Tripwire sends word that an update to "Killing Floor" has been released through Steam.

"The update includes improvements, bug fixes, exploit fixes, as well as addressing some of the balance issues we have discovered with the Perk system since the release. For a full list of changes please visit the Killing Floor website.

Additionally, there is less than a month left until the deadline for Wave 1 of the “Killing Floor Grindhouse” custom map making competition. With over $20,000 in prizes, included a $10,000 cash grand prize on the line, competition is heating up. Head over to the map contest website for more details."

New screenshots from "Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising" have been released, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming war simulation sequel by Bohemia Interactive.

"Operation Flashpoint 2, will feature three different theatres of combat across Southeast Asia, Central Europe and Africa. The game’s mission-based campaigns will take PC gamers through fictional conflicts based on authentic events during the years around 1970."

       
   

Telltale Games released new screenshots and a trailer from "Tales of Monkey Island", also announcing that the first episode "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal", which launches next Tuesday.

"The series will launch on Tuesday for PC with “Launch of the Screaming Narwhal,” the first of five monthly episodes. This is Guybrush Threepwood’s first new game in a decade, and it’s going to be an adventure to remember!

Tales of Monkey Island brings the adventures of pirate Guybrush Threepwood into a new era with an explosive storyline that becomes deeper and more entangled during the course of the five-episode saga. While battling his nemesis, the evil pirate LeChuck, Guybrush accidentally unleashes an insidious voodoo pox that threatens to transform the buccaneers of the Caribbean into unruly pirate monsters. Players will experience the humor, romance, and swashbuckling action the Monkey Island games are famous for and unravel an insidious plot which is revealed across the course of the series."

   

Ubisoft has announced that "Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood", the western-themed prequel, has been shipped.

"Developed by Techland, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood takes place 20 years prior to the events of the original storyline.

Following the story of the McCall Brothers, players enter a quest for the legendary Gold of Juarez leading them from a ravaged Georgia during the Civil War to the Aztec ruins of Mexico. The brothers, Ray and Thomas, make their lawless trail into a truly Wild West, using their superior gun-slinging skills to take out all of those that stand in their way.

"Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is one of the best and most authentic Wild West experiences ever offered as interactive entertainment,” said Tony Key , senior vice president of sales & marketing. "We know that the Wild West offers a great setting that is underrepresented in the world of interactive entertainment and we are proud to bring this quality product to the marketplace.”

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood also brings the Wild West mayhem online. Gunslingers, bandits and marshals struggle online for bounty, and multiple character classes can be unlocked for use during team-based objective modes or the straightforward team death match. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood introduces an innovative Bounty System, which increases the bounty on a player’s head as they rack up more kills."

The list of new PC game releases, DVD and Blu-Ray releases, and movies opening the week of June 29th, 2009.

PC Games:

• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs
• Street Fighter IV

Movies Opening This Week:

• I Hate Valentine’s Day (limited)
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
• Public Enemies

DVD and Blu-Ray Releases:

• 12 Rounds [Blu-Ray]
• Apollo 11: A Night to Remember
• Barbra Streisand: Live in Concert 2006 [Blu-Ray]
• Barfly
• British Cinema: Renown Pictures Crime and Noir
• Do The Right Thing [Blu-Ray]
• Flawless [Blu-Ray]
• Heroic Age: The Complete Series, Part Two
• Hide
• How the Earth Was Made [Blu-Ray]
• Jockeys
• Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience
• Lookin’ to Get Out
• One Piece: Season Two, First Voyage
• Pedro
• Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection
• Serious Charge
• Seven [Blu-Ray]
• Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li [Blu-Ray]
• The Education of Charlie Banks
• The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky/ Three for Two
• Tokyo [Blu-Ray]
• Trailer Park Boys: The Complete Series
• Tunnel Rats
• Two Lovers [Blu-Ray]
• Women in Prison Triple Feature

Meridian4 announces that in celebration of its 5th year in business, all of its games on Steam are now selling at 50% off.

"Joel Kinnunen, Business Development Director at Frozenbyte says; "We are thrilled to see Meridian4 thrive in this business, they truly deserve it. We signed our first game Shadowgrounds to Meridian4 back when they were just starting out and we haven’t regretted it. It’s rare to find a publisher whose goals seem to match those of the developer. Meridian4 is one of those publishers and the whole gang has been a pleasure to work with. If our companies’ paths cross again in the future I wouldn’t hesitate one bit to work with them again."

