned controls: quicker and smoother reactivity of the hero's movements in third person view increases the pace of the game and makes for faster, reflexive gameplay during tense fighting scenarios;
  • Inventory system more accessible: more logical jacket inventory system with the ability to scroll rapidly through the inventory with the D-pad or analogue stick to combine objects. In addition, gameplay is paused when accessing the inventory system to allow maximum creativity in combining items to create unique flammable weapons;
  • More tips: additional on-screen tips will help players quickly adapt to controls and easily understand how to overcome tricky situations;
  • Spectral Vision tuning: a tutorial earlier in the storyline explains the need to burn roots in order to gain spectral vision (a power that grants you the ability to see the unseen) and difficulty tuning means less spectral vision is required to reach the end of the game;
  • Improved car dynamics and handling: driving has been tuned with increased suspension and reduced drifting giving overall better handling to make driving a fun walk in the park every time;
  • 59th Street level tuning: one of the game's most exciting sequences just got better. 59th Street has been tweaked for a more satisfying race against the fissure with difficulty tuning, an added checkpoint at Columbus Circle and clear voice directions given by Sarah;
  • Brand new thrilling action sequence: an exclusive new sequence has been added in Episode 6 for even more excitement and variety of gameplay in the episode.

Alone in the Dark: Inferno stays true to the storyline of the previous versions in which gamers take on the role of paranormal investigator Edward Carnby and over the course of one apocalyptic night must fight to survive and uncover the earth-shattering secret behind New York's Central Park. However, the new edition fully complements the intense storytelling and unprecedented environmental interactions with an array of improved gameplay elements that will give gamers the ultimate Alone in the Dark experience.

Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King (NDS)

Ever the party animal, Assil's wild ways lead him to break into a pyramid to enjoy an all night party with his friends. However, on disturbing a peaceful, sleeping Mummy he is immediately punished with a lethal curse. Enjoy classic gameplay using the stylus to help Assil discover the remedy and break the curse within 24 hours to avoid his fate.

Feel the sand beneath your feet and the hot sun blazing down from above as your adventures begin in the mysterious land of ancient Egypt. Become immersed in the beautiful and vibrant Egyptian locations, travelling through bustling cities, exotic bazaars and tropical dense undergrowth.

Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King features many colorful and humorous characters, including the lovable delinquent Assil; the Pharaoh, who would rather party than govern; his beautiful daughter Thara; the gossip loving Mummy, George; and Thor, the practical joker. Not all the characters are good natured though; beware of Seth, who enjoys a good ruckus, and Osiris, God of the Underworld.

Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King features many engaging puzzles that must be solved in order to progress, but don't forget the task in hand, Assil's life must be saved before his time is up!

Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual (PC)

In Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual (formerly "Testament of Sin"), players' detective skills will be pushed to their limits as they travel the world in an attempt to unravel an ancient mystery and save a fellow archaeologist before it's too late.

Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual is a classically-styled adventure title from the team that created the well-received Art of Murder: FBI Confidential. The story follows archaeologist Sylvie Leroux as she travels the Mediterranean in search of her Uncle, a fellow archaeologist who was researching a sinister mystery.

In Chronicles of Sin: The Scorpio Ritual, players will visit exotic and historic locales including the Vatican, Malta and Istanbul in their quest to find Sylvie's uncle. Players will seek clues and solve puzzles as they travel the game's lushly rendered 3D locations.

Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (NDS)

Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades leverages the technology of its predecessor and expands the experience with a new progression taking players on a musical journey from classics of the 1970s through today's greatest hits.

The game features a number of enhancements, including the ability to stream songs with the original Guitar Hero: On Tour to add yet another fun, social dimension to handheld gaming. Fans can play through any one of three different solo career paths, each with their own story: Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, and Guitar Duel. Players can rock out to the largest set list in a handheld game to-date with 28 master tracks and more than 60 songs that can be streamed with owners of the original game.

"Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades allows gamers to command center stage and rock out to their favorite tunes anywhere they go," said Dusty Welch, SVP and Head of Publishing for Guitar Hero Franchise at RedOctane. "The game gets players jamming through the decades of rock 'n' roll alongside era-defining artists such as Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, R.E.M. and Queen."

