San Francisco – January 29, 2010 - Today Ubisoft announced Dawn of Discovery: Venice, the add-on for the PC version of Dawn of Discovery, the acclaimed real-time strategy and simulation game released earlier this year. Dawn of Discovery: Venice will combine the signature gameplay mechanics of the series and the richness of the Venetian culture with an all-new online multiplayer mode. In addition, Ubisoft announced Dawn of Discovery: Gold Edition, which will include the original Dawn of Discovery and the Dawn of Discovery: Venice add-on. Both the add-on and Gold Edition are due to release February 25, 2010 in North America via download only.

“With Dawn of Discovery: Venice, we are proud to bring a whole new dimension to gamers by letting them experience new multiplayer challenges online with their friends” said Adam Novickas, director of marketing for Ubisoft. “We are confident that this add-on will please long-time fans of the series as well as newcomers to the franchise.”

For more information, please visit http://dawnofdiscoverygame.com.

Key Features of Dawn of Discovery: Venice:
New Venetian setting:
The rich Dawn of Discovery environment is complemented with a new Venetian setting offering new possibilities of interaction:

Build two new Venetian ship types: the small and big tradesman cog
•
Develop secret cabinets, infiltrate your enemies and sabotage their expansion

Multiplayer:
Play Dawn of Discovery online in multiplayer mode:
Choose to play versus or co-op to defeat the AI by combining your techniques

Up to 8 players

New Challenges and Quests:
•Up to 60 new items and 300 new quests with two new types: trading race and ship boarding
•
Discover and exploit a new type of island, the Volcano island
•
New scenarios to face new challenges with new achievements, medals and crests

About Dawn of Discovery:
Experience the award-winning combination of city building, commerce, discovery, diplomacy and combat. Create your own nation with a unique blend of simulation and real-time strategy. Journey across the globe to explore, trade and learn technologies to expand your empire and to make your own history. With its extensive and immersive campaign, Dawn of Discovery guarantees never-ending gaming fun for novices and experts alike.

For more information about Ubisoft please visit www.ubi.com.

About Ubisoft:
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft is present in 28 countries and has sales in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2008–09 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of 1.058 billion euros.

© 2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries. Dawn of Discovery, Sunflowers and Sunflowers logo are trademarks of Sunflowers GmbH in the U.S. and/or other countries. Sunflowers GmbH is a Ubisoft Entertainment company.

Technorati Tags: Ubisoft, Dawn of Discovery, Venice, PC Game, Gaming, Computer, New Levels, Press Release

Game Rating: E for Everyone
Game Publisher: Alawar
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2009
Buy this at: Alawar, Amazon

One of the best things about my job is that I get to review things. Anything is a potential topic for me, but one thing that I love to review is computer programs. I love casual games especially. It’s not that they are my favorite type of game, because they aren’t. It’s more that they allow me plenty of goof off time that I can still technically call work. When I get tired of writing other reviews and need a few minutes to myself, I just load up a casual game. I’m not loafing or being distracted. No way! I am working! Life doesn’t get much better than that.

The most recent game that has kept me sane from work madness is Amelie’s Café. Filled with many positive and a few negative aspects, this game from Alawar is sure to be one of their new hits as the year rolls on. The game offers above average graphics, a cute storyline, and plenty of fun to be had all around. There are a few things I would have changed, especially what happens the deeper into the game you go, but we will save that for later in the review.

Story:
Amelie is a nice young girl that is trying to do everything to keep her grandfather’s café alive and running. Short of cooking, Amelie is in charge of management, serving, cleaning, and even decorating! While grandpa is away travelling the world, the task of fixing up this rundown shack of a café is all up to Amelie. In order to make the café a success she will need to balance managing duties with waitressing and just about everything else, otherwise the café will be sure to fail!

Enjoyment/Fun Factor: 4 out of 5 stars

Features:

Amelie’s Café is pretty basic when it comes to one of the food genre games out there. You’re running a restaurant and you’ve got to do it well to move on. The only big problem I see here is that they add quite a bit of tasks and some of them do not feel like they go together. For instance, it is your job to task your chef with making a certain food. At any given time you have about five chef stations.