The 5th Anniversary celebrations kick off on Steam with a 50% savings on all of our games and packs, including Shadowgrounds Survivor, Indie titles; Obulis and Space Trader and the Meridian4 Complete Pack with 14 games for only $24.99. The sale begins June 29th and continues until July 6th. For more information, visit: www.steampowered.com and click on the Meridian4 publisher’s page."

Russian developer BIART has officially announced "U-Wars", an upcoming third-person tactical shooter set underseas, which is scheduled to be released mid 2010.

"U-Wars is a tactical sci-fi third person shooter set up an ultra realistic subaqueous scenario. Combining the thrill of an undersea setting with a cinematic approach and a superior story line U-Wars is the first lifelike underwater action experience.

In "U-Wars" the player will take control of an elite force and is constrained to accomplish covert operations both on land and undersea.

As the PC version is supporting the NVIDIA PhysX technology the XBOX users will enjoy a variety of multiplayer modes via XBOX Live.

During this year’s E3 the game was presented behind close doors and got great feedback from international publishers and journalists.

Please find more information on the official product website: www.uwar-game.com"

     

Aspyr Media and Mindware Studios, the developer behind "Painkiller: Overdose", have announced "Dreamkiller", an upcoming first-person shooter that promises to be a dark and twisted mega-bloodbath.

"A fast, frantic and mega-bloodbath first-person shooter, Dreamkiller takes gamers inside the dark and twisted nightmares of tortured souls possessed by unknown forces.

Gamers will take on the role of Alice Drake, a psychologist with the extraordinary ability to enter the minds of her patients and combat the ravenous foes haunting their dreams. Utilizing a host of fantastic weapons and her own special abilities, Alice confronts our common demons only to discover an even deeper menace reigns within. The ultimate showdown becomes inevitable between that which would torment and she who will protect, and only one force will prevail amidst a variety of dreamscapes as varied and bizarre as the human mind itself.

Dreamkiller features 12 rich levels of single-player gameplay each laced with swarms of hideous and disturbing enemies reflecting the mind’s infinite palette of fear. The onslaught continues with numerous multiplayer modes and a host of over-the-top weapons and supernatural abilities. Stay awake, Dreamkiller will be available this fall."

       

Matrix Games and 2by3 Games have announced "Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945", a new sequel in the WWII strategy series.

"David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said "War in the East is still in the early stages of development but already the gameplay is proving to be fantastic. We know anticipation for this title is very high and we look forward to giving you more and more details about yet another 2by3 Games blockbuster as they become available!"

Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is a turn-based World War II strategy game stretching across the entire Eastern Front. Gamers can engage in an epic campaign, including division-sized battles with realistic and historical terrain, weather, orders of battle, logistics and combat results.  As with all the award-winning titles made by the 2by3 Games team, factors such as supply, fatigue, experience, morale and the skill of your divisional, corps and army leaders all play an important part in determining the results at the front line. Gary Grigsby’s War in the East will come with a massive Eastern Front scenario as well as smaller scenarios all with different strategic and operational challenges.

Features include:

• 10 miles per hex and Weekly turns
• 25,760 hexes or over 2.5 million square miles of battlespace
• Division sized maneuver units (with some brigades/regiments and Soviet Corps)
• German Corps/Army HQs and Soviet Army/Front HQs
• Map covers from 100 miles west of Berlin in the west to the Urals in the east, and from 150 miles north of Leningrad in the north to Baku and Sofia in the south.
• Independent Corps/Army battalions to attach to maneuver units
• Air units by group in their own airbase units
• Detailed production
• Losses in individual vehicles and squads
• Detailed yet automatic accounting for support personnel and supplies/fuel/ammunition
• Historical commander ratings
• Accounts for troops/vehicles that are disrupted, disabled and fatigued
• Accurately depicts the need for training units before entering combat
• Detailed weather zones and ice levels
• Full war as well as smaller scenarios
• Intricate Fog of War rules and unit detection levels

Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is scheduled to be available by the end of 2009."

