NEW PLAY CONTROL! Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis

Lateral thinkers and tennis fans alike will delight in NEW PLAY CONTROL! Pikmin and NEW PLAY CONTROL! Mario Power Tennis - two Nintendo classics originally released on Nintendo GameCube but now which have been reworked in widescreen for Wii’s NEW PLAY CONTROL!, a new series of games powered up to take advantage of the Wii’s unique control system!

Fun and challenging gameplay will delight a whole new generation, while some additional features will excite existing Mario Power Tennis and Pikmin fans.

The compulsively cute Pikmin, available on 6th February 2009, will test the brain and stun the senses, while Mario Power Tennis, available on 6th March 2009 will challenge your hand-eye coordination and see you pitting your abilities against friends and family.

NEW PLAY CONTROL! Pikmin – Pikmin just got a bit more perfect! Whether you are a Pikmin fan or have yet to be bewitched by its charms, NEW PLAY CONTROL! Pikmin now makes full use of the Wii Remote’s point-and-select capability, which will delight anyone who enjoys a real-time strategy adventure.

You control a spaceman called Captain Olimar who has crash-landed on an unusual planet. The planet is inhabited by Pikmin - strange flower-like creatures that are half-animal, half-plant – as well as a variety of hostile creatures who will try and stop you in your mission. Captain Olimar must collect 30 sections of his crashed vessel which have been scattered across the planet to reassemble his ship and continue his galactic quest: luckily the obliging Pikmin are there to help him.

Each type of Pikmin has unique strengths, which Olimar must use to his advantage. Red Pikmin can withstand high temperatures, blue Pikmin can survive in water, while yellow Pikmin can destroy obstacles by using bomb-rocks. Players can control 100 Pikmin at any one time organising them individually, in groups, or in an army of 100 – and the Wii Remote makes selecting, grouping and giving orders to your Pikmin more fluid and more intuitive than ever before making it more accessible to all levels of players.

The NEW PLAY CONTROL! version of the game also sees an updated save mechanism, which now allows you to restart play from any day you please – perfect for retrying a particularly puzzling challenge! Pikmin will keep your brain burning for hours as you race against time solving puzzles and battling foes with an army of cute and loveable creatures to help you.

NEW PLAY CONTROL! Mario Power Tennis – Grab the opportunity to play as your favourite character from the Mario world, such as Mario, Bowser or Princess Peach and unleash some Power Shots on the tennis court – now using the Wii Remote to make the action more intuitive than ever before!

The NEW PLAY CONTROL! Mario Power Tennis, sports different replay camera options and a two-player split screen that will be familiar to fans of Tennis on Wii Sports. But the biggest advance is the ability to use your Wii Remote to play a wide range of different shots, from overhand strikes to backhands – and, of course the famous Power Shots, which are different for each character!. The game also offers levels of control types which increase in difficulty ensuring players of all levels of gameplay experience can enjoy the game.

The game also enables you to play on a range of courts as well as Gimmick courts. These feature elements that influence how the match will be played, such as the ghosts in the Luigi's Mansion court, which trip you up by placing banana peels under your feet. To keep the ghosts at bay, your tennis skills will have to be at their best to direct the ball onto light switches in order to turn on the lights and scare away the ghosts.

The central mode of the game is Tournament Mode, which is split between matches on regular surfaces and matches on Gimmick courts, and features a standard ladder-style advancement system. Winning tournaments can unlock new characters, new courts, and new gameplay styles for the Exhibition Mode.

A series of tennis-themed mini-games will also keep you coming back for more. "Artist on the Court" lobs special paintballs at you and challenges you to knock them onto the appropriate areas of an uncoloured picture that's sitting where the net would usually be. In "Terror Tennis", you have to keep a bunch of ghosts under control by hitting balls at any of them that start moving around. Five of these mini-games are available to begin with, but if you win enough tournaments you will unlock several more.

Single player mode enables you to choose your opponent and their ability, the court used and the number of games and sets required to win the match, whilst singles or doubles mode with friends will see you pitting your serving skills against them in a split screen affair!

Reworked exclusively for the Wii’s NEW PLAY CONTROL! series, Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis are now more fluid and intuitive to play whilst still providing the entertainment and challenges of the original Nintendo GameCube games, If that has got you excited than 2009 will be your year as Pikmin 2 and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat are also just one of many games which will be making their way to the NEW PLAY CONTROL! series - only on Wii.

Major League Baseball 2K9

MLB® strikeout leader brings the heat to the virtual baseball diamond next season
2K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that National League Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, will be featured as the cover athlete and spokesman for next year's highly anticipated baseball video game, Major League Baseball® 2K9. Lincecum led Major League Baseball with 265 strikeouts during the 2008 season and set a new team record in the process. He has quickly become a fan favorite and established himself as one of the most thrilling young pitchers to watch in baseball today.

“Winning the Cy Young Award is truly an amazing honor, and now having the opportunity to be on the cover of Major League Baseball 2K9 is another dream come true and an absolutely surreal experience,” said Tim Lincecum, MLB All-Star pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. “Whenever I’m hanging out at home or traveling on the road, you can find me playing video games, and I’m definitely the best gamer in the clubhouse by far. I’m incredibly stoked that 2K Sports picked me to represent Major League Baseball 2K9, and I look forward to lending my baseball knowledge to the development process.”

