feelforit is another IndieCade finalist. This one is interactive art for the iToy, I’m really interested in checking it out, it reminds me a bit of my other ambient indie favorites, Osmos and Eufloria.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Immediately after launching Coconut Dodge, UK studio FuturLab is asking for your help naming their next game. The new game is “a futuristic shoot ‘em up that features a unique teleport mechanic”.

FuturLab’s Managing Director, James Marsden said: “Coconut Dodge has been scoring very well with reviewers and gamers, with many people considering it the best example of what the minis platform can offer. However, with only a tiny budget for marketing we’ve found it very difficult to get traction with a larger audience. So, this time we thought of a way to get as much attention as possible!”

John Griffin, FuturLab’s New Projects Director added: “The puzzle was a creative way to grab people’s attention, and this competition is a great way to invite fans of Coconut Dodge and the wider gaming community to take part in our next production. People can suggest names for the game in addition to the lead character, and we can’t wait to see what people come up with!”

Go here to name the game!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Games are about the relationships between objects in space. Many games involve objects bonking into each other, shooting each other (with other objects), avoiding each other, and simply milling around. While you’re writing a game, you usually think about objects, their characteristics, and how they interact with the player as well as with each other.
Games need to react to the player. The player should manipulate a virtual presence, and the game should react accordingly. Some games are turn based, and some are in real time, but all require more immediate feedback than traditional types of programs.

Macromedia Flash is a very good environment for learning basic game programming
ideas. Here are a number of reasons for starting with Flash:
1. Flash offers robust multimedia support.
Flash, which was designed to support animation on the Web, supports various kinds of images easily. (Think JPEG images and custom drawings.) See how to use the drawing
features of Flash in Chapter 9. Flash also has great support for various kinds of audio files, such as MP3 and WAV formats. You incorporate audio into your games in Chapter 8.
2. ActionScript is related to the influential C language.
The ActionScript programming language built into Flash is closely related to JavaScript
and ECMAScript, which are two extremely common programming languages. All these languages are based on the C programming language, so the coding conventions you’ll master are much like those in other languages.
3. Flash is designed for the Web.
By working in Flash, you have a ready distribution network. Because Flash was designed for the Web, all your games can be easily published on the Web, and anybody with a Web
browser and a Flash plug-in can enjoy your games. And you won’t have to worry about what operating system your users use. (All the programs in this book have been tested in Windows XP and Fedora Core Linux, but they should work in any OS with a Flash plug-in.)

If you want to know a good flash games like what, Just Visit this Site. If you are looking for free games to play online you are in the right place. You can find hundreds of free online games for free.
Free Online Games
There is a lot of free flash online games in there. You can play what you want to play every time and every where. Just Click on the Logo to play.

A good game has a good story, and it also has some form of user interaction.
In Flash, the player uses the mouse and keyboard as primary input devices.
Although these devices might seem limiting (compared with a more sophisticated
joystick or driving console), you can do many things with these basic
forms of input. For Example Like Bunny Grab which the game is about Help the Nesquik Bunny grab as abounding glasses as he can afore the time runs out.

Although Flash doesn’t directly support joystick input, users can easily use
modern joysticks with the games you can write in Flash. Most joysticks now
come with programs that allow the user to map keystrokes to keyboard commands.
In effect, by allowing keyboard input, you also allow rudimentary joystick
input. A game should also look good and sound good, but these things don’t matter if the game isn’t fun. Some of the best games ever have incredibly limited graphics and sound.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Swedish indie devs, The Bearded Ladies, are announce the launch of their retro-inspired helicopter-adventure game Landit Bandit. The game promises co-op or duel mode, sexy girls and killer penguins.

The feel-good digital game of the summer has finally landed. Literally. Join eccentric characters Marley and Lander, as well as hot island babes and Tommy Gun-wielding penguins in Landit Bandit: a retro-looking, 3D casual-physics-based-helicopter game now available on the PlayStation®3 Network priced at a mouth-watering 12.99 Euros.