       

The cynical Paradoxian looks at Hearts of Iron 3 and asks himself "Okay, it’s out in a couple of months. But when are they going to release the expansion to make it playable?" It’s not so cynical as it seems, especially for those of us with memories of how sub-par EU3 was on release, and how older Paradox titles (CK, Vicky) only reached classic status after a series of giant patches and a solid expansion. Continuing the theme of the previous blog post, though, I can also say that here Paradox has learned a great deal from their experiences on other titles. As you might expect, the team being as hard-working and fan-accountable as they are. 

HOI3 is, even right now, way more polished than I remember EU3 being at release. I’ve had some serious crashes, some events are messed up/nonexistent, and the AI isn’t quite all the way there yet- but it is pretty fun and engrossing and I predict that the few weeks of development they have remaining will see most of those bugs squashed. Which doesn’t mean there won’t be patches and expansions. Let’s speculate what form some of them might take. Feel free to join me in the comments. 

• Timeline: The most obvious expansion is the one that extends the gametime. Right now I think things come to a stop somewhere in the late forties (haven’t gotten that far yet with my Soviet Union playthrough). With some some new events we could be gaming the Korean War by Christmas. The more interesting expansion, of course, would be backwards, before 1936. Maybe even right up to the end of World War I. Think of all the sweet campaigns: the Russian Civil War (western interventions too), the Polish-Bolshevik war and other attempts by the new state to ‘export the revolution,’ the ongoing conflicts in China, U.S. imperialism in Central America, etc. Of course an expansion of this type is unlikely, because WW2 is obviously the focus here. A man can dream though.
• Technology: The tech tree in HOI3 peters out right around the time that jet engines and modern assault weapons arrive. Unfortunately that’s more or less where things really start to heat up, technologically. Maybe for the expansion the way in which technology diffuses could change too. The ‘buy production liscense’ works for larger countries trading amicably with other large countries, but what about the wars that took place in that expanded timeline out to 1960? Algeria, Vietnam, Korea, China, Kenya, etc? They were major military challenges to the powers of prewar Europe and the hardware their opponents acquired wasn’t bought so much as stolen outright. Maybe a country can upgrade its military simply by capturing the equipment of a more ‘advanced’ nation? This is unlikely too because of the focus being on The Big War and less on what happened after it.

And of course there’s the modding potential as well. In a development diary Johan unveiled the mod system, which from the looks of it is very similar to EU3’s- they share an engine, after all. So even if none of my predictions are realized officially there’s always hope in the modding forums. 

"ArmA II", the anticipated first-person war simulation sequel, is now available to purchase on Steam.

"Building on 10 years of constant engine development, ARMA II boasts the most realistic combat environment in the world. It models real world ballistics & round deflection, materials penetration, features a realtime day/night cycle and dynamic wind, weather and environmental effects. The simulation of a combat environment is so effective, the engine forms the basis for training simulators used by real armies the world over.

Although ArmA II is set in the fictional ex-soviet state of ‘Chernarus’ the gameworld is actually a 225 square kilometer chunk of the real world! ARMA II’s highly detailed landscape is a meticulous facsimile of real terrain, modeled using extensive geographical data. This recreated region is brought to life with spectacular environmental effects and populated with dynamic civilian settlements and wildlife. Wild animals roam the atmospheric forests while the people of Chernarus try to live out their lives among the war-torn streets.

The 27th U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit have been deployed to the former soviet country of Chernarus in this third installment in the series of award winning PC war simulators from Bohemia Interactive, creators of Operation Flashpoint*: Cold War Crisis and ArmA: Combat Operations.

Force Reconnaissance Team “Razor” are among the first to fight. This elite five-man team are about to fall down the rabbit hole, trapped in a war not only for control of the country, but the hearts and minds of its people. With the might of the USMC offshore and the Russians anxiously watching from the north, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The fate of Chernarus is balanced on a razor’s edge…"

A "Trine" demo has been released, giving players a chance to try out the upcoming action side-scroller by Frozenbyte.

"Trine is a fantasy action game where the player can create and use physics-based objects to beat hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies. Set in a world of great castles and strange machinery, three heroes are bound to a mysterious device called the Trine in a quest to save the kingdom from evil…"

The 461MB demo can be downloaded from AtomicGamer, FileFront, Gamer’s Hell, or Worthplaying.

The anticipated "ArmA II" demo has been released, giving everyone a chance to try out the upcoming (North America) first-person war simulation sequel.

