Monthly Archives: December 2007

Default xFire Announces Clan & Guild System

    MENLO PARK, CA (December 18, 2007) - Xfire, the gaming community mainstay with a user base of over 8.5 million, today announced their new “Clan and Guild System,” which allows users to join and create up to five clans. Sure to be well-received by current users as well as a great draw for newcomers, the system is a one-of-a-kind application from a site which is already the leading tool for helping gamers connect, chat and play with their friends online (Xfire – gaming simplified).

“We see the Clan and Guild system as the next logical step in growing the Xfire community,” say Adam Boyden, General Manager, Xfire, Inc. “The feature was widely requested in the Xfire forums, and we are excited to give our users what they want.”

The Xfire Clan and Guild system includes features such as calendar alerts, real-time clan or guild news updates, free forums, and automatic friend updates. When an Xfire user joins a new clan, other clan members will automatically appear on the new user’s friends list, eliminating the need to add dozens of connections manually. Xfire will also track the total hours spent playing games and compile all user stats into one aggregation.

The easy-to-use Clan and Guild system is available now on Xfire Clans & Guilds.

Default Linkin Park, Mastadon and The Used highlight Guitar Hero III Downloadable Content

    SUNNYVALE, CA – December 17, 2007 – Master recordings from Warner/Reprise artists Linkin Park, Mastadon and The Used will be available as a downloadable track pack for Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, during the month of December. Additionally, Activision will offer single song downloads from such popular European bands as Extremoduro, Trust and Die Fantastischen Vier, as well as a free, exclusive rock rendition of the holiday classic “We Three Kings,” recorded by Steve Ouimette. The Warner/Reprise Track Pack, single song downloads, and free holiday classic will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

The Warner/Reprise Track Pack includes master recordings of “No More Sorrow,” by Linkin Park, “Sleeping Giant,” by Mastadon and “Pretty Handsome Awkward,” by The Used. The single song downloads offer such popular singles as “So Payaso,” from Extremoduro, “Antisocial” from Trust, and “Ernten Was Wir Säen” from Die Fantastischen Vier.

After downloading the new tracks, Guitar Hero® fans are encouraged to visit Guitar Hero Community – Home to enter fret-bending competitions with the opportunity to win various prizes.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock contains explosive new content and features including a multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a host of exclusive unlockable content and visually stunning rock venues. Expanded online multiplayer game modes allow axe-shredders worldwide to compete head-to-head for true rock status. The game features a star-studded soundtrack including master tracks by legendary artists such as Aerosmith, Guns ‘N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine and Pearl Jam, as well as original songs by guitar icons Slash and Tom Morello. While continuing to retain all the key features from their prior legendary performances, fresh downloadable content will be available on multiple platforms, and players can now shred to a killer set list from many of the most popular rock songs ever recorded.

For the first time ever, Guitar Hero fans are able to thrash and burn with new wireless guitar controllers available for each platform, including exclusive Gibson Guitar’s Les Paul model for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo, and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system gamers also get to shred on a new exclusive shape, Gibson’s Kramer guitar, popularized by hard rockers and known for its body design, pickups, electronics and construction for furious finger fretting.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, developed by Neversoft, is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB, and is currently available at North American retailers. For more information about the Guitar Hero franchise, please visit the dedicated community site:

Default EA Announced Development of TIBERIUM

    CHERTSEY, UK – December 18, 2007 – Electronic Arts today revealed it is developing Tiberium™, a new game that brings a rich, original fiction to life through intense tactical action and visceral first-person shooting. Set in a stunning sci-fi world with spectacular visual effects and dramatic environments, Tiberium takes players on an adventure through a devastated Earth and places them in the heart of an epic battle for control of a powerful energy source.

Tiberium is a mysterious extraterrestrial crystal that shatters the energy output of traditional fossil fuels. It has the power to save our civilization; it also has the power to destroy it. For eleven years, an alien tower has stood dormant, looming like an unholy mountain over a wasteland once known as the Mediterranean Sea. The tower was thought to be a relic of the Third Tiberium War; a devastating war fought for control over Tiberium crystal. It is not a relic. It is not dormant. Deep within the tower, plans are in motion for an alien invasion. This is where the Tiberium adventure begins.

Players step into the shoes of Forward Battle Commander Ricardo Vega and will assemble an assortment of elite squads to combat the global crisis. Armed with an arsenal of weapons including a transforming personal weapon system, multi-launch homing missiles, capital ship bombardments and tactical ion cannon strikes, Vega will lead the fight from the front lines.

Featuring a unique blend of first-person shooting and tactical squad combat, players will control multiple infantry, armour, and air squads as the fight escalates. In Tiberium, Vega is the most powerful presence on the battlefield, and the squads are his most decisive weapon. Players can take multi-squad control combat into single-player or bring the action into online multiplayer battles.

Chris Plummer, executive producer at EA Los Angeles, said: “After two years of pre-production, it is exciting to finally reveal this game and its rich fiction to the world. We’ve put a lot of effort into evolving the tactical shooter experience by taking core gameplay compulsions like commanding, choice and dominating your enemies and delivering them in first-person. Some of the weapons and mechanics are truly innovative for a first-person game. We’re very proud to be part of a project that has the potential to really make a mark on the canon of sci-fi fantasy fiction.”

