Youda Survivor

Originally developed for PC by Youda Games, Youda Survivor topped all major casual game charts and received rave reviews from players and critics alike.

In Youda Survivor you play as Youda, who has been washed up on the seacoast of the mysterious island. Your task is to win over the hearts of the native tribe by proving that you are the one person that can save them from cunning pirates. Obtain mystical tribal items with magical powers, learn rituals to control the weather and use special machines to advance in your quest. Boil powerful potions which make you stronger and score levels as fast as possible to win gold medals. Prove that you have what it takes to survive anywhere and under any circumstances.

I can’t help being excited for this one… I loved indie island survival Stranded Without A Phone, I had a love-hate with the adorable and punishing Lost in Blue 2, and could not stop playing Sims 2: Castaway. Can’t wait to play it!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Supermarket Mania 2 Coming to Kindle Fire January 26!

San Francisco, California – January 18, 2011 – Leading casual games publisher, G5 Entertainment, today announced that its award-winning, highly engaging, time management adventure, Supermarket Mania 2, is rushing into the Kindle Fire on January 26, 2012. Developed and published by G5 Entertainment, Supermarket Mania 2 is a highly polished sequel to an already great game. With millions of players enjoying this superior strategy experience on various gaming platforms, Supermarket Mania 2 is a must-have for every Kindle Fire owner.

In Supermarket Mania 2, you move to Tinseltown with Nikki and her friends to run a Supermarket. You’ll be busy stocking shelves, making milkshakes, brewing coffee, baking croissants, squeezing fresh juice, serving fresh pizza, checking out customers, and keeping the store clean. The customers also come in varying flavors. The most important customers are the celebrities. Every other customer freezes in their tracks as they take snapshots, while the celebrity zooms around the store, and demands everything they want be in stock. This is where the power-ups come in handy. Energy drinks make you move fast as everything around you slows down, a cookie plate makes everyone in the store happy and the cleaning solution makes your store shine in an instant. Utilizing these items at the correct time is crucial, if you’re shooting for the high score.

Join Nikki once again for hours of fun…just remember to keep an eye on Mr. Torg’s dirty tricks!

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Get a Valentine’s gift from Catherine if you preorder

16th January 2012 – Hampshire, UK/… Deep Silver today announced that an exclusive artbook and a soundtrack CD will be available for anyone that will preorder the action-adventure/puzzle mix Catherine that will be released on February 10, 2012.

The artwork in the booklet is not available anywhere else, the same applies to the music tracks from the game that the limited CD will contain.

These preorder items will be available through a special retail partner in each of the territories that the game will be published by Deep Silver in Europe, with GAME being the retail partner for the UK.

Catherine will be released by Deep Silver in Europe in a limited “Stray Sheep Edition” (containing the Rave-T-Shirt that Vincent wears in the game, two Stray Sheep bar-themed coasters, a Catherine poster that  is exclusively available in this edition, all served in a pizza delivery box from the Stray Sheep Bar as  packaging) and as a standard edition. The “Stray Sheep Edition” of Catherine will have a price of EUR 69,99, the standard edition will be available for EUR 59,99.

Catherine will be released in PAL territories for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Catherine will feature localized text in French, Italian, German and Spanish.

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G5 Entertainment will release Stand O’Food 3 on Kindle Fire January 26, 2012

San Francisco, California – January 13, 2012 – Leading casual games publisher G5 Entertainment today announced that its immensely addictive, burger-flipping time management game, Stand O’Food 3, will land on Kindle Fire on January 26, 2012. This award-winning game has topped all major casual game charts and is perfectly suited for the Kindle Fire platform.

Stand O’Food 3 is a fast-paced time management sequel to the most popular burger flipping challenge in which Ronnie the Chef extends his operations to Tinseltown. There, he meets Nikki and Mr. Clarence and disrupts Mr. Torg’s plans for revenge. Open restaurants around Tinseltown, and serve clients fast and healthy food in 25 restaurants under his management. Improvise refining recipes with different flavored sauces like curry, chocolate, spice or blueberry. Keep in mind that customers now have different food preferences and plan your moves in advance. Do your best and you’ll be able to purchase various items: buy new and better French fry machines, soda fountains, jukeboxes and extra plates. Play over 75 levels and 12 bonus levels to unlock over 33 achievements and obtain expert status. An exciting and fast-paced time management/puzzle game, Stand O’Food 3 will definitely entertain and challenge you! The game is developed and published by G5 Entertainment.