Offered as stand-alone software or packaged with the revolutionary Guitar Hero Guitar Grip peripheral and pick-stylus, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades continues to build on the franchise's signature easy-to-learn, yet difficult to master, addictive gameplay. Taking the show on the road as they shred through the history of rock n' roll, players use the pick-stylus on the touch screen to strum to their favorite tunes and create their rock 'n' roll legacy in career mode. Friends can also join together on two Nintendo DS systems to play co-op mode or battle each other in a Guitar Duel using unique Battle Items exclusive to the DS platform.

Developed by Vicarious Visions, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 and older, is in European retail outlets today and in North American stores on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008.

Immortal Defense (PC)

Immortal Defense is an abstract story-based, sci-fi real-time strategy game about a man leaving his body behind in order to defend his planet from invaders — forever.

The gameplay is based on the "tower defense" genre of games. In tower defense games, the player places static defense units — "towers" — along a path. Enemies march along the path, and if the player's towers are well placed, the enemies won't be able to reach their goal at the end of the path.

Immortal Defense is unique in the tower defense field. Levels are very short--about two to three minutes each. The mouse cursor itself can fire at enemies, adding another layer of strategy. Money earned from previous levels carries over to latter levels, so replaying earlier levels to get a higher score to help with difficult later levels is a core gameplay mechanic. Learning where to place, when to use, and how to upgrade the different tower types is also important.

Immortal Defense is also unique in tower defense gaming for being heavily focused on story. At the start of the story, the main character leaves his body and his pregnant wife behind to go into "pathspace" in order to defend his planet from a relentless invasion. As he spends a longer and longer time away from his body and his planet, however, the nature of his mission begins to change--and his mind begins to face new challenges altogether.

Key Features:

  • Psychological sci-fi storyline, by a published writer
  • Addicting "tower defense" gameplay with 11 towers
  • Procedurally generated graphics
  • Full-length original soundtrack
  • 150 levels
  • 27 types of enemies, including bosses
  • Level editor

Kung Fu Panda: Legendary Warriors (NDS/Wii) - Europe

Po, Monkey, Tigress and Shifu (Po and Tigress only on DS) return in an all-new action-packed journey to protect the Valley of Peace from Tai Lung and his minions. Utilizing motion and gesture-based controls gamers perform acrobatic jump attacks, wield weapons against foes and unleash powerful Chi Attacks by simulating customizable symbols featured on-screen. A second player can jump into the epic kung fu battle at any time to help chop, kick and punch their way to awesomeness in the co-op or multiplayer modes.

My Farm Around The World (NDS) - Europe

My Farm Around The World is a whole new kind of DS game which lets anybody become a virtual farmer, watching over their own personalized animals as they live and grow and building a successful livestock farming business. Choose from four different farms each with their own collections of animals: a traditional farm with pigs and ducks, an African ranch boasting lions and hippos, an Asian farm bursting with monkeys and elephants and a good old Australian ranch where crocodiles and kangaroos call the shots.

Choose your farm then start from humble beginnings: a single bird, an empty field and a few pennies. Buy food, clean, and care for your bird and watch him grow. When the eggs start coming, sell them to buy more animals which you can personalize and name as you like. Make sure you can feed them all though – if they can't get food at home they'll go elsewhere!

Once your livestock portfolio really starts to swell you'll have more money to fix up the farm just how you always wanted it, with new fences, outbuildings and more. There's bonuses along the way for good farming and clean healthy animals including other animals or special buildings such as windmills. Days pass, nights fall and the animals sleep, but you can bet they'll wake up hungry the next day. Keep them well, and in time they'll produce their own offspring, and hasn't everyone always wanted their very own family of baby crocodiles or rhinos to care for?

My Farm Around The World lets players care for different animals from the four corners of the globe, breeding them, learning the simple economics of buying and selling, and growing their very own completely unique farm. And if you've ever wondered how an elephant would cope in a traditional European farmyard, trade animals with your friends via Wi-Fi and find out!

Space Trader (PC)

In the far future, humanity is ruled by The Ministry of Accounts, an oppressive bureaucracy that tracks, records and taxes every transaction of daily life. From the depths of Red Tape, a new breed of marketeer arises to challenge the authority and make a profit: the Space Trader is born!

As a Trader, you will attempt to amass a fortune beyond your wildest imagination, buying and selling commodities and taking up arms against the oppressors or even accepting bounty missions, hunting down crime bosses and their thugs.

