Leading mobile games publisher and developer, GAMEVIL® has announced the release of their new game Sakura Slash to App Store today. Sakura Slash is published in collaboration with KOCCA and is developed by DS Soft and iQubi. With more than 40 games lined up to be released this year, Sakura Slash is yet another title to be added to the library of games GAMEVIL has published outside of their usual RPG/Adventure genre.

In Sakura Slash, users use their quick reflexes to swipe at flying demons with their sword. The game requires users to react quickly before the demons vanish from the screen, which will cause the players to lose HP. The faster one destroys the demons, the higher the sword skill. Sword skills will enable special moves based on the sword a user has equipped. Also, by collecting spirit orbs that float across the screen, users can upgrade their skills, swords and brushes.

There are no levels in Sakura Slash but a streamline of continual gameplay as players aspire for the highest score. “Sakura Slash is an interesting game with ink water painting elements that provide a spin to a seemingly simple swipe and slash game,” stated Kyu C. Lee VP and Head of GAMEVIL USA, Inc. “Publishing a wide variety of games as allowed us to discover new and upcoming developers such as the creators of Sakura Slash.”

Sakura Slash is now FREE on the App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/app/sakura-slash/id521847901?ls=1&mt=8

With a unique upgrade system, dozens of towers and traps, and over a hundred units and special abilities, every aspect of Always Outnumbered has been crafted with an eye towards balanced and engaging multiplayer action. The game implements myGo tournament API which will allow players to host their own competitive events quickly and painlessly, and with scale to boot!

If you were to view their Kickstarter page (over here), you would notice that the budget is in the high side as they are aiming for USD 175,000 in funding. The good thing is that they’ve provided a good breakdown on how much is going to be spent on what and these guys are focused on providing good infrastructure for the backers of the project. So if you ponying up money for this, you can expect bug reports, feature requests, along with the expected goodies.

Part of the funding also goes to securing a booth at PAX Prime for their launch. I can think of no better way of doing that . So join in, help pitch in to make SRRN Games’ dream of self-publishing Always Outnumbered on the Mac/PC (and hopefully other platforms as well) game. Their Kickstarter page can be found over here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2095619008/always-outnumbered

Also, be sure to check out their mini-game, Always Outnumbered: Survival, built specially to support SRRN’s Kickstarter campaign: http://alwaysoutnumberedgame.com/updates/free-minigame-ao-survival

A hyper combo-powered milestone, the Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary festivities will continue throughout 2012 (“The Year of the Dragon”) and will include the Collector’s Set and a series of high stakes global tournaments with over a half million dollars in support, the highest the fighting game community has ever witnessed.

Honoring one of the most popular videogame franchises of all time, the Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary Collector’s Set is a must - have for Street Fighter® video game aficionados. Created as a celebration and tribute to its fans, the limited edition set is individually numbered and jam-packed with Street Fighter games, video, art, music, and exclusive collectibles. The items are housed in a specially created chest complete with a certificate of authenticity.

The limited edition Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary Collector’s Set includes:

• Past and Present Street Fighter Games – Playable on current gen PS3™ and Xbox 360 console systems, the four critically-acclaimed titles selected from the star-studded catalog are: Super Street Fighter® II Turbo HD Remix, Street Fighter® III 3^rd Strike Online Edition, Super Street Fighter® IV Arcade Edition with all costume DLC, and Street Fighter® X Tekken® including all character and Swap Costume DLC.
• Exclusive Video – The two-disc Blu-Ray set includes a documentary that highlights the profound influence the franchise has had on fans – and vice versa – throughout the years. The collection of videos also includes Street Fighter®IV and Super Street Fighter®IV Anime movies as well as all episodes of the Street Fighter animated series and Street Fighter®II: The Animated Movie.
• Light-up Ryu Statue – A specially commissioned and highly-detailed collectable Ryu statue stands prominently at 8” tall and features the iconic character in mid-Shoryuken, with flames lit from below.
• 11-Disc Soundtrack – Street Fighter game music spanning the past 25 years, in addition to remixes and fan-created music inspired by past Street Fighter games .
• 64-page Hardcover Art Book – A tribute to Street Fighter game fans from all over the world, the art book includes fan pieces submitted by professional and aspiring artists alike.
• Ryu’s Belt – Created to regulation specs, the full-size martial arts black belt is a replica of the one Ryu wears and even includes his classic “Fūrinkazan” in kanji!
• Certificate of Authenticity – Each Collector’s Set comes individually numbered complete with a certificate of authenticity.