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Women 2.0 PITCH Startup Finalists

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Two NYC-based small-studio games, casual MMO Next Island and iOs photogame Herograph, are collaborating to add two Next Island-themed challenges to Herograph.

Herograph is a new superhero photogame, challenging players to snap and share photos in response to questions, and then battle for the top spots in each category. Players can unlock superhero-themed powers and badges based on participation.

Herograph has implemented two Next Island challenges, which reveal more of the MMO’s science fiction backstory, while challenging players to take and share hilarious pictures. Two new badges are available to Herograph players who’ve completed the Next Island challenges.

“Next Island’s players respond in hilarious and creative ways to our screenshot competitions,” Meg Stivison, who works on quests and community engagement for the MMO, says of the joint project, “and who doesn’t love superheroes?”

“In Herograph, players complete real life photo challenges and then compete in mobile photographic battles with their friends! With this collaboration between the two studios, players can experience the exciting world of Next Island by taking on real life photo challenges” the Herograph team of super hero lovers explains.

Herograph is available for the iPhone at http://herogra.ph/ and Next Island is available for the PC at http://NextIsland.com Both games are free to download and play.

About Next Island:

Next Island is a free-to-download and free-to-play virtual world developed on the Entropia Universe platform. Founded in New York by David Post, Next Island attracts casual online gamers and passionate MMOG players alike with its unique blend of gameplay, story and real cash economy. For more information please go to NextIsland.com, find us on Facebook.com/NextIsland, or follow us on Twitter @nextisland.

About Herograph:

Herograph is a photosharing game that makes real life more exciting. Take on a slew of photographic challenges–from striking your most heroic pose to doing a handstand in public. Then use your “herographs” to battle head-to-head with other players. Win points, collect powers, and stand out among Earth’s mightiest heroes. Herograph was designed in New York City and developed in Columbia, MO. Follow us on twitter @herograph

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‘Call Of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land’ Scheduled For Release On The App Store, January 30th 2012

After much chanting and summoning of dark forces, indie developer Red Wasp Design announced that the stars will be right for the release of Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land on the 30^th January 2012. To seal this pact with expectant gamers they have accompanied the date announcement with a slew of never-before released High-Definition images.

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is a turn-based strategy RPG based around the works of cult horror writer H.P.Lovecraft. The game is set in the midst of the First World War and pits a team of soldiers and investigators against an insidious cult intent on using the slaughter of the Great War to open the doors to an invasion of eldritch horrors.

Announced in May this year and set to launch initially on the Apple iPhone® and Apple iPod touch® (both SD and HD versions), Red Wasp Design then later plan to infect other platforms such as the Apple iPad®, Android™, PC and game consoles with their World War One themed turn-based strategy horror. The game has been developed in co-operation with Chaosium, the purveyors of the cult horror role playing game based on Lovecraft’s work, Call of Cthulhu. The much loved RPG marked its 30th year of publication in 2011 and continues to grow in scope and reputation.

Red Wasp Design can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter (@redwaspdesign) and on their site at redwaspdesign.com

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EPIC GAMES AND CHAIR ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE EARNINGS FROM INFINITY BLADE FRANCHISE EXCEED $30 MILLION

Accolades, Strong Sales of Infinity Blade II Further Propel Blockbuster Game Franchise

CARY, N.C. and SALT LAKE CITY (January 5, 2012) – Epic Games, Inc. and its award-winning Salt Lake City-based development studio, ChAIR Entertainment, today announced that earnings from ChAIR’s blockbuster Infinity Blade video game franchise have eclipsed $30 million in just one year since the introduction of the original game. One of the most popular gaming franchises to be launched on the App Store, the award-winning series has also created significant licensing interest in the underlying Unreal Engine 3 technology from developers worldwide.

Further fueling franchise momentum is the recent release of Infinity Blade II, which has seen net earnings in excess of $5 million in just one month since release on Dec. 1, 2011, a mark which took the original title three months to achieve. Infinity Blade II is on pace to exceed the record success of the original Infinity Blade game, which has grossed more than $23 million to date. Additional franchise extensions include Infinity Blade: Awakening, a digital novella from best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, Infinity Blade: Original Soundtrack, which features original music from the games, and Infinity Blade FX, a big screen, coin-op version of Infinity Blade now featured in arcades nationwide.

