via Physorg



Get those ghosts! Pac-Man, the 1980s arcade game sensation, now can be played on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 home console. Blinky, Clyde and other Pac-Man hallmarks are there, but this is an updated version - made by Pac-Man's original creator, Toru Iwatani.

Iwatani designed the revamped "Championship Edition," which was unveiled at the Pac-Man World Championship in New York on Tuesday. Iwatani, who is now a video game professor at Tokyo Polytechnic University, also crowned the winner of the Microsoft-sponsored competition, Carlos Daniel Borrego from Pachuca, Mexico.

The Pac-Man makeover includes mazes that change shape as the game is played, new soundtracks and high-definition graphics, though the game retains the kitschy, arcade-inspired look. There are six new timed game modes, including the "Manhattan" mode, inspired by New York streets.

It appears the new Pac-Man marked Iwatani's last hurrah in the video game business.

"It gives me great joy to know that my final contributions in my corporate career were to crown the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion and to leave the world with an amazing new 'Pac-Man' game for generations to enjoy," the game maker said in a statement.

Nostalgia-seekers can buy and download the game from the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points, or about $10. Enthusiasts partial to Pac-Man's red-bowed, lipsticked girlfriend will have to settle for a more traditional-looking version of the Ms. Pac-Man game, released to the Xbox Live Arcade in January. ...

via Eurogamer

The official Shadowrun forums declare that a demo will be released, er, half an hour ago on Xbox Live Marketplace. So, 2am PDT.

There's no sign of it yet according to Internet hero Kristan Reed, and apparently there's no immediate plan for a Windows Vista version ("We haven't announced [it]").

But we do know what's going in the Xbox 360 one: the first three training chapters, bot and online multiplay, the Power Station level, Elf and Human races, four types of magic, three types of tech, and six weapons including the katana.

Specific details are all on the forum.

Shadowrun - released last Friday - is an online multiplayer game derived from the pen-and-paper RPG series of the same name. One of its headline features is the facility for PC and Xbox 360 owners to play against one another on the same servers. ...

via TalkXbox

Tomb Raider Anniversary has been met with good press for it's release on PS2 and PC. However, it's non release on the Xbox 360, which saw Tomb Raider: Legend was puzzling for quite a few gamers.

With the Xbox 360 controller working on the PC enabled game, we hoped that Tomb Raider Anniversary might see the light of day on the Xbox 360 console, and late last night, a listing on the ESRB site gave us some hope.

Well, several listings we should state. If one was to type in Tomb Raider Anniversary into the search bar, you would find the regular result of Tomb Raider Anniversary rated T for Teen and available for the PC and Playstation 2 platforms.

But it also returns back 5 more results, all of which are for the Xbox 360. Tomb Raider: Anniversary Peru, Tomb Raider: Anniversary Lost City, Tomb Raider: Anniversary Greece, Tomb Raider: Anniversary Egypt and Tomb Raider: Anniversary Croft Manor.

Our theory behind the extra listings is that Tomb Raider Anniversary will see release on the Xbox 360 as a downloadable episodic title. Eidos would not respond to our questions at time of press. ...

via Canada.com



A Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer that was re-released to fix some visual errors has unintentionally whipped the gaming community into a frenzy.
The trailer was released on Konami's new Metal Gear 20th Anniversary website, and has quite a few noticeable differences between the original trailer which was released at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2006.
The most striking of these differences is the removal of the Playstation 3 logo during the final credits, leading some gamers to believe that the game is no longer exclusive for the Playstation 3 platform.
The Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer shown at the Tokyo Games Show also had its Playstation logo removed, which may indicate a pattern of change since E3 last year.
Whether or not the game is moving platforms, Konami has been developing the game for the Playstation 3 from the ground up, so Sony fans shouldn't be too concerned. At least not yet. ...

via MENAFN

Sony Corp., the world's largest maker of video-game players, has announced fresh plans to cut jobs at its PlayStation subsidiary in the U.S. to reduce costs, Bloomberg reported.

The reductions add to planned job cuts in Europe and come after the PlayStation 3 contributed to a $558 million fourth-quarter loss, the company's widest in four years. Sony's video-game unit, which has sold more than 100 million PlayStation 2 consoles, is under pressure to boost sales of the PS3, which trails sales of Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360.

