Batman: The Brave and The Bold Coming to DS, Wii, Not Soaps [Nintendo]

Coming this fall, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is based on the animated television series and will include co-op play and the ability to link the DS and Wii versions of the title. Playable characters in the game include Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and Warner Bros. says there will be “dozens of popular villains” to fight. If you link the DS and Wii versions of the game together it unlocks Bat-Mite as a playable character who can then be controlled with the DS alongside the main characters in all levels of the Wii version of the game. The game is being developed by Wayforward, the folks behind Contra 4, Looney Tunes Duck Amuck for the DS and the 2009 version of A Boy and His Blob for the Wii. None of this explains why the game has a title that is a better fit for a soap opera than a crime-fighting brawler.

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Batman: The Brave and The Bold Coming to DS, Wii, Not Soaps [Nintendo]

Halo Legends Hits Blu-ray, DVD Today… Who’s Getting It? [Halo]

Microsoft’s foray into the animated adventures of Halo is now officially available at your local retailer of fine DVDs and Blu-rays, offering Master Chief fans seven short films based on the popular Xbox shooter. Anyone getting it? If you have plans to do so, Halo Legends should be available now in physical format on DVD for on or about $19.98 USD, as well as a two-disc special edition for $29.98 USD. (Of course, you can probably get it cheaper than that.) There’s also a Blu-Ray version for $34.99 USD, a chance to put some Halo in your PlayStation 3. Finally, the anthology will be available for digital on-demand download. For details on what you can expect in the package, get up to speed here .

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Halo Legends Hits Blu-ray, DVD Today… Who’s Getting It? [Halo]

Halo Legends Hits Blu-ray, DVD Today… Who’s Getting It? [Halo]

Microsoft’s foray into the animated adventures of Halo is now officially available at your local retailer of fine DVDs and Blu-rays, offering Master Chief fans seven short films based on the popular Xbox shooter. Anyone getting it? If you have plans to do so, Halo Legends should be available now in physical format on DVD for on or about $19.98 USD, as well as a two-disc special edition for $29.98 USD. (Of course, you can probably get it cheaper than that.) There’s also a Blu-Ray version for $34.99 USD, a chance to put some Halo in your PlayStation 3. Finally, the anthology will be available for digital on-demand download. For details on what you can expect in the package, get up to speed here .

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Halo Legends Hits Blu-ray, DVD Today… Who’s Getting It? [Halo]

The Saga Continues With LEGO Clone Wars [Game Announce]

LucasArts and TT Games continue to tear apart the Star Wars universe and rebuild it brick-by-brick with LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. I am continually amazed by the success of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a stylized cartoon version of the events that take place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I know how it’s going to end, you see, and all of these colorful new characters will be forgotten by the third movie. Still, it doesn’t stop me from watching, and it doesn’t stop LucasArts and Traveller’s Tales from pumping out a LEGO game based on the series for fans to purchase and enjoy. The Clone Wars will span both seasons of the animated series, with all of the characters from the show represented in LEGO form, along with some fan-favorites from the saga that haven’t appeared in the series. The game will feature an upgraded level builder, new head-to-head combat moves, and new abilities for players to fool around with. “LucasArts continues to set the bar for next-generation family entertainment,” said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. “The LEGO Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide. We’re thrilled to extend this experience to LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, delivering the humor and fun players expect from this award winning franchise.” I love the humor and fun of the series, so that’s good. I also love the animated look of the cartoon, which could be a problem. It’s one thing to make live-action characters into LEGOs, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars already features stylized characters. Wouldn’t putting them in LEGO form steal some of their charm? We’ll see come this fall, when LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars comes out on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, DS, and PSP.

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The Saga Continues With LEGO Clone Wars [Game Announce]

Super Street Fighter IV Animated Trailer

Check out this awesome animated Super Street Fighter IV Animated Trailer!