Infinity Blade II was one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2011 and received dozens of accolades, including several perfect scores and Editors Choice awards. IGN scored the game a “Perfect 10” and named it their 2011 Mobile Game of the Year. USA Today awarded Infinity Blade II another perfect score, calling it “A Masterful Mobile Epic.” Infinity Blade II was crowned Game of the Year by Slide to Play and Touch Gen, and named Mobile Game of the Year by GameSpot and G4TV, among others.  Infinity Blade II was also named among E! Online’s ‘Top 10 Games of 2011,’ one of the ‘Best Apps of 2011’ by Entertainment Weekly, and was cited by Mashable in its ‘5 Major Trends that Changed Digital Entertainment in 2011’ feature.

“The success of the Infinity Blade franchise is testament to our talented team who is devoted to making games we want to play, all while using Unreal Engine technology to redefine what is expected from games on iOS devices,” Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps said. “We have so much more in store for players, and will continue to make great content for Apple’s evolving platforms.”

Infinity Blade II is available for download from the App Store (www.itunes.com/appstore) for $6.99 and is a universal app. The game is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPad 2, iPod touch 3 (16GB+) and iPod touch 4.

To learn more about the Infinity Blade games and novella, follow @InfinityBlade on Twitter, ‘Like’ “Infinity Blade” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/InfinityBladeGame or visit the official website at www.InfinityBladeGame.com.

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Next Island Celebrates Their One Year Anniversary & Gives Away an Epic Gaming Rig from iBuyPower to a Newlander

Next Island, a free-to-play MMO Game, has partnered with one of the top custom gaming-system providers to offer their new users a chance to win an amazing PG gaming rig. The promotion is part of Next Island’s one year anniversary, which the company is celebrating this December.

“We couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with iBuyPower. They’re a leader in creating complete computing solutions that meet the needs of gamers.” said Paul Radil, CGO at Next Island LLC.

Official Contest Link: http://nextisland.info/newlander/ibuypower_Rig_Giveaway/promopage/wrapper/

ABOUT THE PRIZE: iBuyPower custom rig that features an Intel Core i7 960 Tray, 12GB of Memory, 60GB Hard Drive, DVD/BLU-RAY and 4GB Video Card.

HOW TO ENTER:

(1) Download Next Island ( http://install.entropiauniverse.com/download.php)

(2) Create a free account

(3) Fill out an entry form

(4) Play the game and keep those fingers crossed!

Join the utopian scientists, great artists and successful entrepreneurs who populate the tropical paradise of Next Island. As a part of Entropia Universe, the game features a real-cash economy where gamers are able to earn money by participating in various activities within the virtual world.

via Gamasutra

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Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock

BBC Worldwide today released the first details of a major new gaming development for the Doctor Who brand. Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock will be the first of a series of Doctor Who console games developed by BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games marking a significant movement into gaming for this business. Two further Doctor Who console game titles are planned to follow this release with details to be announced next year. Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock is being created in full high definition for digital download platforms and is set for release in early 2012, initially on Playstation 3 ®; Playstation Vita ® and PC platforms.

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock will immerse gamers in the universe of Doctor Who, allowing them to take on the role of the Doctor and River Song as they travel across time and space to save the Earth. Gamers must learn to master the complexities of time travel with exceptional time based game play, changes made in one time will impact another creating multiple possibilities and challenging players to solve puzzles across the centuries.

A wholly new storyline has been developed especially for this new Doctor Who console game franchise, written in collaboration with the BBC Wales team. Photo-real graphics, television quality scenes and highly realistic characters will bring the world of Doctor Who to life immersing fans completely in the twists and turns of an action filled plot. The stars of the series Matt Smith (the Doctor) and Alex Kingston (River Song) have recorded full voiceovers for their characters in Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock and motion capture has been used to create in-game characters that are incredibly realistic providing the ultimate Doctor Who gaming experience.

The game is being developed by Supermassive Games (www.supermassivegames.com), experienced Playstation and PC developers based in the UK who were a Develop Excellence Awards New Studio Finalist in 2011.

