Category: Gaming

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced a playable demo for METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE will be available via download on PlayStation®Network and Xbox LIVE® on January 22.

The free demo will showcase Chapter 1 of the game and introduce Raiden as the central character – a child soldier transformed into a cyborg ninja killing machine, equipped with a high-frequency katana blade and a soul fueled by revenge.

Developed by Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames, METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE takes the renowned METAL GEAR franchise into exciting new territory by delivering an action experience unlike anything seen before. The title brings two of the world’s most respected development teams together with a common goal of providing players with a fresh synergetic experience that combines the best elements of pure action together with epic storytelling, all within the expansive METAL GEAR universe.

METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE will be available on February 19, 2013 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft at major retail stores nationwide.

The free demo will be available on January 22 via PlayStation®Network and Xbox LIVE®. For more information on METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE, please go to www.konami.com/download.

Playdek, award-winning mobile video game publisher, and the iconic table game publisher, Looney Labs, today announces that Fluxx will be available December 13th in time for the holidays!

Selling for $2.99, Fluxx is a universal game application for iOS devices, 3rd generation and above.

Designed and developed for iOS, Fluxx fuses the chaotic and fun game play of the fantastic Target version of the game with ever changing rules, with offline and online features that fans have come to love in a Playdek game!

* Offline and Online play for 2-4 players
* Human and AI opponents
* Pass-and-play Multiplayer
* New streamlined rules
* Game Center achievements
* Universal App – play Fluxx on all your compatible iOS devices
* iPod 5 and iPhone 5 screen support
* Full asynchronous support for multiplayer online games
* Invite Game Center friends to online games
* Maintain multiple Saved games
* Online game timers
* Online player stats
* Localized for English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Dutch
* Tutorial
* Card Gallery
* Rule Book

Looney Labs’ goal is to create fun, which they have achieved with the popular game, Fluxx! A simple, yet engaging game that has sold nearly a million copies, Fluxx features New Rule cards that change the rules of the game and Action cards to create some chaos. Even the object of the game will change during play, as players swap out one Goal card for another.

* The Fluxx card game has earned the Mensa Select Award (1999), an annual award given to games that meet Mensa’s high standards of originality, playability and design.
* Star Fluxx has been featured on Wil Wheaton’s popular board gaming web show, TableTop.
* The card game can be found at Target stores nationwide and a variety of other themes are available in thousands of game and bookstores worldwide.

To request a review code email George Rothrock at Playdek: George@playdekgames.com

About Playdek, Inc.
Located in Carlsbad, CA, Playdek is a premier developer, publisher and platform for the world’s best tabletop gaming. Playdek has won numerous awards, including “Game of the Year” for its iOS version of Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. Visit www.playdekgames.com for more information.

About Looney Labs:
Based in College Park, MD, Looney Labs is a game company whose mission is to create fun by developing enjoyable, innovative and attractive parlor games. Looney Labs has developed several popular games including the Fluxx series, IceDice and many others. The Looneys believe that one of the most important things they create is the fun people have while playing their games. For more information, please visit www.looneylabs.com or www.facebook.com/looneylabs.

Highly Anticipated Action Adventure Title Comes to Nintendo 3DS™system March 5th in North America

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate will be available on March 5th, 2013 in North America, exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS™system.  A new trailer for the action packed title has also been released, featuring Trevor Belmont’s story. Dracula’s return is explained during an emotional farewell between Trevor and his son, Simon. Trevor reveals his quest for vengeance of his mother’s murder, at the hands of his father (Gabriel Belmont/Dracul), and gives Simon a pendant that contains a piece of the Mirror of Fate.

Developed by Mercury Steam, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate takes place 25 years after the events ofCastlevania: Lords of Shadow, and is a precursor to the highly anticipated and recently announced Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate reveals the story of Gabriel Belmont’s descendants, Simon and Trevor Belmont, as they battle their own destiny only to discover their true, shocking fate.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate will be available on Nintendo 3DS™ on March 5^th, 2013.

For more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/lordsofshadow

Authentic MOBA Gameplay Available Exclusively for Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation®Network

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces the launch of Guardians of Middle-earth, a new multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Monolith Productions, available today on PlayStation®Network and tomorrow, Dec. 5, 2012, for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

With more than 20 playable Guardian characters available for unparalleled competitive play, Guardians of Middle-earth is $14.99 on PlayStation Network, and 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360. A separate Season Pass can be purchased for just $14.99 more, or 1200 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360, and provides discounted access to a significant amount of additional game content to be released in the future, including Guardian characters and a new gameplay mode.

