Consumer Electronics Daily News

Neverwinter Launches In Brazil

Perfect World Entertainment, Inc., a leading publisher and operator of free-to-play massively multiplayer games, today announced a partnership with Latin American digital goods payment giant, UOL BoaCompra, to monetize and market the widely-acclaimed free-to-play action MMORPG Neverwinter in Brazil. Neverwinter is now fully localized and available to play in Portuguese.

The partnership grants UOL BoaCompra exclusive monetization rights for Neverwinter in Brazil and will ensure that local customer support, payment gateways, and marketing through Brazil's largest content portal, UOL, will be provided. The action MMORPG set in the classic Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast allows players to play the game for free, with optional microtransactions to tailor the game in a way that suits them best. However, more than 70 percent of Brazilians don't have access to an international credit card to make purchases online with non-Brazilian companies. With this partnership, UOL BoaCompra's payment gateways will allow Neverwinter players in Brazil to be able to make purchases in-game using their preferred payment methods.

"Brazil is a key and emerging market in the MMORPG space," said Perfect World Entertainment General Manager of Game Publishing, Andrew Brown. "Since launching in North America and Europe last year, we've strived to push Neverwinter globally, and with today's announcement we're thrilled to bring Neverwinter to our new Brazilian players. Neverwinter is a vibrant and engaging MMO that continues to grow, and the recently released Shadowmantle update brings Brazilians the best and latest free content to-date. "

"Connecting gamers with the great D&D gaming experiences in their preferred language is always a goal for us, and with the expansion of Neverwinter into Brazil, Perfect World continues to deliver that," said Nathan Stewart, Brand Director for Wizards of the Coast.

"MMOs account for nearly 75 percent of the Brazilian game market right now, and we've seen incredible demand from our player base for Neverwinter in Brazil," said UOL BoaCompra Director of Global Business Development, Julian Migura. "We're excited to bring Neverwinter's epic storylines, intense gameplay and role play to this massive market and offer players easier access to the extra features they demand using the local payment methods available to them. "

Neverwinter is an action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city and battling its many enemies. In Neverwinter, players can create their own quests and campaigns with the Foundry, a powerful content creation tool that allows players to seamlessly integrate their adventures in to the live game world.

For more information and to begin playing now for free, visit the official Neverwinter Brazilian website here.

Presenting the Lexibook LexiBox, the First Android Educational and Entertainment TV Console, Ready to Revolutionize your Living Room

Following the launch of its successful foray into the world of children's electronics and high tech products, and in the spirit of market innovations such as the first Windows children's educational computer and the first line of Android™ tablets designed for younger users, Lexibook® today announces the launch of the world's first Android educational and entertainment living room console designed especially for children aged 3 years and up.

The concept is simple: connect, learn, and play!

The starter pack includes:

• A light dome with storage compartment for the characters.
• 1 joystick designed to work equally well for both right- and left-handers.
• 2 characters: Lili the Ladybug, the brand's visual emblem, and her best friend Enzo, the dauntless zebra.
• 26 comprehensive educational activities based on learning letters, words, numbers, shapes, and the seasons, as well as an interactive, pedagogically-designed picture dictionary, more than 10 games designed to develop children's dexterity and logical skills, and an interactive book.
• Pre-loaded videos.
• Access to the LexiBoxMarket for downloads of thousands of free applications, enabling parents to bid farewell to expensive cartridges.
• Access to a library of interactive books, including the famous Mr. Men and Little Miss books.
• Access to a VideoStore containing a large number of videos for viewing.

The console includes a 3D welcome interface that introduces the two little characters that will guide children through the LexiBox universe. All aspects of navigation have been designed to be intuitive, interactive, playful and stimulating. Children can access their educational games, books, videos, music files, downloads, favorite sites, as well as the various box services such as the LexiBox Market, the Library and the VideoStore.

For parents, the LexiBox represents:

• No more top-up cards or other cartridges to buy, and in their place, access to today's best games for children,
• Certainty of access to content designed especially to favor their child's development,
• Access to a secure data centre that enables all videos, music files, photos and favorite games to be stored in a single place for the sole use of the parents' children,
• Peace of mind thanks to the secure Wi-Fi connection provided by Lexibook Protect,
• Control over console usage time and its services via the "time management" feature.

This revolutionary educational and entertainment console focuses all of the brand's ambitions for 2014, taking into account the very promising market potential for children's game consoles. The national launch will take place as of the start of the 2014 school year and will be the subject of an advertising campaign until Christmas 2014. 

Further details, including the recommended retail price, will be the subject of a later press release.