Robert Nashak, EVP of Digital Entertainment at BBC Worldwide said: “We’re creating these new games for Playstation 3 and Vita with adaptations that will bring the wonder, adventure and madness of Doctor Who to each platform. Working with a top-tier UK development partner like Supermassive Games demonstrates BBC Worldwide’s commitment to create world-class Doctor Who games for fans of the show and gamers alike.”

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Counter Strike,The God game

Counter Strike trailer

Counter Strike is a first-person shooter in which players join either the terrorist team, the counter-terrorist team, or become a spectator. Each team attempts to complete their mission objective and/or eliminate the opposing team. Each round starts with the two teams.A player can choose to play as one of four different default character models. Players are generally given a few seconds before the round begins to prepare and buy equipment, during which they cannot attack or walk/move.They can return to the buy area within a set amount of time to buy more equipment.Once the round has ended, surviving players retain their equipment for use in the next round; players who were killed begin the next round with the basic default starting equipment.Standard monetary bonuses are awarded for winning a round, losing a round, killing an enemy, being the first to instruct a hostage to follow, rescuing a hostage or planting the bomb.Killed players become “spectators” for the duration of the round; they cannot change their names until they spawn (come alive) again, text chat cannot be sent to or received from live players; and voice chat can only be received from live players and not sent to them.Spectators are generally able to watch the rest of the round from multiple selectable views, although some servers disable some of these views to prevent dead players from relaying information about living players to their teammates through alternative media.Cheats,scripts,hacks are also used in this game ,but people found cheating are banned permanently and are not allowed to enter the server again.So play fair,go pro.

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Next Island Players Getting Transformers 3 Virtual Goods :: YOUR Electronics, Movies and Gaming Network

Via Online class to teach Dwarf Fortress – Boing Boing

Gweek listener Nekomancer says: “If anyone is interested in learning Dwarf Fortress, I am teaching a class on how to play from the basics to the advanced aspects over at University of Reddit. All are welcome!”

Dwarf Fortress Basics is a class for beginner to intermediate players. I will be covering all aspects of the Fortress Mode from world generation, to more advanced topics such as military and nobles.

Class begins August 3rd!

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TransGaming Announces $50,000 GameTree Developer Competition Finalists

TransGaming Inc.  the global leader in the multiplatform deployment of games, today announced the three finalists of the GameTree Developer Competition, which offered game developers worldwide the opportunity to submit their games for the chance to win a $50,000 grand prize. The finalists will be distributed on the GameTree TV platform, immediately delivering them to the forefront of the Smart TV gaming revolution in consumers’ connected living rooms. The three finalists in alphabetical order are:

             Bubblenauts: The Hunt for Jolly Roger's Treasure by Western Star
             Entertainment is a nautical-themed puzzle game where players can dive
             into the hunt for underwater treasure by solving puzzles to unlock
             special powers.

             Smiles HD by Sykhronics Entertainment is a new and addictive matching
             game, featuring incredibly fun game modes and adorable themes where
             players can rack up huge combos and even bigger scores.

             Yo Deshi by Proper Games is a cerebral martial arts-themed board game
             that challenges players of all skill levels with customizable options
             in a unique, multi-player puzzle experience that will not disappoint!

The winner of the GameTree Developer Competition and the $50,000 grand prize will be determined by a panel of celebrity judges including actor, director, producer and writer LeVar Burton, President of Development at Jerry Bruckheimer Games Inc., Jay Cohen, and Lorne Lanning, Co-founder of Oddmobb, Inc. The winner will be announced at the industry-leading Casual Connect Seattle conference during the Minna Mingle on Wednesday, July 20th.

“The incredible response to the GameTree Developer Competition affirms that the game development community views our cloud gaming platform, GameTree TV, as a top choice for the distribution of their games on Smart TV”, commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming. “GameTree TV provides an unparalleled market opportunity for game developers worldwide to directly reach a rapidly growing audience.”

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New Call of Duty Trailer

Well? What do you think?

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New Indie Game: How To Get Girls.

I don’t even know where to begin.

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The Chosen: Gameplay Trailer

The new Chinese free-to-play MMO The Chosen from Snail Games offers six playable classes — Sword, Blade, Bow, Flute, Fan, and Scroll — and invites players to chose one and join the battle between the Light and Dark kingdoms. In addition to a basic character class, players will be able to develop any of a possible 160 skills, as well as gaining items, clothes, weapons and armor, and animal sidekicks for a very customized character.

