Umbra Software Ltd., developers of highly-acclaimed Umbra occlusion culling technology, announced today that ArenaNet, Inc. licensed Umbra´s visibility optimization technology to be used in ArenaNet's award winning Guild Wars franchise. "Rather than spend resources developing a new occlusion system to meet the demands of our next game we decided to license technology from the experts," said Jim Scott, ArenaNet's lead graphics programmer. "This allowed us to get up and running with sophisticated culling quickly." Umbra is a highly robust, GPU based, visibility optimization solution that allows game developers to create highly dynamic game worlds without preprocessing. With Umbra game developers … Continue reading ArenaNet Licenses Umbra →

PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, introduced an irresistible innovation in its flagship Bejeweled franchise this evening, at a gala celebration in downtown Seattle. Bejeweled Twist, the first new Bejeweled title in almost four years, puts a completely new spin on the top-selling puzzle game that PopCap pioneered eight years ago. Featuring a revolutionary new style of play and the highest production values of any casual game in history, Bejeweled Twist is available now for PC via online download at www.popcap.com, with online partners such as MSN Games, RealArcade, Zylom, WildTangent ORB, Telstra and STEAM offering … Continue reading Bejeweled Gets Twisted →

The Women in Games Special Interest Group of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has announced their new Chairperson, Fiona Cherbak, a game industry marketing and human resources executive. Committed to supporting women in games, the IGDA Women in Games Special Interest Group is a sub-organization of the International Game Developers Association. Cherbak is taking over the IGDA leadership role from accomplished game developer and writer Heather Kelley, who held the chairperson position for more than six years. Cherbak will continue to push the mandate of certain initiatives and awareness programs, including those that challenge the way women are portrayed … Continue reading IGDA Women Get New Chairperson →

The American Red Cross is partnering with Encore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, to hold a "Dracula Blood Drive" to celebrate the release of the first computer game in Encore's Mystery Adventure Game line, Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon. The Dracula Blood Drive will take place on Friday, October 31, at five blood centers throughout the Bay Area. Each presenting blood donor will receive a copy of Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon for the PC. "Many donors have jokingly called our phlebotomists vampires so we decided to use the theme on Halloween," said Sara O'Brien, … Continue reading California Blood Donors Get Dracula Copy On Halloween →

Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, has announced that in response to huge demand for it's award-winning game, Fallout 3, more than 2,000 stores across the country will open tonight. Starting at midnight, customers can pickup pre-orders and buy the game at retailers nationwide. The retail chain, Best Buy, plans to have special midnight events at stores in the Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Dallas and Chicago metropolitan areas. "Fallout 3 has been a labor of love for the team at Bethesda and we can't wait to get the game into the hands of consumers," said Todd Howard, … Continue reading Bethesda Throws Fallout 3 Midnight Launch Parties →

NCsoft, the world's premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, today announced the long-awaited release of both Episode 6, The Lastavard – Inevitable Destiny and Episode U to its Lineage service in North America. This massive new update represents a revitalization of NCsoft's flagship MMO in North America. The story behind Episode 6 centers on the unleashing of Girtas, the ruler of the otherworld, who is wreaking havoc throughout the lands of Aden. Players can fight their way through the multi-leveled Lastavard dungeon before facing off against the evil sorcerer Dantes, and then, Girtas himself, in an … Continue reading NCsoft Refreshes Lineage →

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the expansion of key executive roles. Bob Rivet, former executive vice president and chief financial officer, was named chief operations and administrative officer. Emilio Ghilardi, senior vice president and general manager of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), will assume the role of chief sales officer at the beginning of 2009. "With our recently announced Asset Smart strategy, AMD is accelerating our transformation to capitalize on our proven expertise in both microprocessor and leading-edge graphics to deliver the innovations that matter most to our customers," said Dirk Meyer, AMD president and CEO. "Placing … Continue reading AMD Promotes New Executives →

Hothead Games today proudly announced that its well received Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is now available for download on the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system in North America. Offered via the PLAYSTATIONNetwork, this version of Episode One features newly-implemented PLAYSTATION 3 system features such as trophies, score ranking and background music (BGM) support and sells at $14.99 USD, representing a greater value to gamers than ever before. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is an RPG-Adventure game series set in the comic-book-meets-pulp-horror-meets-H.P. Lovecraft deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivered … Continue reading Penny Arcade Game Hits PS3 →

Lunar Tide Communications, Inc. is proud to announce that Matt Shaw, a veteran video game industry insider, will be a keynote speaker for at the America's Video Game Expo and East Coast Games Summit. Shaw's keynote, titled 'MMOs: Everyone Wants to Do One', focuses on developing Massive Multiplayer Online Games with key learnings shared from the development of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Shaw, Chief Technology Officer at Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, (NASDAQ: ERTS), will be discussing recent developments in constructing Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs) MMO game projects are often ambitious endeavors many companies strive to … Continue reading Mythic CTO Matt Shaw To Keynote VGXpo →

Following the successful debut of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on the PC and Mac, Aspyr Media and Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) have once again teamed up to bring computer gamers their rock fix with Guitar Hero: AeroSmith, which shipped to stores nationwide today. Featuring more than 40 new tracks for PC and Mac gamers to shred, Guitar Hero: AeroSmith features legendary songs from America's Greatest Rock ‘N Roll Band: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer and iconic jams from renowned artists that have performed with AeroSmith or inspired the band in some … Continue reading Guitar Hero Moves To PC, Mac →