June 2011 Archives

Telltale Games has released the second Puzzle Agent adventure as a download for the PC and Mac. Puzzle Agent 2 has Agent Nelson Tethers returning to Scoggins, Minnesota to fully resolve the "Hidden People" case.

Consumer response to Capcom's recently released Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D for the 3DS has not been pretty. The game is an arcade-style experience in which players strive for the highest score in different stages, unlocking new characters and options through play. The catch is, the game's save files can't be deleted, so once unlocked, game elements stay unlocked and scores stay saved. This is upsetting many gamers, particularly those who want to share the game (including everyone ranging from families sharing a single game to used game purchasers). Capcom says that "Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision..." but hundreds of angry gamers have left negative reviews on Amazon.com to convey their dissatisfaction with the ability to start over in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro)
Developer: Stainless Games

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, video card with 256 MB VRAM, 700 MB HD space, Windows XP service pack 3 or more recent operating system

Magic: The Gathering, the collectible card game from Wizards of the Coast that's been running since the early '90s, has a new game for consoles and the PC. Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is an updated version of Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers, featuring updated graphics, more polish, a new multiplayer mode and ten decks.

Blizzard Entertainment, part of Activision Blizzard, has launched a new way of dragging players into its massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. By signing up for the World of Warcraft Starter Edition, new players can participate in the World of Warcraft universe, bringing their characters up to level 20 to experience the early stages of the game. Other limits have been placed on the "Starter Edition" to prevent players from taking advantage of these free accounts, but it's essentially an extension of the previously available free trial.

Sony has shuffled around its senior leadership. Most importantly, the former Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), Akira Sato, is retiring on August 31, 2011. It's not clear if Sato is being scapegoated for the recent PlayStation Network outage, but Kazuo Hirai will be taking on the role of SCEI Chairman. Andrew House, previously CEO and Co-COO of Sony Entertainment Europe will be taking on Kazuo Hirai's role as President and Group CEO. Both will take on their new roles on September 1, 2011.

Today's collection of Xbox Live Arcade releases is bigger than usual, with games ranging from an arcade-style shooter to pinball to a compressed role-playing game. Read on for the list of titles and more details...

Capcom's game Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is now available in stores. The fighting game adds four classic Street Fighter combatants to Super Street Fighter IV and was previously released as a download but can now be purchased in retail stores.

Her Interactive's game Nancy Drew: The Captive Curse is now available for the PC and Mac. This adventure game featuring the famous teen sleuth has players following Nancy Drew to Germany to investigate a creature terrorizing a Bavarian castle.

THQ's game UFC Personal Trainer is now available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. The Xbox 360 version of this game requires the Kinect sensor, while the PlayStation 3 version requires the Move sensor. For all platforms, this title includes a variety of fitness exercises inspired by mixed martial arts combat, and has players guided through the process by a UFC personal trainer.

Tecmo Koei's game Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is now available in stores. As with the first Dynasty Warriors: Gundam game, this title takes the long-running Dynasty Warriors franchise of tactical action games into space with Mobile Suits from the Gundam anime universe.

Capcom's game Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D for the 3DS is now available in stores in North America. The game has players taking on the role of one of several classic characters from the Resident Evil franchise and trying to defeat as many enemies as possible across 30 stages with locations from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.

Sony has released new downloadable games this week. The bulk of the releases are for the PlayStation 3, including an action game set in the universe of Greed Corp a 3D puzzle game and a classic brawler. Read on for the full list and more details...

City Interactive's title Jewels of the Ages for the DS is available in stores in North America. This title is a compilation including the puzzle games Jewels of Olympus and Jewels of Ancient Pharaoh's, both of which are match-three-style puzzle games.

Valcon Games' family-oriented shooter Wicked Monster Blast for the Wii is now available in stores in North America.

Natsume's game Reel Fishing Paradise 3D for the 3DS is now available in stores in North America. The game lets players enjoy lure, fly and bait fishing at 15 locations on the 3DS portable console from Nintendo.

