EA, Activision Dominate Jan. PC Charts

NPD Group retail numbers are in for January 2008, and while we don’t have a head count for the number of units sold, it appears that Activision and Electronic Arts continue to dominate the top twenty in North America. Activision had 9 of the top twenty games in January with various The Sims 2 and Spore products, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 - and Left 4 Dead which it distributes for Valve Software.

Activision had six titles on January’s charts including a number of World of Warcraft products, Call Of Duty: World At War and the StarCraft Battle Chest.

Bethesda’s Fallout 3 managed to break in to the top ten, and Take-Two’s Civilization IV landed at number twelve. the rest of the top twenty was comprised of budget titles like PopCap’s Bejeweled Twist, Masque Publishing’s IGT Slots: Little Green Men, and Phantom EFX’s Reel Deal Slots BlackBeard’s Revenge. Full list after the jump

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EA Announces Red Alert 3: Uprising Cast

Hot on the heels of Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 earning itself a nomination for the WGA awards, Electronic Arts decided to announce the live action cast list for its upcoming expansion to the popular RTS franchise. While the cinematics in the Red Alert games have always had tongue planted firmly in cheek, you can’t deny that EA/Redwood has always managed to get some recognizable Hollywood talent, and looking at the cast list, Uprising will be no exception.

Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising picks up in the aftermath of Red Alert 3, and will take players deeper into the Red Alert universe with four new mini-campaigns. The game also features the new Commander’s Challenge mode, described as “a series of 50 challenging, over-the-top scenarios where players will need to battle through a gauntlet of commanders and obstacles in order to unlock the game’s powerful new units.”

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WGA Videogame Writing Nominees Announced

After people complained about Dead Head Fred winning last year’s award (the reason being that the nominated game in question had to feature writing from a member), it looks like the Writers Guild Association is trying to redeem itself this year. The organization announced this year’s nominees, which includes an excellent indie game from Mouschief. See this year’s nominees after the break.

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The Rundown: Jan. 8, 2009

EA announces a stand-alone expansion to RA3, City of Heroes is available for Mac gamers, Nyko shows off at CES, EVE Online expands, SmackDown vs. RAW 09 gets some DLC and much, much more in today’s Rundown. Right after the jump…

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Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Ships Out

Electronic Arts has shipped Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 to retailers worldwide and will be in stores October 30th in North America and Europe for the PC. Developed at EA Los Angeles, the game will also ship for the Xbox 360 on November 11th. Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 promises to blend the humor the series is known for with new real-time strategy innovations.

The game features three co-operative, story driven-campaigns, an emphasis on naval gameplay, and live-action movie sequences starring Gemma Atkinson, Gina Carano, Randy Couture, Tim Curry, Kelly Hu, Jenny McCarthy, Jonathan Pryce, Autumn Reeser, J.K. Simmons, Peter Stormare, and George Takei.

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Warhammer Online Gift for C&C RA3 Pre-Order

You have to give Electronic Arts some credit for be pretty smart with its pre-order program for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3. Riding on the coat tails of the popularity related to the Warhammer Online pre-order, the company revealed this week a special bonus item for those that buy Red Alert 3 for use in Warhammer Online.

The item in question is called Kossar’s Helm, a special helmet that players can use in Warhammer Online to transform into a fierce bear. The items are not tradable, are bound to the owner, can be worn at Rank 1 and are activated from the player’s hot bar. By activating “Call of the North” players are transformed into a large silver-furred grizzly bear. The bear is about six feet tall at its shoulders.

This special pre-order reward is in limited quantities and can be obtained by purchasing either the Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Premier Edition, or the regular PC version. Learn more by visiting ea.com.

EA Details C&C Red Alert 3 Cast

During its press conference at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany today, Electronic Arts revealed the cast featured in Command & Conquer Red Alert 3. The cast includes Gemma Atkinson (the UK’s Hollyoaks), Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Hunt for Red October), Andrew Divoff (LOST), Kelly Hu (X2, The Scorpion King), Jenny McCarthy (Scream 3, former Playboy Playmate of the Year), Ivana Milicevic (Casino Royale), Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man, Juno), Autumn Reeser (The OC), Peter Stormare (Prison Break, Armageddon), George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes), and two of the most recognizable names in competitive mixed martial arts Randy “The Natural” Couture (former UFC Heavyweight champion) and Gina “Conviction” Carano (Undefeated Elite XC fighter, American Gladiators).

Fans longing for more info on the talent in C&C Red Alert 3 can order the Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Premier Edition - a limited edition copy of the game that includes a bonus DVD with over an hour of exclusive content, including interviews with the talent and a behind the scenes look at the shooting of the game’s cinematic sequences. The Premier Edition is also packed full of additional Command & Conquer Red Alert goodness, including exclusive multiplayer maps, strategy tips from the development team, the official soundtrack and an exclusive beta key to a future Command & Conquer game.

Those who secure the Premier Edition or regular version of Red Alert 3 now via pre-order will also receive a special bonus package, including Command & Conquer Red Alert 2, From Fighter to Assassin (a featurette on EliteXC superstar, Gina Carano), Premier Edition Sneak Peek (exclusive previews of Raising of the Iron Curtain, From Pens to Pixels, Command School, and BattleCast Primetime) a Red Alert Retrospective (a look back at the Red alert series), an exclusive multiplayer/skirmish map for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 when the game ships and an exclusive Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 desktop wallpapers

Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 is set to ship this fall for the PC and Xbox 360.