While attending the University of Washington, Lincecum won the coveted Golden Spikes Award which is given to the nation’s top college baseball player. He was drafted 10th overall by the San Francisco Giants in 2006. Known to fans as “The Franchise” and “The Freak”, Lincecum was named to the National League All-Star team this past season while putting up astonishing numbers and leading the Majors™ with a remarkable 265 strikeouts. Lincecum also led the National League in other key pitching categories including win percentage (18-5, .783), opponent’s batting average (.221), and strikeouts per nine innings (10.51), along with ranking second in earned run average (2.62). For all of his historic accomplishments, Lincecum won the Players’ Choice Award as the National League Outstanding Pitcher this season, along with the National League Pitcher of the Year Award from Sporting News. Both awards were voted on by his peers. More significantly, Lincecum today was named the National League Cy Young Award winner, given annually to the top pitcher in both the American League and the National League, and voted on by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

"Tim is a special player and has the best stuff in baseball. We couldn’t have selected a more naturally talented and exciting player to represent Major League Baseball 2K9 next season, and given that he’s an avid gamer, it will be a lot of fun working together," said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of sports development for 2K. "Visual Concepts has taken over the development of our Major League Baseball title, and we look forward to continuing to provide fans with the most authentic and high quality gameplay experience that we bring to all of our sports titles."

Major League Baseball 2K9 is being developed by Visual Concepts, a 2K Sports studio, and is not yet rated by the ESRB. Major League Baseball 2K9 will be available in early 2009 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo. For more information, please visit www.2ksports.com.

Pop-Up Pirate!

Tomy Europe has announced its first computer game, Pop-Up Pirate!, is now available for digital download on WiiWare™. The addictive Pop-Up Pirate! WiiWare game is played with motion controlled swords and features multiplayer thrills for the ultimate pirate party.

Pop-Up Pirate! for WiiWare is based on Tomy’s classic toy game, enjoyed for years by children and adults alike. Launched in Japan in the 1970s, and shortly after to the rest of the world, it is now one of the oldest and most recognisable games on the market selling in excess of 10 million units worldwide.

In Pop-Up Pirate! WiiWare players become swashbuckling swordsmen who take turns thrusting their sabers into a barrel that holds their black-bearded Captain captive. Players must take care and choose their holes wisely, as one wrong move will send him flying The game features various adventures including “Pop-Up Party” mode, where up to four pirates take turns at poking holes in the barrel and “Pop-Up Logic” mode, where a single shipmate competes in a race against time to find the bad holes before the time runs out. As an added bonus, players can unlock a unique mode which allows them to play the entire game using their own Mii in the barrel.

Pop-Up Pirate! is the first computer game published by Tomy Europe. The company is planning to launch more high quality and family-friendly computer game titles into the European markets based on Tomy’s extensive properties and resources.

Robert Mann, CEO, Tomy Europe comments. “Pop-Up Pirate! is an iconic game which has earned millions of fans around the world and, as such, is the ideal title to launch Tomy Europe as a publisher of computer games titles. The WiiWare version is a feature-rich interactive title which builds upon the existing game with more game play options and a family-focused multiplayer mode. The new Pop-Up Pirate! game is bound to be a hit with pirates of all ages who want to challenge a ‘matey’ to a game of swashbuckling fun.”

Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked!

The latest installment in the Lost in Blue series allows players to explore the mysteries of the island with the help of trusty pets and new friends as they search to find a way out or make a new life there forever.

In Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked!, players find themselves stranded on a mysterious island filled with lush forests, ancient ruins, and an active volcano. Fighting the elements to stay alive, they explore the island, gather food and hunt dangerous wildlife. Colorful 3D graphics make the island environment, weather systems, and various items more realistic than ever, and dependable pets help gather items and also provide added entertainment by playing music or dancing throughout the game.

As the first next-gen title in the series, Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked! takes full advantage of the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk controls. Immersing the player in a survival adventure like never before, the title also allows gamers to realistically practice survival tasks with more than 30 mini-games including fishing, carpentry, fire-making and other all-new cooperative games.

“The Lost in Blue franchise has developed a very loyal legion of fans and immense critical acclaim,” said Anthony Crouts, vice president of marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “Bringing it to the next generation and maximizing the uniquely interactive capabilities of Wii allows us to greatly enhance the graphics and the innovative gameplay elements, making this the most immersive title in the survival adventure series to date.”

The Lost in Blue® series debuts on a new platform for the first time ever with Lost in Blue® (working title). Experience a survival adventure like never before through colorful 3D graphics and the uniquely interactive capabilities of the Nintendo Wii™. You find yourself stranded on a mysterious island filled with lush forests, a sunken ship, ancient ruins, and an active volcano. With the help of a trusty pet and a new friend, you’ll explore the mysteries of the island to find a way out or make a new life for yourselves there forever.