"In ArmA II, you’re part of an elite squad of American soldiers sent behind enemy lines to restore peace to Chernarus, a Soviet country ripped apart by civil war as warring rival factions fight to take control of the troubled state. In an epic story full of plot twists and turns, it becomes clear that the troubles plaguing Chernarus are deeper than anyone thought and the battle intensifies to extreme levels."

The 2.84GB demo can be downloaded from AtomicGamer, FileFront, FileShack, Gamer’s Hell, GameUpdates (torrent), or Worthplaying.

If you get a "Demo failed to launch, X3DAudio1_6.dll was not found" error, you need to update your DirectX 9.

The article should be done by the end of the week, so expect a couple more of these posts and then the article itself in all its glory.

Today I’d like to talk about the lessons Paradox seems to have learned from other games in its catalog, and how some of this knowledge has been applied to HOI3. 

One thing Paradox has been moving away from in their more recent games has been event-chains. EU2 was probably the high water-mark for this style of design- there were hundreds, probably thousands of events players could trigger, either historical events or generic ones that could apply to any country. EU3, by contrast, sought to move some of the functionality provided by robust event-making into other things like the mission and decision systems (and to flesh-out game systems like trade and technology to more accurately mimic historical processes the events were supposed to simulate). Of course it’s not really the same, but the point is that henceforth not everything will happen out of dialog boxes with a couple of options attached. You’ll have to look for some of that ‘flavor’ and some of those opportunities to make decisions elsewhere. It was true in EU3 and it’s true here as well. 

What this all means, practically, for HOI3 is rather interesting. Take the Winter War as an example. It doesn’t appear one day as a dialog box that prompts the Soviet player to make demands, it lies dormant as a decision (think EU3 In Nomine) on the diplomacy screen, waiting for certain preconditions to be met and for the Soviet player to decide that fighting Finland is worth the effort. Germany has to be at war, the ‘mutual threat’ (I’ll explain in the preview) between the Soviet Union and Finland has to be high, etc etc. Only then can the Soviet player decide to press Finland for some territory. Other events (like the Spanish Civil War and its attendant intervention events abroad) are still handled in the classic style, but the new way is interesting too. This way players are observing a situation and being presented with their options up-front, instead of being bushwacked by a dialog box without any kind of context. In the Finnish example, the player can see what he has to do in order to fight the war. He has to make his spies work overtime in Finland to fabricate a reason to go to war, and he has to somehow get Germany involved in a war, preferably without fighting Germany himself just yet. The Molotov-Ribbentrop event, when it fires later on, gives the player this opportunity. 

I apologize if this update was a bit too abstract, but for someone who spends as much time on these games as I do, every little tidbit sets the gears in motion. That’s probably a good thing in and of itself, because it means HOI3 has the Paradox-magic we’re all after. 

Well, stranger things have happened but this sure came as a surprise. Today Zenimax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, announced the acquisition of id Software.

"The acquisition by ZeniMax Media joins together two of the finest, most respected videogame developers in the world, combining the first person shooter (FPS) expertise of id Software with acclaimed role playing game (RPG) developer Bethesda Game Studios – creators of the 2008 Game of the Year, Fallout 3, and the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Bethesda Softworks will publish the titles of id Software other than upcoming releases previously committed to other publishers.

Founded in 1991, id Software established itself as an industry leader with some of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed video games of all time. id Software created the original first-person shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, and subsequently set new standards in the genre with the blockbuster releases of its DOOM and QUAKE titles. In addition, id Software developed cutting edge, proprietary technology with the id Tech engine which powers many notable FPS titles, and continues to make great advances in game technology under the direction of John Carmack, one of the country’s technology leaders and a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame.

Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software, commented on the transaction: “This was a unique opportunity to team with a smart, sophisticated publisher like Bethesda Softworks where the interests of the studio and the publisher will be fully aligned in the development and marketing of our titles. In addition, we will now have financial and business resources to support the future growth of id Software, a huge advantage which will result in more and even better games for our fans.”

id Software will continue to operate as a studio under the direction of its founder, John Carmack. No changes will be made in the operations of id Software in the development of its games. All the principals at id Software have signed long-term employment contracts, assuring they will continue in their roles developing games at the studio.