Depending on how messy your chefs are (they have their own personalities and can be upgraded to be less messy) you will need to clean their station by clicking on a brush before they will continue cooking for you. This is fine, but no matter how many brushes you need, you can only carry one at a time. If this was the rule for all items, I wouldn’t be complaining, but since you can carry two food items I don’t see why you cannot carry two brushes. If that had been the case the game may not have been so frustrating at times.

Don’t get me wrong I love a good challenge. I just don’t like inconsistency very much. One other thing I am having a hard time grasping is the bonus system. There is a matching aspect to this game that allows you to have special additions that are meant to make your game easier. These things include the ability to freeze the customer’s patience level, to clean the grills, and to add extra money to your total. When you complete chains you receive these icons and need to match them up three in a row to get any of the bonus options. In most cases they end up being a pain though. Freezing people and extra money are nice, but in cases like the grill cleaning, I noticed that the grills (which are all cleaned at once) are never clean enough to make a difference.

There are three cafes to play and anywhere from 15 to 24 days to play in each café, so there is quite a bit of game play here. This doesn’t include the endless play option, which allows you to play without moving levels.

I had plenty of fun playing Amelie’s Café. I think I would have liked it more if it wasn’t so hectic and there were a few more options that allowed you to do more at one time. Still, I had no problem moving up on most levels and I did have a good time. In the diner game space, this is a pretty good addition.

Replayability: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Controls:
In this situation it seems unnecessary to even write about control usage. Your mouse serves as your controller in this fast paced, point and click game. Other than your mouse, no controller (not even the keyboard) is necessary.

Ease of Use: 5 out of 5 stars

Visual Quality:
I didn’t have any problems with the visual aspects of Amelie’s Café. The graphics are cute and they manage to compliment the story quite nicely. For a casual game the graphics are top notch with good colors and a nice level of detail. Granted, this isn’t something you would see from the likes of a Playstation3 game, but for a casual game this works just fine. Overall things look pretty darn good.

Visual: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Audio Quality:
Amelie’s Café offers your average happy go lucky, casual gaming experience music. I try to block all of the casual game music out, but when I am reviewing I will leave it on long enough to know how good or bad it is. Amelie’s Café wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t standing out either. I was actually able to ignore it being on without much of a problem. While that works perfectly for me, if you like game music it might not be for you.

Audio: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
Alwar offers the try before you buy download that lets you test out a game for an hour before you buy it. I highly recommend downloading Amelie’s Café and playing it for an hour. You can get pretty far in the first hour and it will give you a nice glimpse into what to expect from this game. If you like the fast paced, food service games you should like Amelie’s Café. Overall this is a fun and challenging game with nice graphics. Alawar continues to do a great job of making entertaining games in the casual gaming space.

Overall Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: Alawar, Games, Casual Games, Try Before You Buy, Download, Food Service, Diner, Point and Click, Amelie’s Cafe

SAN FRANCISCO – July 2, 2009 – Today Ubisoft announced it will be publishing Heroes Over Europe, a flight combat game designed for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and Windows-based PC.

The sequel to Heroes of the Pacific, the World War II flight combat game, Heroes Over Europe builds on the game’s impressive legacy with intense dogfights, a highly detailed realistic visual presentation and even more online options.

Developed by Transmission Games in Melbourne, Australia, and powered by an all-new engine, Heroes Over Europe is set to raise the bar for flight combat games with the all new “Ace Kill” close combat action, four online modes supporting up to 16 players and fully customizable aircrafts with localized damage.

Visually, the game takes no prisoners with meticulously rendered environments including faithful recreations of London, Berlin and the French Alps, and ultra-realistic iconic warplanes of the era, all presented in stunning high definition graphics.

Heroes Over Europe is scheduled for worldwide release in September 2009.

Technorati Tags: Ubisoft, Games, Xbox 360, Playstation, Heroes Over Pacific, Heroes Over Europe, WWII, Shooter, Game, Gamer, September 2009

If you’re a fan of casual gaming you might want to check out Alawar’s newest game, Hotel Mogul. The game, classified best as a business sim, is an addicting time-management game that includes plenty of levels and lots of action.