Further bringing the Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary celebration to its fans, Capcom is currently organizing a series of tournaments throughout the year in locations across the globe that will include over $500,000 worth of cash, non-cash prizing, and amenities. This high-stakes tournament series will culminate in a grand finals event held in San Francisco on Dec. 8, 2012 and will include players who qualify in the preliminary tournaments throughout the year.

The tournament series will feature the following monumental titles from the past and present: Street Fighter X Tekken, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Street Fighter III 3^rd Strike Online Edition, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Revealed today, the list below includes the most current dates and locations (subject to change) for the Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary global tournament series:

•       July 28-29 in Austin, TX
•       August 11-12 in the NY area (location pending)
•       August 26 in Taipei, Taiwan (location pending)
•       Mid-September in the Tokyo Region, Japan (date and location pending)
•       September 27-30 in London, England (in conjunction with Eurogamer Expo)
•       October 13-14 in Sao Paulo, Brazil (in conjunction with Brazil Game Show)
•       October 27-28 in Los Angeles, CA
•       October 31 – November 4 in Paris, France (in conjunction with Paris Games Week)
•       December 8 Finals in San Francisco, CA

Adding an extra level of white-knuckled excitement to the competition, the first-place Street Fighter X Tekken player will be crowned champion and be handed the keys to an all-new custom designed Scion FR-S Sports Coupe. Capcom has partnered with Scion, Five Axis and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), to create a one-of-a-kind Street Fighter-themed sports car, complete with video entertainment hardware from SCEA and a modified exterior from Five Axis including a custom FIVE:AD aero kit, spoiler, wheels, as well as many more premiere components from leading automotive aftermarket companies.

Lastly, a new Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary website will be created which will allow fans to share their stories of how the Street Fighter series has influenced their lives, and will host all details of the anniversary celebration including how to register for the tournament series.  The new website will be released soon and will be located at: http://www.streetfighter.com/sf25

The Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary Collector’s Set carries an MSRP of $149.99

So guess what is your first and only defense against these horrors? It’s the pinball of course, but guess what, the pinball can be anywhere on the board, stuck between bouncing against bumpers and stuff like that, just like what would happen in any other, sensible, pinball games. It gets a little frustrating to see the horde come to the gates unmolested and it’s pretty easy to hit the game over screen.

While being unnecessary merciless through no fault from the player, the game actually features really nice 3D graphics, making it a visual, if not frustrating (gameplay wise) treat. You’ll need to be awfully lucky in this game but if you are a pinball fan, you might want to check out this unique mash-up of a game.

Nine Over Ten 9/10 rates Undead Attack Pinball HD at a 3.5 out of 5. The game is available for free on the iTunes App Store. Check it out over here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/undead-attack-pinball-hd-by/id462024290?mt=8

Titled “BlindSide“, it takes the video out of video games, and tosses players into a fully rendered 3D world that they’ll never see.  Players explore their environment guided only by what they can hear in the world around them and their memories.  Their goal is to try to figure out why they have lost their ability to see, while avoiding the monsters that are slaughtering people all around them.

BlindSide offers an identical gameplay experience to both sighted and visually impaired players, and features a neat gyro control scheme that allows players to change the direction they’re facing in the game just by rotating their bodies in the real world. The game is available on the iTunes App Store for USD 2.99, check it out:  http://itunes.com/apps/blindside

Filmmakers Anthony Caulfield & Nicola Caulfield have announced they have launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the production of their new 90 minute documentary feature film titled ‘From Bedrooms to Billions’. The film tells the remarkable, true story of the British Video Games Industry between 1979 – 1996 and how the creativity and vision of a relatively small number of individuals allowed the UK to play a key, pioneering role in the shaping of the billion dollar video games industry which today, dominates the modern world’s entertainment landscape.

Featuring interviews with key contributors to the UK story in video game development, publishing and journalism from over the last 40 years, combined with compelling archive, ‘From Bedrooms to Billions’ is the first to attempt to bring this fascinating story together starting in the late 70′s, spanning ‘Thatcher’s Britain’ of the 80′s and culminating in the dramatic shift of fortunes for the UK Video Games Industry by the late 90′s. The film celebrates the importance of this era and why it has become such a landmark period in the history of British invention, creativity and industry.

Producer, Anthony Caulfield said “From Bedrooms to Billions has been a very personal project for us since June 2008. Having completed many documentaries we have always wanted to document the rise of the British video games industry and the incredible story that went with it. What’s so fascinating is how the UK computer scene was originally nothing more than a scientific curiosity which snowballed into something so vast. As we started putting this film together we uncovered so many incredible stories, these people had to literally make up an industry as they went, some were very successful, but others were not so, however collectively we felt it a strong story that’s long overdue and should make a wonderful movie”.