Paradox Interactive has released Hearts of Iron: For the Motherland, the latest expansion for the PC strategy game Hearts of Iron. Available as a download through major portals (both the original game and the Semper Fi expansion are required to play), this expansion adds a new partisan system, adds a coup system while improving internal politics and offers several new mini-campaigns.

City Interactive's game Sniper: Ghost Warrior is now available for the PlayStation 3. This stealthy first-person shooter was released for the Xbox 360 and PC this time last year. Relying on a selection of high-powered sniper rifles, the game has players liberating a Latin American island.

Players of CCP Games' massively multiplayer online game EVE Online are not happy. This is the kind of "not happy" where the players have created a forum thread to track the more than 5,000 accounts players plan to cancel (or let expire) to protest the release of the Incarna 1.0 update. The update includes expensive premium avatar customization items (such as the much-maligned $70 monocle) that can be purchased using a new in-game currency. This, in conjunction with a leaked memo from CCP Games emphasizing the need to implement virtual goods sales to fund the development of other titles, has angered players (some of whom are convinced that goods sales will include ships, weapons or other items that affect play). The problem has been exacerbated by poor community relations, with CCP staff defending the outrageous prices by comparing them to the cost of real-world items. EVE Online is a game that depends upon its community to provide the play experience.

If the community revolt is sustained, the game is finished.

Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Zen Studios

Platforms: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Reviewed on Xbox 360

Captain America, Bucky and the Howling Commandos have located Baron Zemo's castle, where the Red Skull and Baron Zemo are aiding the World War II Axis powers. Intelligence suggests that the Red Skull has the nearly omnipotent Cosmic Cube. Cap and his companions must stop the Red Skull and his allies before they use the Cosmic Cube. How can they do so? The same way World War II was won – with pinball!

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of the United States decided to review a California law (2005's AB 1179) blocking the sale of violent video games (and games with certain other content) to minors. The law had previously been struck down and California was even ordered to pay the Entertainment Software Association's Attorney's fees. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court "concluded that the Act violated the First Amendment and permanently enjoined its enforcement." Read on for more details...

Funcom's massively multiplayer online game Anarchy Online turns ten today. The game launched on June 27, 2001. As Funcom pointed out, when development started on the game in 1995, Funcom's hope was to secure 2,500 players subscribing to play in Rubi-Ka. The game is still alive in a world where MMOGs now shoot for millions of players. Here at FI, we want to point out that we're still a month older than Anarchy Online, and like any older sibling, we keep trying to steal all its toys while shouting, "He pushed me!"

Nintendo has brought Big Fish Games' Mystery Case Files series to the Wii with Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident, available in stores today. The game has players solving hidden-object puzzles with the Wii remote using an adventure-game-style framework, solving the mystery of the reclusive Malgrave who claims to have discovered a dust that cures all ills.

Sony Online Entertainment announced that its massively multiplayer online game Star Wars Galaxies (including the related Trading Card Game) will shut down on December 15, 2011. Officially, this is a mutual decision by Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts. In truth, Sony Online Entertainment's license to use the Star Wars universe to produce the game would have expired in 2012. Undoubtedly, Sony Online Entertainment was offered some sort of incentive to terminate early to minimize the competition with the upcoming game Star Wars: The Old Republic from Electronic Arts' BioWare studio.

Valve's class-based multiplayer online shooter Team Fortress 2 is now a free-to-play game for the Mac and PC. That means it can be downloaded and played for free. (If you've never tried it, you should.) Clearly, Valve has had so much success with the Mann Company store that Valve will gladly bring in more players to purchase hats (and other items) in the Mann store. If you've ever spent money on the game (including the initial purchase), you'll automatically have a "premium" account. If you haven't, well... there's something else to spend cash on.

Ignition Games, part of UTV Software Communications, is altering its commitment to North American game publishing by opening a new North American headquarters in Marina Del Rey, California. Of course, UTV has closed California offices in the past as it acquired North American gaming businesses, so we'll hope that the company is prepared to demonstrate staying power, as well. This change of focus to publishing is, apparently, accompanied by the dismissal of certain internal development staff in Austin, TX.

