GameStop Pre-Order Program Launches with Exclusive Character Offer

Santa Monica, CA – July 2, 2009 – Activision, Inc. is calling on gamers to join the VIP community for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the #1 best-selling Super-Hero action-RPG. Starting today, players can log on to www.MarvelUltimateAlliance.com and become VIP members earning exclusive and early access to insider content such as classified game information and character reveals, Ask-a-Developer sessions, VIP-only screenshots and videos, and community prizes.

Also just launched on www.MarvelUltimateAlliance.com is a casual online web game that puts players in the heart of the Marvel Civil War. Fans get to choose their side among Pro-Registration and Anti-Registration forces and face off in real-time battles to help their side emerge victorious. Fans can join the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Civil War online game and be eligible for weekly giveaways and prizes, including Xbox 360 Elite consoles, signed memorabilia from Stan Lee, a grand prize of a 42” 1080p flat screen TV and more.

The company also announced in conjunction with GameStop, gamers that pre-order a copy of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 for the PS3 or Xbox 360 from a GameStop store or online at www.GameStop.com will receive an exclusive playable character – Juggernaut.

Incorporating elements of the acclaimed Marvel Civil War storyline, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 allows players to choose their side and team up revered heroes and villains from the largest army of Super Heroes ever, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, Deadpool, Venom, Green Goblin and Captain America. Players can combine characters’ powers and unleash astonishing new fusion attacks.

The game is being developed by Vicarious Visions for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system, Wii, PlayStation 2 system, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system and Nintendo DS™ and is not yet rated by the ESRB.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Technorati Tags: Marvel, Ultimate Alliance 2, Activision, Games, Xbox 360, PS3, Gamer, VIP Community, Press Release

DJ Hero with utilize music from such artists as Black Eyed Peas, 50 Cent, Justice, Marvin Gaye, Beastie Boys, N.E.R.D, and Eminem, plus many others.

Along with contributing two never-before-released mixes, Grandmaster Flash lends his unique, recognizable voice and DJ know-how to the game’s tutorial level, schooling players on the game mechanics and the turntable controller.

To top it off, FreeStyle Games created an exclusive mix using two of Grandmaster Flash’s original creations – “Boom” and “Tap.”

Technorati Tags: Freestyle, Music, DJ Hero, Activision, Grandmaster Flash, Eminem, Blackeyed Peas, NERD, Beastie Boys, Game

The sequel to Heroes of the Pacific, the World War II flight combat game, Heroes Over Europe builds on the game’s impressive legacy with intense dogfights, a highly detailed realistic visual presentation and even more online options.

Developed by Transmission Games in Melbourne, Australia, and powered by an all-new engine, Heroes Over Europe is set to raise the bar for flight combat games with the all new “Ace Kill” close combat action, four online modes supporting up to 16 players and fully customizable aircrafts with localized damage.

Visually, the game takes no prisoners with meticulously rendered environments including faithful recreations of London, Berlin and the French Alps, and ultra-realistic iconic warplanes of the era, all presented in stunning high definition graphics.

Heroes Over Europe is scheduled for worldwide release in September 2009.

Technorati Tags: Ubisoft, Games, Xbox 360, Playstation, Heroes Over Pacific, Heroes Over Europe, WWII, Shooter, Game, Gamer, September 2009

Alawar’s Game Description:

Lynette’s conniving husband has cheated her out of her family business! What can an enterprising young woman like her do? Get revenge! Use your business savvy to help Lynette repurchase her company and send her husband to the slammer. Buy, develop and sell commercial properties to make a profit; build attractions that increase your income; and keep your eye on the bottom line as you purchase materials and hire workers. The point-and-click fun of Hotel Mogul will have you laughing all the way to the bank!

Key Game Features

Five exotic settings
35 levels
Four mini-games
Six kinds of hotels
Vibrant graphics and sound

You can test the game out for an hour by visiting the Alawar Website and checking out more about Hotel Mogul and their other great games!

Technorati Tags: Hotel Mogul, Casual Game, Alawar, PC, Sim, Hotel, Time Management, Entertainment

ENTRY RULES:

COMMENTS ARE MODERATED to avoid spam, so it will not show up right away. People who leave multiple comments will be deleted from the contest altogether. If you do not see your comment within a day then by all means leave another one. Otherwise, do not worry as we accept comments several times a day.