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Unreal Engine 3 and Simplygon

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (June 30, 2011) – Donya Labs, creators of leading 3D optimization solutions for video games, announce the integration of its state-of-the-art middleware, Simplygon, with Epic Games’ award-winning Unreal Engine 3 (UE3). Donya Labs is the newest addition to Epic Games’ premier Unreal Engine 3 Integrated Partners Program and through its membership maintains code and feature parity for Simplygon in step with the engine as it evolves.

In addition to Unreal Engine 3 licensees having access to the Simplygon integration, users of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of UE3, now can utilize Simplygon via the Unreal Editor. Simplygon’s basic mesh reduction features are available to all UDK users in the June 2011 UDK Beta, and Donya and Epic will work together to integrate the full feature set of Simplygon into Unreal Engine during coming months. UDK developers may use Simplygon’s integrated features for all projects, commercial and non-commercial, as part of Epic’s offer.

Simplygon is used to automatically generate game-ready Level of Detail models (LODs) for a specific pixel resolution by removing as much information as possible without degrading LOD quality for a certain onscreen size. Simplygon uses proprietary 3D reduction methods that retain geometrical LOD integrity and visual quality of LOD switching, producing AutoLODs that can directly be used inside triple-A games.

Unreal Engine 3 leverages Simplygon to provide high-quality mesh reduction without having to leave the Unreal Editor. Developers can quickly simplify meshes, generate LODs, and immediately see the results in their maps.

“Simplygon saves developers hundreds to thousands of hours of manual art adjustment, so we are pleased to extend those benefits to our licensees with its incorporation into Unreal Engine 3,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. “Simplygon is especially useful for converting high-end PC assets for deployment on mobile devices, which dovetails with Unreal Engine 3’s cross-platform strengths.”

“Epic Games has for long been a key producer of world-class video games and cutting-edge game development technology. Through Unreal Engine 3 and Unreal Development Kit, Epic has further extended its technology to an even broader audience and range of platforms,” said Dr. Max Hamedi, CEO of Donya Labs. “We are very pleased to now be able to help all Unreal Engine developers to “Automagically” optimize any 3D for any platform.”

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Twistianapolis 500

Twistanapolis 500 at IndieCade reviewed.

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Infested Planet Beta

Indie dev Alex Vostrov from Rocket Bear Games is offering his new upcoming game Infested Planet for preorder/beta. When players preorder Infested Planet, they get early access to the beta build of the game. I think I’m going to start calling this type of release the MineCraft model…

Via Infested Planet on Indie Game Mag

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MMO Hellgate will launch Open Beta Testing

T3 Entertainment’s free-to-play MMO Hellgate will launch Open Beta Testing for North American and European audiences on June 30th, 2011. The Open Beta will include two new game modes – the PvP Duel Area and the zombie-infested Cow Room.

Duel Area allows players to participate in a player-vs.-player mode. Players may opt to modify game settings and other battle rules while choosing from four possible areas: Abandoned Passage, Black Wall Way, Forgotten Grave, and Passage of Hallucination. In the Duel Area, players enter Death Match mode and must kill members of the opposing team. To aid combatants in the frenzy, Recovery Crystals are available near each team’s base, allowing players to recover HP, MP and shields. The winning team will get PvP points, which may be used to purchase accessories, pets and other items in-game. PvP updates will be posted on Hellgate’s website, where weekly top ten players will be rewarded.

Despite its name, the Cow Room won’t involve our milk-making friends. Instead, it will be crawling with a team of zombies – normal zombies and mummified. While the zombies may appear weak, players must remain vigilant and slay the Cow Room boss and his zombie cronies, all while avoiding a vision-reducing Sandstorm. But in order to enter the Cow Room, players first need to complete a special recipe to create a key. Players that can handle the madness have a chance to gain the newest and rarest Hellgate item drops.

In addition to the two new game modes, Hellgate will celebrate the Open Beta launch with four special events to strengthen the growing Hellgate community. The Guild Reservoir event will encourage teamwork and collaboration as guilds with 30 or more members join together to earn rewards including nano shards or Palladiums on a per member basis. The Daily Supplies event will run for one month and will scatter daily supplies ranging from Resurrection scrolls to Power message abilities around the Greenwich headquarters. Once a day players will have a chance to acquire up to four awesome items.

