Gamertell

Canadian-based Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) has invested the sum of $1 million dollars in Silicon Knights, the creators of the upcoming Too Human  or the development of a videogame prototype.

So far the only words coming out of Silicon Knights is that they have described the unknown projects as a third-person action/psychological thriller. This brief description could point to a possibly sequel to Eternal Darkness, which was developed by Silicon Knights for the Nintendo GameCube in 2002. However, there is no conformation on this as of yet.  Silicon Knights is expected to begin work on its next title after the May 2008 release of Too Human and be completed in 2010 for all next-gen consoles.

The OMDC is an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Culture that facilitates economic development opportunities for Ontario’s cultural media industries including book publishing, film and television, interactive digital media, magazine publishing, and music industries is now looking towards the multi-billion dollar industry of video games. Silicon Knights, which is based out of Ontario, Canada, is one of two companies to be supported by the OMDC. The other company to receive the exploratory funding was Digital Extreme; the makers of the upcoming title Dark Sector.

The funding by the OMDC is meant to help developers showcase their new ideas and attract additional funding from publishers. It is hoped that by providing critical support at the prototyping stage of development, that OMDC can help Ontario based developers retain a larger share of their intellectual property and to demand higher royalty payments.

Read [IGN] Also Read [News Wire] Site [OMDC] Site [Silicon Knights]

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For all you Tron fanatics out there you’ll have reasons to be happy come February 13, 2008, as Discs of Tron comes to Xbox Live Arcade.

Discs of Tron was the second of the two 1980’s classic arcade games that was based on the 1982 cult Disney science fiction flick, Tron. Discs of Tron will be available February 13, 2008 and will cost 400 Microsoft points. It is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

In Discs of Tron, players will battle the film’s villain, Sark, by throwing discs of…

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Sometimes game have “Platinum Hit” written all over them. And then, they are contenders for the “What the Hell are They Thinking?” award. When it comes to creating a videogame based on the world’s most gluttonous acts, the so-called sport of professional eating, we’ll let you decide which award is most appropriate.

Mastiff Games, a San Francisco based publisher mostly known for Gameboy titles, has acquired the video game rights to the Major League Eating competitions.

According to Mastiff Games, Major League Eating: The Game will feature the world’s greatest eaters competing across…

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After a year of waiting for Capcom’s Lost Planet: Extreme Condition demo for the Playstation 3, it was pulled by Sony with 24 hours after being released on the PlayStation Network.

Chris Kramer, Son’s senior director of communications and community, posted on the PlayStation Blog that the multiplayer demo was removed because Sony wished to “address issues that have come to light.” There is no timetable of when PS3 gamers will get a re-release of the long-awaited demo…

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The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS),  a non-profit organization that promotes entertainment software, held its 11th Annual Academy of Interactive Achievement Awards at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, NV, during this year’s D.I.C.E summit.  Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4 took home the night’s top honors with four awards.

Other noteworthy winners were BioShock, which was acknowledged for its outstanding achievement in art direction, story development and sound design, and Motorstorm earning itself racing game of the year.

Click through for the complete list of winners…

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The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G), a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of audio in video games, has announced the nominees for its sixth annual G.A.N.G. Awards. The awards are given for outstanding creative, technical and artistic audio achievement in interactive entertainment.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony being held Thursday, February 21, 2008, in San Francisco, CA, during this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC). The show will be held in the North Hall of the Moscone Center (Room 134).

Click through for a complete list of finalists…

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Midway and Surreal Software is looking to bring a new twist to the popular open-world genre with the release of This is Vegas. Filled with plenty of gambling, parties, fast cars and even faster women, gamers will try to reclaim Vegas from megalomaniacs with fat pockets who are trying to transform the adult fantasy playground into something more family friendly. The only way to stop Vegas from becoming Mayberry is to use Vegas as your own privet playground.

This is Vegas is meant to be a lighthearted, satirical and comedic game instead of the usual…

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Considrering Blizzard Entertainment is making tens of millions of dollars each year with World of Warcraft, the company should at least be spending some of that cash on a new game or, at the very least, something that isn’t centered on the Warcraft universe. Thankfully, it looks like Blizzard might just be doing just that with the rumored development of Starcraft Online.

Developed by Blizzard in 1998 and originally released for the PC and Mac, Starcraft has remained hugely popular in the United States and abroad (especially in Korea). It was only last year (2008) that Blizzard announced a Starcraft sequel was in the works for the PC. This came after…

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A demo for Conflict: Denied Ops, the fifth game released in the series and first for next generation console, is available now for download through Xbox Live Marketplace. The free demo will feature both a single-player and two-player co-op modes.

Like other games in the Conflict franchise, players will have the ability to switch between either of the two CIA paramilitary operatives: Lincoln Graves and Reggie Lang. Locations will take gamers all around the globe including South America, Africa and…

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In effort to improve sales in Japan, Microsoft has announced its plans to release the Xbox 360 Arcade SKU in the Japanese market on March 6, 2008, for 27,800 yen (approximately US$260).

While this special kit is the same price of the current 360 Core System, the arcade bundle will include the HDMI-equipped 360 console, a 256 MB memory unit, a wireless controller and a special Xbox Live Arcade Omniverse Disc. The Arcade disc includes 3,600 Microsoft Points (about 5,400 yen) worth of arcade games:  Feeding Frenzy, Pac-man Championship Edition, Luxor 2, Uno and Boom-Boom Rocket.

Microsoft is certainly hoping this bundle will entice more Japanese gamers to the American console. In 2007 the Xbox 360 managed to overtake Sony’s PS3 in overall sales with the help of Ace Combat 6. However, that lead was short lived as Sony bounced back, outselling the 360 in the following weeks. By including the the Arcade kit that lead could once again change.

Read [IGN] Also Read [Kotaku]

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