Tag: e3

EA ANNOUNCES SPORTS FOOTBALL CLUB FOR FIFA SOCCER 12

EA SPORTS Football Club fans can connect and compete with their friends and millions of other fans playing FIFA Soccer 12

PRESS RELEASE

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – June 6, 2011 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today a new live service* called EA SPORTS(tm) Football Club that will bring the world’s most passionate sports fans together and engage them within the massive FIFA online community. EA SPORTS Football Club-the heartbeat of FIFA Soccer 12
-connects players to the real-world game with fresh, new content all the time, enabling them to support their favorite club in new ways connected to real-world events, and connect and compete with friends, rivals and millions of other players around the world.

“The millions of fans playing FIFA online have shown us there is a constant appetite for a deep connected experience, driven by a love of the sport,” said Matt Bilbey, Vice President and General Manager of Soccer for the FIFA Soccer franchise. “EA SPORTS Football Club is a new social experience that brings the world’s soccer fans together, engaging and entertaining them in new ways that have never been done before in a sports game.”

EA SPORTS Football Club creates a new social experience where fans can connect and compete with their friends and millions of other fans playing FIFA Soccer 12, where status, bragging rights and progression are all measured and ever-changing. For the first time ever, everything that happens within EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 12-and against friends-is measured in a meaningful way. Every match matters, all season long. Earn experience points and level up to build your status. Track friends, challenges and status through the web at easportsfootball.com. Share and compare accomplishments and spread the news on social channels like Facebook.

EA SPORTS Football Club also ignites the passion of sports fans and deepens their connection to their favourite team through Support Your Club, a central experience in EA SPORTS Football Club that enables fans to represent their club and compete against rival clubs in everything they do in FIFA Soccer 12. Earn club points and lift your club higher in the Support Your Club League Tables or help them avoid relegation. Virtual league tables are reset each week to create new challenges, renewed rivalries, and fresh storylines.

Fans will be more closely connected to the sport than ever before.
Real-world storylines will drive content in EA SPORTS Football Club, making the game feel fresh and new all the time. Gamers will relive crucial real-world soccer events through regular challenges. EA SPORTS Football Club will have a dedicated team deliver new content and challenges so that FIFA Soccer 12 will look, feel and play like the real-world season.

There will be no additional charge for EA SPORTS Football Club as the service kicks off with FIFA Soccer 12 on the PlayStation(r)3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360(r) videogame and entertainment system and PC when the game launches this fall.

To pre-order FIFA Soccer 12 visit http://www.easportsfootball.com. For the latest news on FIFA Soccer 12 join more than five million fans in the EA SPORTS FIFA community at http://www.facebook.com/easportsfifa or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/easportsfifa.

FIFA Soccer 12 will be available in stores world-wide this fall for the PlayStation(r)3, Xbox 360(r), Wii(tm), PC, PlayStation(r)2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo 3DS(tm), PSP(r) (PlayStation(r)Portable) system, iPhone(r), iPad(tm), and iPod(r) touch. Additional feature details on all platforms will be revealed in the months ahead.The game has not yet been rated. Screenshots are available at http://info.ea.com.

EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, global videogame competitions and breakthrough digital experiences. EA SPORTS delivers personal access to the emotion of sports through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL(r) hockey, NBA JAM basketball, NCAA(r) Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS MMA, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR(r) golf, and EA SPORTS Active. For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com to connect, share and compete.

* FIFA Soccer 12 and an internet connection are required for play. You must accept EA’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service in order to play.

XBox LIVE letter to users

A summary of new XBox LIVE features from Microsoft’s Marc Whitten

We just received the following communication in our inbox from Microsoft’s Marc Whitten:

Dear Xbox LIVE members,

We have a simple vision. All the entertainment you want, with the people you care about, made easy. Today at E3, we took another remarkable step toward realizing that vision, unveiling a whole new way to experience entertainment, where TV is more amazing when you are the controller.

We are transforming entertainment in the living room by bringing you more entertainment experiences and new ways to enjoy them.