Alawar’s Game Description:

Lynette’s conniving husband has cheated her out of her family business! What can an enterprising young woman like her do? Get revenge! Use your business savvy to help Lynette repurchase her company and send her husband to the slammer. Buy, develop and sell commercial properties to make a profit; build attractions that increase your income; and keep your eye on the bottom line as you purchase materials and hire workers. The point-and-click fun of Hotel Mogul will have you laughing all the way to the bank!

Key Game Features

Five exotic settings
35 levels
Four mini-games
Six kinds of hotels
Vibrant graphics and sound

You can test the game out for an hour by visiting the Alawar Website and checking out more about Hotel Mogul and their other great games!

Technorati Tags: Hotel Mogul, Casual Game, Alawar, PC, Sim, Hotel, Time Management, Entertainment

HER INTERACTIVE ANNOUNCES ALL-NEW NANCY DREW® DOSSIER SERIES

New Casual Series of Downloadable Games Expands Top-Selling Mystery Game Franchise

Extending the best-selling Nancy Drew® PC games series into the casual games space, Her Interactive, the designer, developer and distributor today unveiled and made available the new downloadable casual game series, Nancy Drew® Dossier. Available for download now, the series’ first title Lights, Camera, Curses!, introduces a new, more accessible, pick-up-and-play mystery experience, while maintaining the visual and thought-provoking qualities that have made the Nancy Drew® PC game series a best-seller year after year.

“The Nancy Drew PC series fan base is a loyal and growing group of gamers that can’t seem to get enough of Nancy and her adventures,” said Megan Gaiser, president and CEO of Her Interactive. “Nancy Drew Dossier is a perfect complement to our original series as it allows us to stay connected to our core adventure game community, while delivering the instant gratification and rewards that mass market gamers expect.”

Nancy Drew Dossier is a next-generation casual game series that combines a hunt and peck mechanic with a new level of compelling story-driven gameplay involving detective work, sophisticated interaction with clues and characters, and arcade mini-games. Playing from the point of view of Nancy Drew, players find hidden clues and use their strengths of observation, deduction, and problem-solving to uncover culprits and schemes in the heavily story-driven plot.

In Lights Camera’s Curses!, Nancy Drew is on the set of a controversial remake of a famous 1930’s film “Pharaoh!” The original “Pharaoh!” was released with an alternate ending due to the untimely death of Lois Manson, the film’s budding star, and became a box office smash. Now, Nancy Drew is undercover on the set trying to get to the bottom of suspicious press leaks and uncanny accidents that have put the production schedule in jeopardy and seem to hint towards sabotage . . . or perhaps it’s a curse from the fallen film star.

Lights Cameras Curses! is currently available for download for $19.99 on www.HerInteractive.com

Technorati Tags: Her Interactive, Nancy Drew, Casual Gaming, PC Games, Download, Lights Camera Curses, Now Available

EGOSOFT’s final installment in critically acclaimed franchise now available

Parkville, Maryland – April 7, 2009 – EGOSOFT, renowned developer of the acclaimed X franchise of computer games for PC, Mac and Linux, announced today that the latest chapter of the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions, is now available at all major US retail outlets.

X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions features a host of new missions, new ships and much more – and is also available on Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games and digital content with over 15 million accounts around the world. This updated version of X³: Terran Conflict is being published by IGS Interactive Inc.

“It’s been a long road, but it feels great to finally give US gamers a chance to go and purchase this fantastic final installment in the X series,” said Bernd Lehahn, managing director of EGOSOFT. “The critical response to X³: Terran Conflict has been nothing short of phenomenal, and we’re confident that X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions will only build on that success.”

As with the previous titles in the X series, X³: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions is a single-player space simulation featuring fast-paced first-person space combat, free-form open exploration of a huge dynamic universe, and large-scale management of the player’s own intergalactic corporation.

In X³: Terran Conflict (the predecessor to 2.0), the long-lost Terran colony of Aldrin was rediscovered. Now, after numerous years of isolation, the Terrans are keen to bring the Aldrans back into the fold as part of their massive effort to colonize areas of space thought lost or inaccessible. No colonization is easy, however, and you will be asked to not only help in the shaping of the new frontier, but will also be called upon to provide protection for the colonization effort against forces determined to oppose the Aldrin Expansion. New Terran stations and complexes, a new Terran ship and a host of other new features are introduced as you play a decisive role in the shaping of this new Terran frontier.

