Codemasters, a global interactive entertainment software publisher, announced today that IndyCar Series 2005 has shipped to North American retail outlets for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft. The game will be available at a suggested retail price of $19.99, offering incredible value to Xbox and Xbox Live gamers. IndyCar Series 2005 offers 220+mph online gameplay via Xbox Live, where drivers can compete head-to-head with up to 12 players simultaneously. The game contains 15 IndyCar Series tracks and is the only title to feature The Greatest Spectacle in Racing: the Indy 500. Players can race individual tracks or re-create a … Continue reading IndyCar Series 2005 Ships →

Alienware, the leading manufacturer of high-performance desktop, notebook, and professional systems, announced today the immediate availability of PCI Express in their Intel-based desktop and workstation systems. Powered by PCI Express technology, Alienware systems offer a remarkable performance increase in the execution of computer applications. The result is an even more realistic gaming experience and an impressive speed increase for demanding professionals. Available now in Area-51 desktop systems and MJ-12, OZMA, and Roswell professional workstations, PCI Express architecture ushers in extraordinary enhancements including doubling the bandwidth to meet the demands of emerging graphics of next-generation 3D games, professional 3D content creation, … Continue reading Alienware Adds PCI Express →

Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) today announced another step in its turnaround plan to improve operating effectiveness, reduce costs and position for growth. The changes include a significant staff reduction in its North American based operations resulting in the elimination of 350 staff positions. The Company’s Blizzard Entertainment studio was not part of the staff reduction. "Restructuring the organization and reducing our cost base are necessary to improve our operating effectiveness and profitability," said VU Games CEO Bruce Hack. "This constitutes another important step in our turnaround plan aimed to better position the Company for growth." With a global and … Continue reading Vivendi Lays Off 350 Workers, Cuts Costs →

The Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) today commended the Motion Picture Association of America for launching a public education campaign on the consequences and risks of illegally downloading movies from the Internet. "Piracy, or more properly theft, is the greatest threat to the home video industry," VSDA President Bo Andersen said. "Because illegal movie downloading and illegal DVD copies have the potential to seriously undermine the legitimate home video market, VSDA supports educating consumers about the impact of this theft on the creative community, the entertainment retail industry, the economy, and the public and the risks to those engaged in … Continue reading Video Dealers Support Anti-piracy Efforts →

Global interactive entertainment company Codemasters announced today new details for the co-op multiplayer mode of Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, the company's much anticipated real time strategy game. Developed exclusively for PC/CD-ROM by Ukrainian company Best Way, Soldiers will be released in the U.S. on June 29. Set to go beyond the call of duty and provide players with an intense online experience, Soldiers offers an innovative co-op multiplayer mode enabling up to four players to work through any of the campaigns together. The game allows players to handpick their troops and take on any of the tactical action … Continue reading Codemasters Reveals WWII Multiplayer Strategy →

EA SPORTS, best known for its powerhouse football videogame, now is taking on all fantasy football comers with the announcement of EA SPORTSâ„¢ Fantasy Football. Available starting July 21st at www.easports.com/fantasy. Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), in conjunction with STATS, Inc. will offer a variety of fantasy football experiences for the 2004-2005 football season. "We're taking EA SPORTS fun, competition and quality to another level by bringing fantasy football to our online EA SPORTS fans," said Chip Lange, vice president of EA SPORTS Nation. "We're challenging all comers – you think you know football, every week, now prove it; EA SPORTS style." … Continue reading EA Tackles Fantasy Football →

Turbo Squid, home of the world's largest collection of royalty-free 3D assets and worldwide publisher and distributor for the Discreet Certified 3ds max Plug-in program, today announced the release of Flight Studio from Bluerock Technologies as a DCP. Flight Studio is a complete set of OpenFlight importing, editing, and exporting tools for Discreet 3ds max 6 professional 3D modeling, rendering and animation software. Most tools that read and write OpenFlight files typically change the structure of the data, which forces timely reworks and limits the usefulness for visual simulation. Bluerock Technologies has addressed this key limitation to preserve the original … Continue reading OpenFlight Tools Ready For Developers →

On June 5, SOE hosted almost 70 players from around the United States in a first-ever Guild Summit. This meeting allowed for a frank exchange of views and ideas between the EverQuest Live team and leaders of some of the game's more prominent guilds. The various guild representatives came well-prepared (notes and notebooks, even CDs) with suggestions for improving the EQ experience. This event was a first for SOE and the industry. The EQ Live team came away with hundreds of ideas for changes, improvements, updates and plain old cool new stuff to throw out to the half-million strong player … Continue reading Sony Forum Helps Improve Everquest →

An innovative conference addressing how games and game technologies can meet health care needs will be held in Madison, Wisconsin September 16-17. It will be co-sponsored by the Serious Games Initiative, the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Co-Lab at the University of Wisconsin System in Madison, and the Federation of American Scientists’ Learning Federation Project. Games for Health 2004 will examine how interactive games and emerging game technologies could improve consumer health education, and professional clinical practice, including disease and injury prevention, service delivery, and professional education and training. The conference will gather more than 100 game developers, trainers, educators, … Continue reading Games For Health Conference Announced →

Atari has shipped Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, the highly anticipated cinematic first-person action game for the XboxT video game system from Microsoft, to retail stores worldwide this week. Shadow Ops: Red Mercury offers players a gripping movie-style experience through its unprecedented Hollywood production values, intense action and ground-breaking sound and visual effects. "Gamers will feel like they are saving the world in the latest big-budget blockbuster action film from the first moment their combat boots hit the ground in Shadow Ops: Red Mercury," said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Atari. "With industry-leading sound effects that include … Continue reading Atari Ships Shadow Ops: Red Mercury →