Activision And Hasbro Reveal TRANSFORMERS™: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK™ Video Game For Next Gen And Current Gen Consoles

Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), and Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today announced TRANSFORMERS™: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK™, a video game complement to Paramount Pictures' upcoming film, TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, set to release this June. This third-person action adventure video game goes beyond the movie by uniting the universe of director Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS movies with the ever-popular Cybertron universe. Players will choose from over 40 playable characters from the two different universes as they battle to secure the Dark Spark. TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK will be releasing on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Sony's PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Nintendo's Wii U™ system and the Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system and Windows PC.

"TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK is an arc between the Cybertron and Earth based worlds of this popular franchise," remarked Mark Blecher, SVP Digital Gaming & Corporate Development  at Hasbro, Inc. "This year marks 30incredible years of TRANSFORMERS.  This game tells another chapter in the TRANSFORMERS story that all fans will love."

Serving as a follow-up to both the upcoming TRANSFORMERS live-action film and Activision's TRANSFORMERS: WAR FORCYBERTRON and TRANSFORMERS: FALL OF CYBERTRON titles, TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK jumps worlds and factions as it weaves the tale of the hunt for an ancient relic as powerful as the Matrix of Leadership - the Dark Spark. Players will be able to switch between the heroes of the noble AUTOBOTS and the nefarious DECEPTICONS throughout the single-player campaign. Similar to High Moon Studios' CYBERTRON entries in the highly regarded series, gameplay features nimble, fast-paced running-and-gunning combat paired with traversal and vehicle action across open battlefields for large-scale, dynamic conflicts.

Players will also see the return of the fan-favorite multiplayer mode, Escalation, which delivers wave-based, survival-style gameplay for up to four players online cooperatively. It features new, upgradeable defense systems, recognizable adversaries from the lore, and an expanded roster of playable characters from past and present. Additionally, an exciting new leveling system transforms single-player and multiplayer into one unified, persistent character development path. Experience earned in any part of the game unlocks potent awards and tactical loadout choices – including new characters, stronger weapons, special abilities and consumable bonuses - for use throughout the entire game.

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK is currently rated "RP" (Rating Pending) by the ESRB.

A Techie's Valentines Day: Holding Hands and Wearing Video Game Fashions

As Fashion Week closes in Manhattan, New York's outer boroughs are offering a glimpse of what the best-dressed techies will be wearing this Valentines Day: electronic-embedded costumes for a video game that demands hand-holding.

There's serious human science and engineering behind the game and wearable technology developed in Brooklyn by a team led by Resident Artist Kaho Abe at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering's Game Innovation Lab and the Lab's Research Director Katherine Isbister. Today, February 14, 2014, the two will urge game developers and academics to embrace this same collaboration between art and engineering during their talk at IndiCade East, an international games conference and festival in Astoria, Queens, at the Museum of the Moving Image.

"At the Game Innovation Lab, we have found that the combination of an indie game designer and a human computer interaction researcher results in a powerful ability to create amazing emotional and social experiences," said Isbister, who is also associate professor in the School of Engineering's Computer Science and Engineering Department. "There is tremendous overlap in our aims and insights, and our approaches are complementary. We believe strongly that advances in interface technology, such as wearable game controllers, require partnerships between art and science like ours. In our talk we will offer suggestions for how collaborators can help develop and fund games.  We'll also talk about how indie explorations might inform and inspire better technology for everyday life."

Isbister and Abe will preview the Lightning Bug game, in which players represent the last remaining lightning bugs in a world consumed by pollution. They must cooperate with each other in order to fight against a virtual enemy of darkness. Like much of the games research undertaken by Isbister and Abe during their two-year collaboration, this game emphasizes direct human interaction—as opposed to focusing on the screen—while it explores the potential of video games to affect emotions. Certain stances and physical activities are well documented for impacting emotions; the team expects that its wearable game controllers for Lightning Bug will provide an immersive video game experience that generates cooperation.

"When we play video games, we often play through characters in a story. We control the avatars, create a relationship with them, and experience the game through them," explained Abe. "Will costumes make us play the role of the avatar? And what happens when we then embed technology into the costumes? Will it provide a more compelling, fully-realized world? I believe costumes will prove powerful tools that can help players take on roles with characteristics and behavior that they normally would not possess."

The game was funded by Eyebeam, the country's leading non-profit arts and technology center, based in Manhattan, with support from the Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund. Jack Langerman, NYU School of Engineering Computer Science undergraduate, developed the projection mapping and computer vision. NYU Game Center graduate students Toni Pizza, Sebastian Teesdale, and Shoshana Kessock also helped with the project.

