THE ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ARTS & SCIENCES, GAMESTOP, THE GUILDHALL AT SMU ANNOUNCE JUDGING PANEL FOR INDIE GAME CHALLENGE ENTRIES

More than 40 Industry Influencers to Judge Inaugural Game Development Contest; Winner to Receive More Than $350,000 in Prizes

DALLAS – (Jan. 14, 2010) – Judging is underway for the first Indie Game Challenge SM sponsored by The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME). The 12 non-professional and professional finalists out of more than 250 submissions in this inaugural video game design competition are expected to be announced February 1, 2010.

The Indie Game Challenge offers more than $350,000 in prize monies and scholarships, as well as the tremendous opportunity for the finalists to present their game ideas in person to video game executives from top publishers such as Sony, Nintendo, Electronics Arts, Capcom, Microsoft, NAMCO/Bandai, THQ and Ubisoft at the D.I.C.E.™ (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, an annual conference dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment, hosted by the AIAS. Five members from each of the 12 finalist teams will attend the awards reception Feb. 19, 2010, at the Red Rock Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. These meetings will allow competitors to receive valuable input and have the opportunity to explore commercial avenues for their games.

The volunteer judging panel is made up of gaming icons, veterans and up-and-coming professionals representing AIAS’s membership base, including such noteworthy individuals as:

Danny Bilson, executive vice president, Core Games, THQ, who has strong roots in the creative community as both a screenwriter and director for TV and film, and is responsible for THQ’s slate of games

Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, co-founders, thatgamecompany, creators of the unique and ethereal games Flow and Flower ,who along with their small team, are changing people’s perceptions of what makes a great game

Kyle Gabler, co-founder and creative director of 2D Boy, and part of the team that co-created the wildly successful World of Goo

Rod Ferguson, executive producer, Epic Games, who is part of the team of game-making heavyweights responsible for the Gear of War franchise

Alex Seropian, vice president creative development, Disney Interactive, co-founder of Bungie Studios and one of the fathers of Halo

Roger Hector, senior vice president product development, Namco Bandai, automotive design guru, responsible for launching 100-plus titles in his career within the interactive industry

Tina Kowalewski, director of external development, Sony Computer Entertainment America, responsible for finding new talent and new games for Sony

Representatives also include publishers and developers from Microsoft, Capcom, Harmonix, Volition, Insomniac, id Software, Zipper Interactive and Vigil Games

“We’re in our second round of evaluations, so we’re seeing the cream of the crop,” said Matthew Lee Johnston, senior producer, PopCap. “It’s amazing how polished some of the games are and the fun experiences they offer. The hardest part has been finding the time to play them all as much as I’d personally want, but I’ll definitely rectify that on my own time after the competition is completed.”

“We had no trouble finding highly qualified gaming professionals willing to donate their time to this unique challenge,” said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS. “Not only were we pleased with the total number of entries we received, the overall quality of the submissions far exceeded our expectations. Judges are currently pouring over each and every entry, and I don’t envy the task they face in culling the list down to 12 finalists by the end of the month.”

“We committed to each entrant that their game would be thoroughly evaluated and played by qualified judges from the world of gaming, and that’s what’s happening now,” said Mike Hogan, senior vice president of marketing, GameStop. “The 12 finalist games will be representative of some of the most innovative and creative ideas in gaming today as judged by the best in the business.”

For more information on the competition, visit www.IndieGameChallenge.com

Technorati Tags: Indie Gaming Challenge, Judges Panel, Xbox, GameStop, Playstation, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Games, Press Release

TEXT TO WIN ALEX MERCER’S JACKET FROM PROTOTYPE – AND GAMESTOP GIFT CARDS!

Video Game Retailer Launches Mobile Sweepstakes at http://www.gamestop.com/prototype

Are you a big fan of Prototype? GameStop has announced a mobile sweepstakes featuring a daily prize of a $50 GameStop gift card, and a grand prize of the Alex Mercer jacket from the parkour video. You can check out the video featuring the jacket here: www.gamestop.com/prototype.

To enter, text the word “Prototype” to 65579.