Landit Bandit has the depth of a cool-blue ocean and offers gameplay to suit a universal audience. Players can compete for the high-score on the global leaderboard – as well as battle head-to-head in 6 unique duels – or work co-operatively across a 20-level campaign against the backdrop of gorgeous 3D levels ranging from the picturesque desert islands to the cool, ice-filled tundra, each packed with enough humour to keep you laughing out loud from one level to the next.

David Skarin, CTO of The Bearded Ladies is elated at the release, “To have our game on the PlayStation®3 Network is great. Its a testimony to the hard work and raw talent of our small independent studio. We’ve defeated a string of self-imposed, gruelling milestones and overcome technical challenges akin to the cerebral workout being offered in the game that would leave any bearded lady weeping. The release brings joy to our hearts, although the real excitement is going to come in monitoring the reaction of the players”.

CEO/Producer, Haraldur Thormundsson added, “We have fulfilled our dreams with the release of Landit Bandit on the Sony PlayStation store. Its been one of the most rewarding expeditions I’ve been part of to date. To have shared the milestone with such a talented – not to mention eccentric group of creatives – is also very special. We’re all confident that players will enjoy the retro-goodness and LOL just as much as we did during the development”.

The North American gaming community can expect to get their hands on the controls of Landit Bandit from July 13^th.

Popularity: 4% [?]

From the press release:

Tampere, Finland – July 1, 2010 – 10tons Ltd announced today a brand new game called Heroes of Kalevala. Heroes of Kalevala is a village-building match-3 game. The game world is inspired by Finnish national epic Kalevala. The game will feature state of the art match-3 mechanics, an extensive village building meta game, and several hero characters from Kalevala for the player to meet.
“We’ve always loved match-3 games that are original and provide polished playability. We created a tiny match-3 game called Ice Breaker way back in 2004 and now we wanted to revisit this classic genre.”, said Sampo Töyssy of 10tons. “Our goal was to create a modern match-3 game with all the best parts from existing games seasoned with some new twists. We also have an original meta game that interacts heavily with the match-3 game. Since the whole team is from Finland, it’s been fun and interesting to create a game that draws inspiration from Kalevala.”
Heroes of Kalevala will be available for iPhone and iPod touch around August 2010. More platforms will be announced later. Heroes of Kalevala is developed with the support of the MEDIA programme of the European Union.

Popularity: 2% [?]

TERA already won my love with their gorgeous concept art. (A larger version of the picture above is my laptop’s wallpaper — and that’s saying something, considering I get new game assets in the mail every day) I’m really excited to see their new MMO at E3

En Masse Entertainment, a new breed of game publisher focused on delivering highly anticipated online video games to Western audiences, announced today that it will present the first hands-on demo of its flagship Action MMO title, TERA™, at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 in Los Angeles. The hands-on demo will focus on TERA’s groundbreaking action combat system, which allows players to step into a world where their actions, teamwork, and combat expertise—not statistics—give them a chance to become true heroes in the face of danger.

“At E3, people will have the chance to experience firsthand what makes TERA‘s gameplay so exciting,” said En Masse CEO Dr. Jae-Heon Yang. “Select media will form a party with varied roles and venture forth to experience their first battle using our innovative action/adventure style combat system. During the show, players will see how TERA is changing the rules of MMO combat.”

TERA is an innovative Action MMORPG with rich graphics and animations where players fully control their characters through the game’s dynamic battle system. Player actions in TERA can change the balance of power in a world threatened by dark powers as six allied races work together to protect their world. The game, which is currently in development for PC, will launch in North America and Europe in 2011.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I blogged on Pet Puppy, and thought on virtual pets in general, over on DIYGamer this morning:

I think there’s a lot of potential in a cute virtual pet game for the iPhone. A good one would blend all the adorable options of a Tamagotchi (remember those?), with the ease of an iPhone interface and touchscreen, and a great game would let users exchange items or let me bring my virtual pet to play with your virtual pet if we were in the same place.