How can players level up faster? To Level in Hell will challenge players to level up as fast as they can until level 20. The Game Masters will pick 10 lucky entries to win 3,000 TCoins each. Hellgate will be giving away more than ever before with their final event for Open Beta, Level and Be Rewarded, which will bestow special prizes on all players who reach level 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50. There is truly a special prize waiting for everyone when you enter the Hellgate Open Beta on June 30!

To find out more about Hellgate and to sign up for the OBT, visit http://hellgate.t3fun.com.

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Elysian Transmission

I first blogged about Next Island in 2009, so it’s not that odd to be posting a trailer for it, right? The odd part is that I’m the computer voice in this trailer.

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Nexon giants, KartRider, MapleStory to enter the mobile and social game space

Nexon to publish KartRider Rush for iOS and Android, and MapleStory Adventures for Facebook

Los Angeles, CA (March 3, 2011) – Nexon is entering the mobile and social gaming markets with versions of two of its most popular worldwide titles, KartRider and MapleStory. Nexon has plans to publish KartRider Rush on the iOS and Android platforms and MapleStory Adventures on the Facebook platform later this year. KartRider Rush launches later this month, and MapleStory Adventures is set to launch this summer.

KartRider Rush, playable soon on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and on Android devices later this summer, is a mobile version of Nexon’s KartRider, which boasts more than 200 million registered players worldwide. KartRider Rush will allow up to four players to race against each other on unique and challenging maps in both a battle mode and time trial mode. A single player mode allows players to race against AIs in Item Mode and Speed Mode, and players can compare their scores against friends using Facebook Connect. KartRider Rush’s microtransaction-based model allows players to download and play the game for free, and also provides the option to extend the gameplay experience through the purchase of additional tracks, karts, characters and more.

MapleStory Adventures will be available on Facebook this summer, taking the original and familiar colorful 2D side-scrolling adventure, MapleStory, and adapting it to a simpler interface. MapleStory Adventures will allow Facebook users to participate in quests and challenges while inviting friends to help in combat. The game will also follow Nexon’s microtransaction-based model, which will let players play all of MapleStory Adventures for free while offering the ability to enhance the gameplay experience through the purchases of in-game items.

“Expanding our global IPs into the social and mobile gaming space is a watershed moment in Nexon’s global expansion efforts,” said Daniel Kim, Nexon America’s CEO. “Not only will this move provide new ways for hundreds of millions of fans worldwide to experience Nexon’s games, it allows Nexon the opportunity to prove the robustness of its business model on new platforms.”

Nexon was the world’s first game developer to successfully commercialize microtransaction games. With the release of MapleStory in 2005, Nexon has also led the way in the use of the microtransaction business model in North America.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Watch Gamers on Hulu

Director Ben Gonyo’s light-hearted documentary film Gamers has found a home on
HULU and is making a splash in more ways than one. The film was ranked at the top of
HULU’s documentary channel the entire first week.

The film has been applauded for Gonyo’s funny, charismatic on screen performance, the
abundance of MMO game scene information and the wide range of subjects. It has been
criticized by hardcore gamers who complain that Gonyo is not one of them, has placed
too much emphasis on WOW and has, “only interviewed nerdy gamers.”

Of the launch Gonyo said, “HULU has been great. So many people are seeing the film
I’ve worked a long time to make. Most of the response has been positive but I understand
the critics, you can’t please everyone. Everything is honest and I stand by the film 100%.
Most gamers have a good sense of humor and I enjoyed spending time with them.”

GUEST APPEARANCES
Comedian Jay Mohr vividly recalls his experience hosting BlizzCon while Curt
Schilling (Red Sox) discusses his $30 million dollar MMO project. NY Times Best
Selling Fantasy author, RA Salvatore details what makes for a great character while
Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan explains building the epic game play of World of Warcraft.

FACTS:
There are 100+ million gamers in America alone. World of Warcraft has 11.5 million
subscribers paying $15 a month to play. The global video game market is valued at $45
billion, that’s $1,200 every second of every day spent on gaming. The budget for a top
tier MMO is north of $20 million and is four times more likely to be a hit than a film with
the same budget. Gaming has surpassed film and music sales over the last decade.

Popularity: 2% [?]

