After five years of development, Australian based PC game developer ICNH Games will launch its first online game, No Horizons, in December. No Horizons is an online turn-based strategy game designed to accommodate tens of thousands of players per server. The game is about managing the success of a culture in an unknown environment. The physical world of No Horizons is said to be so immense, no player, or even a consortium of players, could ever hope to explore it all. More at icnh-games.com.

Ubisoft has formed an internal development structure dedicated to the creation of casual games. Among the team’s first projects are the introduction of the new My Coach product line and the expansion of the Petz franchise.

Ubisoft’s new casual games division will be led by Pauline Jacquey, executive producer of casual games at Ubisoft. Pauline joined Ubisoft in 1998, working as a producer on some of Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon and Rayman brands. Ubisoft will also continue to partner with third-party developers to publish casual game titles for the mass market.

The first two games in the My Word line are My Word Coach and My Life Coach. My Word Coach being developed in collaboration with linguists; it will help players improve their verbal communication and vocabulary. My Word Coach can be played alone or with friends on Wii and Nintendo DS, and will be released this fall. My Life Coach is being developed in collaboration with a behaviorist. It will be available for the Nintendo DS this Christmas.

Ubisoft will also continue to grow its Petz line of games and allow young players to learn how to take care of a cat, dog or horse on their Wii for the first time. The Petz series sold more than 3.5 million units worldwide in fiscal year 2006-07.

Disney Interactive Studios yesterday announced plans to release exclusive content for the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End video game for the Nintendo DS at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, where wireless capabilities are in beta testing.

Beginning May 22 with the release of the video game, Disney park guests who bring their Nintendo DS and a copy of the At World’s End DS game with them during their visit can download new content at hotspots hidden near the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions. The download unlocks new content such as unlimited health and additional costumes. This special content is only available to Disney park visitors and can be accessed with a Nintendo DS.

The download program is available free of charge to any park guest carrying a Nintendo DS system that contains a copy of the video game. For Nintendo DS owners without a copy of the new video game, At World’s End will be available for purchase in stores at both parks. The program begins today and is scheduled to run through Labor Day.

Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto IV will be available as a special edition on October 16 in North America and October 19 in Europe, the same day as the regular edition of Grand Theft Auto IV. The Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition will be presented in a customized Grand Theft Auto metal safety deposit box.

The box will contain Grand Theft Auto IV on the Xbox 360 or PS3, both with special packaging; the Grand Theft Auto IV Art Book, featuring production artwork from Grand Theft Auto IV; a soundtrack CD featuring exclusive material; an exclusive Rockstar keychain for the safety deposit box keys; and a limited edition Rockstar duffel bag.

The Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition is available for pre-orders today and will retail for $89.99 in North America. More at rockstargames.com.

Jieho Lee is in negotiations to direct Lionsgate’s “Kane and Lynch,” an action movie based on the upcoming videogame. The company hopes to shoot sometime in the fall using one of two scripts — from either Kyle Ward or Lee and Bob DeRosa — that are being written at the same time.

The plot of the film will follow that of the game, which hits retail in the fall. Mercenary Kane and medicated psychopath Lynch meet while being transported to death row and team up to seek revenge on a shadowy organization for which Kane once worked. IO Interactive, creator of the Hitman franchise, is developing the game for publisher Eidos Interactive.

Lee directed the drama, “The Air I Breathe,” which he co-wrote with DeRosa. Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter will produce “Kane and Lynch.” Askarieh and Alter are in production on the feature adaptation of Hitman, which Fox will release in October. Askarieh is also producing “Spy Hunter” at Universal, based on Midway’s popular videogame.

Source: Variety

Here are the new games Nintendo DS can look forward to playing this year:

July

1. Picross DS – Nintendo
2. SimCity – EA
3. Namco Museum DS – Namco Bandai
4. Drake & Josh – THQ
5. Glory Days 2 – Eidos

August

1. Madden NFL ’08 – EA
2. High School Musical: Makin’ the Cut! – Disney Interactive Studios
3. Heroes of Mana – Square-Enix
4. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day – Nintendo
5. I SPY: Fun House – Activision
6. Jewel Quest Expedition – Activision
7. Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’08 – EA
8. Worms: Open Warfare 2 – THQ
9. Luminous Arc – Atlus
10. Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus – Capcom
11. Mega Man Star Force: Leo – Capcom
12. Mega Man Star Force: Dragon – Capcom
13. Operation: Vietnam – Majesco
14. Turn It Around – Majesco
15. The Wild West – Majesco
16. Fulllmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game – Destineer

September

1. DK Jungle Climber – Nintendo
2. Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol – Nintendo
3. Drawn to Life – THQ
4. Zoey 101 – THQ
5. Crayola Treasure Adventures – Crave
6. Nancy Drew and The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park – Majesco
7. Holly Hobbie & Friends – Majesco
8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations – Capcom
9. Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck – Warner Bros.
10. Pet Luv Spa & Resort Tycoon – Activision
11. Animal Genius – Activision
12. George of the Jungle – Crave
13. Jam Sessions – Ubisoft
14. Professor Brainium – Destineer
15. Indy 500 Legends – Destineer