It got me thinking about another virtual pet game for the iToy.  Pocket Creatures is a cute virtual pet, the video reminds me of making a monster in Black & White or training a Sims pet.

Via A ‘Pet Puppy’ For Your iToy | DIYgamer, Pocket Creatures

Popularity: 1% [?]

Ok, maybe not smarter exactly, but a new study shows it does increase brain function.

SEATTLE, Washington – May 26th, 2010 — PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual video games, today announced that preliminary results of a new study being conducted by East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab have identified improvements in cognitive function through the playing of “casual” video games such as Bejeweled and Peggle. (PopCap Games, maker of the aforementioned games used in the study, did not underwrite the study.) The study, which has been underway for nearly six months and will be completed later this year, involves dozens of U.S. consumers age 50 and older, and explores the effects of the games on subjects’ short term cognitive acuity. In each instance, sizable improvements were identified in the performance of the experimental group as compared to the control group.

Dr. Carmen Russoniello, Director of the Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic at ECU, is presenting initial data and analysis from the study today at the 6th annual Games for Health Conference in Boston. Full study results will be submitted this fall for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

“The initial results of the study are very intriguing, in that they suggest that the ‘active participation’ required while playing a casual video game like Bejeweled provides an opportunity for mental exercise that more passive activities, like watching television, do not,” said Russoniello. “Future applications could include prescriptive applications using casual video games to potentially stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-type disorders.”

More than 40 test subjects have participated in the study so far, with dozens more being included by the study’s completion. Measurements were achieved through tracking of Electroencephalography (EEG) brain waves as well as subjects’ participation in the standardized Trail Making Test™ parts A and B. Both cognitive response time (the speed with which a subject completes a task) and executive function (the frequency of correctly completing parts of the task) were tracked. Those subjects who played Bejeweled or Peggle for short (30 minute) periods showed an 87% improvement in cognitive response time and a 215% increase in executive functioning when compared to a control group. According to ECU, these improvements in overall cognitive acuity are comparable to changes recorded after other types of cognitive interventions such as mindfulness based cognitive therapy and cognitive remediation therapy.

“Video games with more complex rules and controls, and more sophisticated or detailed imagery – so-called ‘hardcore’ video games – might provide similar cognitive benefits for many people,” said Russoniello. “But those games take significantly longer to learn to play and appeal to a considerably narrower subset of the overall population, especially older consumers. In our experience, ‘casual’ video games are ideal both in terms of their accessibility and ease of understanding and because they appeal to nearly everyone.”

Via GamesPress

Popularity: 2% [?]

Jason at the Brick Show reviews the LEGO set 7569 Desert Attack, the fifth and final set in the Prince of Persia collection. The Brick Show works out price per piece, always interesting with a playset, and pre-tests the assembly difficulty and suitability for kids, in case you were thinking of getting this for a little niece or nephew. He rates this one as an 8 for little ones, and a 6 for adult collectors, because we probably won’t be making the Hassassins chase the hero around on the carpet.  (But you never know.)

It’s no secret that we love LEGOs at ThumbGods. And if you haven’t signed up for the beta of Lego Universe, what are you waiting for?

Via the Lego blog BrickShow

Popularity: 2% [?]

Just saw the announcement from Majesco (the people behind Cooking Mama, Gardening Mama, and Crafting Mama) that they’ll be working on a new Martha Stewart game. I really like the Martha Stewart cookbooks (what’s not to like about easy recipes and gorgeous food photography?), but I thought the related TV show and magazine were pretty disappointing. I don’t have high hopes for the game, I expect it to be more of the underwhelming-spinoff variety, but I’m ready to be proved wrong!

And even if it’s not the greatest game ever, the fact that there’s a Martha Stewart game at all says something good about breaking the stereotype that all games are slobs living in their mom’s basement.

From the press release:

NEW YORK, NY and EDISON, NJ, April 20, 2010 -Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) and Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced a strategic partnership to develop and produce interactive electronic games based on MSLO’s expansive portfolio of award-winning lifestyle content. Under the terms of the partnership, Majesco receives the exclusive worldwide rights to publish these games.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Martha Stewart brand to bring sensibility to the video game market,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia offers a vast wealth of content and has a passionate following. Branching into the interactive entertainment space is a natural next step, and Majesco Entertainment is proud to be the exclusive partner.”

