Funcom have announced that they have established a new Studio in Montréal, Canada. Funcom are moving some of their personnel to this studio, and have said that at present the new studio will focus on working on established Funcom games.
Press Release Durham, USA – September 1st, 2009 – Funcom is pleased to announce the establishment of a new development studio in Montréal, Canada, where it will build a strong and competent development team that will work on several games in the Funcom portfolio. Besides tapping into the excellent talent pool available in the region, Funcom will also move a certain number of key personnel over to the new studio.
"Montréal has established itself as one of the world's most important locations for video game production, and we are looking forward to taking part in that success," says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "In addition to strengthening our North American presence, the new studio will take advantage of the great incentive programs offered by the Québec region, incentives that makes Montréal one of the most cost effective locations in the world for developing MMO games. This will in turn allow us to better balance our costs, making it possible for us to continue to expand our investments into the MMO segment."
Funcom is one of the most multi-cultural game developers in the business, with over 320 employees from all corners of the world employed at the company's offices in Norway, the US, China, and Switzerland. The company is responsible for the best-selling MMO `Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' that shipped over 1.2 million copies to retail in 2008, as well as the pioneering sci-fi MMO `Anarchy Online'. The company has developed more than 20 titles since its founding in 1993; including the critically acclaimed `The Longest Journey' and `Dreamfall' adventure games. Funcom is currently working on the expansion pack for `Age of Conan' called `Rise of the Godslayer' as well as its new MMO `The Secret World'. Developers at the Montréal studio will play an important role in the development of both of these games.
"It has been a pleasure for us to work with Investissement Québec in setting up our Montréal studio and we are very thankful for the strong support they have given us throughout this process," says Ole Schreiner, CEO of Funcom's new Montréal studio. "We are excited about the opportunity that Montréal represents to our company, not only because of the great incentives offered by Québec, but also the authorities' strong commitment to training qualified video games personnel and building a video games cluster in Montreal and Quebec." _ _ _
ABOUT FUNCOM - Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC, consoles and mobile platforms. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Recent titles include 'The Longest Journey', 'Anarchy Online' and 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey'. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit www.anarchy-online.com, www.dreamfall.com, www.darkdaysarecoming.com or www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.
Nintendo has announced that they are releasing a Facebook app for their Nintendo Wii game, Wii Sports Resort. The Wii Party Time Generator App allows you to invite your friends to friendly Wii Sports Resort competitions, host tournaments, post scores, view medals and trophies, and share photos.
Press Release GREETINGS FROM WUHU ISLAND!
Wii Sports Resort™ is one of the hottest video games on the market with more than one million copies sold in the United States alone. Nintendo has enhanced the social experience of Wii Sports Resort and made it even more immersive by creating the Wii Sports Resort Facebook application.
By adding the Wii Party Time Generator application to your personal Facebook page, you will have the ability to invite all of your Facebook pals to friendly Wii Sports Resort competitions. You can set up parties, host tournaments, post scores and results, view medals and trophies, share photos from your Wii Sports Resort tournament and even do some trash talking. Wii Party Time Generator will allow you to spread the fun, social gaming experience of Wii Sports Resort.
To learn more about the Wii Party Time Generator, download it to your Facebook profile page and start setting up your own Wii Sports Resort events, visit http://apps.facebook.com/wiisportsresort/.
Eidos has released new screenshots for the PC version of Batman Arkham Asylum. they show off the NVIDIA PhysX aspects of the game, a few areas in the game, and the Bat Car.
Namco Networks have announced that Mr Driller for iPhone and iPod touch is now available for $0.99. The game has also been released in the UK for £0.59. the game features 3 game modes,Survival, Arcade, and time trail, as well as 3 controller types. the game also uses Facebook Connect to upload your scores to Facebook and share them with your friends.
Press Release SAN JOSE, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Sep 01, 2009 Fan-favorite Mr. Driller digs his way onto Apple’s App Store with new play modes and controls designed for the iPhone/iPod touch. Namco Networks, a leading publisher and developer of mobile, iPhone and PC games for mass-market casual gamers, today announced the upcoming worldwide availability of Mr. Driller for $.99 through Apple’s App Store.
