A leading UK publisher of computer and videogames, Mastertronic, has signed a deal with casual games pioneer PopCap Games which promises to bring many PopCap hits to the shelves. As part of this deal, Mastertronic will publish and distribute a number of PopCap’s casual game franchises for PC, handheld and console formats to retail across the UK, Europe and PAL regions.
The first of these releases -PopCap Hits- arrives exclusively on Xbox 360 on February 18th and consists of four top titles: Bejeweled 2, Peggle, Feeding Frenzy and AstroPop.
A further release will then follow, PopCap Hits Volume 2, which will provide another burst of four of the best PopCap titles: featuring Plants vs. Zombies, Feeding Frenzy 2, Zuma and Heavy Weapon.
What’s more, thanks to Mastertronic, you can expect Plants vs. Zombies to arrive on the Nintnedo DS sometime in March, and the PC side of things also isn’t neglected with a compilation pack similar to that of the Xbox 360. Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled Blitz and Amazing Adventures: the Caribbean Secret will come to PC in February too.
2K Games’ Topspin series has been the tennis series to go to since it’s debut back in the days of the Xbox & PS2, and with the pending release of Top Spin 4, a new development diary has now been released detailing everything from the courts to the players. What makes this development diary different than others is that it is in text rather than a video, but it is actually jam packed full of information that should satisfy any tennis fan craving for details until the game is released in March.
So, I present to you the diary in 4 which was wrote by series’ producer, François Giuntini.:
Hello everyone. I’m François Giuntini, Executive Producer on Top Spin 4.
These past couple years have been quite interesting for the Top Spin development team. Development moved from Paris to lovely Prague while strengthening the team with dedicated and talented people. We have also taken the time to analyze Top Spin 3, gathering great feedback from our dedicated fan base, to define what tweaks, updates, and complete reworks we needed to do.
And here we are now. The brand new Top Spin 4 is releasing March, 15th 2011 in the US and March, 18th 2011 internationally, packed with revolutionary, exciting tennis goodness! Today I will talk about some of the cool content that makes Top Spin 4 THE Real Tennis Experience.
We focused a lot of effort and energy to ensure that every aspect of TS4 delivers the best of what makes tennis so thrilling and exciting. Let me present some of these elements to you:
All-Star Cast of Modern and Legend Players
TS4 features the who’s who of current and legendary tennis players: Andre Agassi, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Jim Courier, Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker, Serena Williams, Patrick Rafter, Michael Chang, Dinara Safina, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Caroline Wozniacki, Nikolay Davydenko, Gilles Simon, Bernard Tomic, Eugenie Bouchard, Stanislas Wawrinka, Vera Zvonareva, and Jelena Jankovic are available in TS4. At the end of the day, 2K has secured five of the top 10 on the ATP rankings, as well as four of the top 10 on the WTA rankings. All these great Pros have been faithfully implemented in the game with even more Signature Style; every detail from their look, attitude, attributes, strengths & weaknesses and play style. Each player has signature animations for their own swings and attitude, making every person more unique and exciting to play with.
This extensive list will allow you to re-enact some of the most exciting matchups in tennis history. Play as Nadal with his “lasso-whip” forehands or watch Djokovic pump his chest when celebrating a great point. Replay epic historic moments, such as Sampras’ last grand slam final against Agassi at the US Open or the 2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals between Nadal and Federer at the O2 Arena in London. Speaking of arenas…
The Best Venues Just Got Better
In TS4 you can play on the courts of no less than 42 different venues, ranging from playgrounds to the most prestigious arenas including:
– Rod Laver Arena (Australian Open)
– Court Philippe Chatrier (Roland Garros)
– The Arthur Ashe Stadium (US Open)
– Indian Wells Tennis Garden (BNP Paribas Open)
– Sony Ericsson Open in Miami
– BNP Paribas Masters of Paris
– The O2 Arena in London (Barclays ATP World Tour Finals)
The same extreme attention to detail that we put into creating the Pro players is put in the venues. We made sure to accurately reproduce those mythical tennis temples.
The Real Tennis Atmosphere
To bring the most realistic tennis simulation to the market, it is important to provide the most accurate tennis atmosphere we can. In order to do so, we put a lot of attention into faithfully reproducing the ‘sound’ of tennis.
More than ever before, the crowd will react to what happens on court during and after each point, giving instant feedback to what players do and adding to the thrill of the most spectacular rallies. From the playground to the Grand Slam tournament, you will hear the crowd cheer for their favorite player, explode on the most impressive points, or even hold their breath during the tense moments that set tennis apart.
Racket swings, ball impacts, slides on clay and all player efforts and grunt sounds have been implemented to further immerse users into a realistic professional tennis match.
