Based on the upcoming film from DreamWorks Animation, the How to Train Your Dragon^™ video game launches gamers into a third-person action-adventure as a Viking hero where they must embark upon an epic quest to become the ultimate dragon trainer. Gamers can play as characters “Hiccup” or Astrid” on the vast Island of Berk, which features expanded locales from the film including Vikings’ Village, Wild Zone, Training Zone and Fight Arena. 

In this truly larger-than-life adventure, players will train dragons, explore environments and battle in prestigious dragon tournaments as they battle for Viking victory. Plus, gamers can become the Dragon hero of their living room as they square-off with friends and family in endless head-to-head multi-player combat! 

KEY FEATURES: 

Create Your Very Own Dragon – The “Create Your Dragon” feature allows players to customize six different types of dragons, providing virtually unending combinations of ways to modify your dragon’s appearance. 

Train your Dragon for Battle – “Level Up” your dragon’s speed, power, fire and other abilities through intense training to face the critical Viking challenge of becoming the ultimate dragon trainer.  Then use your arsenal of trained dragons to battle friends in a variety of unique environments. 

Pick up Where the Movie Left Off – Players enjoy an all-new post-movie adventure as they jump into battle as their favourite characters. Explore the picturesque Island of Berk as Hiccup or Astrid in Adventure Mode or experience fierce battle action in Arena Mode as you fight for your crown as ultimate dragon warrior. 

Head-to-Head Multiplayer Mode – Arcade mode allows friends to select their dream team of four individually customised dragons or dragons chosen from the arcade roster, then jump in and battle against each other. In addition to Astrid and Hiccup, additional characters are playable in Multiplayer Mode including Tuffnut T., Ruffnut T., Fishlegs, and Snotlout. 

Mini-Games – Mini games include Ice Sculpting, Looping Race, Flying Sheppard, Memory Torch, and Puzzle Dragon.  Excelling in Mini-Games earns players experience points toward leveling up your dragon, winning gold and other items to help care for dragons.

Capcom’s retro classics, Dark Void™ Zero and Mega Man 10 are released for download today.

The classic Dark Void Zero is available on the DSiWare store today. Players take on the role of Rusty, the first human born in the Void who must take on the Watchers in a quest to stop their domination of Earth. With the help of Rusty’s good friend, Nikola Tesla, and his state-of-the-art rocket pack, Rusty must battle against the Watchers across three intense levels of non-stop action. Dark Void Zero can be downloaded today across Europe for 500 Nintendo points.

Continuing with the retro fun, Mega Man 10 is out on WiiWare for 1000 Wii points. The original 2D classic Mega Man returns, taking the series back to its old school roots with action platform gameplay and classic 8-bit NES style graphics and sound. Set within the Mega Man universe it comes as no surprise that robot antics are at play once again. A suspicious outbreak of Robot flu has broken out infecting robots across the world. It’s up to Mega Man to take on this sinister threat and get to the bottom of this viral mystery.

On April 5 th an extra treat will be available for Mega Man fans. Playable character Bass will be available to download on WiiWare to help players on their mission to take on the suspicious Robot flu.

London (5th March 2010) – Wargaming.net, a strategy game specialist, reveals that ORDER OF WAR: Challenge demo is now available on the Steam official demo page.
 
The demo will allow players to lead any of the three nations – the USA, Germany and the USSR – and test their skills in battles against each. Packing six competitive multiplayer modes – Secure the Base, Mercenaries, Survival, Expansion, Instant Battle and Free-for-All – the demo will provide a wide range of gameplay options.
 
“We’ve worked hard on creating a really deep and action-packed multiplayer experience”, says Nick Katselapov, the game producer. “With this extended demo we wanted to give players a true idea of what Order of War: Challenge will deliver”.
 
Order of War: Challenge will be available on Steam on the 12th of March.
 
For more information on Order of War: Challenge visit official website. 
 