Key Features:

  • Trader Campaign: Start as a rookie trader and earn your way to Master Trader using shrewd trades, back alley deals, bribes, a well placed bullet and more through a challenging 5-level single-player campaign.
  • Three Ways to Challenge: Master your trading skills in three unique challenge missions; Moon Madness, Free Trade and Red Eye Trader.
  • From Iron Ore to Organs: Turn misfortune to profit. Buy low, sell high. Over 40 different commodities to supply the demand.
  • Have Ship, Will Travel: Visit seven planetary locations, their moons and stops along the way and interact with over 100 characters.
  • Conflict Builds Character: Using an assortment of unique weapons, bring dozens of crime bosses to justice and turn a tidy profit.
  • Competitive Cooperative: Challenge your friends and family, not just your peers over LAN or Internet. Working together has never been so competitive!

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance (NDS)/
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels (Wii) - Europe

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance, developed exclusively for Nintendo DS by Lucasfilm Animation for publication by LucasArts, lets gamers experience the awesome power when two Jedi join forces to fight as one. With an innovative stylus-based input, controlling the Jedi's movement and engaging in lightsaber combat has never felt more immersive.

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels, developed by Krome Studios exclusively for Wii, delivers fun-filled Lightsaber battles for the entire family while it immerses players in the characters, locations, and epic duels from the hit animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which airs Fridays on Cartoon Network in the U.S. Built from the ground-up for Wii, Lightsaber Duels features an intuitive motion-controlled combat system that puts the lightsaber weapon in your hand for non-stop fun.

"We wanted to give Star Wars fans two fun ways to experience The Clone Wars," said Feargus Carroll, project lead from Lucasfilm Animation Singapore. "Aspiring Jedi can swing their Wii Remotes while recreating their favorite battles from the TV show on the Wii and fans can experience an entirely new storyline on the Nintendo DS."

Tamagotchi Connexion: Corner Shop 3 (NDS) - Europe

Tamagotchi Connexion: Corner Shop 3 boasts the most well-stocked store lineup to date, with 13 brand new shops to run and expand, a park to design and visit, and the ability to trade journals with your friends via Wi-Fi.

Business in Tamagotchi Town is booming, and over a dozen new shops have moved in. Help manage these brand new shops and keep customers coming back for more. When the work day is done, relax in your very own park that you've created. You can write in your journal to record the day's events, and share items and journals with your friends over Wi-Fi.

Tamagotchi Connexion: Corner Shop 3 introduces players to the responsibilities of running a successful businesses in a fun and creative way.

Key Features:

  • All New Stores: Find over a dozen brand new stores to run! Bake fresh bread at the Bakery, plan a party at the Event Coordinator shop, or scoop ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlor. Combine and upgrade stores to keep happy customers coming back for more.
  • Create Your Own Park: Create a relaxing and fun park to hang out with friends and chat with other Tamagotchis. Decorate your park with fountains, gardens and other items to be discovered. Come back often to see how your park has changed.
  • More Characters: The popular Violetchi joins in on the fun with Mametchi, Kuchipatchi and Memetchi to team up with players and help them run the best business they can.
  • Connect With Friends: Share items and swap journals with friends via a wireless connection.

World War One (PC) - Europe

World War One allows players to manage troops, coordinate strategic movements with allies, attack enemies, select generals, organise war production, engage in worldwide diplomacy, negotiate with the national parliament or support technological research. Playing as Lord Kitchener or Sir Winston Churchill, the strategy may involve the need to relieve pressure on the Western front and invade the Turkish Straits to open sea access to Russian allies. However it is crucial that such a move does not leave other areas undefended, as Britain's main rival Germany expands its army and naval fleet.

Just as the real World War One leaders did, players must commission scientific research before certain weapons and types of strategy can be implemented. For example, tanks and other armored vehicles can only be used when mechanised warfare has been successfully studied. Other key World War One elements such as wireless communication, chemical warfare and weapons like the Browning Automatic rifle, can only be introduced once they have been discovered and researched.

A number of scenarios and grand campaigns are available to play between the years of 1914-1918, some spanning the whole four years of the Great War. Players can also change history, taking charge of their armies and fleets in a unique "what if" scenario. Regardless of the scenario chosen and the tactics employed, gamers must think carefully, anticipate enemy moves and prepare for battle at any given moment.

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