We’ve just received confirmation that Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Heroes will launch in Europe and Australia on October 15, 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
From the producer of Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 4, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Sengoku BASARA: Samurai Heroes finds players picking up the arms of more than a dozen samurai heroes, each with their own unique weapons and battle styles. Players take on hundreds of worthy opponents and combat fantastic bosses across numerous battlefields in a quest to rule all of 16th century Japan. Utilizing upgradeable weapons, masterful special moves and deadly BASARA arts, players leave their mark re-writing Japanese history in blood.

Last week marked the one-year anniversary for EA’s popular Play 4 Free third-person shooter Battlefield Heroes.

To celebrate this milestone, EA is offering gamers a special thank you gift for a limited time. Using the code below, players can access $5 worth of in-game items consisting of a 2 day XP boost, 2 day VP boost and 25 bandages. The free birthday code is live at www.battlefieldheroes.com from June 25th to June 30th. Additional offers may be available at www.battlefieldheroes.com.

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In the year since the game launched, more than 4.8 million players have registered, and collectively, the community has pulled off1.2 billion kills in a total of 29 million hours or 3,724 years of gameplay.

Battlefield Heroes is EA’s popular web-based free to download, free to play title that offers endless hours of signature Battlefield sandbox action and a built-in matchmaking system to ensure new and old players of equal skill levels are paired together for fair play. Character customization and upgrade items are available for Valor Points (points earned by playing the game) or with Battlefunds (a fictional currency bought with a credit card, PayPal or other methods such as SMS) so players can change or upgrade their hero at any time.

Players can quickly download and easily launch the game from http://www.battlefieldheroes.com.

The first Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms server in the United Kingdom opens today, the 4^th of June 2010.

It will allow 3.000 players who will connect on http://mightandmagicheroeskingdoms.ubi.com the chance to be the firsts to experience the game.

Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms is a web based MMO strategy game, i.e. a multi-player online strategy game which can be played directly from an Internet browser (no installation or downloading is necessary). In Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms, players will be able to choose among the four following factions: Necropolis, Haven, Inferno and Academy. They will also take part, alone or within a guild, in the construction of Ashan future kingdom by building their own empire.

Alone, the player has to achieve quests to improve his heroes’ abilities, develops his castles and manages his resources in order to build a powerful and diversified army. In a guild, the players will gather together colossal war efforts which will change the face of Ashan.

Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms is playable on Mac and PC. The full game will be available from July 2^nd 2010.

Ubisoft announced today that its massively multiplayer online web-based game, Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms is now available, on iPad in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms gives iPad early adopters a quality game experience developed specifically for the iPad and showcasing one of Ubisoft’s most popular multimillion-seller franchise.

Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms for iPad launches simultaneously with the European roll-out of the iPad and players in Germany and the UK will be able to play it exclusively on iPad for one week. The first PC and Mac servers will open in June in those two territories, following the ones that are already available in France.

By installing the specific iPad application on the device, the player gets access to the richness of Heroes Might & Magic Kingdoms through an interface taking full advantage of the iPad capabilities. The game is fully displayed on the 1024×768 pixels touch screen of the iPad and the player can interact with factions and resources by simply selecting them with their fingers. Through the iPad, they will get the immediate possibility to engage in online multiplayer battles with other players.

A web-based version of the game will also be available to trial on PC next Friday. For more information about the trial, visit http://mightandmagicheroeskingdoms.ubi.com. The full release will be lunched on July 2^nd 2010.

For the new players of Heroes of Newerth, the addictive action-RPG from S2 Games, getting to grips with the game can be a daunting process.

Well, never fear n00bs, because the HoN community is here to help you through the tough times!

The official Heroes of Newerth Facebook page is “liked” by over 350,000 gaming fans, and is an easy way to get the latest updates on important announcements and other exclusive developer information.

The HoN forums are a great place to start learning the ins and outs of this challenging and rewarding title. For a run-down on the heroes that populate the world of Newerth, look no further than Newti’s incredible Mini Guides thread, located at http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=64274. You can also find specific character guides, and more newbie-friendly info at the Training Grounds. Get there by pointing your browser at http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/forumdisplay.php?f=43.

Marc DeForest, CEO and Founder of S2 Games is clearly impressed by the fans:  “A title such as Heroes of Newerth depends on its community as much as its development team, and here at S2 we are very lucky to have such a vibrant and active collection of players from all around the world! HoN is easy to pick up but hard to master, and having these resources available to beginners makes the whole experience a hundred times better.”

Heroes of Newerth is now available for the Windows, MAC and Linux platforms for $30.00 (Exchange rates apply) from www.heroesofnewerth.com. The HoN Facebook page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/heroesofnewerth.

About HoN:

In Heroes of Newerth, two teams of up to five players each take on the role of special Hero units.  With the assistance of AI-controlled armies, each team sets out with the sole objective of destroying the other team’s base. As a match progresses, players can earn experience and gold which can be used to upgrade skills or purchase items to make their character more powerful. The team-oriented design of HoN coupled with unprecedented in-game Voice-Over-IP controls and Clan Support allow for an incredibly deep, tactical team-based experience.