Who: GameStop and Prototype

What: GameStop launches Prototype mobile sweepstakes offering daily gift card prizes and Alex Mercer jacket grand prize.

Where:http://www.gamestop.com/prototype

Text the word “Prototype” to 65579 for a chance to win!

When: Now until July 8, 2009

Technorati Tags: Prototype, Alex Mercer, Games, Video Game, Gamestop, Prizes, Text, Win Prizes

SEGA, one of the top video game developing companies for the past several years, wants to wish you a Merry Christmas. What a way to welcome in the holiday!

Technorati Tags: Game Video, Merry Christmas, SEGA, Video Games

I’m not a huge fan of street fighter (I know! I’m lame!), but for all those fans out here anyway, I got some good news for you! Street Fighter is coming to Pinball FX. This is all thanks to a partnership between Capcom and Zen Studios. Here’s all the juicy details in the latest press release I received:

PRESS RELEASE

Budapest, Hungary –November 5, 2008 – ZEN Studios, a videogame developer and digital publisher known for its innovative arcade, strategy and action games, announced today it is working with Capcom® to release an officially licensed Street Fighter™ table for Pinball FX in celebration of the soon to be released Super Street Fighter™ II Turbo HD Remix. Pinball FX is the latest in a wide selection of pinball tables for one of the best selling titles on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The table will launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 on November 12th, 2008.

“It is so great to bring this awesome intellectual property of Capcom’s over to Pinball FX. I’ve long been a fan of the Street Fighter franchise and felt they made the best fighting games regardless of platforms,” said Zsolt Kigyossy, managing director of ZEN Studios. “This is our fourth expansion table for Pinball FX, and we will continue to work hard to give our fans the best possible pinball game with loads of tables and variety.”

“Capcom is pleased to team up with ZEN Studios to kick off our celebration of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix immanent release,” said Christian Svensson, VP of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Capcom Entertainment Inc. “Capcom aims to be one of the top providers of digitally delivered game content in the industry and teaming up with ZEN Studios adds an entirely new dimension to our portfolio of competitive titles.”

With this new table, the legendary Street Fighter franchise comes alive in an all-new Pinball FX experience. Street Fighter™ II Pinball FX comes loaded with the characters that revolutionized the fighting genre and created a global legacy like no other. Experience the arcade thrills of traditional pinball with enhanced gameplay, unparalleled graphical detail and innovative features not found in any other pinball game, such as:

-Enter the World Warrior Championship fighting as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Guile and battle against Sagat, Evil Ryu, Vega, and Balrog, then win the final round of the championship against M. Bison!

-Discover special combo shots, animated punches, kicks and special moves as you fight against opponents using ramps and a variety of orbit shots.

-Multiple in-game challenges featuring objects, art and memorable items from Street Fighter™ II.

-Table soundtrack, sound effects and voices from the original Street Fighter II.

-Brand new hot-seat multiplayer.

For more information about Capcom or the Street Fighter franchise, please visit www.capcom.com. For more information about ZEN Studios or Pinball FX, please visit www.zenstudios.com.

ABOUT ZEN STUDIOS:
ZEN Studios is a videogame developer and digital publisher based in Budapest, Hungary. Founded by a number of experienced developers in 2000 the studio is known for its innovative arcade, strategy and action titles. ZEN is one of the only developers in Central Europe that is a fully licensed Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony Playstation3, Nintendo DS and Wii game developer. For more information about ZEN Studios please visit http://www.zenstudios.com.

ABOUT CAPCOM:
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including best-selling franchises Resident Evil™, Street Fighter™, Mega Man™ and Devil May Cry™. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Korea, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom can be found on the company web site, www.capcom.com.

Street Fighter is either a registered trademark or trademark of Capcom U.S.A., Inc., in the U.S. or other countries. Capcom, Resident Evil, Mega Man and Devil May Cry are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd., in the U.S. or other countries. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

You should be over the age of 18 to watch this trailer (21 in some locales). This looks gruesome, yet ultimately awesome. For all you horror fans out there, Splatterhouse looks to be the game for you!

