The Rundown: Jan. 15, 2009
Today we tell you about a brand new Naruto game, new DLC for Shaun White’s favorite video game, a Dakota Fanning story, Puzzle Quest’s invasion of the iPhone and some new Legends of Norrath Cards. These stories and more await in the latest edition of The Rundown.
Naruto Returns
Naruto fans will be tickled pink (or some other color perhaps) to hear that Namco Bandai Games America has plans to bring yet another Naruto games to North America - and for the PS2 no less. The new game, Ultimate Ninja 4: NARUTO Shippuden, will be the first based on the NARUTO Shippuden animated series from VIZ Media. This beat ‘em up will offer one-on-one ninja battles, new characters, several new modes of play and a storyline ripped from the NARUTO Shippuden series. Set two and a half years after Naruto left the Hidden Leaf Village to undergo training with mentor Jiraiya, Ultimate Ninja 4: NARUTO Shippuden is the first game to tell the storyline of this anime series in a game. Other features include 52 playable characters, the new Master Mode that combines role-playing and action-platforming elements and Free Battle Mode for one-on-one fights. Look for the game in March.
Coraline Game Gets Star Power
D3Publisher announced today that the Coraline videogame, based on LAIKA’s stop-motion animated feature film, will feature the voice talents of Dakota Fanning, Keith David, and Robert Bailey Jr. All three actors will reprise their onscreen roles of Coraline Jones (Fanning), Cat (David) and Wybie Lovat (Bailey Jr.). The Coraline videogame will ship to North American retail stores for the Wii, Nintendo DS and the PlayStation 2 on January 27 - to coincide with Focus Features’ nationwide domestic release of the movie on February 6, 2009, in both 3-D and non-3-D theaters. The film features the talents of director/screenwriter Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and author Neil Gaiman (Sandman comic book).
New Legends of Norrath Cards in Feb.
Sony Online Entertainment announced that next month it will release a new card set for use in its EverQuest themed online collectible trading card game, Legends of Norrath. the new pack, Against the Void, continues the story arc from the previous set, Ethernauts, into new territory and adds more than 280 new gameplay cards, 16 new loot cards for both EverQuest and EverQuest II, two new playable avatar races, and 10 brand-new scenarios. the company also announced that it is extending its five booster pack promotion so that all EverQuest and EverQuest II subscribers with paid subscriptions in good standing will receive five digital Legends of Norrath trading card booster packs per month at no additional cost.
GTI Club+ on PSN
Konami Digital Entertainment has released GTI Club+, the classic arcade-style racing game originally released by Konami in 1996, on the PlayStation Network. The revamped racing game features HD graphics, online play with up to eight friends in free-for-all events or team play, a variety of high performance European hatchbacks and racing action through tight city streets and winding mountain roads. The game also supports the EyeToy and Dual Shock 3 Controller.
Shaun White Snowboarding DLC Released
Today Ubisoft released the Mile High and Freebie Pack downloadable content (DLC) packs for Shaun White Snowboarding on Xbox 360 and the PS3. The Mile High DLC is 800 Microsoft points or $9.99 for PS3, while the “Freebie Pack” is free for both systems. The Mile High pack includes a new mountain, called B.C., 3 competitions, 5 side quests, 2.5 km2 gameplay area over a 3 km vertical drop, 0.8 km long 4-level cascading halfpipe, 2 pants, 2 coats, 2 tuques, 2 sets of gloves, 2 pairs of boots, 2 goggles and 10 snowboards. The Freebie Pack provides riders with 2 pants, 2 coats, 2 tuques, 2 sets of gloves, 2 pairs of boots, 2 goggles and 9 snowboards.
Unlockable Revealed for NASCAR KART Racing
EA announced that Joey Logano, the youngest driver in history to win a Nationwide Series, is one of two unlockable drivers in NASCAR Kart Racing for Wii, which ships to North American retailers on February 10th. Logano drives the #20 GameStop Toyota Camry in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. Purchases of NASCAR Kart Racing through GameStop online or at GameStop retailers will include game packaging that contains the exclusive code to unlock Joey Logano and the #20 GameStop car. Players can also compete as one of 10 original animated characters including Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch - to name a few.