“This fun action puzzler is the first title from the new Apple Games Group at Namco and is a good representation of the variety we’ll be bringing to the App Store,” said Jonathan Kromrey, general manager for Apple Games for Namco Networks. “We are focused on creating games for everyone. If a player is looking for a fun, quick game, we’ll have great games like Mr. Driller. If players are looking for a deeper, longer, more immersive experience, we’ll offer them that as well. All of our games will be offered at price points that reflect the gameplay experience. Mr. Driller is a great game for $.99.”
In Mr. Driller, the town has been overrun by mysterious colored blocks and it's up to Mr. Driller to get to the bottom of it. Armed with his mighty drill, Mr. Driller must drill through the blocks to find the source. The fast-paced puzzler features three game modes:
Survival Mode offers three difficulty levels.
Arcade Mode challenges players to reach the goal on 500m and 1000m levels.
Time Trial Mode pits players against the clock as they try to beat 10 different levels.
Mr. Driller has three control types: D-Pad, Swipe and Accelerometer. D-Pad is located at the bottom-left of the screen and is used to move Susumu (Mr. Driller) right and left while the drill button on the bottom-right is used to drill. Swipe allows players to swipe around the bottom-left of the screen to move Susumu while the drill button on the bottom-right is used to drill.
Accelerometer control allows players to tilt the device to the left and right to move Susumu while tapping the drill button to drill. There is also an auto-down feature that automatically moves Susumu down the screen as the blocks are broken.
Mr. Driller also includes Facebook Connect, so players can post their scores to their Facebook wall and share their scores with their friends.
Nunchuck.Nintendo have announced 2 new DSi colours and a new Wiimote, Wii Motion Plus, and The White And Pink DSi's will cost $169.99 and be available from September 13th. The Black WiiMote and Wii MotionPlus Bundle will be avliable this holiday season, with the Nunchuck being sold separately.
Press Release LAS VEGAS, Aug. 31, 2009 – Nintendo today announced that the new Wii Fit™ Plus game will launch in North America on Oct. 4, and also revealed new colors for its popular Nintendo DSi™ system and for the revolutionary Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ controllers and Wii MotionPlus™ accessory. Starting Sept. 13, Nintendo DSi will be available in White and Pink, joining the Blue and Black versions already on the market. Additionally, this holiday season, Nintendo will release a new Black version of the Wii Remote bundled with a Black version of the Wii MotionPlus accessory, which brings precise motion control to games that have been designed for it. A Black version of the Nunchuk controller also will be available for the holidays.
Nintendo of America President & COO Reggie Fils-Aime made these announcements in his keynote address at the 2009 GameStop Manager Conference.
"All of these announcements bring more options and more choices to consumers as our industry heads into its busiest time of the year," Fils-Aime said. "Each of these products allows consumers to enjoy a more personal gaming experience, no matter how they choose to play."
Here are the details of today's announcements:
• Wii Fit Plus: This enhanced version of the top-selling game offers a range of new features, along with new exercises, yoga activities and balance games designed to keep workouts fun. For the first time, users can customize their workouts to target specific areas of their bodies or to fill specific intervals of time. Wii Fit Plus will replace the current Wii Fit™ configuration at retail, and will be bundled with the Wii Balance Board™ accessory at a suggested retail price of $99.99. For people who currently own Wii Fit and want to add the expanded options to their fitness regimen, the Wii Fit Plus disc will be available on its own at a suggested retail price of $19.99.
• White and Pink Nintendo DSi colors: The two new colors give consumers even more options to personalize their experiences. All models of the Nintendo DSi hardware come with two cameras and interactive options to let users create and manipulate pictures or sound in fun and creative ways. All versions of Nintendo DSi are available at a suggested retail price of $169.99.
• Wii Remote and Wii MotionPlus Black bundle: The Black bundle is the first new color for the Wii Remote and Wii MotionPlus.
• Black Nunchuk: The Black Nunchuk will be available as a standalone purchase.
Remember that the Wii™ console features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about Nintendo products, visitwww.Nintendo.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.1 billion video games and more than 526 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.Nintendo.com.
