Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack (PC)

Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack marks the first add-on that will grow and evolve the critically-acclaimed video game, Spore.

“As the Sporepedia continues to grow, Spore fans have been craving even more creative tools to play with,” said Lucy Bradshaw, executive producer of Spore and general manager, Maxis. “Maxis is committed to cultivating the most enriched experience possible for Spore players and the Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack is the first step in achieving this. Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack allows players to give distinct personality to their creatures like never before. We’re very excited to see where gamers take this whimsical content.”

Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack expands the world of the ground-breaking video game, Spore, by giving players even more tools to unleash their creativity. Fans can play with more than 100 new components to create any creature they desire – from grotesque creatures with tuberous eyes and thorny armor plates to cartoon-style characters with big eyelashes. Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack will include 60 new creature parts, 48 new paint options and 24 new animations – including the robot, hoe-down, moonwalk and more!

Spore gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe filled with creations made by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even spaceships.

Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack requires Spore or the full version of Spore Creature Creator, and is now available for $19.99 on PC and MAC

Shaun White Snowboarding (NDS/PSP/PS2/Wii/PS3/X360)

Shaun White Snowboarding was developed in close collaboration with Shaun White, Olympic gold medalist and eight-time X Games gold medalist. The game is powered by the award-winning Assassin's Creed engine for Xbox 360 and the PS3, and truly captures the action sports lifestyle. Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip was also developed from the ground up for Wii, taking full advantage of the Wii Balance Board and featuring its own unique storyline and adventure with Shaun White. Shaun White Snowboarding for the PSP system and Nintendo DS allows players to enjoy the thrilling sport of snowboarding anytime, anywhere. Players can earn points and build their characters in Shaun White Snowboarding for the PlayStation 2 system, which also features co-op and multiplayer modes.

“We are extremely proud of Shaun White Snowboarding,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. “Our goal was to create a game with Shaun that captured the action sports culture and create expansive open worlds for players to experience as a single-player adventure or a rich multiplayer session with their friends on Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3. In addition, we also strived to develop from the ground up a fun physical experience playing on the Wii Balance Board™ accessory.”

“I’m really excited about the release of Shaun White Snowboarding,” said action sports superstar and Olympic gold medalist Shaun White. “Ubisoft Montreal and I have worked together for over two years to create something I would be proud to put my name on. I feel like we’ve captured the true essence of the action sports lifestyle and brought it to players around the world. I’m hoping that those who have never been to the snow will want to try snowboarding after they play, and those who do ride will be proud of what we’ve done.”

Shaun White Snowboarding for Xbox 360 and PS3 ( $59.99) is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. Shaun White Snowboarding for the PSP and the PS2 system ($39.99) and Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip for Wii ( $49.99) are rated “E10+” for Everyone 10 and up. Shaun White Snowboarding for NDS ($29.99) is rated “E” for Everyone.

NCAA Basketball 09 (PS2/PS3/X360)

NCAA Basketball 09 delivers a college basketball experience that captures the emotion, intensity and atmosphere of a real college basketball game. Featuring former UCLA star Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves on its cover, NCAA Basketball 09 showcases a new, strategic college basketball gameplay experience that challenges gamers to replicate their school's style of play and set the game tempo to win.

Experience the electricity of game night with the band playing fight songs, the student section leading the cheers and ESPN college basketball broadcasters Dick Vitale, Brad Nessler and Erin Andrews providing the commentary. Whether your school plays up tempo looking to push the ball in transition, runs a half-court offense that utilizes the clock and limits possessions or features a balanced attack that combines transition offense with set plays, NCAA Basketball 09 rewards the strategic gamer and emphasizes team specific styles of play.

Dream match-ups are a reality as NCAA Basketball 09 enables you to replay classic games in college basketball history in the EA SPORTS) ESPN Classic Tournament of Legends -- 64 of the greatest college teams from every era placed into the ultimate bracket and to determine who takes home the crown.

This year on the Xbox 360 and the PS3, NCAA Basketball 09 will operate on a new gameplay engine with over 1,000 new animation sequences that deliver a more responsive experience with improved ball physics and more intelligent AI. The new animation system enables gamers to apply pressure defense with new full-court presses and traps. Plus, improved AI and animations enable quicker players to get up and down the floor faster and make better decisions running the lanes and driving to the rim.

Developed at EA Canada, NCAA Basketball 09, rated "E" for everyone, is also available on the PS2.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (PS3/X360)

Cultural icons collide for gamers and comic book fans alike as the eagerly anticipated face-off between heroes, anti-heroes, villains and vigilantes is unleashed in unmistakable Mortal Kombat style.

Some of the most popular characters from the DC Universe, like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and The Joker, go toe-to-toe against Mortal Kombat favorites, including Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Sonya and more. Featuring a brand new fighting system and unique intertwining storyline written by top comics writing team Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe combines spectacular multi-tiered fighting environments, such as Metropolis or the Batcave, with a compelling line-up of fighters to challenge and master.

“Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe brings together iconic characters from both the DC Comics’ and Mortal Kombat videogame universes to give gamers the opportunity to take part in extraordinary battles,” said Scott Johnson, vice president, business development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Working with Midway, we are allowing fans to control the destiny of famous heroes and villains with enhanced graphics and combat.”

“Midway is proud to have been able to work so closely with the artists and visionaries at DC Comics to bring you a unique fighting experience that stays true to the hallmarks of the Mortal Kombat franchise,” said Matt Booty, president and CEO, Midway. “With the broad market potential afforded by the T-Rating, the engaging story mode, the critical acclaim we are already seeing from reviewers, and enthusiastic support of the fans from both franchises, we expect this to be one of our most successful Mortal Kombat games.”