Puffins, Puffins, Everywhere
Sticking to its casual/budget strategy Majesco announced a new DS game called Puffins: Island Adventure. Developed by Other Ocean Interactive, Puffins: Island Adventure is an adventure simulation that lets players experience what it’s like to be one of Nature’s most unusual and endearing seabirds. Oh boy. Players join a flock and earn rewards as they learn to fly, dive, start a family and more. The game ships this spring. I hope you can defecate on unsuspecting sailors..
Puzzle Quest Conquers iPhone, iTouch
TransGaming has released Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, Chapter 1: The Battle of Gruulkar on the iTunes App Store for USD $9.99. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords has been customized for the iPhone and iPod Touch and will be released as three chapters through the App Store. The trilogy gives consumers the choice of an instant-action play option or over twenty hours of play in each chapter based on the game’s storyline. Chapter 1: The Battle of Gruulkar begins the trilogy with the struggle to free the land of Etheria from the tyranny of Gruulkar, the Leader of the Orcs. Chapters 2 and 3 are planned for release throughout the year and will allow players to carry their characters forward.
Blitz Signs Project Aftermath
Blitz Games Studios has signed Project Aftermath, the PAX10 winning Arcade RTS game by indie developers Games Faction, under its Blitz Arcade 1>UP initiative. The game lets you command up to four squads of soldiers in a post-apocalyptic world where your enemy sucks and needs to die. The game uses a a points system where picking up GOOP (fuel you need to run everything) as a reward for finishing off your enemies and achieving objectives. Players use GOOP to activate special powers and over 100 weapons. However, the most impressive thing about the game is that it was made by three people in their spare time.
Phil Taylor Backs PDC Darts 2009
Fourteen time Darts World champion Phil Taylor has signed on to help Oxygen Games perfect PDC Darts 2009. Taylor recently won the Ladbrokes.com Darts World Championship - the fourteenth time he has done so - beating out Raymond van Barneveld. Taylor will work closely with Rebellion to ensure the game is as realistic as possible. PDC World Championship Darts 2009 will be released in May for the DS and Wii.
Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II Gold
Graffiti Entertainment’s Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II , an arcade flight simulation developed for the PSP has gone gold and is scheduled for release on March 15th, 2009. Air Conflicts is described as an arcade flight simulator game set during World War II, featuring the aircraft and historically inspired missions. The emphasis is on dogfights, bombing raids and other exciting aerial missions. Players choose to fly one of 17 planes for the US Air Force, Royal Air Force, Luftwaffe or Red Army Air Force. The game also utilizes the PSP wireless capabilities to include a multiplayer mode for up to 8 players.
Bangolia Launches
Bangolia has officially launched and plans to service the audio needs of the video game industry. Backed by audio production company Bang Music, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month. Bangolia’s expertise is in providing services related to music, sound design, voice direction and project management. The company says that it draws from hand-picked collection of musicians ranging from artists in platinum-selling bands, to composers of award-winning film scores and virtuoso street musicians culled from New York City’s subway “underground.” Interesting stuff.
World War One – La Grand Guerre Updated
Matrix Games and AGEOD have released the 1.05f update for World War One – La Grand Guerre. The new update includes dozens of improvements and new features in addition to 100 bug fixes. Most notably, the update includes a tweak to the trench rules, numerous GUI enhancements, France and Russia surrender requirements for all major scenarios to end, and improvements to the AI in a wide variety of circumstances (battle, deployment, surrender evaluation, etc.). Additionally, AGEOD recently posted a demo for World War One where players can try out the full experience of this great game for 15 days. You can score the update or the new demo by visiting www.matrixgames.com.
Streamline Touts Success in 2008
International production studio Streamline Studios, announced a 45 percent increase in revenues over its 2007 results. With 12 projects in 2008, the studio continued to grow its workforce by adding an additional 23 employees to handle demand. The company expects demand to grow for high-end production services in 2009 and beyond as the game development landscape evolves. In 2009, the company plans to continue adding artists, programmers, production management and business development specialists to the company. Streamline did not disclose just how much money it made in 2008, for the record.