“Majesco Entertainment is well respected for bringing consumer-friendly titles to the mass market and has a proven track record of tapping the interests of family and non-traditional video game players,” said Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. “Women are increasingly engaged in social gaming. We feel confident that this new offering will delight loyal customers who are active in the space while introducing a new generation to the brand.”

Via Majesco Entertainment – For all your gaming needs

Popularity: 4% [?]

Kelvin’s Space Ranch is a cutely futuristic time management game with an educational slant from Incubator Games, the Canada-based team behind the upcoming Tribes of Mexica game, for Science Alberta. Players raise chickens and cows for eggs and milk.

The game is available online here. (Is anyone else having trouble getting Chrome and Unity to play nicely together? Just me? Kelvin’s Space Ranch runs smoothly in Firefox, though.) Here’s the trailer:

Popularity: 1% [?]

Max and the Magic Marker, from Legacy Interactive, is available now:

LOS ANGELES, CA (April 16, 2010) – Casual games developer and publisher Legacy Interactive announced today the release of Max and the Magic Marker, an award-winning physics platformer that challenges players to draw their way through 15 innovative and challenging levels. It is now available for PC/Mac on Legacy Games at www.legacygames.com.

Max and the Magic Marker, developed by Play Press, gives players complete control as they draw out solutions and face innumerable traps, monsters and tricky puzzles. Limited only by the imagination of the player, every obstacle has an endless number of solutions. Since its inception, it has been widely acclaimed, with its development team winning the Independent Games Festival 2010 D2D Vision Award, EIGA 2009 Innovative Game Design Award, Best Overall 2009 Unity Award, and DGA 2010 Talent of the Year.

“Fun gameplay, innovative ideas and loads of options make you replay levels over and over again.” – GamingXP

“Max & the Magic Marker is a charming puzzle platformer with pleasant visuals and a simple soundtrack. Part of the fun is noticing the details, like how the little monsters can pull out bright yellow construction hats to protect them from your pen.” – Gamespot

“The physics and drawing are spot on and it has a great art style. One of the most enjoyable games with a little boy with a giant orange mohawk as the protagonist that I have ever played!” – 411 Mania

Featuring three lovingly designed game worlds based on children’s drawings, adults and children of all ages will be immediately drawn into the 2D world of Max and the Magic Marker!

Max and the Magic Marker is available for PC/Mac on Legacy Games at www.legacygames.com and in leading retail stores, and will be appearing on popular digital distribution portals.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I love writing about gaming and social relationships and the connections between the two, but I don’t usually like posting about games and relationship troubles. It always seems to reinforce either the stereotype of the inconsiderate boyfriend ignoring his poor girlfriend to get to the next level, or the controlling girlfriend whining about how much time and money her guy spends on stupid games.

But I just had to share a Facebook page called If 1,000,000 people join I will DEMOLISH my boyfriends XBOX360. (By the way, if your name is Michael and your girlfriend is called Samantha, and she’s been pouting when you play games, well, there might be an unpleasant surprise in your immediate future.)

Um, yeah. Let me state for the record that talking to your game-obsessed boyfriend or dumping your inconsiderate SO is a much more reasonable response, and a lot less like a felony.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Ok, so it’s not a game, but who doesn’t love dancing robotic hexapods?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Publisher Paradox Interactive (of Majesty 2, East India Company and Elven Legacy), and new developer Arrowhead Game Studio have released a new preview trailer for the upcoming console game Magicka.

If you watch game trailers and read games news as much as I do, you’re probably sick of hearing how this release is completely groundbreaking and new and the most epic awesomeness EVER. But Arrowhead Game Studios knows that a fantasy RPG really involves running around the forest in your bathrobe, waving a glowy weapon.