Tennis Authenticity
Of course, the most important aspect may be in the in-game animations. All the movements and swings in TS4 have been motion captured (more than 8000 animations in all), after watching and analyzing hundreds of matches, to gather the best animations behind what makes tennis such an exciting and spectacular sport. All the situations occurring during a tennis rally have been implemented. This mass of data insures every shot, move, and reaction is perfectly suited for what is happening on the court.
As far as the arsenal of shots and actions, well you basically get it all! All the shots and spins are faithfully reproduced, whether you choose a devastating power shot down the line or a cross-court top-spin shot. More cool actions have been implemented or revamped: let shots, drop shots, smashes, returning a lob, diving for a difficult passing shot, sliding on clay, performing inside-out shots, slowly preparing a powerful winner when receiving a weak shot, and many more. We will go into more details on the gameplay in a future Diary.
The match presentation has also been updated: players wait in the tunnel and enter the court while the speaker announces the matchup, cameras are placed around the courts as they would be for a television broadcast, on screen statistics appear at key moments… everything is there to make the user feel like they’re playing a live tennis match.
Lots more to talk about but that’s it for today guys; stay tuned for more info in the upcoming Diaries.
– François Giuntini
Top Spin 4 Producer
Top Spin 4 by the sound of it is shaping up to be a tennis fan’s dream and all of the work that went into animations and the visuals is definitely shining through from what we have seen so far. I am not a huge sports title fan, but then again, Top Spin 4 isn’t your average sports title as the series doesn’t see a yearly release like most in the genre, and judging by the diary, it seems like this could very well be the top shelf tennis title that fans have been craving since the last Top Spin invaded consoles back in 2008. Top Spin 4 will be available for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 on March 15, 2011 in the states and March 18 for Europe. No Australian date has been given as of yet, but I expect one to come forward very soon.
Swarm, the upcoming XBLA and PSN game from Hothead Games, has had an episode added to its “Ask Dr. Mike” video series ahead of its release. The “Ask Dr. Mike” videos are designed to give you a good look at swarm and all the gameplay mechanics inside with a chat sessions where some of the game’s designers and producers walk you through this inventive title.
It seems as well as being the spice of life, variety is also the spice of death as this episode focuses on the many ways your swarmites can be killed. The team behind the game clearly have a sense of humour due to the countless ways a swarmite can meet his end in ever more inspired, eccentric ways, but they also seem a little sadistic. I mean, how could you kill such a cute, vunerable blue guy?
Hopefully we’ll see Swarm coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN very soon. It looks promising and there’s nothing quite like it available on the respective download services.
Anyone who takes PC gaming seriously has probably heard about the DeathAdder mouse. Razer’s most popular and perhaps one of its most widely known gaming mice is turning 5 years old today and Razer isn’t going to let that milestone pass uncelebrated. They have released a brand new DeathAdder mouse, called the Black Edition, and have put even more love into the already top of the line mouse.
Razer has simplified the design of the mouse by providing a simpler form factor design and also by placing non-slip rubber sides that give users better grip and comfort for those intense gaming sessions. Featuring an entirely black Razer Logo this mouse will be a must have for PC gamers. Catch the features below.
Ergonomic right-handed design
3500dpi Razer Precision 3.5G infrared sensor
1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response
5 independently programmable Hyperesponse buttons
On-the-Fly Sensitivity adjustments
60 – 120 inches per second and 15g of acceleration
The DeathAdder Black Edition is currently available now for purchase on the RazerZone website for $59.99 US, $79.95 AU and €59.99 Europe. The worldwide release to retailers is expected for some point next month.
The 2010 sales figures of Xbox Live Arcade games have been released, with Microsoft posting $122 million in revenue.
Case Zero, the downloadable prequel to Dead Rising 2, sold the most units for the year, making its way to 689,000 Xbox 360 consoles. The success of the title, essentially a demo for the retail game, could encourage other developers to release small “prequels” in anticipation of the full game’s release. Recently, Dead Space 2 was preceded by an iPhone title that bridged the gap between the first and second game.
Although it ranked third in sales, the highest grossing title of the year was Playdead’s fantastic dark platformer, LIMBO. It recorded $7.5 million from 527,000 units sold, hopefully funding another game from this promising new developer.
Analyst firm Forecasting and Analysing Digital Entertainment, LLC (FADE), who conducted the research, reported a 16% increase from 2009, and attributed the success to “well-planned promotions” on Microsoft’s part. The Block Party promotion, run in March, saved the period from a potential lull. Toy Soldiers, the flagship title of the promo, sold 200,000 units in March alone.
The Games Feast promo was also successful, running through September and October. Popular games like Super Meat Boy and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 helped October 2010 almost double the revenue of October 2009.