Although this is the first Mortal Kombat title to be given a “T” rating by the ESRB, the game embodies all the qualities that made the franchise such an integral part of gaming culture, including the ability to perform the unique Fatalities and Heroic Brutalities that are a signature of the Mortal Kombat series. The title also features a re-vamped fighting system that harkens back to the wildly successful early Mortal Kombat games.

The special, limited-run North American Kollector’s Edition is delivered in special packaging and features an exclusive removable print designed by Alex Ross, one of the world’s most pre-eminent and respected comic book artists, as well as bonus video content and a 16-page comic book by DC Comics that chronicles the shocking, universe-shattering events that lead up to the in-game story mode.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, the standard edition is available for a U.S. suggested retail price of $59.95, and the Kollector’s Edition is available for a U.S. suggested retail price of $69.95.

Metal Slug 7 (NDS)

Metal Slug 7 features seven brand new and fully detailed missions and six playable characters along with a host of new weapons, colossal new bosses, new Slugs to pilot and new gameplay modes for added replay value.

First revealed in 1996, the Metal Slug series has continuously dazzled legions of fans with its awesome variety of frenetic action and superbly balanced, non-stop gameplay. Its unique art style and memorable boss battles have been lauded as sheer artistry and have been acclaimed by game fans of all genres.

“Adding a premium extra to the game is our way of saying thank you to the fans who have given so much loyal support and dedication to the Metal Slug series throughout the years,” said Ajay Chadha, President of Ignition Entertainment. “We hope that Metal Slug lovers are as excited as we are about this upcoming release!”

Along with the fast-paced 2-D shooting action for which the franchise has been widely renowned, Ignition is offering as a gift to fans a special bonus disc including exclusive wallpaper and game trailers.

Eternal Poison (PS2)

Eternal Poison, a strategy RPG with a strong emphasis on story and characters, offers fans of the genre a variety of ways in which to put sound battle stratagem to good use. Throughout the grand narrative experience, players will encounter a variety of conditions and scenarios that will demand some keen tactics in order to achieve victory. For some of the ideal ways to approach combat in Eternal Poison, look below:

General Strategy

• Try to attack opponents from behind or the side - This game heavily rewards the player for positioning themselves well while attacking, even when using magic. As such, Eternal Poison’s mechanics make it difficult to flank someone by requiring a unit to expend two steps to get around an opponent’s side. This is a costly penalty when most characters have movement ranges that hover around five steps. Alternatively, you can use this concept to your advantage by creating a shield of strong units in the front of formations while keeping the weaker, but quite important, healing units out of harm’s way.
• Single out enemies in battle - It becomes much easier to damage and overkill a Majin if there aren’t five of its buddies healing it or attacking your party. Most of the enemies in this game have a limited range of awareness, so it is very plausible to draw out the Majin one-by-one by advancing your party carefully instead of just charging forward.
• Determine the enemy's weakness - A smart player will pay attention to an enemy’s physical and/or elemental weaknesses (which can be figured out by looking at a unit’s status screen). If an enemy is even slightly resistant to a certain kind of attack, that type of attack is close to worthless.
• Inflict opponents with status effects - The Bleed status ailment takes away a certain percentage of the affected unit’s life each time the bleeding unit performs any action, including moving, attacking, or being attacked. If the unit has high HP and strong resistances to many attacks, sometimes the Bleed damage is more significant than the actual attacks that are being used. And since Bleed can bring an enemy’s HP down to 1 but not kill it, putting a Majin into Bleed status before overkilling is ideal.

Overkill Strategy

• Bring the Majin’s HP down as close to 1 as possible before dealing the killing blow - In order to overkill a Majin in Eternal Poison, the player needs to damage the Majin by a certain amount beyond their normal HP with the killing blow. If a Majin has 50 HP left and a 120 HP overkill threshold, the player will need to do more than 170 damage to overkill, or less than 50 damage to make sure the Majin doesn’t die before being overkilled. If the player does do somewhere between 50 and 170 damage to that Majin, it’ll just disappear from the map, and it may drop an item at best.
• Determine, and keep in mind how much damage your most powerful attack will do - When attacking a Majin for the first time, initially use whatever you think would work best as a killing blow on a unit, and note that damage in your head. With a few exceptions, most Majin are strong enough to endure even the most powerful attack from your units. There are usually the same types of enemies on each map, so you can assume that you will do that same amount of damage to that type of Majin after this “experimental attack.”
• Nominate your most powerful character to be the "Overkiller" - The ideal party setup in Eternal Poison usually revolves around having a few over-powered characters in your party for overkilling (the main characters in each respective path of the game suit this role well), and then having a few support characters there to heal your “overkiller” units and capture the bound Majin quickly.
• Use combo attacks - Combo attacks are almost a necessity when you want to overkill a strong opponent, especially when your mage units don’t have spells which target the enemies’ weaknesses. Remember that combo attacks follow the rules of weaknesses and positioning just like other attacks. Thankfully, you can use the combo ability with ranged units, so it is even possible to get two back attacks in one combo by having a melee and ranged unit work together.

While these tips are useful, please note that there are many other strategies a player can and should use to succeed in the world of Eternal Poison. Eternal Poison is now available in stores across North America!

Eternal Poison is one of three titles featured in the "Atlus Spoils" promotion, along with Luminous Arc 2 for NDS and Persona 4 for PS2. Each game includes a soundtrack CD free-with-purchase, and each game offers a deluxe full-color art book exclusively with pre-orders. Don’t forget to ask for your pre-order bonus if you reserved a copy at a participating retailer!

Eternal Poison is currently available in stores across North America with an MSRP of $39.99.