General information on Order of War: Challenge:
 
ORDER OF WAR: CHALLENGE is a multiplayer stand-alone game in the world of ORDER OF WAR™, published by Wargaming.net, packing even more intense World War II real-time strategy action. With 6 extended modes, 12 unique maps, and hundreds of units under player control ORDER OF WAR: CHALLENGE gives players a battlefield experience of epic scale. With a focus on fast-action gameplay, and featuring exclusive bonus content, ORDER OF WAR: CHALLENGE is the ultimate way to experience online RTS gaming. With a new advanced gameplay system and including fog of war, ORDER OF WAR: CHALLENGE redefines combat mechanics and gives players a tense battlefield experience with plenty of room for wide-ranging tactics.
 
Key Features:
•       12 Unique Maps — Each map features different types of cross-country terrain and urban areas to provide great replayability.
•       6 New Multiplayer Modes — With these new modes you have the opportunity to prove you are the best commander on the online battlefield in a variety of ways.
•       Command troops of the USA, Germany or the Soviet Union — Grasp your units by knowing their strengths, weaknesses and discover how to exercise their power to defeat your enemies.
•       4 Co-op Survival Missions — Play shoulder to shoulder with your comrades-in-arms to defend your headquarters from enemy attacks of increasing intensity. To get extra income and new reinforcement types, capture control points that appear randomly throughout the map but only stay for a short time.   
 
About Wargaming.net
Based in London, with development in Belarus, Wargaming.net is a strategy game development company operating since 1998. The company developed the highly acclaimed Massive Assault series, including Massive Assault, Massive Assault Network, Massive Assault: Phantom Renaissance and Massive Assault Network 2. Wargaming.net has also developed Galactic Assault, a turn-based strategy set in the famous sci-fi universe of the Strugatsky Brothers. In November 2007, Wargaming.net acquired Arise, an independent PC game developer. In 2008 the company’s first RTS game Operation BAGRATION was awarded Best Strategy Game at the 6th International Game Developers Conference in Russia. In 2009, WARGAMING.NET released a new World War II Action-Strategy game Order of War, which was published by Square Enix.!   At KRI 2009, Wargaming.net was awarded Best Developer of the Year and received the special Media Award. Visit www.wargaming.net for more information.

Hull, UK / Nordic Game Program, the established event organisers behind the annual Nordic Game Conference, are proud to announce a stunning new venue for the 2010 conference as well as the core theme for their April 27-30 program.

The Nordic Game 2010 Conference promises 3 days of engaging discussion centred around the core theme of building entrepreneurial competences, with touch-points such as: bridging the gap between game ideas and business models, creativity and management, market awareness and profit-making. At the same time, the Nordic Game Conference offers value-added networking for like-minded games industry executives, set against the backdrop of two of the Nordic countries most progressive cities; Malmö in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark over April 27-30.

The core of the Nordic Game 2010 activities take place over April 28-29 in Luftkastellet Slagthuset, a new and beautiful venue for the conference located in central Malmö, with the promise of not-to-missed pre-events taking place on April 27. Among these is the “Nordic Game Indie Night”, a new initiative set to embrace the independent games developers from the Nordic region for a social evening of inspiration, fun and of course, games. The event will be open for the public, who are invited to see and play exciting new offerings from the independent game community.

On April 30th, the day after the main conference, all delegates are given the opportunity to experience the Nordic game industry hotspot from the other side of the Öresund Bridge. By joining Nordic Game for Copenhagen Robot, the largest games consumer event in Denmark, the delegates can share their love for games with the expected attendance of 30,000 game hungry visitors.