The top 10 highest-selling Xbox Live Arcade titles of 2010 are listed below.
1. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero(Blue Castle Games/Capcom) – 689,000 Units
2. Trials HD(RedLynx, LTD) – 553,000 Units
3. LIMBO(Playdead) – 527,000 Units
4. Castle Crashers(The Behemoth) – 415,000 Units
5. Toy Soldiers(Signal Studios) – 383,000 Units
6. Family Game Night[Various Titles (Hasbro)] – 294,000 Units
7. Monday Night Combat(Uber Entertainment) – 293,000 Units
8. Perfect Dark(Rare) – 279,000 Units
9. Battlefield 1943(EA Dice) – 268,000 Units
10. Deadliest Warrior: The Game(Pipeworks Software) – 210,000 Units
LucasArts & Traveler’s Tales are really getting pumped for the release of Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars and today a new video hit the web giving a bit of a sneak peek behind the scenes at the voice work being put in the title. Normally I think Lego games don’t really need voicework to have charm, but in this title’s case it seems a lot of hard work is being put in by the cast to pull this title together. Even better news is that the voice actors from the movie/animated series will be reprising their roles in this Lego installment.
I would imagine this would be the last of the Lego Star Wars titles (unless they turn to the books or TFU saga), and if that is the case, let’s hope this series goes out with a bang. Lego Star Wars: III: The Clone Wars is set to launch in late March for the Nintendo DS, 3DS, PSP, Wii, PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 so just about every console is being shown some love from the latest entry in this established series. Check out the video below and in the comments section, let us know what series you think should be Lego-fied next.
Evangelion 2.0 – You Can (Not) Advance is the second chapter of the movie remakes of the legendary ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ television Anime series. The original series was met with a hugely positive response from fans of the Anime medium and was for many (myself included) the show that brought them into the Anime world.
The New York Times, a well known news service in the U.S, gives it’s review on the latest film which opens at the ‘At the Big Cinemas, 239 East 59th Street, Manhattan’ on Friday. The review itself isn’t very informative nor is it very long. But it is exposure to the series, which is pretty awesome, as the series should be seen by as many people as possible.
See the (quite short) review here on the New York Times webpage.
Make sure to return later on when Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance releases locally for our awesome review.
You’ll play as Detective Cole Phelps in L.A. Noire. Throughout the game you’ll rise through the ranks of the LAPD and be tasked along the way to face many cases that need to be solved. These cases are across five different department crime desks and one of the more brutal and disturbing of them will be the Homicide desk.
These screenshots below are from that particular desk, and show off a bit of the game at the same time.
L.A. Noire releases in the United states on May 17, 2011 and Europe on May 20, 2011
World of Tanks, the worlds only cooperative MMORPG to dedicated to armoured military units, has began it’s open beta period.
In World of Tanks, players can play as famous WWII (World War II) tanks in cooperation with their friends and other players online in brutal clan wars. The game features over 150 different styles of tanks and allows players to try different kinds of artillery, whether it be long range Howitzers or the faster close range light tanks, to find their idea playing style and take down their opponents. Of course, being a cooperative game, it takes more than a single player to take down an enemy team so players will have to work together in order to win. Having a team that works well together is likely to be the best path to victory as one players weakness can be filled with another players strength.
World of tanks promises a few key features –
Key Features:
· Action-packed 15-vs-15 PvP Tank battles
· Mixture of Action, Strategy, Simulation and MMORPG genres
Not so long ago Nintendo took a chance on a studio to make their next big entry in the Metroid franchise. That studio was Team Ninja. Some may have been a bit bewildered at the time, I certainly was. The Metroid franchise’s latest entry was in the hands of a studio who is best known for making a 2D style fighting game? Blasphemy! In spite of the odd match up, Team Ninja did a wonderful job with Metroid. Now they are back to making Dead or Alive, more specifically Dead or Alive Dimensions for 3DS. Hmm…a studio handles one of Nintendo’s most established franchises and now is making the game they are best at making on Nintendo’s new platform…I smell an opportunity here. Apparently so does Team Ninja because that opportunity was seized.
There is a Metroid tie-in in Dead or Alive Dimensions. One of the more memorable areas from Other M, the area where you fight the series’ iconic, reptilian villain Ridley. On this stage, during battle, Ridley can swoop in and take hold of one of the fighters, viciously scraping them against the side wall and then shooting a fireball at them, causing massive damage. Check the trailer below to see it in action. Also at the end of the trailer we get to see a little cameo from our favorite heroine in orange body armor, Samus Aran. She rolls in to drop a power bomb. Apparently this is a special unlockable within the game that the developers want to keep a secret for now. Make sure to keep an eye or ear out for more info on this in the future. Also don’t forget to check out their official site for news and info as it gets released.