Splatterhouse will be available for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Technorati Tags: World Exclusive, Debut, Trailer, Splatterhouse, Video Game, Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Emerging Artist Lineup Includes All Genres of Rock Including Underoath, Hollywood Undead, Opiate for the Masses, Lesley Roy, Between the Buried and Me and more!

CAMBRIDGE, MA – October 22, 2008 – Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game development company, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) announced details today regarding 20 free DLC tracks that will be made available to Rock Band 2 [1] owners starting November 4, 2008. The lineup ranges across all genres of rock from up-and-coming artists that the industry has recognized as new to thriving rock bands with a quickly growing fan base.

“The Rock Band platform is an unparalleled destination for music discovery – offering a broad cross section of rock, from iconic rock artists to emerging bands,” stated Paul DeGooyer, MTV’s Senior Vice President of Electronic Games & Music. “With the addition of the 20 new songs we’re announcing today, owners of Rock Band 2 will have the ability to experience music from over 100 artists – ranging from the acts they already know and love to up-and-coming bands we think they will like.”

Featuring artists across the globe from the US, United Kingdom and Australia to Norway, Japan and Ireland, the 20 free DLC tracks are available exclusively to Rock Band 2 owners and can be accessed by using the DLC redemption code [2] located within the game’s retail packaging.

20 Free Rock Band 2 DLC Set List:

Artist Song

The 88 “Sons and Daughters”
Authority Zero “No Regrets”
Between the Buried and Me “Prequel To The Sequel”
The Cab “Bounce”
The Chevelles “Get It On”
The Cocktail Slippers “Give It To Me”
Dealership “Database Corrupted”
Endeverafter “I Wanna Be Your Man”
The Ghost Hounds “Ashes To Fire”
Hollywood Undead “Young”
Kutless “The Feeling”
The Len Price 3 “If I Ain’t Got You”
Lesley Roy “I’m Gone, I’m Going”
Opiate for the Masses “Burn You Down”
Semi-Precious Weapons “Magnetic Baby”
Shaimus “Like a Fool”
Thenewno2 “Crazy Tuesday”
Tickle Me Pink “The Time Is Wrong”
Underoath “Desperate Times, Desperate Measures”
X Japan “I.V.”

Rock Band 2 features the largest music catalogue of any music-based videogame to date. The 20 free tracks listed above combined with the 84 tracks already available on the game disc make for a total of 104 songs on the Rock Band 2 soundtrack, which features an unrivaled blend of classic and new artists including AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Motörhead and more! With the addition of complete and immediate backwards compatibility for songs purchased from Rock Band’s ever-expanding online music store and the ability to export most songs from the original Rock Band disc, the Rock Band music library will feature more than 500 songs [3] by year’s end.

The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 25 million paid downloads since the game’s launch in late November 2007. With more than 400 tracks available to date via disc and download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Downloadable content for Xbox® 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft is available for purchase via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360 using Microsoft Points and is downloaded directly to the hard drive of Xbox 360.

Downloadable content for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system’s version of Rock Band is available for purchase on the PlayStation®Store through the free PlayStation®Network and is downloaded directly to PLAYSTATION 3 system’s built in hard drive.

Downloadable content for the Wii™ home videogame console from Nintendo is available for purchase through the in-game Rock Band music store using Wii points that can be purchased through the Wii Shop Channel. Additional storage in the form of an SD card may be necessary for Rock Band track downloads to the Wii system.

Rock Band 2 is rated “T” for Teen with descriptors of lyrics and suggestive themes by the ESRB.

For more information on Rock Band 2 and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband2.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

About MTV Networks
MTV Networks, a part of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company’s portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.

About MTV Games
MTV Games is dedicated to creating, marketing and publishing high-quality, innovative interactive products that are relevant to the MTV audience and complement the core values of the MTV Networks brands.

About Harmonix Music Systems, Inc
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA, and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US. For more information please visit: www.harmonixmusic.com.

About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

Technorati Tags: Rock Band 2, DLC, tracks, November 4, Electronic Arts, download, video game, press release

I’m not a huge fan of Morgan, but this game does look as awesome as she says it is!