“Guardians of Middle-earth provides an avenue for fans to experience memorable Middle-earth characters firsthand, including many from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “The game has all of the depth and rich competitive strategy of traditional MOBA games and provides a great entry point for new MOBA players on consoles, since it is set in the familiar fantasy world of Middle-earth.”

In Guardians of Middle-earth, gamers team up as the most powerful heroes from the greatest fantasy epic of all time, bringing up to 10 players together in strategic five versus five competitive multiplayer battle arenas. There will be more than 20 playable Guardian characters available at launch, drawn from both The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy and The Hobbit Film Trilogy, including Gandalf, Nori, Eowyn, Legolas, Galadriel, Sauron and Gollum. Gamers will be able to connect with other players via an in-game voice communication system, as well as access a comprehensive online stat and leader board system where they can track friends’ victories and defeats. The game will include several characters from the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey motion picture, which is set for release on Dec. 14, 2012, directed by Peter Jackson and a production of New Line Cinema and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM).

For more information about Guardians of Middle-earth, please visit the website at www.guardiansofmiddleearth.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GuardiansofMiddleearth
or on Twitter @GuardiansMe

About Monolith Productions
Monolith Productions, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is located in Kirkland, WA. Over the past 15 years, Monolith has risen to critical acclaim through an emphasis on delivering quality products such as F.E.A.R., The Condemned series, Aliens vs. Predator 2, TRON 2.0, the No One Lives Forever franchise and Gotham City Impostors.

About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc., is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.

About The Hobbit Trilogy
A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is the first of three films from filmmaker Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director of “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy. The screenplay for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and the second and third films of the trilogy
are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical
distribution, with select international territories as well as all international
television distribution being handled by MGM.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” will be released on December 14, 2012, with the second film, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” releasing December 13, 2013, and the third film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” slated for July 18, 2014.

 

Innovative Interactive Multiplayer Puzzle Solving Game Originally Invented In Japan Returns To The Bay Area On A Semi-Permanent Basis

NEW PEOPLE, a dynamic entertainment destination bringing the latest examples of Japanese popular culture to North American shores, has teamed up with creative company, SCRAP, to launch a new home for the popular “Real Escape Game” at the notable Japanese Pop Culture venue through 2013.

“The Real Escape Room: SF Vol. 1 – Escape from the Mysterious Room” opens on Friday, December 14^th and will run periodically thru 2013. Multiple game sessions will take place most weekends on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays inside NEW PEOPLE’s 3^rd floor SUPERFROG Gallery space. NEW PEOPLE is located in San Francisco’s Japantown district at 1746 Post St. (Cross St. is Webster Ave.). More information at: www.newpeopleworld.com.

“The Real Escape Room” will be the newly installed, semi-permanent home for the latest version of“The Real Escape Game,” which is an inventive puzzle solving interactive game event, originally created in Japan, which requires players to cooperate and use their intuition and detective skills to solve multiple mysteries within a limited time.

In “The Real Escape Room: SF Vol. 1 – Escape from the Mysterious Room,” players find themselves locked inside a seemingly ordinary room. It has a desk, chairs, a carpet – everything seems normal. But on closer inspection players will find a series of mysterious codes and puzzles that must be solved in order to find a hidden key to escape. The maximum capacity of participants for each game will be limited to 11 people. Game duration is around 1.5 hours (including introductions and a solution walkthrough). More than 10,000 people have played this game in Japan, China, and Taiwan.

The Real Escape Room: SF Vol. 1 – Escape from the Mysterious Room Game Times:

Fridays: 6:30pm, 8:30pm

Saturdays: 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm

Sundays: 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm

Tickets are $28.00 in advance; $33.00 at the door. Tickets and additional information are available at:http://realescapegame.com/rersf1.

“The Real Escape Game thrilled hundreds of players during several sessions held previously in San Francisco, most recently with the Real Escape Game x Evangelion: Escape from an Angel, which was inspired by the hit Evangelion anime series and staged during the 2012 J-Pop Summit Festival last summer,” says Seiji Horibuchi, the President/CEO of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. “We are very excited to again team up withSCRAP to present a brand new installment that will run weekly at the NEW PEOPLE venue. Join other plays and test your powers of deduction and reasoning with this intriguing and fun game!”