Joost van Dongen's game Proun is now available as a download for the PC at whatever price you want to pay. Proun is a racing game in which you help a ball speed down a column and unthinkable speed, avoiding obstacles along the way. That description doesn't do the game justice, so check out the site linked above for videos of the game.

Telltale Games has released the final episode of (possibly the first season of) Back to the Future: The Game. Episode Five, called "Outatime," is available on both the PC and Mac to anyone who has ordered the entire adventure game series based on the Back to the Future films. This episode has players helping Marty jump through time to undo his previous misadventures in an effort to restore the version of 1986 with which he is familiar.

Nintendo has released a new slate of downloadable games, including a hidden-object game for the Wii and games for both the DSi and 3DS that range from puzzles to platformers to ports. Read on for the full list and more details...

Publisher: Sony
Developer: Housemarque

Platform: PlayStation 3
Reviewed on PlayStation 3

Dead Nation is standard zombie apocalypse fare, the sort caused by a viral outbreak rather than supernatural mumbo-jumbo. You've heard it before: nearly everyone is dead, wandering the remaining wreckage of the earth in search of the few remaining edible morsels. In Dead Nation, you are one of two survivors fortunate enough to be immune to the zombifying virus. Tasked with retrieving a sample from the first virus victim, you'll wade through thousands of zombies before you can bring that putrid flesh to another survivor.

This week's addition to Xbox Live Arcade is Trenched from Double Fine Productions. The game can be downloaded for 1,200 points ($15) and has players joining the Mobile Trench Brigade, attempting to finally turn the tide of an alien invasion using massive walking weapon platforms.

It's a quiet week for the PlayStation Store. Here at FI, we can only assume that Sony resorted to a little hyperbole when referring to the vast backlog of PlayStation Store content that would be rolled out after the PlayStation Network outage. In fact, all that's rolling out this week is a shooter/platformer sequel to a PSP game with a wacky title, and a few PSP minis. Read on for details...

Warner Bros.' game F.3.A.R., the third installment in the F.E.A.R. franchise of horror-heavy first-person shooters, is now available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Following the events of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, F.3.A.R. has players controlling two of Alma Wade's sons, Paxton Fettel and "Point Man" with Alma Wade about to birth something of world-destroying potential.

The Dungeon Siege franchise of hack-and-slash-style role-playing games is almost a decade old, and today receives its third iteration (we'll pretend the movie never happened). Not only is Dungeon Siege III available today, this is the first time the franchise has been released on consoles. Dungeon Siege III has players rebuilding the 10th Legion to once again protect the kingdom of Ehb from destruction.

Disney's game Cars 2, based on the film of the same name, is now available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC and DS. The game expands on the storyline of the film, allowing players to take characters from the film and train to become automotive spies by driving and racing in locations around the globe.

Heatwave Interactive's massively multiplayer online game Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising is now available in stores and as a download for the PC. This long-in-development game has players commanding a squad of minions in a mythological take on ancient Rome. Players take on the role of demigods battling on behalf of Rome and the Olympian gods. Yes, the mythology is a little patchwork.

Electronic Arts' game Shadows of the Damned for the Xbox 360 and PC is now available in stores in North America. Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, the game has players taking on the role of a professional demon hunter heading into the underworld to save his love from the Lord of Demons.

CCP Games has launched the Incarna 1.0 major update for its massively multiplayer online game EVE Online. The update adds Captain's Quarters to each station, a personal suite that makes it easy to stay up-to-date on galactic events, find or hire agents and manage planetary structures. Incarna also improves the new player experience and makes a variety of game performance tweaks.

Turbine, part of Warner Bros., has launched the tenth major update for its massively multiplayer online game Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited. Not only is this the tenth major update since the game went free to play, "Reign of Madness" continues the recent plotline with players following a missing scepter, delving into the secrets of the Asylum of Stormreach and coping with both the Lord of Stone and the Lord of Eyes.

Publisher: Just A Game
Developer: Colossai Studio

Platform: PC
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2.4 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 9 compatible video card with 128 MB RAM, 2 GB HD space, Windows XP or more recent operating system

Prolonged economic crises and increasingly scarce resources have strained international relations to the breaking point and plunged growing populations into unsustainable austerity measures. That's today's reality. Storm: Frontline Nation begins in 2012, when economic breakdown transforms into open war across Europe and the Middle East. The United States is carving out a presence in Egypt, while European powers compete to control the remaining natural resources, backed by the most advanced armies in the world and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Only adroit politics, backed by a strong army, will guarantee the continued survival of any nation.