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Super Street Fighter IV Animated Trailer

Command & Conquer Doing Something Sketchy In 2010 [Teasers]

With Command & Conquer 4 ready for release in March, EA is prepared to take the C&C universe to an entirely new medium. What do these teaser images say about this new frontier? These images appeared on the Command & Conquer 4 website as a bonus to newsletter subscribers, teasing a new medium for the beloved real-time strategy franchise. Joystiq seems to think the images could be indicative of a comic book, and EA has been loving on the video game comic book business lately, but I agree with Joy that it could be too obvious. Perhaps an animated cartoon of some sort, with these images serving as storyboards? A really difficult coloring book? Decorator napkins? See, this is where you guys should take over the speculation. It’s not my strong suit. Newsletter Subscribers Exclusive Sneak Peek [Command & Conquer via Blue's News ]

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Command & Conquer Doing Something Sketchy In 2010 [Teasers]

Command & Conquer Doing Something Sketchy In 2010 [Teasers]

With Command & Conquer 4 ready for release in March, EA is prepared to take the C&C universe to an entirely new medium. What do these teaser images say about this new frontier? These images appeared on the Command & Conquer 4 website as a bonus to newsletter subscribers, teasing a new medium for the beloved real-time strategy franchise. Joystiq seems to think the images could be indicative of a comic book, and EA has been loving on the video game comic book business lately, but I agree with Joy that it could be too obvious. Perhaps an animated cartoon of some sort, with these images serving as storyboards? A really difficult coloring book? Decorator napkins? See, this is where you guys should take over the speculation. It’s not my strong suit. Newsletter Subscribers Exclusive Sneak Peek [Command & Conquer via Blue's News ]

Original post:
Command & Conquer Doing Something Sketchy In 2010 [Teasers]

Developers blog. Water physics.

Both water and air in this game are represented as two viscous media separated by the surface of water. The surface of water corresponds to a conditional plane with two animated altitude maps laid upon its geometrical grid. One of these maps is used to represent the waves, and the other one is used to model the ripple on the surface of water. It activates when the camera approaches the water surface closely.

The ships and PT boats are propelled by the propulsive force of the screw propellers immersed into water. The spot where the propulsive force is applied is the locator, to which the screw propeller is attached on the model of the vessel; the force is directed along the axis of rotation of the propeller shaft. The magnitude of the propulsive force is calculated based on the surface of the propeller’s blades, the propeller’s pitch and its rotary speed. These parameters are set during the setup of the ships and PT boats separately for each screw propeller.

The control of the ship’s movement is performed likewise. The ship turns because of the forces applied to the rudders. The direction of this turning force is determined by the angle between the rudder blade and the fore-and-aft axis of the vessel, and the magnitude of the turning force is calculated based on the surface of the rudder blade.
The waterflow around the hulls of ships and PT boats is calculated based on the hull’s shape. A simplified geometric model is used for these calculations, and also particular coefficients defining the ship’s momentum and the location of the center of gravity are taken into account.

The game is constantly tracing the vessel’s coordinates on the horizontal plane and on the vertical axis. When the rudders and screw propellers lose contact with water (which can happen to light boats when they jump over the waves or when the angle of heel is too high), the vessel would lose speed, and its response to rudders will become poor. In order to fully regain control over the vessel one would have to reduce thrust. This system allows the player to feel what’s called “seakeeping capabilities” – this concept is not easily formalized, and therefore land experts often miss it completely, trying to evaluate the ships and boats just by their parameters listed in reference guides.

Developers blog. Water physics.

Both water and air in this game are represented as two viscous media separated by the surface of water. The surface of water corresponds to a conditional plane with two animated altitude maps laid upon its geometrical grid. One of these maps is used to represent the waves, and the other one is used to model the ripple on the surface of water. It activates when the camera approaches the water surface closely.

The ships and PT boats are propelled by the propulsive force of the screw propellers immersed into water. The spot where the propulsive force is applied is the locator, to which the screw propeller is attached on the model of the vessel; the force is directed along the axis of rotation of the propeller shaft. The magnitude of the propulsive force is calculated based on the surface of the propeller’s blades, the propeller’s pitch and its rotary speed. These parameters are set during the setup of the ships and PT boats separately for each screw propeller.

The control of the ship’s movement is performed likewise. The ship turns because of the forces applied to the rudders. The direction of this turning force is determined by the angle between the rudder blade and the fore-and-aft axis of the vessel, and the magnitude of the turning force is calculated based on the surface of the rudder blade.
The waterflow around the hulls of ships and PT boats is calculated based on the hull’s shape. A simplified geometric model is used for these calculations, and also particular coefficients defining the ship’s momentum and the location of the center of gravity are taken into account.

