ASPCA, Ubisoft team up for Sharing and Caring Month

Ubisoft and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Honor Society, a New York based pop band, have teamed up to celebrate the launch of the new Petz games with Sharing and Caring Month. In support of ASPCA’s initiatives to teach youngsters about being kind to animals, Ubisoft’s Petz video games for the Nintendo DS - including Petz Nursery - will allow young players to care for and bond with a variety of virtual “petz.” For the first time, the Petz video games series will allow players to send and share their virtual petz via wireless interconnectivity between the new Petz games. Owners of the Petz video game series can also share their petz on UbiWorld ubiworld.com.

And let’s face it, kids need to learn how to take care of their pets properly. I mean, come on - have you ever seen a 4 year old carry a kitten or a puppy? Cats and dogs do not enjoy being carried by their necks. If they wanted that they’d seek out people like Lenny from Of Mice and Men..

The Petz Caring portion of the initiative will feature the ASPCA in the Petz Cause House on UbiWorld. Inside the virtual Petz Cause House, kids and their parents can play Petz mini-games and earn “pointz” to show their support for the ASPCA. Beginning today through January 4, 2010, the total number of pointz that visitors earn will be announced weekly in the Cause House explaining to kids how the accumulated points could help animals. Ubisoft will also donate funds directly to the ASPCA.

Harvest Moons for everyone

Natsume announced today that Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands for the Nintendo DS and Harvest Moon: Animal Parade for Wii have shipped to retail in North America. Sunshine Islands is available at an MSRP of $29.99 and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB, while Harvest Moon: Animal Parade for the Nintendo is priced at an MSRP of $49.99, and is rated E for Everyone.

In Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands, players rejoin all the characters from Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, and meet some new faces as you try to figure out how to raise several sunken islands that san many years ago, because of a powerful. Players will go on a hunt for the magical Sun Stones and raise the sunken islands, but in between you’ll be doing all the usual things associated with a Harvest Moon game. This things include training your pets by playing in mini-games, growing a variety of crops and trying to find love.

In Harvest Moon: Animal Parade players unravel the trouble in the once-prosperous village of Harmonica Town, Players need to figure out why crops aren’t growing, the wind isn’t blowing, and the five elemental bells are missing. In between playing savior players go fishing, do some mining, cultivate crops, and care for wild animals such as penguins, pandas, and monkeys.

Learn more about both games at www.natsume.com.

2BeeGames Indie Game Competition finalists revealed

2BeeGames today revealed the ten finalists of their second annual Indie Game Competition. The winner, as chosen by the players who vote and a panel of judges, will win $10,000 and have the opportunity to enter a publishing contract with Zoo Games to see their game published on consoles.

If you want to participate in the process of selecting a winner, visit www.2BeeGames.com, play the games and vote for your favorites. 

The ten finalists are:

Bullets of a Revolver – submitted by Diefox

Climb to the Top of the Castle – submitted by TwO Bros. Games

Cavemen Vs. Aliens – submitted by John Sear

Cochon’s Pursuit – submitted by Edouard Mercure

Daytraders of the Dead – submitted by Mat Groves/ John Denton

DriftMoon – submitted by Ville Mönkkönen

Kablooey! – submitted by Vertigo Games

Tower of Heaven – submitted by Askiisoft

Turba – submitted by Binary Takeover

Vector Conflict: The Siege – submitted by Dig Your Own Grave Games

Voting ends November 30th so visit the site and get involved while you still can. Votes are counted on a weekly basis and only the favorite games move on.

Spore Islands opens on Facebook

If Civilization can be on Facebook than any game can do it right? That’s probably EA and Maxis studios’ way of thinking. Today EA announced that it is bought Spore Islands to Facebook. In Spore Islands Facebook users compete against each other in a 2D world that uses social gaming as its lynch pin.

Spore Islands focuses on player-to-player interaction; users choose their own island to live on, create creatures and evolve them, invite friends to live on their island with them, and send their creatures to friends’ islands. The goal of the game is to dominate as many islands as possible. Players can earn and purchase DNA points that they can use to modify their creature’s stats or customize their creature’s appearance with accessories such as hats, animations, holiday-themed items, and more. Players’ progress is tracked on both Global and a Friends-only leaderboards, which can be viewed by players and their friends, u

Get into the action by installing the application from apps.facebook.com/sporeislands.

Harvest Moon: Animal Parade gold

Natsume announced today that Harvest Moon: Animal Parade for the Nintendo Wii has gone gold and will be released on November 10th at an MSRP of $49.99 and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. In the game playr are charged with figuring out what the hell is going on in Harmonica Town.

 Crops aren’t growing, the wind isn’t blowing, and the five elemental bells are missing. Only the power of the Harvest King can revive the land, but he’s nowhere to be found. It’s up to the player to find the five bells, awaken the Harvest King, and save the town - all while managing a farm and your love life as you would be excted to do in a Harvest Moon game.

On a related note, players who pre-order the game at GameStop will receive a limited edition plush duck. Quantities are limited, so get the duck over there and pre-order if you want one.

Shimano Xtreme Fishing lets you kill fish dead

Mastiff’s Shimano Xtreme Fishing for Wii is now shipping to retailers throughout North America. Shimano Xtreme Fishing lets you go fishing using a traditional rod and reel or up close and personal with a spear gun and SCUBA gear, or bow and arrow. Those fish don’t stand much of a chance, do they?
Naturally all of the gear in the game will be heavily branded; Shimano Voltaeus fishing rods, Hoyt bows, AMS Bowfishing reels and accessories, and Muzzy arrow points.

Shimano Xtreme Fishing lets players use this gear in environments ranging from the cold dark waters of a North American reservoir to a roaring Amazon waterfall, Mayan ruins, the hidden lagoons of a southern island, and the shark-infested shipwrecks of a tropical sea. Shimano Xtreme Fishing includes a series of tournaments, each with varied scenery and unique weather conditions. As players progress through the levels, they will unlock new tackle, clothing and sporting accessories too. In total the game offers three careers, 12 tournaments, more than 65 stages and multiplayer. Find out more at www.sxf-game.com.

World of Zoo shipping this week

THQ’s World of Zoo has shipped to all major retailers nationwide for Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows PC. World of Zoo lets players of all ages take control of the daily activities of a major metropolitan zoo, caring for animals, creating exhibits and learning about each animal through educational facts provided by National Geographic.

World of Zoo was developed by Blue Fang, creator of the Zoo Tycoon series. For more information on this game, check out www.worldofzoo.com. It is rated E for everyone by the ESRB and is available at the suggested retail prices of $39.99 (Wii), $29.99 (DS) and $19.99 (Windows PC).  I hope you enjoy picking up lots and lots of dung.