“As with X³: Terran Conflict, IGS Interactive is extremely proud to be publishing X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 – The Aldrin Missions,” said Paul Lombardi, CEO of IGS Interactive Inc. “This is an absolutely stellar title for both fans of the X franchise and newcomers alike. EGOSOFT has truly outdone themselves.”

X³: Terran Conflict was released in European retail outlets and on Steam on October 17, 2008. The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and X³: Terran Conflict currently boasts a 78.2% ranking on Game Rankings. IGN, the largest and most influential videogame site in the world, said that “Clearly crafted by a design team on a mission and with a vision, X3: Terran Conflict is a pretty and impressively ambitious voyage into the heavens that should satiate the thirst of anyone who pines for life away from earthly confines.”

Technorati Tags: PC, MAC, Linux, Gaming, Games, X3, Terran Conflict, The Aldrin Missions, Now Available

Stardock’s Impulse Phase 3 Complete: New User Interface, Features and Impulse Reactor Developer Tools Now Available

PLYMOUTH, MI (APRIL 7, 2009) – Stardock (www.stardock.com) announced the third major update to its digital distribution platform, Impulse today. Known as Impulse: Phase 3, the update includes a host of new features.

Impulse Phase 3 includes five major new features that developer Stardock believes will be compelling to both PC users and software publishers. These new features are:

1. The Impulse client has had its user interface significantly improved and updated with features such as player rankings, achievements, intelligent match-making, and more. It also includes a new tray application that lets users track friends, receive update notifications, and much more.

2. The beta of Impulse Anywhere, a new web-based method for users whose home Internet connections are non-ideal to download their software on another machine, take the files home and install them.

3. The release of Impulse Reactor, a development platform that lets users add many new features to their games without having to re-distribute a third-party client (i.e. users don’t have to distribute the Impulse client). Impulse Reactor includes features such as intelligent match-making, multiplayer tournament support, NAT negotiation, friend lists, rankings, community features and much more. Gas Powered Games’ much anticipated PC game, Demigod, is being released next week and makes full use of Impulse Reactor.

4. Impulse Reactor Overlay, an in-game overlay that lets users instantly access chat, friends lists, profile data, micro-expansions, and more. Demigod will also be the first title to make full use of this.

5. Game Object Obfuscation (Goo) – An alternative method for developers to protect their intellectual property. Goo allows developers to associate licenses with people rather than their PCs which will eliminate the issue of “limited activations”. It also provides the underpinnings to support vendor neutral software downloads and transferring of licenses.

“One of the key things about Impulse Reactor and Goo is that it’s a win-win for users and publishers. For users, it begins the process of our customers owning their software license. For publishers, it provides the highest level of security for their software but in a way that doesn’t inconvenience legitimate customers,” said Brad Wardell, president & CEO of Stardock.

Stardock is in the process of migrating from traditional activation on its digitally distributed software to Goo and working to incorporate Impulse Reactor into its existing titles.

“Stardock’s well known objection to most copy protection schemes and DRM has been that they penalize customers while pirates end up with a better experience because they don’t have to put up with the annoying copy protection. Our strategy has always focused on rewarding customers for buying our stuff. With Goo, now we can share some of the technologies that have been so successful for us with other developers,” continued Wardell.

One of the first publishers to adopt Goo is Paradox Interactive, whose titles on Impulse will soon be protected via the new technology.

In addition, Stardock and Activision Publishing, Inc. recently signed a distribution agreement which will make select Activision titles available on Impulse in the near future. Stardock expects to add additional major publishers this spring.

“With Phase 3 of Impulse completed, we are now focusing on bringing the catalog of games and applications on Impulse up to parity with what is available on other services,” said Wardell.

For further details about Impulse please visit www.impulsedriven.com.

For more information about Stardock please visit www.stardock.com.

Technorati Tags: Stardock, Impulse, Phase 3, New Features, Gaming, Computer Gaming, Applications

Spike TV’s Video Game Awards 2008 premiere on Sunday, December 14 (9:00- 11:00 PM, ET/ tape delay west coast), broadcasting LIVE from Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, CA. The nominees for the first 12 categories are listed below.