Coming this year to Xbox LIVE will be UFC and YouTube, adding to our ever-expanding library of great entertainment, including ESPN, Facebook, Hulu Plus, Last.fm, Netflix and Twitter. We are also forging new partnerships to bring live television to Xbox LIVE in the United States and around the world, adding to our current partnerships with Sky TV in the UK, Canal Plus in France and FOXTEL in Australia.

And this is only the beginning; we will continue to bring more entertainment experiences to Xbox LIVE for you and your friends.

But the future living room does more than give you great entertainment; it helps you find and decide. It gives you simplicity, discovery and personal choice. With the power of Xbox, the simplicity of Kinect voice control and the intelligence of Bing, now you can just say it and Xbox will find it.
Bing on Xbox gives you the easiest way to find the entertainment you want.

Every day, you and nearly 35 million other members of the Xbox community are pushing us to continue to deliver new and exciting experiences.
Whether it’s playing “Call of Duty: Black Ops” (Activision) and “Halo:Reach” (Microsoft Studios) with friends, or catching up on the latest episode of “30 Rock” on Hulu Plus and watching college football on ESPN, our community is spending an average of 60 hours a month on Xbox LIVE.
That translates to 2.1 billion entertainment hours a month!

This is an amazing opportunity to continue bringing you the games, movies, TV shows, music and more experiences you want. Thanks for pushing us to deliver more.

So we know you want to keep playing, watching, sharing and enjoying your time on Xbox LIVE. We are equally passionate in our efforts to continually improve and innovate the LIVE service, and I’m happy to share a glimpse of what is more to come:

* The New Dashboard. Simpler. Cleaner. Easier to navigate. With the addition of new entertainment content on Xbox LIVE and our commitment to continuously improving the overall Xbox experience, we’ve updated the dashboard with a new look and feel that makes it even more open, inviting and intuitive to navigate. All of your favorite content is categorized in a way that is easy to browse and find what you’re looking for, plus you can use voice anywhere in the dashboard to effortlessly navigate and get to what you want.

* Bing on Xbox. We are bringing Bing to Xbox. Bing on Xbox searches Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN, as well as our music, video and Xbox LIVE marketplaces to find exactly the entertainment you want to enjoy. With Bing on Xbox and Kinect, you can effortlessly find the games, movies, TV shows, sports and music you want by only using your voice. You say it, Xbox finds it. The experience is now simpler than ever before.

* Expanded Kinect Voice Support. We want Xbox LIVE members around the globe to experience the magic of Kinect’s voice recognition technology so we are committed to bringing voice to eight additional markets by the end of this year with a total of 13 markets that will have Kinect voice.
We are also exploring some innovative new ways to enable the LIVE community to help us accelerate the refinement of voice models in new markets, and look forward to sharing developments on that front soon.

* Beacons. We want to make it easy for you to connect with friends over your favorite games on Xbox LIVE, so we are introducing Beacons to the service. Beacons are a way to tell your Xbox LIVE and Facebook friends that you want to play a game on Xbox LIVE. By setting a Beacon, you tell Xbox LIVE what you want to play. Then, Xbox LIVE lets you know when friends are playing or want to play the same game. With Beacons, no matter what you’re currently doing on Xbox LIVE your friends know that it’s ok to ask you to play your Beaconed games. Imagine sending out a Beacon to let your friends know you’re interested in playing “Halo,” while watching a movie on Netflix. It’s about making it easier for you to share and discover games and multiplayer opportunities with friends on Xbox LIVE.

* Cloud Storage for Game Saves and LIVE Profile. Here at Xbox LIVE we listen to your feedback. We are making it easier for you to sign into your Xbox LIVE account from any console at any time to access your game saves and full profile, including items such as Microsoft Points to make purchases, Achievements and friends. Cloud storage will allow you to enjoy the same great Xbox LIVE gaming experience even when you’re not in your own living room by giving you the option to store your “game saves” securely in the Xbox LIVE cloud instead of on a portable memory unit or your console’s hard drive. Gone are the days of “gamertag recovery.” Now all you need to do is sign in, no matter where you are!

