Village Gamer

KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that Prey the Stars™ for Nintendo DS is available at retailers throughout North America.

Prey the Stars serves up an incredible world where nearly anything from food to whole buildings can be devoured. Players must bite, lick, and suck their way to victory as one of the game’s four insatiable and customizable creatures: GABU, BARI, CHUCHU, and PERO. The more the characters eat, the bigger and more voracious their stomachs become. It’s an engaging and addictive game for anyone with a taste for fun!

About Prey the Stars
Prey the Stars lets players indulge without the guilt as they try to eat everything in sight. Each of the games colorfully-themed stages are cleared by devouring as much as possible before time runs out. The player with the highest score at the end of the stage is the winner. Each player scores points by eating and by sucking in “spirits” which are hidden in some objects. The bigger the item, the higher the score!

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Format: PC
Publisher: Lighthouse Interactive – North America, UK, Benelux, Scandinavia
Publisher: dtp entertainment AG
Developer: Artematica
Genre: Conspiracy Adventure
SRP: $19.99
ESRB Rating: Mature

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OS: Windows® 2000 / XP / Vista™
CPU: 1 GHz Intel® Pentium® processor or AMD® Athlon™ processor
RAM: 512 MB (1 GB recommended for Windows® Vista™)
Video: 64 MB DirectX® 9.0c compatible or better video card
PC CD-ROM: 4x (or PC DVD-ROM drive)
Sound: DirectX® 9.0c compatible sound card
Available Hard Disk Space: 2 GB
DirectX®: 9.0c
Other: Mouse, Keyboard and Speakers

Belief & Betrayal is a point and click third person adventure puzzle game. While outside of my usual gaming comfort zone, I was intrigued by the premise of the title. As anyone who knows me is aware, I am a research addict, and historic mysteries are one of my favourite research topics.

The storyline opens with our main character, journalist Jonathan Danter preparing for a trip to Florida, where he will be interviewing Cardinal Gregorio, a seemingly questionable representative of the Vatican. While preparing for the trip, Jonathan receives a disturbing call from Scotland Yard. The caller, an Inspector Twining, tells Jonathan that his uncle has been murdered and that he is afraid Jonathan’s life may be in danger. Jonathan argues with the officer, stating that his uncle had died ten years previous, but the Inspector insists that Jonathan come immediately to London. Almost as soon as he arrives in England our young hero is thrust into the secret world of ancient societies and intrigue.

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September 9, 2008. Toronto, Canada: The Adventure Company today announced the worldwide distribution of “Agatha Christie – Death on the Nile” for Windows®. With the continued success of the company’s Agatha Christie titles, the series starts again in a new genre!

Experience a thrilling Hidden Object murder mystery game aboard a paddle steamer making its way down the Nile River. Assume the role of Hercule Poirot as you investigate a savage murder and find hidden clues, interrogate suspects, and much more in Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit, Death on the Nile.

Uncover clues and evidence tied directly to the story, play mini-games along the way to help compile your evidence. When you have enough evidence, question the passengers in the salon and discover the identity of the real murderer!

SEATTLE – August 29, 2008 – Big Fish Games™, the world’s leading online destination for games and interactive entertainment, today announced the launch of Azada: Ancient Magic, developed by Big Fish Games Studios and available exclusively at BigFishGames.com. Following the success of the original hit Azada, the first puzzle-adventure game developed for online digital distribution, the sequel, Azada: Ancient Magic raises the bar for games in this emerging casual genre to new heights.

“We all agreed that we didn’t want to do a quick sequel with just more one-page puzzles; we had a responsibility to the fans to take things much further,” said Emmanuel Marty, director of Big Fish Games Studios Europe. “Where Azada had pages, Azada: Ancient Magic has entire books, over 20 of them including a secret book exclusively for players who completed the original Azada.”
“Azada: Ancient Magic uses the best elements of the original game and transports players into a much deeper experience,” said Patrick Wylie of vice president of studios at Big Fish Games. “Incorporating heroes, villains, and legends from classic stories gives the game a dramatic appeal and a feeling of familiarity.”

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Little Boy Games, a new Vancouver game development studio headed by Ivan Tung and Usman Khalid will be releasing their first game on XBLA this month. Go! Go! Break Steady is rated E for Everyone and features six break dancing characters who dance their way through twenty musical numbers as the player matches buttons and blasts their way through match-three puzzle levels.

Go! Go! Break Steady offers single player, co-op, versus and multi-player modes, along with an XBLA Leaderboard and Gamer Achievements. Gamers can choose to play as Hydro, Sparx, Slim, Granny, Go Go or Mighty Mite and choose their level of difficulty. The object of the game is to take on DJ Scruffy and the Beatniks and win the “All City Break Steady Tournament” by defeating each level and taking home the prizes.

Go! Go! Break Steady will be available exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 owners who have either a Silver or Gold membership. Those who are also on FaceBook can check out the Go! Go! Break Steady fan page for further information. Best of luck to Little Boy Games on their inaugural game release – we look forward to seeing more games from Ivan and Usman in the future.

Final Verdict: Addictive

Developer: Codeminion
Demo: 60 minute trial
Platform: PC
Genre: Casual Match 3 Puzzle
Official Game Site: Saqqarah – note, parts are still under development
Price: $19.95 USD instant download 26mb

System Requirements:

OS: Windows Vista/XP/2000/ME/98
CPU: 800 Mhz
RAM: 256 MB
Hard Drive: 45 MB
Graphics: DirectX 8
Sound Card

All Screenshots in this review are the property of and copyright to Codeminion.

Saqqarah is a truly beautiful game – the amount of detail the designers have put into the UI and levels for this game is incredible. Everything about Saqqarah is pleasing to the senses – the soundtrack is very fitting for the setting of the game, and is actually something I could listen to all on its own. The puzzles are challenging without being impossible, and the methodology used to solve them is easy to learn. The characters in the game are helpful and amusing – I love how the little scarab rests against a pillar in between levels. You can even learn little bits about Egypt’s past throughout the game.

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Review By: Tami Quiring

Okay now that I have beat Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords from Infinite, here are my thoughts on it.

The controls work well – it’s about 99% stylus controlled. The music is annoying – but it’s one of the few games I can play without the sound turned on, so that’s good.

For a DS game, the map is quite large with lots of cities to get quests from and to lay siege to. The more cities you “own” the faster you can easily get a lot of money, as the residents have to pay a tithe each month. Of course they can also stage a rebellion so you have to go back and siege the city again. Battles are waged against opponents following the Bejeweled model – drop down gems which increase your mana when you match three, four or five sets. You can also get wildcards, which multiply the mana you gain. You attack your opponents by matching skulls. Some skulls have higher power and do more damage. You can also use spells to heal, protect and do damage.

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