You can check out the first 12 categories in our other post about the Video Game Awards.

Best Wii Game
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
No More Heroes Publisher: Ubisoft Studio: Grasshopper Manufacture
Wii Fit Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
Boom Blox Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Casual Studios

Best Xbox 360 Game
Fallout 3 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Studio: Bethesda Game Studios
Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar North
Gears of War 2 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Epic Games
Fable II Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Lionhead

Best Soundtrack
Guitar Hero World Tour Publisher: RedOctane / Activision Publishing Studio: Neversoft Entertainment
Rock Band 2 Publisher: MTV Games Studio: Harmonix
Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar North
LittleBigPlanet Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Media Molecule

Best Action Adventure Game
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc Studio: Kojima Productions
Mirror’s Edge Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: DICE Sweden
Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar North
Dead Space Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Redwood Shores

Best Driving Game
Mario Kart Wii Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
Midnight Club: Los Angeles Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar San Diego
PURE Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios Studio: Black Rock Studio
Burnout Paradise Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: Criterion Games

Best Music Game
SingStar Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: SCE Studios London
Wii Music Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
Guitar Hero World Tour Publisher: RedOctane / Activision Publishing Studio: Neversoft Entertainment
Rock Band 2 Publisher: MTV Games Studio: Harmonix

Best Game Based On A Movie Or Tv Show
Naruto: The Broken Bond Publisher: Ubisoft Studio: Ubisoft Montreal
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Publisher: LucasArts Studio: LucasArts
Quantum of Solace Publisher: Activision Publishing Studio: Treyarch
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Publisher: LucasArts Studio: Traveler’s Tales Games

Best Graphics
LittleBigPlanet Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Media Molecule
Gears of War 2 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Epic Games
Fallout 3 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Studio: Bethesda Game Studios
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc Studio: Kojima Productions

Best Handheld Game
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc Studio: Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd
Patapon Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Pyramid
Professor Layton and the Curious Village Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Level-5
God of War: Chains of Olympus Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Ready at Dawn Studios

Best Individual Sports Game
Skate It Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Montreal / Black Box
Wii Fit Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Tiburon
Shaun White Snowboarding Publisher: Ubisoft Studio: Ubisoft Montreal

Best Fighting Game
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Publisher: Atari Studio: Dimps
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Publisher: Midway Games Studio: Midway Games
Soul Calibur IV Publisher: NAMCO BANDAI Games Studio: Project Soul

Best RPG
Fallout 3 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Studio: Bethesda Game Studios
The World Ends with You Publisher: Square Enix, Inc Studio: Square Enix Co., Ltd./Jupiter
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: Mythic Entertainment
Fable II Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Lionhead

Best Shooter
Gears of War 2 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Epic Games
Left 4 Dead Publisher: VALVE Studio: VALVE
Resistance 2 Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Insomniac Games
Far Cry 2 Publisher: Ubisoft Studio: Ubisoft Montreal

Most Anticipated Game: Go to Spike TV to vote for your favorite!

Technorati Tags: Spike TV, Video Game Awards 2008, Video Game Console, Video Game Publisher, Most Anticipated Game, Grand Theft Auto IV, Madden 09, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead

Spike TV’s Video Game Awards 2008 premiere on Sunday, December 14 (9:00- 11:00 PM, ET/ tape delay west coast), broadcasting LIVE from Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, CA. The nominees for the first 12 categories are listed below.

Best Independent Game Fueled By Dew
World of Goo Publisher: 2D Boy Studio: 2D Boy
PixelJunk Eden Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Q-Games
Braid Publisher: Number None, Inc. Studio: Number None, Inc.
Audiosurf Publisher: Steam/Valve Studio: Dylan Fitterer

Studio Of The Year
Media Molecule
Rockstar North
Harmonix
Bethesda Game Studios

Game of the Year
Gears of War 2 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Epic Games
Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar North
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc Studio: Kojima Productions
Fallout 3 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Studio: Bethesda Game Studios

Best Team Sports Game
FIFA Soccer 09 Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Canada
NBA 2K9 Publisher: 2K Sports Studio: Visual Concepts
Madden NFL 09 Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Tiburon
NHL 09 Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Canada