Yeah, sure, Magicka will also have a fancy elemental magic system, when you can combine your water power and your fire power and make a steam attack (could you also combine water and earth for a killer mud attack?), but I think they had me at “prancing around in a bathrobe.”

Arrowhead Games is brand new to me (Have you heard anything about them? Comment and let me know!), and Paradox Interactive also expects to release Arsenal of Democracy later this month and Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West later this year.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Just in case you don’t have enough time-wasters on Facebook (I’m looking at you, FarmVille players), here’s something new to try:

The Konami code, named after the Japanese company behind classics like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and the Nintendo Contra classics, is one of video-gaming’s most storied cheats. During development of the 1985 Konami arcade game Gradius, a programmer found the game to be too difficult and programmed in a key sequence — up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A — that, if entered, gave the player a set of the game’s power-ups. As word of the shortcut spread, other programmers aped his cheat, working the same sequence into their own games. The Konami code works in nearly 100 video games now, including Frogger and Dance Dance Revolution.

And now it works for Facebook. Try it for yourself — log in to Facebook and type the code: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, enter. It doesn’t matter where you type it: just have the Facebook page open and active. The result? Lens flares — those groovy circles that appear when pointing a camera into the sun — appear on your page with every click of the mouse. Useful? Not in the slightest. But they’re easy enough to get rid of — logout and they’re gone.

Reading this made me immediately made me tab over to Facebook and type in XYZZY to see what would happen

Via Konami Code: Facebook Uses Video-Game Cheat, Adds Flare – TIME

Popularity: 3% [?]

From the burda:ic press release:

This is what adventurers have been waiting for: On November 25, 2009, the games publisher burda:ic will start the Closed Beta phase for the eagerly anticipated free-2-play online strategy game highlight Avalon Heroes. Starting immediately, all registered members can sign up for the one-of-a-kind Closed Beta at alaplaya.net/pages/ahcbapplication. With a little luck, this means that they will already get to marvel at the impressive skills and weapons of the game characters before the release date. Moreover, in the official Closed Beta forum at avalon.alaplaya.net/forum, players will be able to find more detailed information and share what they experienced in the game.

Popularity: 6% [?]

One day, you’re standing on the dock, waving goodbye to a friend, when you slip and fall and land in a crate, which is sealed and loaded onto a cargo ship, which is caught up in a storm and your Sim is shipwrecked on a deserted island! Your poor shipwrecked Sim must survive on this island, at first by finding food, building a shelter and starting a fire.

The zaniness we love about the Sims arrives in Castaway once you’ve gotten a handle on sleeping and not-starving. Your Sim can build an SOS sign for Dharma initiative-style airdrops of random things, like a victrola or a candy bar.  As you collect island items, you can cook tasty dinners (your Sim was getting tired of bugs and raw fish), make new clothes, make tools or decorations, build a new house, make a canoe and just create all kind of island crafts. You can even make and play an ocarina! And, as you explore more, you’ll also befriend the other island refugees, and check out the ancient temple. All tropical islands have an ancient temple, don’t you know?

I’ve written such angry things about sparkly pink shopping games as “girls’ games”, that I hate to admit when I fall into a traditional girl pattern, but, well, I love pretend cooking. I like it in World of WarCraft, too, if that make me sound any less like an eight-year-old girl. I also like making Sim clothes and playing dress-up. Castaway avoids being an unappealingly feminine game by also having survival puzzles and mini-games about fish-catching and fire-building. Oh, and the game’s not pink, which is always good in my book.

Sims 2: Castaway seemed to make much better use of the DS interface than Sims 2. In the regular Sims 2, you’re forced to ignore the stylus, and use the clumsy buttons to navigate, but you can’t put the stylus away completely, because you need it to select menu options that really should be hotkeys or at least accessible by arrow keys. Sims 2: Castaway takes better advantage of the DS-specific interface, using either the stylus to move, and even creating minigames that require use of the microphone. The top screen is used to display the meters that are very familiar to Sims players.