Product Features
• The first console version of the series greatly upgrades the visual quality and depth of the game, immersing the player in a survival adventure like never before
• Vibrant 3D graphics paint the island environment, weather systems, and various items as more life-like than ever
• Full use of Wii-mote and Nunchuk controls allow you to experience realistic movements with a variety of mini-games including fishing, carpentry, fire-making and more
• An island tutorial and a greater focus on exploration enhances the accessibility and fun factor for new players
• Dependable pets improve item gathering and provide entertainment by playing music or dancing with you
• Recruit a friend for over 40 mini-games, including new, cooperative games – the better you play, the bigger your reward

NERF N-STRIKE

EA Casual Entertainment and Hasbro bring the action and chaos of the popular NERF brand to the digital world.

In a world specifically created to be the perfect landscape for NERF pandemonium, players can wreak havoc and perfect their blasting skills or challenge friends to clashes.

With the brand new SWITCH SHOT EX-3 custom NERF blaster players can take the blaster from real life playing with friends outside to the digital world, where they can continue to play and challenge friends in a high octane digital console environment and back again

NERF is the number one toy for boys 9-11 with over 6 million blasters being sold last year. 2009 will mark the 40th anniversary of NERF.

• Blast Through Danger! Explore a top-secret NERF facility and unravel the mystery of the unknown threat that awaits.
• Many Ways to Play! With the unique SWITCH SHOT EX-3 NERF blaster, exchange the dart chamber for a Wii-mote to bring a realistic NERF experience to a world specially suited for blasting.
• Over the Top NERF Blasters! Play with over 25 NERF Blasters including the MAVERICK REV-6, VULCAN EBF-25, LONGSHOT CS-6, and many never seen before!
• Multiplayer! Go head-to-head with up to 4 players using additional Wii Remotes and SWITCH SHOT EX-3 Blasters.

Rogue Trooper: Quartz Zone Massacre

Reef Entertainment, the publisher responsible for Free Running, is proud to announce that Rogue Trooper®: Quartz Zone Massacre will be launched across Europe on Friday 27th February 2009.

Rogue Trooper®, a genetically engineered super-soldier from the pages of iconic UK sci-fi comic 2000 AD, represents Reef’s first foray onto the Nintendo Wii platform and promises to be one of the Wii’s most exciting and engaging 3rd person shooter titles yet.

Peter Rezon, managing director of Reef said, “We have high hopes for Rogue Trooper®. The tactical use of stealth as well as the all-out action fit perfectly with the Nintendo Wii interface, providing exciting and immersive gameplay. Rogue has a cult following from when he first appeared in 2000 AD and we have returned to the original storyline for the Wii version of the game to remind people how Rogue came about, but it is the strong characters and storyline which will have great appeal for gamers of all types. We believe this will become one of the very best shooter titles ever available on Nintendo Wii.”

The supporting website www.roguetrooper.com is now live and provides a truly in-depth introduction to the game. Packed with intelligence on tactics, enemies, characters and weapons as well as the essential screenshots, wallpapers, artwork and high-octane videos, Reef is confident gamers will be back to the site again and again.

Rogue Trooper® is being released through Reef partners in the major European countries, Ubisoft® in the UK and Ireland, Digital Brothers in Spain and Atari in France, Germany and Italy.

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop

Wii Gamers Get Their Own Taste of Zombie-laden Insanity with Humor, Hordes of the Undead and a Variety of Weapons at the Player's Disposal
Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, is pleased to announce that Dead Rising™: Chop Till You Drop ships today for the Wii™ home video game system. Taking advantage of the same proven technology that brought Resident Evil® 4 so successfully to Wii, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop delivers a more intuitive and interactive experience as players use the Wii Remote™ to shoot, slash and bludgeon their way through a zombie infested shopping mall, fighting for survival.

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance journalist on a hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. In pursuit of a juicy lead, he makes his way to the small suburban town of Willamette only to find that it has become overrun by zombies. Frank escapes to the local shopping mall, thinking it will be a bastion of safety but turns out to be anything but. A true struggle to survive the endless stream of enemies, players luckily have full reign of a realistic shopping centre and its varied stores offering an endless supply of real and makeshift weapons to fight off the flesh-hungry mob. If Frank is running low on health he can pay a visit to one of the many restaurants or cafes for a meal in order to restore his energy and continue the fight.

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop’s campy humor delivers welcome relief to players as they battle against an incessant tide of zombies and challenging bosses. Intense moments will give way to hilarious interludes as players get a kick out of dressing Frank up in a variety of comedic costumes and taking on the undead hordes with an impressive variety of improvised and sometimes highly ineffective weapons such as a toy sword or football.

The game is split into a series of individual cases all of which Frank must complete in order to gain vital information that will allow him to piece together the truth behind the horrendous epidemic. In addition to the cases, players will be faced with the dilemma of deciding the rescue priority of the residents of Wilamette who also sought sanctuary in the mall. Depending on the player’s skill, some may not be so fortunate as each rescue needs to be undertaken in a set time period, therefore players may need to delay completion of a case in order to save a fellow human.