NAMCO HOMETEK INC. and Bandai Games Inc. today announced that the integration of their two companies is now complete. The two companies are now officially known as NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. in North America. The company now operates out of the Santa Clara, California facility, formerly held by NAMCO HOMETEK INC. Effective January 2, 2006, NAMCO BANDAI Holdings (USA) Inc. (formerly called NAMCO HOLDING CORP.) owns all of the BANDAI NAMCO Group US subsidiaries including Bandai America Inc. (Toy), Bandai Entertainment, Inc.(Visual/DVD), NAMCO AMERICA INC. (Arcade machine), NAMCO CYBERTAINMENT INC.(Arcade facility), NAMCO NETWORKS AMERICA INC. (Mobile games) and NAMCO … Continue reading Namco, Bandi Games Complete Merger →

Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that Oscar De La Hoya will serve as cover athlete and spokesman for EA SPORTSâ„¢ Fight Night Round 3. Olympic gold medalist, former WBC & WBA super welterweight champion, WBC welterweight and super lightweight champion, De La Hoya is recognized as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and will be featured on the cover of EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 for the Xbox 360 system and PSP (PlayStationPortable) system. Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward will grace the covers of the game for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and Xbox videogame … Continue reading De La Hoya Gets EA Cover Spot →

BVS Development Corporation has released BVS Solitaire Collection 5.5 with 395 multi-featured, very different solitaire card games to play. You’ll be able to learn solitaires not found elsewhere: Topsy-Turvy Queens, Twelve Sleeping Maids, Steeplechase, Braid and many others. It also includes all of the most popular solitaire card games such as Spider, Freecell, Klondike, Golf, Bisley, Carpet, Forty Thieves, Monte Carlo, Russian Solitaire, Flower Garden, Golf, Cruel, Accordion, Pyramid. The "Options/Modify Rules" command provides you with the ability to customize rules of almost any of the included games. You can change, for example, number of redeals, tableau/foundation building direction etc. … Continue reading BVS Solitaire Collection Ready →

Cinemaware, a brand of eGames, Inc. (OTCBB: EGAM), today announced the launch of Cinemaware Marquee, an affiliated label that will specifically showcase groundbreaking content by independent game developers from around the globe. "Cinemaware Marquee is the equivalent of an independent film label featuring innovative titles with truly compelling gameplay," said Lars Batista, Vice President, Development of eGames. "Our goal is to deliver consistently incredible and epic games. There are many extremely talented developers making amazing titles in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. Many of these games never make it to the North American market, so we are aggressively seeking out and … Continue reading Cinemaware Announces Marquee Brand →

Matrix Games and Playnet are pleased to announce that Battleground Europe (www.battleground-europe.com) is now available to North America for the first time via the Matrix Games Online Store as a digital download, with boxed copies to follow next week. Take control of a soldier fighting in World War II in a persistent massive multiplayer world of first-person combat with infantry, tanks, planes and ships. This full release in North America provides the latest version and goodies that were included in the European release last month. Enjoy a huge variety of extras, such as a 150-page game manual in electronic form, … Continue reading Matrix Releases Battleground Europe →

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft, its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has surpassed five million customers worldwide. The subscription-based MMORPG launched approximately one year ago in North America, Australia, and New Zealand and has since released in multiple countries throughout Europe and Asia. This latest milestone comes on the heels of Blizzard Entertainment's recent announcement of a World of Warcraft expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which will push the boundaries of the game and offer even more content and features for players. "World of Warcraft's growth continues to exceed all our expectations," said … Continue reading World Of Warcraft Hits Five Million Players →

CCP Games, an independent developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online games, announced today the triumphant launch of "EVE Online: Red Moon Rising", a new content upgrade to its highly successful and fast-growing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) "EVE Online: Exodus". "We are delighted with how smoothly this update went through" said Magnus Bergsson, CMO of CCP Games. "EVE Online has become the most massive and dynamic playground on the market today with over 100,000 active players all on the same server, so updating such an enormous game universe is no small feat." In EVE Online: Red Moon Rising, … Continue reading Eve Online Expands With Red Moon Rising →

Today Ubisoft, one of the world's leading video game publishers, announced that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Taito Corporation of Japan to publish and distribute three video game titles in 2006. Under the terms of the agreement, Ubisoft will distribute the Taito-developed games in North American and European territories. The first title to be released by Ubisoft will be Exit, a puzzle action game for people of all ages, exclusively for the PSP (PlayStationPortable) system in February. "Exit's unique graphics and fluid style make this yet another innovative puzzle game in Ubisoft's arsenal," said Jay Cohen, vice … Continue reading UBI, Taito Ink Deal →

Today the Casual Games Association announced that Casuality Europe: A Conference for Casual Game Developers, Publishers and Distributors is now accepting submissions for Minna Games, a collection of pre-release and finished games looking for feedback, publishing or distribution. The Minna Games CD will be distributed to everyone attending Casuality Europe, which includes representatives of all the major publishers and distributors of casual game content in the United States and Europe. "RealArcade is looking to expand content acquisition efforts to form direct relationships with game development and publishing companies in Europe" said Daniel Prigg Sr Manager Developer Relations at RealNetworks, "We … Continue reading Casual Games Europe Looking For Games →

A unique short film entitled "The French Democracy," created using Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Lionhead Studios’ game The Movies(tm), has attracted international media attention since its release on November 22, 2005 on the game’s website, www.themoviesgame.com. The film, made by French designer Alex Chan, is a commentary on the social situation which led up to the recent riots in Paris and other French cities. First written about in The Washington Post, "The French Democracy" has since been featured on MTV.com, Business Week, and 20 Minutes — a French newspaper with a circulation of over 800,000. Commenting on the media attention … Continue reading The Movies Game Films Making News →