The event team that bring the expertise of hosting the annual Nordic Game Conference are confident activities for 2010 will surpass all previous records in terms of content and exciting offerings. For breaking news about the conference, confirmation of the speakers, and more importantly, the low-down on the party, remember to check http;//www.thirteen1.com

Register for Nordic Game Conference 2010 today and take advantage of the special Early Bird offer! Register now at http://www.nordicgame.com

– Battle Action Game Based on One of Japan’s Top-selling Anime and Manga Franchises Coming to PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) Across Australia in Winter 2010 – 

SYDNEY, 5^th March 2010 – NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S. today announced the forthcoming arrival of Japan’s hit Fullmetal Alchemist franchise on PSP® in Australia, with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood scheduled for launch across EMEA this coming Winter 2010.

For the first time PSP gamers in Australia and beyond will get their hands on the battle action game based on the smash hit Japanese anime and manga.  Created by Hiromu Arakawa and first published in Japan by Monthly Shonen Gangan in 2001, Fullmetal Alchemist has secured itself a top five position in Japan’s incredibly vibrant and competitive manga scene, spawning multiple anime series and a length feature film.  Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is based on the most recent 2009 anime series of the same name, critically lauded as the most faithful so far to the spirit of the original manga.

The story of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows the adventures of the Elric brothers, two young alchemists cursed after an ill-fated attempt to bring their mother back from the dead during which Edward suffered the horrifying loss of a leg and arm while Alphonse’s soul was ensnared in a medieval suit of armour. Driven by their strong relationship and remarkable skills they begin a new, battle-packed adventure on the trail of the philosopher’s stone. Only the stone has the power to restore their bodies. This time they’re fighting for more than just their lives.

The game’s Adventure Mode lets players live the adventure of the Elric brothers as they strive to foil a foul plot and take on other powerful alchemists in battles to the death. The game features a host of additional customisable playable characters with points earned in battle used to upgrade their special powers and abilities.

In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood the fights go down in a series of different battle arenas where players can flex their spectacular alchemist abilities, use the terrain’s topography strategically to gain the upper hand, and judiciously launch special Combination Attacks with their battle partner to turn the tide of battle. The Multiplayer Mode lets between two and four players co-operate or fight against each other via ad hoc wi-fi to find out once and for all who has the most powerful alchemy of all at their fingertips.

For more information about NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe and its entire line up of games please visit www.namcobandaigames.eu.

SYDNEY, Australia – March 5, 2010 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces Galactic Taz Ball, a new videogame for the Nintendo DS™ starring Taz, the frenetically fantastic Looney Tunes character beloved by all. The game will be available in Australia and New Zealand in May 2010.

“Taz is one of the most popular characters in the Looney Tunes family, and with Galactic Taz Ball kids can have fun for hours with action, exploration, platform challenges and puzzle solving,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Development and Production, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.  “This creative game packs all of the wild fun that everyone loves about Taz into a handheld experience with two unique modes of play.”

In Galactic Taz Ball, Taz is accidentally kidnapped by Marvin the Martian who’s stealing the Earth’s landscape to make Mars more scenic. Taz must spin his way across pieces of Earth floating in space to stop Marvin from destroying the planet and get back home.

The game contains two worlds with completely different gameplay mechanics. The “Overworld” is an action-style 3-D game playable on the Nintendo DS top screen with unique track ball controls using the stylus on the bottom screen. When Taz moves fast enough he becomes a tornado that can destroy objects and enemies. The “Underworld” is a side-scrolling puzzle game played on the bottom touch screen in which Taz navigates a maze of active machinery and gadgets.  Both worlds combine for a uniquely fun and frenetic journey, perfect for Taz’s wild style. 

Galactic Taz Ball is being developed by WayForward Technologies

5 March 2010, SYDNEY – Football fans from around the globe will gear up for virtual football fever this April, as Sydney’s Royal Easter Show plays host to the FIFA Interactive World Cup Australia Live Qualifier Event 2010.

The FIFA Interactive World Cup is the world’s largest football gaming tournament. Organised by FIFA and presenting partners EA SPORTS™ and PlayStation® – it combines online and offline football tournaments played with EA SPORTS™ FIFA 10 on PlayStation®3.