* Summer of Arcade. For the fourth year in a row, we are excited to bring you the hottest Xbox LIVE Arcade titles with Summer of Arcade.
Starting July 20, enjoy five consecutive weeks of the season’s most highly anticipated downloadable games, including:

o “Toy Soldiers: Cold War” (Signal Studios/Microsoft Studios). Jump into the fray with playful ’80s combat action in “Toy Soldiers: Cold War.”
Bring your favorite action toys to life and wage war against the red menace. Need backup? Call in a friend for co-op campaign action on the couch or over Xbox LIVE. Take a break from the main battle with Survival mode and playful minigames. When you beat your LIVE friends’ scores, they’ll be gunning to reclaim the top spot!

o “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” (Fuelcell/Microsoft Studios). This side-scrolling, 2-D, action-adventure game takes players on a journey through the curious Shadow Planet worlds, unique environments filled with twisted life, surreal ecologies, hostile creatures and environmental hazards. Players explore the depths of several interconnected themed areas, fighting swarms of enemies, battling bosses, solving mind-bending puzzles and acquiring power-ups to unlock new parts of the map.

o “Fruit Ninja Kinect” (Halfbrick/Microsoft Studios). The worldwide gaming phenomenon “Fruit Ninja” is now coming to Kinect for Xbox 360 in its juiciest form yet – YOU are the ninja! Your arms are now blades, and the battle against the world’s most delicious produce is just beginning. “Fruit Ninja Kinect” is an amazing evolution of the slice-em-up genre created by Halfbrick, utilizing next-generation precision power for the juiciest combat ever!

o “Bastion” (Supergiant Games/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment). “Bastion” is an action role-playing experience that redefines storytelling in games, with a reactive narrator who marks your every move. Explore more than 40 lush hand-painted environments as you discover the secrets of the Calamity, a surreal catastrophe that shattered the world to pieces. Wield a huge arsenal of upgradeable weapons and battle savage beasts adapted to their new habitat. Finish the main story to unlock New Game Plus mode and continue your journey!

o “From Dust” (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft). Discover a unique Modern God game in which nature is the star. “From Dust” is the latest original concept by Eric Chahi, visionary creator of “Another World.” Behold the beauty of a primitive world pulsing with life and face the might of nature. Beware the danger of a world that is constantly changing under your command. Control the destiny of a tribe struggling to survive and help it recover its ancestors’ lost powers. Immerse yourself in a world as exotically beautiful as it is dangerous. A universe where nature reclaims what is hers and you are your people’s only chance of survival.

Also today, Kudo Tsunoda announced Kinect Fun Labs Kinect Fun Labs which brings innovation to Kinect owners and offers more exciting ways to have fun. It’s all about creating magical moments with never-before-seen Kinect technology and new Gadgets available all the time to experience and share with your Xbox LIVE friends.

This is just the beginning. This year alone we are taking Xbox LIVE from half a million pieces of content to hundreds of millions, all controlled by your voice. Our mission is to forge partnerships with the best known entertainment companies throughout the world so everyone can experience how TV becomes more amazing when you are the controller.

Xbox LIVE gives you all your entertainment on one box, where you can use your voice to easily control, search and decide. I can’t wait to open the doors to your new home for entertainment this holiday, and rest assured, there is more to come.

See you on LIVE,
Marc Whitten
Gamertag – Notwen

505 Games Announces E3 2011 Lineup

Michael Phelps: Push the Limit and Blackwater among Kinect for XBox 360 exclusive titles.

PRESS RELEASE

Woodland Hills, CA – June 6, 2011 – Global videogame publisher 505 Games revealed today its lineup of titles that will be showcased at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, California from June 7-9, 2011. 505 Games will display an exciting collection of upcoming titles that contains something for everyone in West Hall Meeting Room 407-B Attendees at E3 are invited to come by the 505 meeting space and get a first look, speak to key representatives from 505 and developers and get hands on game play with the following titles:

Kinect™ for Xbox 360 exclusive titles –


*Michael Phelps: Push the Limit: Get inspired by the greatest athlete ever *Michael Phelps! For the first time ever, Michael Phelps: Push the Limit brings the fun, fitness and excitement of head to head swimming to your living room with the power of Kinect!

*Blackwater:A first of its kind shooter, Blackwater reinvents the modern combat shooter genre by giving players the ability to completely control the gameplay experience using either a traditional controller or Kinect for Xbox 360’s controller-free abilities which introduces an unprecedented level of immersion to the FPS genre. Blackwater takes its namesake from the private security company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL, to provide training support to military and law enforcement agencies.