Houlihan's Promises Free Appetizers For All Americans In Exchange For The Return Of The Flappy Bird App

Houlihan's, a modern Americanrestaurant and bar with 82 locations nationwide, announced today they will give away a free Jumbo Stuffed 'Shroom appetizer to all Americans on March 24 if game developer Dong Nguyen returns the Flappy Bird app to the iOS and Android app stores by March 10.

On Monday, Nguyen stated in an exclusive interview with Forbes that he chose to take down the Flappy Bird app because "…it happened to become an addictive product."  Upon hearing this statement, the Houlihan's brand both sympathized with the plight of the game developer and understood they had an important role to play in helping bring the game back to its rightful place on app stores.   

"We understand the responsibility that comes with offering addictive apps, at Houlihan's we offer lots of them," said  Jen Gulvik, senior VP marketing and creative director, Houlihan's Restaurants, Inc.  "We want Mr. Nguyen to know he's not alone.  The folks at Houlihan's are behind you all the way and ready to celebrate your brave decision to bring back Flappy Bird by offering free Houlihan's apps at our restaurants. With your game and our delicious food, together we can make America a happier place."

Fans of world's once most popular free app can plead for the return of Flappy Bird by signing a petition available at houlihans.com/WeHaveAddictiveApps.

Hit Bubble Popper, Bubble Blaze, Optimized for Intel® Architecture

Outplay Entertainment, a leading social and mobile game developer and publisher, announced today that its highly-addictive bubble-popping game Bubble Blaze is now optimized for Android devices based on Intel® Architecture.

A high-energy and fast-paced action adventure, Bubble Blaze is available on Google Play, Amazon Appstore and the Apple App Store. Players tackle over 160 exciting bubble popping puzzles as they tap and tilt their way through vibrant environments and conquer tricky obstacles. Its features include:

Addictive Puzzles - Crack open Mystery Bubbles, burst Beach Bubbles and pop past Cursed Bubbles. Tackle cunning foes and race against the clock.

Exhilarating Gameplay - Create Jewel showers, make bubble busting combos, and master huge score boosts by tilting your device and nudging falling treasure into Bonus Pots.

Bubble-Tastic Boosts - Unlock powerful boosts including explosive Fireballs, vibrant Rainbow Bubbles and bouncing Dragon Pups.

Leaderboards - See how your bubble blasting skills stack up against your friends and race them across the Bubble Blaze map.

Stunning Graphics - Journey across a world of frozen caves, exotic beaches and spectacular mountain peaks realised in stunning high definition graphics optimized for smartphones and tablets.

"With millions of downloads, Bubble Blaze has been Outplay Entertainment's biggest success. We're delighted to be showcasing Bubble Blaze on the next generation of Android devices based on Intel's latest platform. This is an excellent opportunity for us to make Bubble Blaze available to an even wider audience of Android gamers!" Senior Producer, Tone Brennan states.

Trolls vs. Vikings Release Date Revealed!

Trolls vs. Vikings is ready for launch next month. The game is set to hit the App Store on February 26, 2014 in English, French, Spanish and German. Android and browser versions are expected to release during the spring and summer of 2014.

With Trolls vs. Vikings, Megapop has delivered a super tight tower defense experience, with astounding depth of play for a mobile game, all wrapped within a lush and wacky game world. Although a tribute to a certain Plants game, it has sought to re-innovate the beloved formula, adding a range of fresh and unique features. This includes more engagement through movable and active units, a dynamic tiles system, social features, and epic boss fights with the Nordic gods themselves such as Thor, Odin and Loki.

Trolls vs. Vikings is for both casual and hardcore players alike with difficulty modes ranging from normal to a divinely crushing hard. As the gamers progress into the hard levels, all new tactics and challenges are presented for each round, effectively opening up an entirely new gameplay approach! The game boasts 30+ hours of gameplay with even more content to come in future updates, including multiplayer.  

All the developers on Trolls vs Vikings have extensive experience from the games industry, and Megapop's team has previously co-founded companies like Funcom, Artplant and Innerloop.The team have thus directed or been leads on a long range of award winning games over the last 20 years, including  Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, Dreamfall - The Longest Journey, Battlestar Galactica Online and many, many others. The team also consists of composer Aleksander Dimitrevic, which makes one of his first forays into the games industry. He has previously composed trailer music for more than 100 Hollywood movies, including Harry Potter, Narnia, X-men, Pirates of the Caribbean, Wall-E and the Simpsons movie.

"Kung Fu Robot" iPad App Celebrates 100,000 Download Milestone

The Kansas City-based collaboration team of Kid Rocket Inc. and Propaganda3 celebrated a major milestone with their iPad app Kung Fu Robot by recently reaching over 100,000 App Storedownloads since its release in May 2013. The app quickly hit #3 in the books category in the US App Store, reached #5 in the newly created Kids category for children ages 9-11 in September and has gained a notable following in the UK, China and the Middle East.