“This puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward,” said John Carmack, who will continue to serve in his current role as Technical Director. “We will now be able to grow and extend all of our franchises under one roof, leveraging our capabilities across multiple teams while enabling forward looking research to be done in the service of all of them. We will be bigger and stronger, as we recruit the best talent to help us build the landmark games of the future. As trite as it may be for me to say that I am extremely pleased and excited about this deal, I am.”

Robert Altman, the founder, Chairman & CEO of ZeniMax Media stated, “We, along with many others, consider id Software to be among the finest game studios in the world, with extraordinary design, artistic and technical capabilities. They have demonstrated, repeatedly, that rare ability to create franchise properties that are critical and commercial successes. Our intention is to make sure id Software will continue to do what they do best – make AAA games. Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand.”

ZeniMax Media Inc, which is privately held, was founded in 1999 to create quality interactive entertainment products to meet the growing worldwide demand. The Company is headquartered in Rockville, MD and maintains offices in Hunt Valley, MD, London and Tokyo. Among its wholly owned subsidiaries are Bethesda Softworks, a premier publisher of video games, Vir2L Studios which develops games for the casual market, and ZeniMax Online Studios, a studio dedicated to massively multi-player online games (MMOG)."

Valve has announced that it has added support for the Novint Falcon controller to several of its top games.

The Novint Falcon is an entirely new type of interface for PC gaming. Essentially a small robot, the Falcon lets players feel high-fidelity three-dimensional touch in enabled games.

"Valve’s best selling game franchises, which account for over 30 million retail units sold worldwide and over 80% of the PC online action market, include Half-Life®, which has won over 50 Game of the Year Awards, Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike® Source, Portal® and Team Fortress® 2. Valve is also the developer of leading-edge technologies, including the Source® game engine and Steam®, a leading platform for digital content distribution with over 20 million registered users. Today, an update was distributed through Steam adding Novint Falcon compatibility for customers of The Orange Box which includes Half-Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2 (the original Half-Life 2 is playable with the Falcon through a download available from Novint), Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Additionally Valve will soon release support for other leading titles including Left 4 Dead, Day of Defeat Source, and Counter-Strike: Source®. Using the Falcon, players feel realistic weapon recoil, enemy attacks, vehicle movements, and interactions with the environment. Novint has also released its must have Pistol Grip accessory, which replaces the standard Falcon grip to create an even more immersive FPS gaming experience.

Customers interested in purchasing a Falcon to use with Valve’s games can do so at Novint’s site, https://home.novint.com/store/promote.php. Novint is currently offering a special Orange Box bundle, priced at $149, for one week only in celebration of the launch. The bundle includes the award winning Novint Falcon, the pistol grip, the Orange Box, and over $150 of additional software."

You know, this thing:

Funcom has announced the launch of update 5 for "Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures" titled "Gangs of Tarantia".

"This is the fifth installment in a series of updates that is delivering new and improved content to the game’s playerbase. ‘Age of Conan’ has seen a slew of updates since launching last year, adding countless hours of more content and new features to the game.

“The team has poured a lot of dedication and hard work into making this update a reality,” says Funcom game director Craig Morrison. “Not only are we adding a massive new area to the game where level seventy players can find hours of more entertainment, we have also made significant changes to core systems in the game that will hopefully make the game experience more fun and a lot more rewarding!”

Besides adding a wealth of new content, the update also introduces fundamental changes to how the game is played and experienced. Players will now find that items within the game and their associated statistics has changed radically, making items have a more profound impact on your character’s powers. This will make equipment even more valuable, and the process of obtaining new weapons and armor through quests and adventure even more rewarding. The update should make a significant impact on how gamers play ‘Age of Conan’ and how they now experience the gameplay with their characters.

The update also introduces a vast number of other changes and additions. For instance, guild cities will now see an increased activity as guards and merchants now walk the streets, bringing life to the settlement. Also, players can now gain PvP (player vs. player) experience from doing PvP mini-games, and even purchase social pets such as snakes, dogs, and cats. For more information on all the improvements the update has to offer, please visit the ‘Age of Conan’ community website.

For more information and how to buy ‘Age of Conan’ please visit www.ageofconan.com"

NCSoft has announced that "Aion" will be launching on September 22nd in North America and on the 25th in Europe.