The game is constantly tracing the vessel’s coordinates on the horizontal plane and on the vertical axis. When the rudders and screw propellers lose contact with water (which can happen to light boats when they jump over the waves or when the angle of heel is too high), the vessel would lose speed, and its response to rudders will become poor. In order to fully regain control over the vessel one would have to reduce thrust. This system allows the player to feel what’s called “seakeeping capabilities” – this concept is not easily formalized, and therefore land experts often miss it completely, trying to evaluate the ships and boats just by their parameters listed in reference guides.

PYRO STUDIOS LICENSES EPIC GAMES’ UNREAL ENGINE 3 FOR “PLANET 51: THE GAME”

MADRID (November 19, 2009) – Pyro Studios today announced it has licensed Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 for use with its video games based on the forthcoming Sony Pictures Animation feature film, Planet 51. Developed by Pyro Studios and published by SEGA, Planet 51: The Game allows players to relive memorable events in the movie while expanding the vibrant Planet 51 universe with new characters, environments and vehicles exclusive to the video game.

To coincide with the movie release, Planet 51: The Game launched across all next-generation platforms on November 17, 2009. Additional information on Planet 51: The Game can be found at: http://www.sega.com/games/planet-51-the-game/

“This being a movie-based game for next-generation consoles, we had time restrictions and a hard deadline which required a very solid engine that would allow us to ship on time,” said Juan Franco, game director at Pyro Studios. “We chose Unreal because the engine is very stable, and it gave us a group of tools that enabled us to polish our game. It helped keep our focus through the game’s development, reducing the development time and allowing the team to focus on creativity.”

“Pyro has done a great job expressing the visual style of the animated movie with the game itself, and it looks like a lot of fun,” said Mark Rein, vice president, Epic Games. “When I saw this game at E3 this year, even I couldn’t tell it was made with Unreal Engine 3. Planet 51: The Game does a great job of demonstrating the versatility developers expect from Unreal, and this is particularly evidenced by its distinct visual execution.”

About Unreal Engine 3

The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for cutting-edge graphics and its best-of-breed toolset. Unreal Engine 3 maintains those features in addition to multi-core processor support, Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 optimizations, massive world support, and a highly mature tool pipeline. Unreal Engine 3’s consistently evolving toolset is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for PC and console games, visualization applications, training simulations, and linear animated content. Additional information on Unreal Engine can be obtained through the Unreal Technology Web site at www.unrealtechnology.com.

About Epic Games

Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic’s “Gears of War” won over 30 Game of the Year awards, and the sales of “Gears of War” and “Gears of War 2” have eclipsed 11 million units. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the three-time consecutive winner of Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award and is this year’s Hall of Fame inductee. Unreal Engine 3 has also been recognized as the number one game engine by Develop magazine. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games Web site at www.epicgames.com.

About Pyro Studios

Pyro Studios was founded in 1996 with the main objective of creating and producing the best and highest quality videogames in the market. Nowadays, it is one of the leading companies of videogame development in the world, and has a team of more than 150 of the best professionals in the industry .”Commandos”, the videogame launched by Pyro Studios in 1998, has sold more than 5 million copies, and has become one of the most important videogames in the world in more than 25 countries. Pyro Studios Web site is located at www.pyrostudios.com

About Ilion Animation Studios

Ilion Animation Studios was founded in 2002 to create state-of-the-art computer animated movies for worldwide theatrical release, using its own purpose-built cutting-edge technology to achieve a unique visual animation experience. 250 highly talented and experienced artists, program developers, high-tech engineers and other professionals, from over 20 nations, work together at Ilion on “Planet 51”; the studios’ first CGI animated movie. Ilion’s second movie is scheduled for release in 2011. The international web site can be located at www.ilion.com.

About SEGA Europe Ltd.:

SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA Europe’s web site is located at www.sega.com.

About SEGA of America, Inc.:
SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America’s Web site is located at www.sega.com.

Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Unreal, Unreal Engine, and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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PRESS CONTACT:

Dana Cowley

Senior PR Manager

Epic Games, Inc.

dana.cowley@epicgames.com

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