Available as a free download for the iPad, the inaugural edition of Kung Fu Robot introduces children of all ages to a robot's love of kung fu, his conscientious sidekick's fear of getting in trouble, android ninjas, a crazy rooster bent on world domination and the pursuit of the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Its original storyline, art, animation, soundtrack and mini-games have caught the attention of critics as well and in November was named by Parents Magazine as one of 2013's "Best Free Kids' Apps."

A standalone Spanish-language version of Kung Fu Robot, titled "Cómo Hacer Un Sándwich de Mantequilla de Maní, Mermelada y Kung Fu," is also now available for download in the App Stores for Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain,Uruguay and Venezuela.

Three more installments of the "How to Make a Peanut Butter, Jelly & Kung Fu Sandwich" story arc are slated for 2014, with Volume Two planned for release in early March.

"Bringing this character and story to life has been a long journey," says Kung Fu Robot creator and Kid Rocket Inc. founderJason Bays. "To finally see him out in the world and being embraced by kids of all ages is truly amazing."

"Working with Jason has been a tremendous source of excitement for us," says Propaganda3 founder/CEO Cello Vergara. "At our core we are storytellers. To be trusted by a fellow storyteller with something as personal as this is quite humbling. We look forward to seeing where this ongoing collaboration takes us." 

Fingersoft and Viima Games Ltd Publish Stuntman Saga "Fail Hard"

Fail Hard is an action-packed and physics-based game from Oulu-based studio Viima Games Ltd. The game is published by Fingersoft and is about a stuntman who tries the craziest stunts, only to (you guessed it) fail hard in all the best possible ways. He falls so hard and often that it almost hurts to play it. It¹s fun for the whole ER!

The stuntman may fail (hard), but the game is destined to succeed. Fail Hard has over four million downloads on Android, and in Apple's App Store, the game immediately gained number one spots in the racing and action categories in several countries, including the USA and Germany. And what's more, Fail Hard is ranked the fourth most popular iPhone app in the USA at the moment.

This is the first collaboration between Fingersoft and Viima Games – and there will be more.

"We are excited to get Fail Hard out on iOS. The game is quite a ride, and it's been great to work on it with the talented weirdos at Fingersoft," says Viima Games CTO Visa Smolander.

Fingersoft itself has a proven track record in crazy and impressive stunts. Fingersoft is known for its global hits Hill Climb Racing and Benji Bananas. HCR has held the number one spots in Apple's App Store and Google Play in several countries, including USA, India, Germany, Russia and Spain. Today Fingersoft games have globally over 160 million downloads altogether.

Fail Hard will follow in the footsteps of Benji Bananas to become the second co-published Fingersoft game. While not aiming to be a full-time publisher, Fingersoft will continue full-time world dominance with carefully selected titles.

"Fail Hard has a great set of elements we like to see in mobile games. Equally important is that with Viima Games, we found a capable and passionate team to hang out with," says Jarkko Paalanen, Business Development Director of Fingersoft.

Swiggle Mobile Game App Now Available

Shore Digital announces today the release of Swiggle^®, the latest mobile app brought to market by this mobile web and digital marketing company.

Swiggle is a compelling new game where players score points by connecting tile game pieces by linking lines. The new app is available for free in iTunes and Google Play for use on iPhone, iPad, and Android smart phones and tablets.

Players can play against friends or random opponents, or play in single player mode against the Swiggle Bot. Swiggle plays like other popular tile games, but uses swiggly lines instead of letters and words, making Swiggle a truly international game.

"It's just a matter of keeping the lines connected and using the bonus squares wisely," said David Mair, Swiggle inventor who has invented hundreds of board games. "Swiggle is an addictive light strategy game that is easy to learn, yet provides advanced players the opportunity for a highly challenging game experience."

Swiggle Features:

• Connect the swiggly lines on game pieces to score points
• Place tiles on bonus squares to multiply points
• Double your score for your turn with the 2X multiplier
• Peek ahead to see which game pieces will be served next
• Automatically share your wins to Facebook
• Play friends from Facebook, your contact list or random opponents
• Play single player mode against the Swiggle Bot
• Pass and play mode allows two players to play on one device
• Easy sign in with email or Facebook
• In-game chat to chat with your opponent
• Push notifications with custom Swiggle notification sound
• Tap feature to nudge your opponent to play faster
• Your games follow you on any of your devices
• Share on Facebook, Twitter, text and email
• Available in iTunes and Google Play