"In addition to an international retail presence, Aion will also be available as a digital download at NCsoft.com, Direct2Drive and through Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games with more than 15 million accounts worldwide.

Unlike any MMO before it, Aion is a uniquely crafted online experience where flight offers much more than just a way to explore the landscape - it is a strategic and integral part of combat, quests, and exploration. Players will dive into battle and plunge through thousands of unique, story-driven quests, all while trying to save a world literally shattered in half from centuries of brutal conflict. Using one of the most flexible and in-depth character customization systems ever featured in an MMO, players will be able to create genuinely distinct characters and explore a visually stunning world of ethereal beauty brimming with otherworldly inhabitants, mysterious enemies, and ancient secrets.

Also, a friendly reminder to take advantage of the special preorder promotion for Aion at participating retailers, including GameStop, Amazon and Best Buy. As part of the Aion preorder promotion, players will receive access to the Aion Closed Beta. Those dates are as follows:

Aion Closed Beta Dates

• Friday, June 19th to Monday, June 22nd
• Thursday, July 3rd to Monday, July 5th
• Friday, July 17th to Monday, July 19th
• Friday, July 31st to Monday, August 3rd
• Friday, August 14th to Monday, August 16th

For complete Aion preorder program details, visit http://www.aiononline.com/preorder.

For more information about Aion go to http://www.aiononline.com."

New screenshots from "Max Payne 3" have been released, giving viewers more of a look at the upcoming sequel by Rockstar Vancouver.

"The award-winning Max Payne franchise put players in the role of Max Payne, a hard-boiled New York City detective with a penchant for violence, out to avenge the death of his family. The latest installment delivers more of the classic elements and hyper-intense action that fans have come to love, while moving the story of Max in a new direction."

       

Maxis has announced that "Spore: Galactic Adventures" has been shipped to North American retailers and is now available. Additionally, the game will be released internationally on Thursday, the 25th.

"Designed to expand the Spore universe, Spore Galactic Adventures delivers hilarious new adventures to players who aspire to become their own space captain, beam down to strange new planets, create customized adventures, and take their favorite Spore creature from zero to galactic hero!

“Spore Galactic Adventures enhances the Spore experience by blasting players off into space, turning ordinary creatures into legendary Space Captains,” stated Lucy Bradshaw, VP and General Manager at Maxis. “For the first time, players can beam their creatures down to planets to experience all-new adventures or create custom-made missions of their own and share them with the world. With more than 105 million creations available in the Sporepedia, the Spore library of user-generated content for use in players’ missions, the only limit is their imaginations!”

Expanding on the original Spore game, Spore Galactic Adventures adds variety and fun by allowing players to get out of their spaceship and explore colorful, wacky new planets. Players will turn their creatures into space captains, battle epic monsters in intergalactic arenas and fight intense planet-side races. In each mission, players earn experience to rank up their captain and earn game-changing items such as the Plasma Pulser and Swarm Magnet. In the box, the game includes 16 off-the-wall missions as well as an “Adventure Creator” tool that players can use to design their own missions. These personally-created missions can be shared with friends online and can be classed in leaderboards that track accomplishments, rank and medals earned.

In addition to the adventures in the box, players can download ten all-new adventures created by the writers of the outrageously funny, pop-culture parody TV show, Robot Chicken. Available for free to all Spore Galactic Adventures owners, the Robot Chicken adventures take players through such wacky quests as a mission to obtain a library card by finding a ruler-yielding librarian her true love, and an adventure to save a princess by battling demonic snowmen in a snowglobe. Conceptualized by Robot Chicken co-creators Seth Green and Matt Senreich, the Robot Chicken Adventures were imagined by the show’s writing team including Matt Beans, Doug Goldstein, Mike Fasolo, Breckin Meyer, Dan Milano, Tom Root, Kevin Shinick, Hugh Sterbakov and Zeb Wells. With such a unique cast of imaginative characters, players can expect to experience missions with exploding poo, angry yetis, and banana wars.

To support Spore’s dedicated fan community, www.spore.com will feature a bevy of fun content including additional downloadable adventures, contests and news.

Available for PC and MAC® for $29.99, Spore Galactic Adventures is rated E10+ by the ESRB. The Robot Chicken adventures are rated TEEN by the ESRB. As an expansion pack, Spore Galactic Adventures requires the original Spore game to play."