Last month, Sony said that its losses at the game unit will narrow by almost 80 percent in the year ending March 2008 and will turn profitable the following year, as the company raises sales and slashes production costs.

Also, Tokyo-based Sony in April said it may cut 160 jobs at its European game unit to reduce costs. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd. has 1,900 workers, it said. ...

via Gameinfowire

Corks are flying across the continent as Eidos and Crystal Dynamics toast the release of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary, which ships to North American retailers today.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a celebration of Lara's original adventure in an entirely new Crystal Dynamics game. In 1996 the original Tomb Raider video game launched and introduced the world to Lara Croft, one of the entertainment industry's most successful and prolific cross-over properties.

"The anniversary edition is a fan-inspired celebration bridging Lara Croft's groundbreaking past with a revived passion for new adventures and technical advancements," said Bill Gardner, president and CEO of Eidos Inc. "Lara Croft is at the doorway of a new decade, and we've made sure she's ready to face exciting new challenges in the world of entertainment."

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary takes advantage of more than 10 years of technical advances to faithfully recreate the sense of isolation, suspense and surprise of the original title, but with greatly expanded environments, enhanced puzzles, updated weapons and the smooth, athletic character movements introduced in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend in 2006.

Said Matt Gorman, director of marketing at Eidos Inc., "Tomb Raider: Anniversary is an exciting adventure for fans of the franchise and a great introduction to Lara Croft for a whole new generation of consumers."

The first Tomb Raider game sold more than seven million copies worldwide. Lara Croft went on to become a global entertainment icon, gracing more than 200 magazine covers, touring with U2 and topping $1 billion in brand equity. In total, the franchise has sold more than 30 million games, inspired two feature films and produced comic books, animated series and countless other licensed products.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary was developed by Crystal Dynamics, with versions available for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and Windows PC under Windows Vista. Versions for the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system and the Wii console are forthcoming. ...

via Fragland

According to Gameinformer Nintendo US will soon lose three of their major managers. They're talking abut George Harrison, Beth Llewelyn and Perrin Kaplan.

Normally they would have gone to San Fransisco or New York to go on with their current jobs, but things seem to turn out quite different. They're probably putting things to a halt when it comes to their current career.

Remember though, this is a RUMOUR, but it sure ain't fun for Nintendo...

At the moment, the rumour is being firmly denied by Nintendo:

"In terms of the execs leaving we have not heard anything regarding that speculation - and it remains speculation," the spokesperson told GI.biz. "We are not commenting further on those rumours at this time." ...

via IGN

Stylus not enough control for you? Then you'll want to pick up Nintendo's newest DS game. The latest issue of Famitsu has the first word on Slide Adventure: Mag Kid, a new DS game that will make use of a bundled "slide controller" peripheral.

The slide controller plugs into the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot and, laying beneath the system, looks somewhat like a stand. As you slide the DS around on a table, the controller picks up your movements. This is how you move the main character about the overhead fields of play.

The main character in question is the Mag Kid of the title. This peculiar circular creature has special magnetic properties which makes things attach to him. You'll have to use this special power to solve puzzles that take place about a house.

Mag Kid has a few special moves that make use of the slide controls. Sliding the DS in an enemy's direction makes Mag Kid ram into and paralyze the enemy. Paralyzed enemies can be attached to Mag Kid, giving him, depending on the enemy type, special powers, including lasers and fire breath. Finally, when you've lost interest in your support crew, you shake the DS to release them.

Mag Kid seems capable of attaching a small army of enemies to himself -- at least eight from what we've been able to gather. Some stages require that you create chains of enemies in the correct order.

As one example of the gameplay we can expect from the game, Famitsu details a boss fight in which Mag Kid faces off against the flames from four burners on a stove (the Four Flame Brothers, as they're known). To defeat the boss, you attach water drops to Mag Kid, then toss them at the flames.

Sounds like another cool gameplay concept from Nintendo, although we're wondering if the game will support the stylus for situations where you can't place the system on the ground (like on a train, or when you're hang gliding). A Japanese release for Mag Kid is set for 8/2, so expect further details to surface shortly. ...

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Wall Ball DS

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