Big Name In The Game Female
Dame Judi Dench As “M” Game Title: Quantum of Solace Publisher: Activision Publishing
Eliza Dushku As “Shaundi” Game Title: Saints Row 2 Publisher: THQ
Liv Tyler As “Betty Ross” Game Title: The Incredible Hulk Publisher: SEGA
Jenny McCarthy As “Tanya” Game Title: Command & Conquer Red Alert3 Publisher: Electronic Arts

Big Name In The Game Male
Liam Neeson As “Father” Game Title: Fallout 3 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Kiefer Sutherland As “Sgt. Roebuck” Game Title: Call of Duty: World at War Publisher: Activision Publishing
Ricky Gervais As “Himself” Game Title: Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games
Daniel Craig As “James Bond” Game Title: Quantum Of Solace Publisher: Activision Publishing

Best Performance By A Human Female
Debi Mae West As “Meryl Silverburgh” Game Title: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc
Keeley Hawes As “Lara Croft” Game Title: Tomb Raider Underworld
Publisher: Eidos Interactive / Warner Bros.Interactive Entertainment
Paula Tiso As “Silvia Christel” Game Title: No More Heroes Publisher: Ubisoft
Nathalie Cox As “Juno Eclipse” Game Title: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Publisher: LucasArts

Best Performance By A Human Male
Stephen Fry As “The Narrator” Game Title: LittleBigPlanet Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
David Hayter As “Old Snake” Game Title: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc
Jason Zumwalt As “Roman Bellic” Game Title: Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games
Michael Hollick As “Niko Bellic” Game Title: Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games

Best Multi-Player Game
Call of Duty: World At War Publisher: Activision Publishing Studio: Treyarch
Resistance 2 Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Insomniac Games
Left 4 Dead Publisher: VALVE Studio: VALVE
Gears of War 2 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Epic Games

Best Original Score
LittleBigPlanet Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Media Molecule
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc Studio: Kojima Productions
Spore Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: Maxis
Fallout 3 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Studio: Bethesda Game Studios

Best PC Game
Left 4 Dead Publisher: VALVE Studio: VALVE
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: Mythic Entertainment
Crysis Warhead Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: Crytek
Spore Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: Maxis

Best PS3 Game
Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar North
LittleBigPlanet Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Media Molecule
Resistance 2 Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Insomniac Games
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc Studio: Kojima Productions

Technorati Tags: Video Games, Sony, Playstation, Xbox 360, Nintendo, PSP, Wii, DS, Video Game Awards, Spike TV, Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto IV

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT ISSUES INDUSTRY-WIDE CALL TO ACTION TO EXPAND G.I.R.L. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Nov. 13, 2008 – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a global leader in online gaming, invited all companies doing business in the video game industry to join SOE’s efforts to educate and recruit more women into the field of video game creation, design and production.

In a lunchtime keynote speech during the International Game Developers Association conference in San Francisco, Torrie Dorrell, senior vice president of Global Sales and Marketing for SOE, challenged companies in the video game industry to each make a $10,000 donation toward the G.I.R.L. – Gamers In Real Life – scholarship, with the goal of creating multiple scholarships and more opportunities for women.

“Today, I am challenging everyone to take action to help level the playing field for women pursuing a career in video games. By donating to the G.I.R.L. scholarship, we can encourage diversity in development and make a difference, hopefully creating more opportunities for women and ultimately making more video games women will want to play,” said Dorrell.

First awarded in 2008, the G.I.R.L. scholarship was created by SOE and encourages female students toward career paths in the creative and applied arts, with the ultimate goal of developing video games that are more interesting for women to play. In 2009, the program will be managed by Scholarship America®, a leading non-profit educational support program. SOE will offer students of undergraduate programs related to video games a chance to compete for the scholarship by submitting original artwork and essays to a panel of judges.

“SOE’s vision is commendable, and we fully endorse the G.I.R.L. scholarship program and look forward to the results of this initiative,” said Joseph Olin, president of The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “Expanding the presence of women in video games reflects SOE’s foresight and acknowledges its contributions to the future of our dynamic entertainment medium.”

For more information about the G.I.R.L. scholarship program, please visit, www.girl.soe.com.

Technorati Tags: Sony Home Entertainment, SOE, Games, Gaming, Gamer, GIRL, Gamers In Real Life, Scholarship, College, University