Technorati Tags: Little Big Planet, Sony, Playstation 3, Video Game, G4, Video, screenshot

Ever since Bethesda Softworks announced the release of “Fallout 3″, slated for sometime in Fall 2008, at the E3 conference, I’ve been dying to get my hands on a copy of the game.

The game will be released for XBOX 360, Playstation 3, and Windows Vista on October 28, 2008. This is the one game I absolutely fell in love with through its visibility at E3. I’m not sure if its the possibility of using everything from Teddy Bears to lunch boxes as weapons or the intriguing back story (or VATS – which is wicked) that makes this game so appealing. Either way, October 28 simply cannot come fast enough!

For those who have no idea what “Fallout 3″ is about, check out this video.

Did I mention how awesome the graphics are?

This really looks exciting!

So, is there a game you can’t wait to be released this year? Which game and why?

Technorati Tags: Bethesda Game Studio, Fallout 3, XBOX 360, trailer, gameplay, Playstation 3, PC, Windows Vista, Video Game, Vault

For years people have complained and suggested that any video game use at all could cause harm to kids. Like complaints concerning television, every excuse from the cause of obesity to losing brain cells or the ability to turn someone into a killer have been cited as reasons why we should not let our kids play games. I have always believed that it’s not the system as a whole, but the games that you should censor.

The best thing that a parent can do is have an active role in their child’s choice of media. Just like you would stop them from watching a rated R movie if they were too young, you shouldn’t let them play a rated M video game. This doesn’t make the game wrong, it just means that a child isn’t ready to play it. There are a number of E (Everyone) or T (Teen) games that are suitable for kids. There are also a number of educational games worth looking at.

Now it’s being considered that video games are actually a good thing for kids. I have to say, I don’t think they are bad, but I don’t think they are great if all they do is play. In all things there needs to be a healthy balance. Find the games that are good for your child and let them play in moderation.

Yahoo!’s website, Shine, which reaches 10 million women each month, hosted the survey throughout June 2008. The study found that 87% of parents who participated in the survey are spending time playing video games with their children. “Family video game nights are becoming incredibly popular with the variety of games out there,” said Linda Fears, editor-in-chief, Family Circle magazine. “Parents and children of all ages are finding games to play together, no matter what each person’s experience level.”

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]]> http://www.gamerrazzi.com/2008/10/video-games-arent-bad-for-kids/feed/ 0 http://www.gamerrazzi.com/2008/10/rockband-2-offering-seven-new-nirvana-tracks/ http://www.gamerrazzi.com/2008/10/rockband-2-offering-seven-new-nirvana-tracks/#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:37:02 +0000 Janey the Admin http://www.gamerrazzi.com/?p=322

Fans of Nirvana and Rock Band 2 won’t want to miss out on the new tracks coming out on October 21 and 23, 2008. Tracks include famous Nirvana hits, “Polly”, “Something in the Way”, and “Breed” among others.

Each Track will be available starting October 21, 2008, for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and October 23, 2008, for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The cost is $1.99 per track (160 Microsoft Points) or $10.99 (880 Microsoft Points) for the Nirvana 7-pack.

Release date: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360)
Thursday, October 23, 2008 (PlayStation®Store)

Tracks: Nirvana Breed
Nirvana Lounge Act
Nirvana On a Plain
Nirvana Polly
Nirvana Something in the Way
Nirvana Stay Away
Nirvana Territorial Pissings

Price: $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
$10.99 (880 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for the Nirvana 7-pack

(All tracks are original master recordings)

Locations: Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 and PlayStation®Network

Technorati Tags: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nirvana, Breed, Polly, Something in the Way, Stay Away, Territorial Pissings, Rockband 2

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Written by Janey the Admin - Visit Website
Janey serves as the admin for both gamerrazzi.com and li-kids.com. She loves helping run these interesting websites. Janey loves games. She can often be found playing all of the various Halo incarnations on her Xbox 360.]]> http://www.gamerrazzi.com/2008/10/rockband-2-offering-seven-new-nirvana-tracks/feed/ 0