Nintendo has released The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS to stores in North America. This re-release of what is (to some, but not anyone here at FI) the most beloved game of all time lets players enjoy the classic story in 3D. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was originally released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64. Not only is the new version in 3D, but it also integrates the 3DS motion controls and touchscreen for a slightly different experience.

Today, Logitech's G400 Optical Gaming Mouse for the PC should reach stores. The mouse features an adjustable upgraded optical sensor, tracking motion at up to 3,600 DPI, depending on the setting. The mouse also increases the rate at which the USB mouse communicates with the PC, for a more responsive mouse.

Nintendo has shifted its downloadable content releases for the Wii and DSi to Thursdays, with content now also being released for the 3DS. Read on for the full list and more details...

This week's new additions to Xbox Live Arcade include a haunted platformer and the latest game based on Wizards of the Coast's most famous collectible card game. Read on for details on the latest Xbox Live Arcade releases...

Free-to-play massively multiplayer online game Prius Online from gPotato has officially launched, meaning that the game has been available to play for a while, but now has an online shop where players can exchange real cash for in-game items. The game boasts a high-fantasy theme and a female companion that is unlocked after early-game play.

Sony has released a slew of downloadable games through the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3 and PSP, including a new Magic the Gathering title, a street racing game and a platformer, among others. Read on for the full list and more details...

Peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz announced its financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. Read on for more details...

Activision Publishing, part of Activision Blizzard, has released its game Wipeout: In the Zone for the Xbox 360 to stores. The game requires the Kinect sensor and is based on the ABC television show Wipeout. Using the Kinect cameras, players try to jump and maneuver obstacle courses as contestants on the television do.

Ubisoft's game Child of Eden for the Xbox 360 is now available in stores in North America. This is a surreal puzzle-action game from Tetsuya Mizuguchi (the fellow behind games like Rez). Dubbed a "multi-sensory shooter" by Ubisoft, the game has players removing a virus from an attempt to recreate a human personality, using visual and musical cues to battle the viral invasion. The game is compatible with Kinect, and a version will be released for the PlayStation 3 later this year.

Electronic Arts' game Alice: Madness Returns for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC is now available in stores. Developed by Spicy Horse Games, this is the sequel to American McGee's Alice and has Alice exploring her own, dark psyche in an effort to decipher a crippling childhood crime. Of course, that involves a lot of platforming and a fair amount of combat.

Activision Publishing, part of Activision Blizzard, has released its game Transformers: Dark of the Moon (and variations thereof) to stores. Based on the Michael Bay movie set to reach theaters on June 29, there are several versions of the game, depending on platform.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the version available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and has players taking various Transformers around the globe to save humanity. The game introduces a new transformed state – a hybrid between robot and vehicle. Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Stealth Force Edition is available for the Wii and 3DS, and follows a storyline that takes place before the events of the film. Finally, DS owners can purchase Autobots or Decepticons editions of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, each with slightly different content.

2K Games, a label of Take-Two Interactive, has released Duke Nukem Forever for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC to stores in North America. The internet is already awash in jokes about how we've waited "forever" for the further adventures of the purile and brash Duke Nukem, so we'll simply say that this first-person shooter is finally in stores.

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Spicy Horse Games

Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC
Reviewed on Xbox 360

After Alice's family perished when her family home burned in 1863, she spent a decade convalescing in Rutledge Asylum before recovering enough to work at the Houndsditch Home orphanage in return for treatment from Dr. Angus Bumby. At Rutledge, Alice escaped her cruel burns and survivor's guilt by falling into Wonderland, the twisted and cruel world Alice constructed to make sense of the torments that had befallen her. Between working at Houndsditch Home and wandering the seedier side of London, Alice uncovers the suppressed memories that suggest her family's deaths may not have been an accident.