Some of the unique features of HoN include the following:

• Dozens of playable Hero characters, over 100 items as well as regular content updates to ensure no two games of HoN will ever be the same.
• Client/Server Architecture eliminates lag, cheats and map hacking
• Quick reconnect feature allows players to jump right back into their game should they get disconnected
• In-game VOIP for fast and easy communication with teammates
• Game archives and replay support for all games played on official servers (players can rewind, slow down, fast forward, and otherwise pinpoint the exact part of a match that they wish to view)
• Built upon the proprietary K2 engine to deliver enhanced graphics while maintaining low system specs
• Powerful map editor and mod capabilities
• Available in six language translations: English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Russian.
• Available for PC, Mac, and Linux

The thrill and high-speed action of flying meets the creative, immersive world of MySims.

The EA Play Label of EA today announced MySims SkyHeroes, a new flying action-adventure and the next installment from the MySims franchise is in development for Wii, Nintendo DS, and for the first time, the Xbox 360 and PS3.

“MySims games have truly become favorites among kids, families and gamers alike, so we have challenged ourselves to take development to the next level and deliver a new style of adventure for fans with game features and MySims-style fun that can be enjoyed equally by all,” said Scott Evans, General Manager of the The Sims Studio. “We are thrilled to have many firsts with MySims SkyHeroes, like introducing epic boss battles, cooperative gameplay missions and online multiplayer, all available for the very first time in any MySims game.”

In MySims SkyHeroes, players take to the sky to lead the resistance against Morcubus and his drone army and to stop his plans to take over the skyways. Starting as an unknown pilot, players fight to become a celebrated hero as they defeat dangerous enemies in aerial combat, test their reflexes in fast-paced speed challenges, and take on massive enemy bosses that demand all their skills as a pilot to survive. As they progress, players build, customize and tune their aircraft to give them an edge in combat – upgrade wings for swifter maneuvers, switch out the engine for a speed boost, or change the paint job to camouflage the plane and avoid enemy fire.

The popular MySims franchise, which has sold over 8 million units worldwide, will debut for the first time on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with MySims SkyHeroes. Expanding to these new platforms, the game will feature a full solo campaign, as well as local split-screen and online multiplayer where fans will be able to fly with or against up to 10 friends in – cooperative or competitive modes.

Developed by The Sims Studio in the EA Play Label, MySims SkyHeroes is scheduled to be available worldwide Autumn 2010.

Gala Networks Europe, the leading free-to-play online games publisher, is delighted to announce the start of the Open Beta phase of its free online strategy game Castle of Heroes.After successful weeks of beta testing, the game is now live in English, French, German and Polish for everybody with a gPotato.eu account.

All fans of RPG, strategy and management games will now be able to discover a brand new gaming experience as Castle of Heroes brings it all together without any download or subscription fee. The time has come to expand your kingdom, summon heroes and rally your troops to defeat your enemies!

While players were busy testing the game during the CBT, the Castle of Heroes team took some time to organise some events to celebrate the start of the Open Beta phase. All players that achieve 5.000 fame or more in that time, will be rewarded generously with special cards. You can check it out right now!

The game is available on both PC and Mac, for free and with no download required: just register at the official website at http://heroes.gpotato.eu or log in with your existing gPotato.eu account details, and you can play straightaway!

For more information please visit the official Castle of Heroes website: http://heroes.gpotato.eu.

The video gaming industry has had it’s fair share of video gaming heroes, right from the early days of Sonic the Hedgehog, or Mario and many more, all the way up to the delightful Miss Lara Croft and beyond.If I were to even start listing all the well known heroes and characters from the best loved video games, this would be more like an encyclopaedia than an article, the list is that big. Instead let’s take a look at a small selection of some of the biggest heroes in video gaming history, and take a peek at how they have influenced our lives.

Film to video and video to film
I don’t think you can take a look at video gaming heroes without mentioning the influence and interaction with the film industry. I’m sure most would agree that there has been some great film action heroes that have wanted the same success on video games, but most have failed miserably.

However, there have been some notable exceptions when viewed the other way around, that is, games making it onto the big screen, such as Lara Croft-Tomb Raider (starring Angelina Jolie) and Hitman (starring Timothy Olyphant – who also starred in Die Hard 4). I just want to mention, I thought the Hitman film was a particularly good film. I also went to see Final Fantasy(animation) at the cinema, and thought the film makers did a very good job on that too.

Heroes

Sonic the Hedgehog
Everyone’s favourite blue hedgehog. Sonic became such a success, people are still buying the original games today, in the form of ‘compendiums’. Sonic was cool, great graphics for it’s day and addictive gameplay, the sideways scrolling platformer won the hearts and minds of millions of gamers around the world. I can still remember the music that rather monotonously repeated itself throughout the game.