One interface annoyance is the crafting book. When crafting, your Sim cannot create multiples of the same item. You need to select the crafting spot, tap Craft Things, then click the item you want to make,which leads to a screen showing you what materials will be reguired. On this screen, you must click Make. Then you’ll see a picture of what you’re making, and you must click OK. Then you see a picture of what you made, and you’re forced to click OK one more time. If you want to make a duplicate (or a second item), you’re back at the crafting book, and you need to do it all over again. And if your item is on the second or third page of the crafting book, it can be even longer. And if you need three of one item to make something special, well, seems like EA figured out how to most of the suck the fun from a crafting game.

I was a big fan of Sims 2 for the computer, so I expected to like Castaway. It was even better than I expected, with the exotic island theme, a zany but cohesive storyline, and all the adorably realistic animations we expect from the Sims.

Popularity: 23% [?]

I wrote this up for my own blog, but I wanted to share it here, too.

You’re on your way from someplace much cooler to someplace much cooler when your car breaks down in Strangetown, and the Sims 2 game begins. A local yokel says he can fix that, but while you’re waiting (it goes without saying that the required part’s on backorder in Strangetown), you take over as manager of a creepy, rundown hotel, in this little town of odd events.

Almost everyone who’s played the Sims knows that the ghosts, alien abductions and general parmanormal silliness are the best part of the Sims, so the makers of Sims 2 for the DS toned down the time spent watching your Sim sleep or cook dinner, and increased the zany encounters.

You play as one Sim, not a household, and the story is much more linear than the PC versions.  It’s also no longer a sandbox game. Players have limited control over hotel guests, but important penthouse guests arrive, check in, and send players on unavoidable missions. I happened to like the penthouse missions, especially goth cultist Ava Cadarva, but it wasn’t the almost-unlimited sandbox play style we knew and loved in other Sims games.

Via Visiting Strangetown: Sims 2 on the DS on Simpson’s Paradox.

Popularity: 12% [?]

I sent out my first Akoha cards the other day. Akoha is a cool new game of social-media-meets-CCG-meets-Where’s-George. Akoha players start with a deck of real-life missions, from sending someone a book to reading a new blog, thanking someone or sending someone flowers. When they complete their missions, they give the card to the receipient, who needs to pass it on. Players can track the progress of their missions and good deeds across the country.

I sent my first missions (which I got from Gypsy Bandito… Akoha pay-it-forward magic in action!) to friends in distant states, to spread Akoha cards and coolness as far as I could.  Only one of them has been continued on, but it was a fun excuse to spread silly presents and share books. Like any social game, the coolness depends on the number of active players. Right now they’re still in beta so it’s a bit sparse, but it has the potential for a lot of chatter and connections.

If you’d like to try out Akoha for yourself, you can order your own deck from their website, or you can leave a comment and you can be the recipient of one of my Akoha missions! (At least until I run out of cards!)

Popularity: 13% [?]

Guildford, UK– March 17, 2009– Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today officially announced the development of Mass Effect™ 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the multi award-winning 2007 hit, Mass Effect. The Mass Effect trilogy is a masterful science-fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life forms and mysterious uncharted planets. In this dark second chapter, Saren’s evil army of Geth soldiers has just been defeated, and humans, still struggling to make their mark on the galactic stage, are now faced with an even greater peril…

“We’re going to surpass the extraordinary gaming experience we brought our fans in Mass Effect by delivering intensified combat and expanded weapon options as well as increased depth of planet exploration, all while delivering a powerful, emotionally engaging story,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA.“Mass Effect 2 is shaping up to be an unforgettable RPG-shooter experience, taking players on a non-stop roller-coaster ride filled with stunning plot twists and no-holds-barred action.”

Mass Effect 2 is coming to PC and the Xbox 360 video game system in Early 2010. To see the exclusive new Mass Effect 2 teaser trailer check out the website here: www.masseffect.com

Popularity: 9% [?]

