Publisher Lighthouse Interactive and developer Kerberos Productions announced plans for an expansion for last year’s 4x space strategy title for the PC, Sword of the Stars. Set for release in mid-April, the expansion, Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood, will add a new alien race (the bloodthirsty Zuul), a new form of strategic movement, new ship sections, 15 new weapons (including boarding pods), new technologies, new scenarios and new unknown menaces.
In addition, the expansion, which will require the original game to run, will also update the core game with a new set of GUI, graphical, and optimization updates. Born of Blood will offer new content for single and multiplayer gameplay, including two new scenarios, five new galaxy types, and newly detailed combat results and status graphs that allow players to track the rise or fall of their empire over time.
The game will also feature more than twenty five new technologies, as well as new diplomatic data and comm systems that will allow players to make demands, ask for help, or even warn players off from the worlds still yet unclaimed. Additionally, those players opting to try their hands at the new Zuul race will be able to take advantage of massive Zuul slaver disks, which allow them to take slaves and use them to boost production on Zuul fortress worlds. Creepy!
Finally, one of the most interesting sounding additions of this expansion is a new trade route system, which promises to make economic control and output even more vital for military success. Star freighters ply the trade routes making money for the player but are also vulnerable to raiders. Active piracy and escort battles enter the Sword of the Stars universe with the add-on, which are to make things a bit more interesting.
Officials from Eidos announced that the company has purchased European wireless game developer Rockpool Games, along with its two sister companies, Ironstone Partners and SoGoPlay. The three companies will become part of Eidos’ New Media division.
As part of the deal, Eidos will take on Rockpool Games’ Manchester studios as well as 36 new staff members who are currently working on multiple titles, though no other details concerning these projects have been released.
Rockpool Games is perhaps best known for developing wireless versions of popular franchises such as Worms, MotoGP, and Toca Race Driver. Ironstone Partners is a licensing company which own a catalog of intellectual property rights, including the Epyx back catalog of classic video games, as well as Top Trumps, Withit, and Commodore. Finally, SoGoPlay is a developer and publisher of casual games, and works with licensed IP and creates its own brands and concepts to be published on its own gaming portal and on other gaming websites.
“We believe that the global market for mobile games is set to grow considerably over the next few years from around $3billion in 2006 to $10billion in 2009 (source: Juniper Research), and that casual games are also becoming increasingly important. Rockpool’s breadth of activity, including not only mobile games but casual PC games, fits well with Eidos’ strategy to expand the company’s business in this direction and will strengthen our position in these consistently growing markets,” said Eidos CEO Jane Cavanagh.
“This deal marks a major leap forward in the development of our businesses. Being part of the Eidos family means that we can accelerate our growth and build on the great achievements we have already made in the mobile, casual and wider games market. We are very excited about what the future holds and believe we have found the right home, for our people, our brands, our technology and for our strategy,” said Paul Gouge, managing director of Rockpool Games.
Officials from Vivendi Games subsidiary Sierra have announced plans for a third game in the long running Empire Earth RTS series for the PC. In development by Mad Doc Software, Empire Earth III will be available on PC this fall, and as expected will let players build and rule an empire from the ancient world to the distant future. The game will also offer the unique ability to keep units from one battle to the next rather than starting players with a new garrison of units with each new scenario.
“The Empire Earth series has been the recipient of much deserved praise from the media and fans alike, making it a multi-million unit selling franchise for Sierra Entertainment,” said Cindy Cook, chief strategy and marketing officer for Vivendi Games. “Empire Earth III will take the series to the next level with its ability to capture the entire scope of the globe and give it to the hands of the player.”
Microsoft and developer The Behemoth have confirmed that after much waiting (and complaining to our mothers), Alien Hominid HD will hit Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday, February 28.
The game, which first appeared on PlayStation 2 and GameCube in 2004 and later for the Xbox in 2005, is an old school side scroller that stars a “feisty yet adorable alien” who fends off FBI agents over sixteen levels and seven mini-games. The game also features both single and multiplayer gamelpay, complete with unique hand-drawn animation.
Certainly, for 800 Microsoft Points, Alien Hominid HD offers a lot of content.
Those of you who picked up and are enjoying Eidos’ Battlestations: Midway for the Xbox 360, the company announced plans to release a new batch of downloadable content in March, including a pair of new battles – Pacific war: The Battle of Sibuyan Sea and The Raid on Truk. Both maps and five new vehicles will be available to download for 600 Microsoft points.
The Battle of the Sibuyan Sea will offer a new multiplayer setting based on one of the major battles of the Leyte Gulf Campaign, described as “the greatest naval warfare battle in history” that resulted in the dustruction of the Japanese fleet in October 1944. In the scenerio, players command either the US Fleet featuring the USS Iowa and USS Enterprise or Japan’s finest fleet, Kurita, featuring the battleships Yamato and the ill-fated Musashi.
The Raid on Truk, on the other hand, is a single player offering based on Operation Hailstone, a massive naval air and surface attack launched by the United States Navy against the Japanese naval and air base at Truk in mid-February 1944. Players command the US Fleet in a four phase battle starting with a P-38 air strike and leading to the command of the USS Enterprise and her screening force.
New vehicles introduced by the downloadable content will include the P-38 Lightning, Nakijima J1N1 Gekko, USS Iowa (BB-61), IJN Shimakaze, and the Type A mini-sub.