Fellow Producer Nicola Caulfield said “This film will be a great piece of nostalgic entertainment that documents an important part of UK history. This era is so often overlooked and not known by young British talent looking to enter the games industry, as the vast majority of UK children, school leavers and even students believe that gaming originated mainly from the US and Japan and have little to no knowledge that a British games industry even once existed”.

Check out the official site over here: http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com/

In the case of Updraft Jack HD, players control a sugar-glider (if you don’t know what a sugar-glider is, read this Wikipedia article) in a bid to keep ahead of an owl. Named Jack, the sugar-glider’s wings are used to catch the wind, which will then enable him to glide through the jungle. It turns out that there are plenty of stuff in the jungle to make use of to gain distance from the owl, but at the same time, there are plenty of obstacles to avoid as well.

The controls are really simple but it’s the graphics that grab the headlines for this game. Employing 3D textures in what is essentially is a 2D game, Updraft Jack HD looks awesome and like I said earlier, reminiscent of earlier PSOne/N64 games. Nine Over Ten 9/10 rates Updraft Jack HD at a 4.5 out of 5. The game is available on the iTunes App Store at a price of USD 1.99: http://itunes.apple.com/vg/app/updraft-jack-hd/id503152814?mt=8

A review code was provided to Nineoverten.com for the purpose of this review.

The new Fruit Ninja content update will include:

Welcome Gutsu and Truffles: Joining Sensei in the legendary Fruit Ninja dojo are Gutsu and Truffles, best friends and business partners. Traveling merchants, they have set up shop and welcome all to check out their wares in the new Gutsu’s Cart menu. Players can also watch their debut in the all-new animated short created by Halfbrick and the People’s Republic of Animation here:

Powerups: Announcing Berry Blast, Peachy Time and Bomb Deflects – three new items to purchase from Gutsu’s Cart. Explode with juice, add time to your game or deflect those pesky bombs with these awesome additions. Powerups can be obtained by spending Starfruit, which is the new Fruit Ninja currency collected at the end of every game based on your ninja skills.

Halfbrick is currently touring its home country of Australia to promote the new update and give away free download codes. But anyone around the world can join in on the fun by heading to the Fruit Ninja 2 Year Anniversary website: anniversary.fruitninja.com!

There you’ll be introduced to the new characters, check out the latest action from the Aussie tour, and score a free download code for Fruit Ninja on the App Store (limited quantity available)! Already have the game? Pass on the code to a friend and compete to see who is the true ninja! Keep an eye out – the Fruit Ninja Tour might be coming to your town soon!

Fruit Ninja is available for download through the iTunes App Store for $0.99. Fruit Ninja HD for iPad is available for $2.99.

This game will detail protagonist Dante’s early years set against a familiar contemporary backdrop and at the same time, introducing a new character to the series, Kat. Here’s a bit of her background:

Kat is a former runaway that joined The Order very early in her life. She is a medium and a gifted psychic who can see into Limbo, the demon realm, but not directly interact with it in the way that Dante does. She is the right hand girl to the Leader of The Order and devotes her life to him, often putting herself in grave danger to gather intelligence from Limbo.

There is a sweet innocence about Kat’s world view and logic, but when it comes to her specialist subject, the demon realm, she is an undoubted expert. Kat is The Order’s ‘eyes and ears’ and is tasked with guiding Dante on his mission through Limbo.

While retaining the stylish action, fluid combat and self-assured protagonist that have defined the iconic series, DmC Devil May Cry injects a more brutal and visceral edge to the franchise.

DmC Devil May Cry will be fully localized with voice talent in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian and in addition, Polish, Dutch, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese languages will be supported with localized text. DmC Devil May Cry will be one of Capcom’s featured titles at its E3 booth (#1047 South Hall)

Also on the DC front would be Green Lantern Corps #9. John Stewart is being a pushover in this issue as he stands trial for killing another Green Lantern (under extenuating circumstances)… and the result is that he is sentenced to death. Poor chap.

Marvel’s Avengers vs X-Men continues in issue #4, as Wolverine finally finds Hope, only to out her to the Avengers right on the moon. The fights in Avengers vs X-Men receive more exposition with the release of AVX VS #2, featuring Spiderman vs. Colossus and Captain America vs. Gambit. Lets just say it’s 1 each for both teams.