LOS ANGELES, Calif.– March 17, 2009 – Independent video games developer Zombie Studios has reached an agreement with Fox Atomic, a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, and production company Union Entertainment to develop its military action franchise “Blacklight” as a feature film, comic book series and video game. The announcement was made jointly by Zombie CEO Mark Long*, Fox Atomic President Debbie Liebling, and Union President Richard Leibowitz.

An original property created by Zombie Studios,“Blacklight” is a covert military action epic set twenty-five years in the future. The three companies will work together on a movie and comic book series to be produced by Fox Atomic and a multi-platform video game that will be produced by Zombie.

Both the film and the video game will be written by Jason Dean Hall, a veteran writer whose latest film, SPREAD, sold at Sundance to Summit. He is also writing projects for DreamWorks and Universal.

“We are excited by the huge potential “Backlight” has to succeed across multiple platforms — theatrical features, comics books, and video games,” said Liebling,“it offers us a remarkable franchise opportunity for film.”

“From the start, I have envisioned’Blacklight’ as a story that spans all of the forms of media I enjoy most,” stated Long.“It’s an ambitious project and I’ve been fortunate to find partners at Fox Atomic and Union who share that same vision. We are cooperating on the comic, game and movie at levels that are unprecedented in the industry.”

“’Blacklight’ plays to Union’s strengths as a film and game production company, allowing us to help bring a great property to consumers in both media,” added Leibowitz, a producer on the project.

Richard Leibowitz will produce and Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons will executive produce for Union. Mark Long, in addition to developing the video game, will serve as an executive producer on the feature. Zak Kadison and R. Eric Lieb will oversee for Atomic.

The“Blacklight” film, video game, and comics will feature the same characters and high caliber military action, but with unique, intersecting storylines that complement each other. No release dates for any of the properties have yet been announced.

*Is it just me, or would “Zombie CEO” be one of the best titles ever?

Via Blacklight | Press Release by MCV | MCV.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Do you play WoW? Want to shop for upgrades and playtime without leaving the house? Instead of having a monthly fee debited from a bank account, some World of WarCraft players are using WoW game cards. These game cards offer 60 days of online playtime, and they can be sent as a code to your email for instant access, so you can buy World of WarCraft playtime immediately. While shopping online, you could also upgrade your basic WoW game with Burning Crusade and/or Wrath of the Lich King by buying a WoW battle chest. Gaming without leaving the house. That’s gamer convenience!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Like most nerds, I’m a Star Wars fan, but unlike more people I talk with, I’m willing to overlook JarJar and the prequel mistakes because I enjoy the Star Wars universe so much. A few bad movies can’t ruin the good movies, the Star Wars novels, and of course the spinoff games! If you’re not already excited about the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic game, they recently released a sneak preview of the bounty hunters today to get your nerd excitement going.

Hunter, seeker, killer for hire

Countless enemies stand in the way of the Sith Empire’s drive for domination. The Empire spares no expense eliminating these threats, offering massive bounties to employ the galaxy’s most lethal hunters. Earning a death mark from the Empire means a life spent in fear, constantly looking over one’s shoulder. It’s never a question if a Bounty Hunter will find you… only when.

Ok, so the text is a bit fourteen-year-old boy-ish, but I’m still excited. Are you?

The new Star Wars: The Old Republic game is meant to take place 3,500 years before the movies, and about 300 years after the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Which, by the way, my boyfriend is replaying right now!

Via Star Wars: The Old Republic | Classes. (definitely worth following the link for a pretty picture of a bounty hunter character!)

Popularity: 7% [?]

The new free-to-play MMO RunesofMagic has their first cinematic trailer up! It’s called Rise of the Demon Lord! I know “free-to-play MMORPG” and “cinematic trailor” don’t usually go together, but as guest auther Lex said in our recent review of the Runes Of Magic beta, RoM offers more than the usual free MMO

Don’t forget, Runes of Magic officially launched on March 19th. If you’re playing the beta, rumor has it that all servers are going offline on March 18th to get everything ready for the official launch.

Via Runes Of Magic Official Cinematic Trailer Released! WATCH IT! – Runes of Magic – Curse.

Popularity: 14% [?]