Snake
The first ‘sneak-em-up’ to hit the consoles. Metal Gear Solid defined a new gaming genre, and it’s leading character Snake became a huge success. He was cool and dangerous and hid in cardboard boxes. Who still remembers the guards response when he passed Snake if he was hiding in one?

Lara Croft
Ah, Miss Lara, where art thou? When Lara exploded onto the consoles, many gawped at her huge assets and fine figure, but let’s be honest, the gameplay was great too. Her unlimited pistol power, her agility to climb and swing from one ledge to the next, not forgetting the excellent puzzles and maps that gave the game much longevity. Lara didn’t always ‘perform’ to expectations however, a lot of the magic seemed to have been tarnished in subsequent games, and only recovering briefly in ‘the last revelation’, where she found herself exploring the Egyptian tombs.

Sam Fisher
To me, Sam Fisher was the cool version of Solid Snake. Maybe not as charismatic, but Sam got to use all the modern gadgets you could hope for. Splinter Cell offered all the ‘sneak-em-up’ action that Metal Gear Solid did, but without all the boring cinematic story scenes to wade through. Sam was cool, he sported a ’5 oClock shadow’ (pun intended), and as long as the lights where out, he was one of the most dangerous espionage agents ever to grace our consoles.

The Master Chief
When Halo 3 was released in the autumn of 2007, there was much hype and fanfare, and with good reason. The game was superb and built upon the previous Halo successes. The Master Chief became one of Xbox’s biggest heroes, not just demonstrated by the massive financial returns, but the Master Chief found his image everywhere tea-shirts, mugs and other paraphernalia. More than one million people played Halo 3 on Xbox Live in the first twenty hours, and the action is still growing strong today.

Gamers and their Gaming heroes
No doubt we love our gaming heroes and the adventures they lead us on. What is perhaps frustrating, is when the developers ‘loose the plot’ and try to build on the success of their first outing with a particular hero, but straying too far from the path that made the character and game so successful in the first place. But we forgive those developers for putting us through such pain and torture, should they realise the error of their ways and ‘return to the fold’ in the following release.

Many such loved heroes have suffered from this ‘developer foggy-brain syndrome’ such as Sonic; and in my opinion never really made it successfully onto the 3D platform, 2D just worked, as it did for the Street Fighter series. Tomb Raider and Splinter Cell suffered from this syndrome too, though it looks as if Splinter Cell will recover somewhat with the forthcoming title: ‘Conviction’.

When all is said and done, we enjoy good characters, decent plots, a huge dose of good gameplay and we’ll be happy.

Happy Gaming

City of Heroes is proud to announce that character transfers between servers have become free to all players and will remain that way through the end of January 2010.Now you will have more freedom to fully enjoy the game and each other…but don’t go haphazardly jumping servers without knowing the Character Transfer limit and all the other facts. Visit the Knowledge Base ( http://help.ncsoft.com/cgi-bin/ncsoft.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=7616) to learn all the specifics so that you can make educated transfer decisions. Amongst other things to bear in mind:

• Transfers are not available between North American and European servers.
• You will be able to complete up to 6 transfers a week (7-day period) per account.
• Not all possessions will transfer over with your character so be sure to read the corresponding Knowledge Base article before you decide to transfer a character.
• Super-group affiliation, Prestige and access to your Supergroup base items will be lost.
• You may lose your character’s name when transferring from a server.

Then all you have to do is transfer away and enjoy the holiday server ride!

Starts:Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 8:59 a.m. PST (11:59 a.m. EST)

Ends: Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. PST (2:59 a.m. EST)

EA today announced that Battlefield Heroes, the hit Play4Free third-person shooter has recruited 2 million registered players.

With endless hours of signature Battlefield sandbox action, Battlefield Heroes is EA’s latest web-based free to download, free to play title which generates revenue through advertising and in-game item sales. To celebrate this milestone, on September 30, EA will release a free ‘Heroes of the Fall’ update for the game, including a brand new map.

Set against the backdrop of autumn colors, the new map will be infantry-focused and set in a village with dozens of intersecting canals. Intense battles will play out on the bridges and crossings, while sneaky players can use the alleyways and channels to move unnoticed for sudden flanking maneuvers and rear-guard actions.

Starting today, EA is accepting proposed names for the new map at http://www.battlefieldheroes.com. Players can submit a proposed name for the soon- to-be released map, and that name may be selected by the Battlefield Heroes development team.

“Along with this new map, ‘Heroes of the Fall’ includes a slew of changes including upgrades of the Gunner class and improvements to the friends system,” said Ben Cousins, General Manager, Battlefield Heroes team. “We’ve also added a brand new ranking system for the game – players can earn cool new titles for their heroes as they play – showing everyone on the battlefield how dedicated they are.”

Battlefield Heroes is offered completely for free. With its fun cartoon-style graphics, customized matchmaking and non-stop action, the game caters to players of all skill levels.

If you haven’t played this already, where have you been?  But, you can download and launch the game from http://www.battlefieldheroes.com