VGA Winners

Los Angeles, CA, Saturday, December 11, 2010 – Spike TV’s eighth annual “Video Game Awards” was a night to remember, as industry giants gathered to celebrate the outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the world of gaming over the past year.  Hosted by acclaimed television, film, stage and video game star Neil Patrick Harris and featuring world premiere footage from thirteen highly anticipated releases, the two-hour event premiered LIVE, BOTH COASTS, on Spike TV Saturday, December 11 at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT from The LA Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

“This was a huge night for the gaming universe,” said Casey Patterson, executive producer Spike TV’s “Video Game Awards.”  “We honored the best and previewed the future of games next year with incredible world premieres.”

A host of gaming industry developers and other luminaries from all over the entertainment world witnessed Rockstar Games’ “Red Dead Redemption” net four awards including “Game of the Year,” “Best Song,” “Best Original Score,” and “Best DLC.”

Other multiple winners included “Mass Effect 2” which took home three prominent awards, including “Studio of the Year” for the game’s developer BioWare, “Best Xbox 360 Game” and “Best RPG,” and “God of War III” which won “Best PS3 Game” and “Best Graphics.”

The show featured use of ground breaking augmented reality technology, conceived by Done and Dusted; with Lee Lodge, in partnership with Weider Design, Full Mental Jacket, and Orad.
Among the star-studded list of presenters, attendees and nominees at Spike TV’s “VGAs 2010” were AnnaLynne McCord, “Thor: God of Thunder” video game star Chris Hemsworth, Dane Cook, Olivia Munn, Dominic Monaghan, Michael Chiklis, Academy Award nominated film director Guillermo Del Toro, “Halo: Reach” star and VGA 2010 nominee Nathan Fillion, Nick Swardson, Tony Hawk and the cast from the hit series “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” Danny DeVito, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney.  The night also featured a performance by Grammy Award-winning rock band and “Gran Turismo 5” soundtrack contributors My Chemical Romance, who performed “Planetary (GO!)” from their new album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.

The 2010 “VGAs” featured thirteen exclusive world premieres, including “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception,”  “Batman: Arkham City,” “Resistance 3,” “Thor: God of Thunder,” and “Most Anticipated Game” award winner “Portal 2.”

The “VGAs” pays tribute to the outstanding achievements of games, designers, animation, breakthrough technology, music and performances of the past year in the world of video games. The awards also provide a glimpse of the future of gaming – including exclusive sneak peeks and world premiere footage of some of the hottest and most anticipated games of 2011 and beyond.

A full list of winners is included below:

GAME OF THE YEAR

Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games / Rockstar San Diego)

STUDIO OF THE YEAR

BioWare

BEST XBOX 360 GAME

Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts / BioWare)

BEST PS3 GAME

God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment / SCE Studios Santa Monica)

BEST Wii GAME

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo / Nintendo)

BEST PC GAME

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)

BEST HANDHELD GAME

God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Sony Computer Entertainment / Ready At Dawn Studios)

BEST SHOOTER

Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision / Treyarch)

BEST ACTION ADVENTURE GAME

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)

BEST RPG

Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts / BioWare)

BEST MULTI-PLAYER

Halo: Reach (Microsoft / Bungie Studios)

BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (Electronic Arts / EA Tiburon)

BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME

NBA 2K11 (2K Sports / Visual Concepts)

BEST DRIVING GAME

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (Electronic Arts / Criterion Games)

BEST MUSIC GAME

Rock Band 3 (MTV Games / Harmonix)

BEST SOUNDTRACK

DJ Hero 2 (Activision / FreeStyleGames)

BEST SONG IN A GAME

Far Away by José González (Red Dead Redemption)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games / Rockstar San Diego)

BEST GRAPHICS

God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment / SCE Studios Santa Monica)

BEST ADAPTED VIDEO GAME

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft       Chengdu)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN MALE

Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker / Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions / Activision)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN FEMALE

Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty / Blizzard Entertainment)

BEST DOWNLOADABLE GAME

Costume Quest (THQ / Double Fine Productions)

BEST DLC

Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare (Rockstar Games / Rockstar San Diego)

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME

Limbo (PlayDead)

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME

Portal 2 (Valve / Valve)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Updates from VGA

Bethesda announces Skyrim 11-11-11

Meg laughs as the sound goes out.

Ohh! It’s Thirteen! Ok, I guess you’re forgiven for leaving House now. Maybe.

Popularity: 1% [?]