*Grease™: Get ready for those “Summer Nights” with a return to Rydell High! Grease utilizes the Kinect’s motion sensor technologies to deliver the ultimate Grease experience. Sing, dance and party your way through the officially licensed music and all the memorable choreography from the movie along with Barry, Sandy and the rest of the Grease gang.

Additional titles (various platforms) –

*Supremacy MMA (Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system): Armed with arcade-like speed and real in-game fighters—including former UFC champ Jens Pulver and the first real female fighters in an MMA game – Supremacy MMA brings the brutality of the sport to the world as the only MMA fighting game releasing this year.

*WRECKED: Revenge Revisited (Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PlayStation®Network): As the follow-up to the wildly popular multiplayer racer MASHED – which released on Xbox console, PlayStation®2, and Windows PC in 2004 – WRECKED: Revenge Revisited brings car-based combat and racing carnage to a whole new level with an all new variety of weapons and vehicle enhancements, including five totally insane different aerial strikes.

* Backbreaker Vengeance (Exclusive to Xbox LIVE Arcade): Backbreaker Vengeance takes the intensity and AAA appeal of the original Backbreaker Football console game and combines it with the pick-up-and-play nature of the wildly popular “Tackle Alley” mini-game in Backbreaker Football to deliver an all-new arcade slant on football.

* Rugby World Cup 2011 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system): Get ready to feel the excitement and experience all of the action in Rugby World Cup 2011, HB Studios’ breathtakingly realistic presentation of the upcoming Rugby World Cup and the first rugby game on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Choose between 20 participating teams, play out national rivalries in authentic match venues with true rugby stars, and experience one of the most realistic presentations of the world’s third most popular sport. Are you worthy enough to lift the Webb Ellis Cup and become World Champions for your country?

UE3 powers ‘Fable: The Journey’ and Kinect Fun Labs

Lionhead Studios that Unreal Engine 3 will power latest installment of Fable saga.

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES (June 6, 2011) – Microsoft Studios, Lionhead Studios and Epic Games, Inc. announce that Lionhead is developing “Fable:The Journey” using Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine 3. Revealed today during the Xbox 360 E3 2011 Media Briefing, “Fable: The Journey” is poised to take the cherished action-adventure series to Kinect for Xbox 360. Under Microsoft’s licensing agreement with Epic, Lionhead is equipped with the latest Unreal Engine technology to bring powerful new experiences to the critically acclaimed Xbox 360 exclusive franchise that has sold more than 9 million copies.

“In using the Unreal Engine with its excellent tools for crafting cinematic in-game experiences, it allows our developers to focus on the quality and uniqueness of ‘Fable: The Journey,'” said Peter Molyneux, creative director of Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Game Studios Europe. “Already we are seeing a more beautiful, vivid and unique world full of dramatic moments and have crafted new, never seen before gameplay experiences.”

“The world of Albion has always been a beautiful place, and Lionhead embellishing it using the bells and whistles of Unreal Engine 3 makes it even more magical,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “Furthermore, Lionhead truly impresses with their proficiency for Kinect, with intuitive and natural feeling player interactions using voice and gesture controls in demonstrations we have seen firsthand. That gripping experience combined with stunning UE3 visuals truly make this is a world-class union of imagination and technology.”

About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics, best-of-breed suite of integrated tools and scalability across platforms.
Epic Games’ research and development continually evolve Unreal Engine 3’s highly mature toolset and content pipeline. Unreal Engine 3 is available across multiple platforms including iOS, Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3, PC, Mac and Android. Unreal Engine 3 is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for computer and video games, mobile games and applications, training simulations, 3D visualizations, digital films and animated television shows. Unreal Engine 3 is the current holder and five-time winner of Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine award in the US as well as the current holder and three-time winner of Develop magazine’s Best Engine award in the UK. Developers can start using Unreal Engine 3 with the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of the engine’s award-winning toolset available at www.udk.com. Additional information on Unreal Engine 3 can be obtained at www.unrealengine.com.

