City Life 2008 Edition puts players in the role of an urban planner and real estate developer, designing, building and maintaining every aspect of their creation. The latest version contains an additional 23 maps as well as the possibility to import satellite maps. There are also 60 new buildings including London landmarks such as St. Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Opera House.
A successful city is built on a thriving economy with happy and well-rounded citizens. To achieve this, all six sociocultural groups must be attracted to the city, from the wealthy 'Elite' to the impoverished 'Have-Nots'. Each has a part to play, from the work they provide to the products they consume. Be careful not to place opposing groups in similar residential areas – the progressive ideals of the 'Radical Chic' will strongly clash with the traditional values of the 'Blue Collars'.
All citizens need to be provided with essential local services to remain loyal and stay in the city. Build enough schools for everyone to get an education and make sure no one is without healthcare services. Provide industries where people can work and recreational areas for leisure time and hobbies. The 'Radical Chic' want access to modern art galleries, whilst the 'Elite' prefer to attend the Opera.
Watch cities grow and develop as citizens accumulate wealth. Affluent residential areas will contain magnificent villas and large Neo-Gothic structures. The 'Suits' enjoy a fairly high income and build modern angular homes, whilst the 'Fringe' are proud of their graffiti and mural-clad dwellings. A growing city will also play host to the television media, intent on reporting any divides and clashes on the streets.
The game has a high level of detail and animation with total freedom of construction. Moving away from the traditional right-angled grid, City Life 2008 Edition allows for much more complex installations. Watch each city in beautiful detail with highly realistic settings including reflection mapping and dynamic shadowing. Zoom in to ground level and walk the streets of the city to get a better look at the action.
City Life 2008 Edition has been rated "Teen" and has a SRP of $29.99.
Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society (NDS)
In Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society, a collective of the world's top detectives is searching for a talented new member, and Nancy Drew is one of the most promising candidates. To earn society membership, Nancy must first pass an initiation case to prove her worthiness. But when the test case turns real and an important historical book is stolen, it's up to Nancy to unravel the snowballing whodunit. Living up to her reputation as a super-sleuth, Nancy has to retrieve and identify fingerprints, master mazes, trail and interrogate suspects, and even ride snowmobiles and boats throughout nine graphic novel chapters in order to crack the case. Using the DS's intuitive Touch Screen, Nancy can interact with objects, solve new contextual mini-games, and access suspect files, clues, tasks and inventory. An all-new cell phone feature helps players keep up with the latest information and Nancy's handy Clue Journal lets her check current objectives.
Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society is rated E10+ and is now available for a suggested retail price of $19.99.
NCAA Football 09 (Wii/PSP/PS2/PS3/X360)
Gamers will experience the exhilaration of making big plays on the field with the ability to directly control and influence the game through the Break Away Engine. The Break Away Engine allows players to break in and out of moves, giving the user ultimate control with instant responsiveness on the field. With huge cut-back lanes, new tackling animations and wider blocking holes, NCAA Football 09 offers a host of offensive opportunities.
NCAA Football 09 also brings the atmosphere, pageantry and tradition of college football to life. From the college stadiums to the dynamic sidelines filled with school colors, cheerleaders and mascots, players are sure to feel the excitement of college game day. This year, players can revel in their touchdowns by enjoying animated celebrations with their mascot. All 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools are represented in the game and players can customize the in-game atmosphere with their own personal music collection.
"NCAA Football 09 showcases everything that makes college football exciting and unique," said Executive Producer Jeremy Strauser. "From enhanced gameplay and presentation, to our online Dynasty Mode, this game truly reflects the electricity of big-time college football at its best and captures the true emotion of football on Saturdays."
Off the field, NCAA Football 09 features its most robust Dynasty Mode yet, inviting fans to create and manage a perennial powerhouse program from landing blue-chip recruits to winning championships on the field. For the first time ever, Dynasty Mode goes online with up to 12 competitors to recruit head-to-head, customize schedules and play for up to 60 seasons.
NCAA Football 09 All-Play, designed specifically for the Wii, hits stores with unique features such as user-controlled touchdown celebrations, a mascot mode with 78 mascots, and a unique, fan friendly control scheme that uses specific Wii remote motions to snap and kick the ball, complete passes and avoid defenders.
This year, the packaging for each of the NCAA Football 09 console platforms features an exclusive cover athlete. The console specific pack fronts feature Darren McFadden on the Xbox 360, Matt Ryan on the PlayStation 3, DeSean Jackson on the PlayStation 2 and Owen Schmitt on the PSP. To commemorate the franchise debut on the Wii, fans voted to determine the college mascot that would grace the NCAA Football 09 All-Play cover, with Michigan State's Sparty the Spartan earning the spot.
NCAA Football 09 for the PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3 systems and Xbox 360 are developed by EA Tiburon located in Orlando, Florida. NCAA Football 09 All-Play and NCAA Football 09 for the PSP system are developed at EA Canada in partnership with EA Tiburon.
Space Chimps (NDS/Wii/PS2/X360)
Featuring voice talent from the film including Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld), Space Chimps is based on the animated movie from Vanguard Animation, and presented by Starz Animation. Space Chimps the game is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, the Wii and Nintendo DS.
Players step into the space boots of NASA-trained chimpanzees, Ham III and Luna, who inadvertently careen into an uncharted, cross-galaxy adventure. Featuring aliens and locations that follow and expand upon the film experience, players take turns traversing unknown terrain as Ham III, descendant of the original "chimp in space", and Luna, his female counterpart, and head of her NASA training class. After crash landing on the planet Malgor, the chimps launch into an adventure to overthrow its evil ruler, Zartog, and find their way back home. Full of vibrant environments and a host of other worldly creatures, this action-packed platformer puts human players in touch with that 98% of their makeup that is CHIMP.
This game is rated "E" by the ESRB.