ENTRY GUIDELINES:
To enter you need to be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the US. If you have won a contest within the last 30 days you are not eligible.

GET AN EXTRA ENTRY:
Want an extra entry? Twitter about this contest! Just click the Tweet button in the bottom left corner of this article’s box!

You can post the URL to your Tweet in your initial comment for this contest.

To find out about all our latest contests feel free to add us to your Twitter:

@dominickevans
@ashtynevans

You can also get extra entries into our contest by:

-Posting on your blog/website about out contest with a link back to Gamerrazzi (please let us know where to find said link so we can give you an extra entry)
-Digging or Stumbling this post (list your Digg/Stumble username in your comment)

*******Please only leave ONE comment – If you Twitter, Digg, Blog about, or Stumble this contest you can post all relevant information in that comment. We will make sure to add extra entries for each extra thing you’ve done when we randomly pick winners.

CLAIMING YOUR PRIZE:
Winners will be sent an email shortly after the end of the contest. To claim your prize all you will need to do is send us your address in a reply to the congratulation email that you will receive. If we do not receive a reply from you within three weeks, your winnings will be forfeited and your prize will be offered to another contestant.

ENTRY DEADLINE:
We will begin emailing winners for this the week of July 3 , 2009, which means you have until July 2, 2009 at 11:59 to enter.

FROM THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
Ghostbusters: The Video Game, based on the smash hit motion picture franchise and featuring a completely new story, is coming to six game systems in 2009. Coinciding with the 25th anniversary celebration of the film’s original theatrical release, the game reunites original cast members to recapture the unique blend of humour and fright that established Ghostbusters as a pop culture sensation.

Penned by original Ghostbusters writers Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, Ghostbusters: The Video Game brings members of the original cast together for the first time in 20 years. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson lend their voices and in-game likenesses to the original story set two years after Ghostbusters II, with Manhattan once again overrun by ghosts and supernatural forces. Players will have the chance to chase, attack, and catch ghosts in a funny and frightening battle to save New York from its latest supernatural plague.

PRODUCT FEATURES:
Authentic Ghostbusters Experience: The game features the voices and in-game likenesses of Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson in an original story penned by the writers of the original films Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis

Unique gameplay: Experience unique ghost hunting, wrangling and trapping with upgradeable weapons in widely destructible environments and large scale boss fights

All New Storyline – Set two years after Ghostbusters II, the game will feature an all new storyline as the player battles and captures well-loved and brand new ghosts throughout New York

Technorati Tags: Ghostbusters, PC Game, Atari, Who Ya Gonna Call, 25th Anniversary, Comedy, Marshmallow Man, Comedy, Game, Gamer, Contest, Giveaway

If you aren’t sure what stunt I’m referring to, one needs only to head over to Joystiq and click on the following link. For those who are too lazy to click a link, the point of the situation is that EA set up a protest outside E3, as a publicity stunt, to protest the game “Dante’s Inferno,” which has yet to be released though it was prominently featured during the E3 conference.

The protest, disguised as a religious protest was actually a stunt. I’ve been following this story online since E3. I did very much enjoy some of the “signs” the protesters held up, but my favorites were:

“Trade in your PlayStation for a PrayStation”
“Cheat Codes Won’t Save Your Soul”
and “Hell is not a game”

Of course, there is the cheesy, which includes “Just say infer-No!” and “EA = Electronic Anti-Christ!” But…that’s beside the point. The point is that this little staged protest is making the Catholics mad. It’s funny mad, too. I’ve always believed that when you are religious, it’s always best to try and make a low blow at any opponent. Turning the other cheek is too Jesus for the majority of society.

The Catholic blogging community is up at arms about this. You can see what Catholic Video Gamers had to say from their Blogspot location by heading here, though I know some of you are lazy, so let me weed through the incredibly long-winded, though one paragraph long, diatribe for the best part:

“Gamers of all varieties will buy this product if its, well, actually a good game. So instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?”

“God of War” rip off? Yowza! Now I haven’t played God of War all that much, but I didn’t get that vibe from the trailer for “Dante.” Furthermore, since most of us gamers are “Richard Dawkins-loving, fundamentalist atheist, “I’m-so-much-smarter-than-you-are-because-I-don’t-believe-in-God” types,” what the heck is a blog named Catholic Video Gamers doing out there? If the gaming community is such a God-hating community (I take offense to that slightly – well not really…I don’t know Andy Kirchoff personally, so it’s hard to be offended — but I’m no Atheist Jack – I’m a polytheist. That means I don’t have one God, I have many…oOooh!), then why are the Catholics even trying to be a part of it? For example, I might reconsider my place here if the community was full of polytheist-hating, scary, fundamentalists, who tried to make all games full of moral values.