About SCRAP Co. & SCRAP Entertainment Inc.

SCRAP Co. (www.scrapmagazine.com), based in Kyoto, Japan, produces the free magazine, “SCRAP” and the Real Escape Game (REG), a new style of live entertainment. Over 200,000 participants have played this game in Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore and the United States. SCRAP Entertainment Inc (RealEscapeGame.com), based in San Francisco, California, is a U.S division of SCRAP Co., and produces REG in the United States.

About NEW PEOPLE, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, California, NEW PEOPLE, Inc. (www.newpeopleworld.com) offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan through its unique entertainment destination as well as through licensing and distribution of selective Japanese films. NEW PEOPLE Entertainment (www.newpeopleent.com), a film division of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the “Kingdom of Pop” for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and anime generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, GANTZ, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, and THE TASTE OF TEA.

Star-Studded Campaign Featuring Glee’s Dianna Agron and Modern Family’s Sarah Hyland To Show How You Don’t Have to Be a Gamer to Enjoy Games on Nintendo 3DS Hand-Held

Consumers in Canada will soon see some famous faces talking about their love for the wide array of games and entertainment options available on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL hand-held systems. On Oct. 1, Nintendo will launch a new campaign called “Play As You Are,” designed to show how all kinds of women and young girls can explore their interests and express their individuality using the portable Nintendo 3DS – whether they consider themselves gamers or not. TV stars Dianna Agron (of Fox’s Glee) and Sarah Hyland (of ABC’s Modern Family) are teaming up with Nintendo to showcase how games for Nintendo 3DS provide female players with fun, creative ways to challenge themselves and share what makes them unique. Both celebrities participating in the “Play As You Are” campaign will show how games for Nintendo 3DS engage their respective interests and personalities:

* Dianna Agron is not only a music lover like her character on Glee, she is also a dedicated fan, blogger and supporter of visual art. Fittingly, she will be featured in ads for Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! (Oct. 1). The game lets players of any artistic skill level learn a wide range of painting and drawing techniques that can be applied in real life, from pencils to paints to pastels. She’ll also appear in spots for the puzzle-solving adventure Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (Oct. 28). Dianna is currently in production on the feature film Malavita, directed by Luc Besson and starring opposite Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer.

* Sarah Hyland is a budding fashionista with a keen eye for clothing trends. Her role as Haley on TV’s Emmy award-winning Modern Family is a great match for her fashion-forward style off-screen. She’ll be seen in ads for Style Savvy:
Trendsetters (Oct. 22), which lets players use thousands of items and accessories to create fabulous looks and manage their own customized clothing boutiques. Hyland also will star in a Nintendo 3DS holiday ad featuring Sparkle Snapshots 3D (Oct. 18), an application that lets users take 2D pictures, decorate them with 3D accents and share them with friends.

“These women are all amazing role models with their own unique tastes and talents,” said Ron Bertram, Nintendo of Canada’s vice-president and general manager. “They know firsthand how Nintendo 3DS can keep them entertained and engaged wherever they go. We think young girls and women of all ages will enjoy hearing what they have to say about their favourite games and activities on Nintendo 3DS.” From puzzle games to role-playing adventures and everything in-between, more than 126 software titles are currently available for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, with more downloadable content added to the online Nintendo eShop every week. In addition to games, consumers can use the system’s built-in 3D camera and applications like Swapnote to connect with friends in creative ways. Nintendo 3DS users can also instantly watch thousands of TV shows and movies on Nintendo 3DS with a Netflix unlimited streaming membership and broadband Internet connection. Since launching in 2011, the original Nintendo 3DS system has sold more than 19 million units worldwide. Nintendo 3DS XL, which launched on Aug. 19, 2012, has 90 percent larger screens than the original Nintendo 3DS, allowing users to immerse themselves even more deeply into their games and entertainment. Both versions of the system include built-in wireless features such as StreetPass and SpotPass, built-in cameras and the ability to enjoy games, movies and video content in 3D without the need for special glasses. Remember that Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii(tm) home console, Nintendo 3DS(tm) and Nintendo DS(tm) family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System(tm), Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 630 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi(tm) and Nintendo DSi XL(tm), as well as the Game Boy(tm), Game Boy Advance, Super NES(tm), Nintendo 64(tm) and Nintendo GameCube(tm) systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario(tm), Donkey Kong(tm), Metroid(tm), Zelda(tm) and Pokémon(tm). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.ca.