Majesco announced the financial results of its fiscal second quarter ended April 30, 2011. Read on for more details...

Nintendo's game Wii Play Motion is now available in stores. The included software has 12 party games for the Wii and the package includes a black Wii Remote Plus controller. The party games use the Wii Remote Plus to let Wii owners do things like navigating a windy course by tilting an umbrella, skip stones on a lake or balance an increasing load of ice cream on a cone.

Publisher Just A Game and Developer Colossal Studio have released Storm: Frontline Nation for the PC as a download through Steam. This turn-based strategy game has players battling for control over the remaining resources in a world that is plunging into decay thanks to dwindling resources, political unrest and overpopulation.

In its ever-continuing effort to catch up on PlayStation Store releases after the long PlayStation Network outage, Sony continues to release downloadable games through the PlayStation Store. In this late-week update, Sony has added Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 as a downloadable game. For $20, PlayStation 3 owners can try out this game of aerial combat.

Rock Hippo Productions has officially launched its free-to-play persistent third person shooter for the PC, MicroVolts. The official launch means that players can still download and play the game for free, but will want to purchase items from the game's mall with real cash to ensure they remain competitive on the battlefield.

It may be the week of E3, but nothing is going to stop Sony from striving to catch up on releases for the PlayStation Store after a month-and-a-half of PlayStation Network downtime. Today's PlayStation Store update contains a few more games for the PlayStation 3 and PSP, including another episode of Telltale-created adventure gaming and a billiards title.

by Kyle Ackerman

Nintendo certainly knows how to combine the best of showmanship and fan service. Despite intense rumors concerning the company's upcoming hardware, Nintendo began with a live orchestra playing music and sounds from the Legend of Zelda franchise with Shigeru Miyamoto promoting both the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda franchise and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. That was Nintendo quickly appeasing its core fan base before acknowledging that it will announce a new hardware platform. That platform is exciting, but Nintendo had to talk about the 3DS first.

Paradox Interactive has released Pride of Nations for the PC. Available in stores or as a download, this turn-based strategy game allows players to take on the role of a great colonial power during the period from 1850 to 1920, exerting colonial power while facing off against other great nations.

Warner Bros. Game Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS and 3DS is now available in stores in North America. Featuring the face and voice of Ryan Reynolds (who stars in the Green Lantern film that reaches theaters shortly), the game has players helping the lanterns stop the android police force known as the Manhunters from focusing on punishment rather than justice.

Codemasters' game Operation Flashpoint: Red River (distributed by THQ) for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC is now available in stores in North America. The game has players battling in Tajikistan with a fireteam of four U.S. Marines facing off against guerilla fighters and the People's Liberation Army. The game can be played alone or cooperatively with four players completing the campaign together.

Sony has released inFamous 2, sequel to inFamous, to stores. This PlayStation 3 game features Cole MacGrath returning as the reluctant (and recently electrified) superhero, travelling to the southern town of New Marais to battle an emerging threat to humanity.

THQ's game Red Faction: Armageddon for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC is now available in stores. This sequel to Red Faction: Guerilla also ties in to the SyFy-network movie Red Faction: Origins, pitting players against a new Martian enemy as demolition expert Darius Mason.

by Kyle Ackerman

Despite the substantial leaks surround the PlayStation Vita (previously dubbed the "Next Generation Portable"), there's no question that the biggest issue on everyone's mind coming into Sony's E3 presentation was the PlayStation Network outage. Sony's Jack Tretton opened the presentation apologizing for the outage, eager to move on to the benefits of the PlayStation Network and the planned announcements for the show. What could better distract the angry core audience from the PlayStation Network outage than rapidly moving on to a spectacular demo of Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception? The obvious subtext was, "You can't abandon our platform, we've got cool s**t like this that you can't get anywhere else!"

by Kyle Ackerman

From the very beginning, Microsoft's annual E3 presentation today focused on the games, but mostly on how Kinect would integrate with those games. The presentation began with an intense demo of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and within moments of launching, there was a brief glitch as the demo machine popped up the message "Please Reconnect Controller." That's how I feel. Let's reconnect the controller if we can't come up with inspired ways to use the motion and voice controls.

bitComposer Online, part of bitComposer Games has hired Stefan Weyl as the company's Managing Director of development and marketing for browser games. Weyl has previously served in a variety of public relations, marketing, sales and business development positions in various European publishers.