Seriously though, I don’t get why this is such a big deal. EA’s promotion was actually pretty funny and the Catholics are ensuring the game gets all the attention EA wanted it to have. Bravo on a magnificent PR campaign EA. Truly. You are making the Catholics dance like puppets, just the way you wanted them to. The best move would have been for the Catholics to avoid mentioning the game, but any publicity, negative or not, is always a plus in the entertainment industry.

Margaret Cabaniss from InsideCatholic also shared her thoughts on the issue, but they were rather boring for my tastes. The basic jist of what she said was that EA had a built in market of Christians they were ignoring and that the stunt made them look ignorant. If you really want to read what she had to say, look her or InsideCatholic up.

Ultimately, as I stated previously, all this is doing is giving EA even more publicity. Way to go Catholics! By the way, “Dante’s Infermo” does look pretty awesome. I’m glad my soul won’t be ‘going to hell’ for playing the game when it’s released.

Technorati Tags: Catholics, Christian protest, EA, Electronic Arts, Dante’s Inferno, Video Game, Controversy, Gaming, Religion

Play Call Of Duty: World At War with Derek Mears a.k.a Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th

Derek Mears, the actor who plays Jason Voorhees in the 2009 release of Friday the 13th, will play Call of Duty®: World at War with Xbox LIVE® Gold Members June 19. If you’re an Xbox LIVE Gold Member (if not, upgrade now!), and you want a chance to play with Derek Mears, send a friend request to the following Gamertag and be online half an hour before (6:00 P.M. ET) the Game with Fame session starts on Friday, June 19, 6:30 P.M. ET.

We’re celebrating the June 16 digital release of the movie Friday the 13th by having a Game with Fame with the man behind the mask. Play against Derek Mears and talk to him about what it was like to play one of the most iconic American horror villains–Jason Voorhees. Mears is one of the busiest actor-stuntmen in film and television, with roles in The Hills Have Eyes II, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Men in Black II, and Wild Wild West. His additional feature credits as a stuntman include Blades of Glory, Signs, and more. For television, Mears has been featured in guest-starring roles on such series as CSI: Miami, ER, and The Shield, among many others.

Mears was born and raised in Bakersfield, California. When Derek isn’t working in television and films you can find him performing live improv comedy at Comedy Sportz LA, making videos at Channel101.com, or training MMA at Big John McCarthy’s Ultimate Training Academy. If you get a chance to play with Derek Mears, we want to hear about it! Send us an e-mail(xlmail@microsoft.com) with the subject: “GWF – Derek Mears.” Be sure to include your Gamertag and home town.

Check out some clips from the forthcoming movie:

Game With Fame featuring Derek Mears (aka Jason Voorhees) on Xbox LIVE

Date: June 19th

Location: Los Angeles

Time: 3:30 – 5:30 PM (PST)

Game: Call Of Duty: World At War

GAMERTAG: Jason F13

Technorati Tags: XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Game with Fame, Jason, Friday the 13th, Derek Mears, Call Of Duty: World At War

Video Game Retailer Launches Mobile Sweepstakes at http://www.gamestop.com/prototype

Are you a big fan of Prototype? GameStop has announced a mobile sweepstakes featuring a daily prize of a $50 GameStop gift card, and a grand prize of the Alex Mercer jacket from the parkour video. You can check out the video featuring the jacket here: www.gamestop.com/prototype.

To enter, text the word “Prototype” to 65579.

Who: GameStop and Prototype

What: GameStop launches Prototype mobile sweepstakes offering daily gift card prizes and Alex Mercer jacket grand prize.

Where:http://www.gamestop.com/prototype

Text the word “Prototype” to 65579 for a chance to win!

When: Now until July 8, 2009

Technorati Tags: Prototype, Alex Mercer, Games, Video Game, Gamestop, Prizes, Text, Win Prizes

Well, we’ve found out a little bit more information about the game. The game is a lot cleaner, animation wise then the 2-D pixelated characters of the first two releases. That’s to be expected. However, if the action is split across the two screens, as shown in the trailer, I’m not sure how down I am with that.