Players from around the world compete online via the PlayStation®Network or via one of 10 Live Qualifier Events, hoping to secure a place in the Grand Final and ultimately be crowned the new FIFA Interactive World Champion 2010!

The FIFA Interactive World Cup Australia Live Qualifier Event is one of only 10 Live Qualifier Events globally.  The event will take place within the EA SPORTS FIFA Football Experience powered by PlayStation® area – a buzzing hub of activity located in The Zone at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show from April 1-14.

Beyond playing home to the Live Qualifier Event, the EA SPORTS FIFA Football Experience powered by PlayStation will host a bevy of celebrity guests, exclusive previews of EA SPORTS 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, a PlayStation 3 entertainment zone, an adidas® football skills arena and pumping music to soundtrack the experience.  

The Sydney Live Qualifier Event will take place over three days – with two days of heats on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 April, leading into the finals on Sunday 11 April. The heats will be a series of Pools leading to a Knockout Playoff on the grand final day, commencing with 64 players, ending with only 1 winner who will qualify to compete in the Grand Final in Barcelona, Spain on 1st May!

Those wanting to participate in the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2010 Australia Live Qualifier Event (9-11 April) should head to www.FIFA.EASPORTS.com/footballexperience for a chance to pre-register online – or simply turn up on the day for your chance at a walk-up position!

To get amongst the action, head to the EA SPORTS FIFA Football Experience powered by PlayStation® located in The Zone at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show from April 1-14.

SEGA unveils the new title from PlatinumGames and Shinji Mikami,  the creator of the Resident Evil series

Friday 5^th March 2010 – SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. can today reveal details on upcoming third person action shooter, VANQUISH™. Developed by PlatinumGames, VANQUISH™ will be available in late 2010 on Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Directed by Shinji Mikami, VANQUISH™ is a sci-fi shooter of epic proportions with a fast, fluid and frenetic combat system, and an engaging and immersive storyline. Players take the role of Sam, a government agent kitted out with a futuristic battle suit, in a near future world where nations war over the planet’s remaining energy resources. A versatile fighter with a huge arsenal of weaponry at his disposal, Sam also has an array of martial arts skills that he can use to take down his robot enemies. 

“VANQUISH™ is a game where we’ve tried to inject the extreme pace of an action game into a shooter. The gameplay and staging are all put together around the keyword ‘intensity’. I think it’s very rare to come across a game where shooting loads of robots is so much fun,” said Shinji Mikami, Game Director of VANQUISH™.

“We are delighted to have the chance to work with Shinji Mikami, one of the most successful and celebrated game directors in the world,” said Mike Hayes, CEO of SEGA West. “VANQUISH™ is set to offer gamers the chance to be immersed in a truly cinematic gameplay experience, with the scope and special effects of a Hollywood movie.”

The story of VANQUISH™ is set in the near future. Russia and the United States are vying for ownership of the world’s fast-depleting energy resources and the US has constructed a space station in order to harness energy from the sun. Russian forces capture this space station and divert its harvested solar energy into a blast wave that destroys San Francisco, aiming to force the US into a total and unconditional surrender. In response, the US tasks its armed forces with recapturing the space station before the Russians can annihilate their next target – New York.

VANQUISH™ is set for release in late 2010 on Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

For more information please visit http://www.sega.com/vanquish

SEGA Hits Record High

Friday 5^th March 2010 – SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced that the multiplayer demo for  Aliens vs Predator has been the most successful download demo in SEGA’s history. Available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace, PlayStation® Store, and STEAM for the PC, the Aliens vs Predator demo hit an impressive 4.1 million downloads, achieving global outreach and ultimately culminating in fantastic global sales.

The Multiplayer Demo allowed fans to choose between playing as an Alien, Predator or Colonial Marine and was available from February 5^th until February 26^th.  The full game launched on 19^th February 2010 for the  Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, as well as the PC.

For more information about the game, please visit http://www.houseofthedeadoverkill.com/www.sega.co.uk/avp.