Nintendo has released another four downloadable games, with three for the DSi and one for the Wii. The titles include several puzzle games and a role-playing game. Read on for the full list of titles and further details...

Later today, Nintendo is launching the first major system update for the 3DS. Available using the 3DS wireless connection (together with a broadband Internet connection), the update adds an internet browser and shop functionality to the 3DS. Anyone who downloads the update will be able to download the classic game Excitebike and the Pokedex 3D (a bestiary with animated 3D images of 150 pokemon). Now Nintendo will be able to sell downloadable content for the 3DS in addition to the Wii and DSi. The browser is limited in its functionality, but the update also includes the framework to allow users to view Nintendo-authorized video on the 3DS in the future. Nintendo also announced that it has reached agreements to provide 3DS owners with free internet access at AT&T WiFi hotspots and in malls managed by the Simon Property Group.

Sony is continuing to play catch-up from its long network outage, and has released a slew of additional downloadable games for the PlayStation 3 and PSP through the PlayStation Store. Read on for the full list and some details...

The "Welcome Back" offer is now live on the PlayStation Store. Despite the nice name, this is the bribe that's supposed to apologize to customers for the six week network outage that shut down the PlayStation Network. PlayStation 3 owners can choose two downloadable games out of a possible five, while PSP owners can choose two games out of a possible four. PlayStation 3 users also get access to 30 days of free PlayStation Network Plus. Read on for the full list of titles and why this offer isn't so hot...

Electronic Arts has launched Origin, using Richard Garriott's old label as the name for EA's new downloadable content service. Clearly intended to rival services such as Steam, Origin launches with around 150 Electronic Arts games and social media features. The important question is: Why would consumers flock to the service when there are established, functional competitors out there? EA's answer is simple: "Later this year, digital downloads of Star Wars: The Old Republic will be available exclusively on Origin." So, if you want to download the anticipated massively multiplayer online game, you'll have to download EA's Origin software.

Activision Publishing, part of Activision Blizzard, announced that it is working with Sega Toys to produce a physical toy puppy that interacts with users through the DS. Called Wappy Dog and planned for this holiday season, players will be able to command and play with their toy dog in the style of a real pet through the DS, or leave the toy behind and interact with the virtual pet on the DS while away from home. While not groundbreaking, this combination toy and game presents a good example of game world and real world interactions.

Paradox Interactive is pleased to let everyone know that it has hired Gordon Van Dyke, formerly the Battlefield franchise Producer at DICE (part of Electronic Arts). He will lead the production of a new property for Paradox.

Crave Games has released its game Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion for the 3DS to stores in North America. This brawler features characters from Cartoon Network programs such as The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory and Ben 10 battling it out in animated environments.

In most parts of North America, the PlayStation Store is up and running and the remaining PlayStation Network services that have been out since April 20 have returned. Other regions will see the return of those services as they are rolled out worldwide. The PlayStation Store is full of new content, as there are tons of items intended for release over the last six weeks. Importantly, the "Welcome Back" offer that bribes PlayStation Network users with games to apologize for the network outage is not yet available. For the full list and more details, read on...

Richard Garriott's latest venture announced that it has closed a second round of bridge financing. Formed more than a year ago, Portalarium develops social and mobile games. The company received additional investment from m8 Capital and Founders Fund, bringing the total company investment to $3.6 million. Portalarium hopes to release a social media game later this summer and has already released two card games on Facebook.

For many, today is just another Wednesday. Here at Frictionless Insight, today represents ten years online. Our first posts here were on June 1, 2001. Thanks for sticking around!

Paradox interactive is offering two downloadable content updates to benefit the Japan Relief Support program. The Cities in Motion: Tokyo content update can be downloaded for $10 and adds seven new vehicles and monorails to this transit simulation. The Magicka: Nippon download supplements Magicka and can be downloaded for $1. It adds a new robe, katana and staff to the game.