New Galaga Titles Arrive This Summer to Commemorate 30th Anniversary

Released for North America in 1981, Galaga left an indelible mark across arcades throughout the 80’s.


PRESS RELEASE

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (June 6, 2011) – NAMCO BANDAI Games is proud to announce that 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of its celebrated space arcade shooter, Galaga(r). Released for North America in 1981, Galaga left an indelible mark across arcades throughout the 80’s and has been loved by gamers ever since. To commemorate this historic milestone, a number of exciting new Galaga games are planned to be released this summer for Xbox(tm) 360 video game entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation(r)3 computer entertainment system, the Nintendo 3DS(tm) system, iOS devices from Apple(r) and feature phones.

NAMCO BANDAI Games’ exciting Galaga product lineup for 2011 includes:

* Galaga(r) Legions DX (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) – Get ready for the anticipated follow-up title from the team behind PAC-MAN(r) Championship Edition DX. The Namco Generations team will make you rethink everything you know about Galaga with Galaga Legions DX.
Fast-paced gameplay along with fantastic new features, modes, and graphics await those ready to embark on the most destructive and chaotic space war ever encountered.

* PAC-MAN(r) & Galaga(r) DIMENSIONS (Nintendo 3DS) – Featuring Galaga 3D IMPACT, experience the invading Galaga alien armada like never before. Players will use the gyro sensor in the Nintendo 3DS system to take the role of a space ship pilot. Maneuver the Nintendo 3DS system in real-time to blast away the Galaga threat. PAC-MAN & Galaga DIMENSIONS also features PAC-MAN Tilt, a brand new side-scrolling PAC-MAN adventure. Players use the 3DS system’s motion sensor to tilt PAC-MAN’s world and use the surrounding environment to help him escape puzzles and defeat enemies.

* Galaga(r) 30th Collection (iOS) – The Galaga 30th Collection universal app will act as a hub for the Galaga universe across all iOS devices. iPhone(r), iPod(r) touch and iPad(r) owners will be able to experience the celebrated Galaga franchise at the tips of their fingers. Galaga 30th Collection will be available June 9 for free bundled with a copy of Galaxian(r). Future in-app purchases will be available through the year.

* Galaga(r) Special Edition (Java/BREW/Blackberry) – Galaga shoots its way to feature phones this year with a remixed version of the classic space shooter.

OPTOMA GT750 PROJECTOR COMPATIBLE WITH ALL GAMING AND ENTERTAINMENT FORMATS

The GT750, the first portable projector that is compatible with all gaming formats and standards, including Blu-ray 3D.

PRESS RELEASE

FREMONT, Calif. | June 6, 2011 | Optoma, the best-selling brand of DLP projectors in the USA, and the only projector maker with its eyes focused directly on the gaming market, has introduced

The projector will be unveiled June 7-9 at the Electronic Entertainment Industry (E3) Expo in Los Angeles (South Hall, booth 3054), with availability scheduled for August at a price of $799.

“This is a milestone product for Optoma and a direct response to 3D gaming enthusiasts who want to take advantage of the newest technologies,” said Jon Grodem, Optoma’s senior director of product & marketing. “And as more 3D content becomes available, both for games and general entertainment, the GT750 becomes a natural choice.”

The GT750 becomes the fourth member of Optoma’s award-winning GameTime line and includes features that create an immersive and exhilarating gaming experience. Its 2500 lumens of brightness and short throw lens combine to deliver bright, larger-than-life images, even in small rooms that might not easily accommodate other projectors.

And its powerful 10-Watt stereo speaker system delivers in-the-action sound without external speakers.

The GT750 offers a native widescreen 720p (1280 x 720 pixels) resolution, and is designed to maximize the widescreen attributes of major gaming platforms, including those running 3D content on Blu-ray disks. Optoma’s unique circuitry accepts Blu-ray’s HDMI 1.4a 3D signal and converts it for display in 720p resolution 3D.

It also is PC and MAC compatible, supports computer resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels (HD), and accepts common global video inputs and video formats up to 1080p (HDTV, EDTV, SDTV, NTSC, PAL, SECAM). The GT750 comes packaged with a custom backpack to accommodate the on-the-go gamer, and a remote control is also included as standard equipment.