The big news is that you won’t be playing as Isaac, Sheba, Jenna, Felix, Garet, Mia or any of the other, primary characters from the first two Golden Sun releases. Nintendo has announced you will play as the descendants of these characters. I’m a bit disappointed by this as it would have been nice to see what the old gang is up to. IMO it’s kind of like playing a “Legend of Zelda” game as the descendant of Link.

The good news is that the story takes place in Weyard. The music seems to be along the same vein as that in the first two games. The world design also looks remarkably similar. If the game is good and it resembles the old world, I guess I can look past the descendants thing. Who am I kidding? I’ll be the first to get my copy of this game when it comes out.

For now, that’s all we know about “Golden Sun DS.” Make sure to check back, as we’ll try to keep you up to date on this and all your other favorite game titles.

Technorati Tags: Golden Sun, DS, Video Game, Nintendo, Game News, Golden Sun DS

Honorable Mention - Time for some Golden Sun – “Golden Sun DS” was announced at Nintendo’s press conference. This is more of a personal “favorite” of the conference announcements, which is why I decided to give it an honorable mention. I’m a huge fan of the first two Golden Sun games. I’ve beat both of them numerous times. The fact that the game looks incredibly similar in style to the original is a plus and that rockin’ Golden Sun music is back. Way to go Nintendo! You actually did something right by bringing back this series.

#5 – “Halo ODST”/”Halo Reach” – Microsoft isn’t as good a system without Halo. It seems almost necessary for the company to release a new title every year. This year, we had the chance to hear about two, “Halo ODST,” which is well on its way to finishing completion on its development, and “Halo Reach.” All we really know about “Halo Reach,” at this point, is its name, and it should be out sometime next year. Microsoft consistently brings it with high quality games on a high quality system. That’s why they’re number 5 on our list.

#4 – Motion Controller for PS3 – Though I’m not a big fan of the Wiimote (for personal reasons) I can understand why people are excited about Motion Control. The Motion Controller for PS3 looks cooler than the Wiimote. It also seems to be smaller, rounder and is most likely a lot easier to handle. The problem I have with the Wiimote is it is clunky and I cannot always use it correctly due to my limited mobility. Due to its smaller size and more sensitive response, the PS3 Motion Controller looks to be something nearly anyone can use, which makes it even more exciting.

#3 – New Mario Games – Surprisingly, despite a poor, overall E3 performance, Nintendo makes the list not once, but twice (okay, if you count the Honorable Mention). The thing that made Nintendo good was the franchise game announcements. Nintendo has announced that not one, not two, but four different Mario games will be released in the next year or so. Two of the titles are exclusively Mario (”New Super Mario Bros” and “Super Mario Galaxy 2″ for Wii) while the other two include Mario (”Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story” and “Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again” for Nintendo DS). While Nintendo chose to ignore other, popular franchises, it’s nice to see they still remember Mario.

#2 – Lionshead Studios develops Milo - If you didn’t get to check out Milo, you should in one of the videos I’ve posted here on Gamerrazzi. Milo is a boy who can interact with your outside world and you can interact with his. He’s being developed with much anticipation, because if a computer generated boy can interact with a human being, what is a game character going to do in the middle of a game? This promising new technology is stunning. The potential to use Milo, not only for gameplay, but for medical purposes (as a parent of a child with an autistic spectrum disorder, I can already imagine what a Milo could do to help improve social skills and interpersonal skills – the potential is endless!) makes this one of the most exciting announcements of E3.

#1 – Project Natal – The number one choice needs very little description. If you saw Microsoft’s E3 Conference then you know exactly what I’m taking about. Everyone at E3 and at home was very excited about all the possibilities that arise from Project Natal. With it, you and your body become the controller. There is no need for a handheld controller, because Project Natal allows you to login via facial recognition, play with your hands, feet, arms, legs, and face, and do so many other, cool and neat things. As this project develops I’m sure the excitement level will grow. For now, it’s the most promising new advance in gaming we’ve seen to date.

With three of the top five best announcements of E3, it’s easy to see that Microsoft wins honors for bringing the most to the E3 Conference.

Technorati Tags: E3, Conference, Microsoft, Nitendo, Sony, Halo ODST, Project Natal, New Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Halo Reach, Sony Motion Controller, Project Natal, Milo, Announcements