Mike Verdu, VP and General Manager at EA Los Angeles added, “EALA has a long history of developing groundbreaking real-time strategy games with the Command & Conquer series. That series also originally introduced the Tiberium universe to gamers worldwide. Now, we are growing Tiberium from a simple backdrop to a fully realized universe with its own unique, hybrid squad-based shooter gameplay. This is the birth of a new franchise – we couldn’t be more excited.”

Developed at EA Los Angeles, Tiberium will be available worldwide in autumn 2008 for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, and PC. The game has not yet been rated by PEGI.

Default PS3 System Software Update Version 2.10 Announced

    London, 18th December 2007 – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the immediate availability of the latest system software update for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™). Version 2.10 will enable the world’s most popular gaming system to expand its value as a home entertainment hub by allowing it to play the very latest interactive Blu-ray Disc™ movies, as well as broadening the number of video formats supported to make PS3 even more verstaile than before.

With the introduction of Blu-ray Profile 1.1 (known as Bonus View) PS3 will be able to fully exploit the potential of the new Blu-ray movies coming to market in 2008. With features such as Picture in Picture (PiP), the exceptional visual clarity offered by Blu-ray is further enhanced with richer features and interactive content, limited only by the imagination of the studio.

With sales of PS3 on track to have reached a cumulative global total of over 16 million by the end of March 2008, and the system software update making them all compatible with Bonus View, the market for Blu-ray discs showcasing these new interactive features is enormous. The first Blu-ray movies to take advantage of Bonus View are scheduled for release in January 2008, making PS3 owners amongst the first consumers able to enjoy the enhanced movie-watching experience that Blu-ray technology makes possible.

Many Hollywood and independent studios supporting Blu-ray will be bringing out an ever increasing range of movie titles in all genres featuring Bonus View interactivity to add to the pleasure of watching movies on Blu-ray disc.. With superb image clarity up to five times that of normal DVD video, and crystal clear Dolby 5.1 Channel audio, Blu-ray movie playback on PS3 really broadens the entertainment possibilities of PS3.

The provision of support for DivX and VC-1 video playback codecs in system software Version 2.10 will also significantly expand the multimedia capabilities of PS3 by enabling users to enjoy access to the broad library of video content available in both the the DivX and VC-1 digital media formats.

Version 2.10 also introduces an engaging voice changer feature to enhance Voice Chat on PS3, enabling users to alter the tone and pitch of their voice from the Control panel during AV Chat.

Default Kamael,’ the Largest Expansion in Lineage II History Released

    Friday 14th December/…NCsoft® Europe today announced the release of Kamael, the newest and largest addition to the Lineage® II franchise. At more than 1 Gigabyte, Kamael is the largest expansion ever for the massively multiplayer online PC game and adds an entirely new playable race, new lands, ongoing fortress battles, instanced dungeons and new account services to the game, which has continued to increase in depth and story.

The huge Kamael expansion is free to all current Lineage II subscribers. Lineage II is known as the gaming market’s premier player-versus-player (PvP) MMO, and since its launch in late 2003, has reached more than 17 million players worldwide.
The main feature of the expansion is a new playable race called the Kamael, one-winged soldiers who control a form of dark magic and are presented in different class paths based on gender, with both male and female characters possessing distinct combat abilities. The ultimate goal of the Kamael warriors, born on the Isle of Souls, is to earn a second wing and reach the powerful “final form.”–

Adding to the intrigue and massive battles Lineage II is known for are clan-based, daily fortress battles. Smaller in scale to the enormous castle sieges, the fortress battles will allow smaller clans to gain a foothold on territory and elevating their clan in the larger political and military background.
Highlights for veteran players of the game include the addition of lands for those above level 70, Hellbound and the Isle of Prayer. Also coming soon, highly-requested game features such as character server transfers, name changes and gender changes will become available for purchase.

Newer players will enjoy new items and enhancements that will aid the solo play experience for those at lower levels, helping to make Lineage II more accessible without diluting the challenge for which the game is well known.

“The Kamael expansion is so epic that it is hard to pin down which feature is the most exciting,” said Tim Tan, NCsoft’s North American producer of Lineage II. “The new Kamael race is very unique and adds a new world of playability to the game. The new high-level lands will benefit our longtime players seeking harder challenges, while the new-player and soloing features will make getting to the heart of the game easier for more players. The sheer amount of content in this expansion is unbelievable and I really look forward to seeing the players’ response.”

Additional new features include a set of instanced dungeons and new item slots and items that include new more powerful weapons and armor. Instanced dungeons provide players a place where they can hunt by themselves, untouched by players or creatures. There are two different kinds of Instanced Dungeons: one that requires a quest to enter, and the other that requires the acquisition of a castle or fortress to enter.

Also, when players tackle particularly challenging adventures or overcome monstrous bosses, they can capture the moment on video with the game’s newly polished record and replay system that allows players to speed up or slow down their footage when they view their captured battles.

Existing players of Lineage II will receive The Kamael update automatically to their accounts. For gamers wishing to experience Lineage II for the first time, the game is available at retail at £19.99 / €29.99, which includes a 15 day time card, giving players a total of 45 days play time. To purchase the game or other Lineage II merchandise, go to the PlayNC store at: http://eu.plaync.com/eu/store/ .

To find out more please visit the Lineage II web site at: http://eu.lineage2.com/