Category: Games

In less than a year, on Feb. 28, 2009, Will Wright's new world SPORE, will debut.

SPORE is an epic journey that takes you from the origin and evolution of life through the development of civilization and technology and eventually all the way into the deepest reaches of outer space.

Begin your odyssey at the dawn of life as a simple microbe just trying to survive, then use the fun, intuitive editors to evolve the creature from its microscopic origins into an intelligent, tool-using race.

Pinnacle Systems, Inc., the consumer division of Avid Technology, announced Wednesday the complete redesign of its US website, www.pinnaclesys.com, with a new layout, easy navigation and an exciting new section called Pinnacle Life.

Pinnacle Life is a rich source of information for users who wish to take full advantage of the "digital life" without getting lost in technical jargon and complexity.

The Disney-ABC Television Group announced Thursday the highly-anticipated launch of Stage 9 Digital Media.

Focused on creating original, quality short-form programming, the studio's experimental new media content premieres with the comedy series SQUEEGEES in a co-exclusive premiere on ABC.com and YouTube on Feb. 28.

Stage 9 will "bridge the gap between user-generated content and traditional production," said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks, and president, Disney-ABC Television Group.

THE SIMS 2 FREETIME, the newest expansion pack from THE SIMS, is available on store shelves across North America and Europe, Electronic Arts announced Thursday.

A wide range of all-new activities, hobbies and cool careers are now available to your Sims with this expansion pack.

New life pursuits based on your Sims personal interests mean that even more creativity and unique stories are now at your fingertips.

Electronic Arts announced Sunday that it has made an all-cash, $2 billion bid to acquire Take-Two Interactive Software.

New-York based Take-Two, best known for its GRAND THEFT AUTO franchise, rejected EA's proposal, made on Feb. 19.

EA's proposal of $26 per share represents a premium of 64 percent over Take-Two's closing stock price on Feb. 15th, the last trading day before EA sent its revised proposal to Take-Two, and a 63 percent premium over Take-Two's 30-day trailing average price over the thirty trading days ending on that date.

This week's additions to the Wii Shop Channel take players on a psychedelic trip down memory lane with KIRBY 64: THE CRYSTAL SHARDS and PSYCHOSIS.

Kirby is back and armed with a bunch of new talents, including the option to combine abilities.

Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday.

Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games.

Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets.

Electronic Arts announced several items of note today.

THE SIMS CARNIVAL, a new online community and gaming experience from THE SIMS Studio, is open for a special closed beta.

An innovative online destination, TheSimsCarnival.com empowers members to play, create and share casual games within an online community.

To potentially be selected for participation in a closed beta for TheSimsCarnival.com, create a new account at TheSimsCarnival.com.

Planetwide Media and Speed Racer Enterprises today announced the debut of SPEED RACER COMIC BOOK CREATOR 2 interactive entertainment software.

Classic characters such as Speed Racer, Racer X, Pops, Trixie, Chim Chim, Spritle, Sparky and the Mach 5 are featured.

SPEED RACER COMIC BOOK CREATOR 2 lets the fan create their very own personalized Speed Racer Digital Comic Book with officially licensed Speed Racer art, backgrounds, icons, screen shots, video clips and audio.

Today, veteran interactive games company Fluid Entertainment announced the upcoming launch of its childrens MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game).

With software development experience spanning key childrens entertainment properties, including HARRY POTTER, POKEMON, DISNEY, and THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, Fluid brings a decade of development expertise to the burgeoning childrens online game field.

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, revealed today SOFTIMAGE|NET (community.softimage.com), a new community site maintained by Softimage for 3D artists and enthusiasts currently using or learning SOFTIMAGE|XSI.

Softimage XSI is a professional 3D modeling, animation, character creation and rendering software, and the community site will help engage and connect the worldwide community of XSI artists, technical directors and students.

Image Metrics announced Thursday their performance-driven facial animation solution was used to create realistic characters for upcoming games like TOP SPIN 3 from 2K Games, UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3 by Epic Games and GRAND THEFT AUTO IV by Rockstar Games.

Popular tennis series TOP SPIN lets gamers play as the world's greatest tennis pros or create their own digital identity, complete with physical details and playing style.

Image Metrics created 10 minutes of facial animation for the title, mostly in-game reaction shots.