Disaster Report 4 Canceled Due To Quake

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The devastating earthquake in Japan followed by the deadly tsunami and nuclear power issues has emotionally affected people from all corners of the world. It is no surprise then that development of the fourth Disaster Report game, which was suspended by developer Irem, has now been outright canceled.

Furthermore, Irem has canceled production of the catalog titles in the series. Demand has actually been high for the games in Japan, as reports on Amazon Marketplace says the titles have been going from 12,800 Japanese Yen ($154) to 7,000 Japanese Yen ($84).

Source: Andriasang

Angry Birds Developer Insisted On Control For Rio

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Angry Birds: Rio is the first major tie in that developer Rovio has done with a movie studio. Still, the developer was clear about what their expectations were for the game and that they would control the content.

We made it clear from the beginning that we don’t want to make The Rio Game, says Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka. We make our game, and we call the shots, that s fine. That’s why it s Angry Birds Rio and not even Rio: Angry Birds. This has been a great example of a true partnership. It’s not one of those awful movie games they make and hope for the best. The game really links into the Rio story and is a real step up.

Fox has also stepped up to the plate with their Super Bowl ad that mentioned the tie in game. The attention and buzz meant we beat all the other movies advertised during the game, added Vesterbacka. Fox is very happy as a lot of people now know about Rio, but because they heard about it through us. It’s almost like we have our own movie Fox is spending $100 million in the U.S. on advertising. The machinery behind us is huge and that means more people will download the game than ever. No other game has been marketed with this kind of approach before. We have big expectations for Angry Birds Rio. And after that you have the DVD release we have a lot around that and there will be interesting content on the DVD. Fox has learnt a lot from the process.

For Rovio, this experience will benefit them when and if they decide to do a movie or TV show on their own. Before Rio we’d been talking to all of the studios, and there were many Hollywood proposals saying they could make us famous and offering loads of money, said Vesterbacka. Our take was: we may be a small team from Finland, but we’re not totally stupid. We learned a lot from this game instead.

Source: MCV

 

FarmVille Sheep Invade New York

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Zynga recently launched an expansion to FarmVille in English Countryside. To celebrate this, they paraded live sheep around London and New York city, visiting various land marks.

They also announced a contest that players can automatically enter into by reaching level 20 or higher and visiting the English farm before April 12. Five grand prize winners will win a free trip to London, and other winners will receive FarmVille English Countryside merchandise and virtual Farm Cash.

To find out more, visit FarmVille‘s English Countryside’s Facebook page.

Rage Novel Coming

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Bethesda Softworks and Del Rey have announced an agreement for a novel based upon the Rage video game. The novel will also be titled Rage, and be written by writer Matt Costello, who also composed the story for the game.

The story revolves around Lt. Nick Raine who emerges from the underground Ark designed to save humanity, only to find the remnants on the surface have survived and formed a new society. Now he must survive in a harsh new climate where mutants roam and might is right.

The Rage novel will release on August 30, 2011.

Altoids Tribute To Stars On Facebook

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Altoids recently launched a campaign wherein users can give “Curiously Strong Awards” to others for their incessant use of Facebook. They’ve released a complimentary song and music video to it, and it’s actually quite catchy.

 

Prepare To Arrive

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The hunt is on and Shepard must travel to the end the galaxy to discover the truth behind the Arrival. The latest DLC content for Mass Effect 2 has arrived for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox360 and new items are available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. Character pictures and avatar items like the Cerberus Armor, Death Mask and N7 cap can be purchased to personalize your gamercard or outfit your avatar. A premium theme is also available for 240 MS points that will allow you to traverse the dangerous asteroid station Omega, including club Afterlife complete with Asari dancers.

Facebook Fantasy Warfare

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In anticipation of the launch of WWE All Stars for Xbox 360 and PS3, fans on the official WWE All Stars Facebook page can brawl their way through an ongoing Fantasy Warfare campaign and win exclusive virtual and in-game rewards.  Produced by THQ and the Ayzenberg Group, Fantasy Warfare pits today s greatest wrestlers like John Cena against legends like Hulk Hogan to win prizes and earn exclusive loot .  With each match up, participants view a bragging video of each character talking about their awesomeness.  When the video finishes, users jump into the ring and have to make a series of interactive choose your own adventure -type choices to determine how their wrestler will fight and deliver signature moves during the match.

For a detailed look at how this campaign came together, check out the case study recently posted on the Social & Mobile section of Ayzenberg.com.

Animation for each fight was taken directly from in-game capture resulting in a different fight every time that can be replayed multiple ways for varied effect.  After each fight has ended, special loot like wallpaper, ringtones and discounts on WWE merchandise is unlocked and made shareable to the user.  As new match ups were unlocked by the community the cumulative progressive sharing was monitored resulting in in-game DLC community content rewards!  Look out, the Honky Tonk Man is coming in April as the official WWE all-stars DLC character!