Here are the new games Nintendo Wii owners will be snapping up this year:

July

1. Mario Strikers Charged – Nintendo

August

1. High School Musical: Sing It! – Disney Interactive Studios
2. Madden NFL ‘08 – EA
3. Metroid Prime 3 Corruption – Nintendo
4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’08 – EA
5. Space Station Tycoon – Namco Bandai
6. Brunswick Pro Bowling – Crave
7. Dave Mirra BMX Challenge – Crave
8. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection – Crave

September

1. Battalion Wars 2 – Nintendo
2. Brothers in Arms – Ubisoft
3. Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal – Warner Bros.
4. George of the Jungle – Crave

Blizzard Entertainment Saturday unveiled StarCraft II, the sequel to its award-winning real-time strategy game StarCraft, at the 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, South Korea. The announcement took place inside the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, in front of thousands of attendees, who received a presentation that included a StarCraft II cinematic trailer and a gameplay demonstration by the development team.

StarCraft II will feature the return of the Protoss, Terran and Zerg races. Each race will be further distinguished from the others, with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making a reappearance in the game. StarCraft II will also feature a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

StarCraft II will include a unique single-player campaign as well as fast-paced online play through an upgraded version of Blizzard’s online gaming service, Battle.net. In addition, the game will come with a full-featured map editor.

Blizzard is developing StarCraft II for simultaneous release on the Windows and Macintosh PC platforms. Further information about the game, including details on the single-player, multiplayer, and map-editor features, as well as system requirements, pricing, and availability, will be announced in the months ahead. More at starcraft2.

Valve Software has cancelled the Black Box version of its Half-Life 2 collection. Instead, the publisher will release one package, The Orange Box, available on the PC as well as the 360 and PS3. In addition to Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life: Episode Two, The Orange Box will contain the full version of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One. Those who purchase the PC version of The Orange Box will get three separate Steam product codes: One for the three new games, one for HL2 and one for Episode One. Valve said this will allow owners to give away their Half-Life 2 or Episode One unused Steam product codes if they don’t need a copy of those games.

Here are the top-selling video game systems for the week ending May 12:

1. Nintendo DS – 471,000 units
2. Wii – 360,000 units
3. Playstation 2 – 194,000 units
4. Playstation Portable – 183,000 units
5. Xbox 360 – 175,000 units
6. Game Boy Advance – 84,000 units
7. Playstation 3 – 82,000 units
8. GameCube – 13,000 units

Top-selling games

Here are the top-selling computer and video games for the week ending May 12:

PC games

1. Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar – Midway
2. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack – Vivendi
3. World of Warcraft – Vivendi
4. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars – Electronic Arts
5. The Sims 2 – Electronic Arts
6. The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack – Electronic Arts
7. The Sims 2 Celebration Stuff Expansion Pack – Electronic Arts
8. Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows Of Angmar Special Edition – Midway
9. 3333 XP Games JC – Viva Media – 20,401 units sold
10. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Shivering Isles Expansion Pack – 2K Games – 15,474 units sold

Xbox 360 games

1. Guitar Hero 2 with Guitar
2. Spider-Man
3. Major League Baseball 2K7
4. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2
5. Gears of War
6. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas
7. Crackdown
8. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
9. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
10. DDR Universe Bundle

Wii games

1. Super Paper Mario
2. Wii Play with Remote
3. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
5. Warioware: Smooth Moves
6. Spider-Man 3
7. Sonic And The Secret Rings
8. Cooking Mama: Cook Off
9. Rayman Raving Rabbids
10. Prince Of Persia: Rival Swords

PS3 games

1. F.E.A.R.
2. Spider-Man 3: Collector’s Edition
3. Motorstorm
4. Resistance: Fall of Man
5. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
6. Spider-Man 3
7. Major League Baseball 2K7
8. The Godfather: The Don’s Edition
9. Virtua Fighter 5
10. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent

PS2 games

1. Guitar Hero 2 With Guitar
2. God of War II
3. Spider-Man 3
4. MLB 07: The Show
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
6. Guitar Hero
7. Medal of Honor: Vanguard
8. Major League Baseball 2K7
9. God of War
10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

GameCube games

1. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2. Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
4. Super Smash Brothers Melee
5. Meet The Robinsons
6. Mario Kart: Double Dash
7. Lego Star Wars
8. Paper Mario: Thousand Doors
9. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
10. Super Mario Strikers

Xbox games

1. Halo 2
2. Major League Baseball 2K7
3. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
4. Need For Speed: Carbon
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Version 2.0
6. Fable
7. Call of Duty 3
8. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
9. Scarface: The World is Yours
10. Halo

Microsoft Game Studios today announced the development of Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, a second expansion pack for Ensemble Studios’ 2005 strategy game. Developed by Rise of Nations creator Big Huge Games, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties will add playable Asian civilizations, new gameplay elements (including additional ways of winning and trading), random map styles and 15 Asian Wonders. Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties will ship this fall.

GameTap has launched a new GameTap Retrospective series that pays homage to Tomb Raider. “10 Years of Tomb Raider — A GameTap Retrospective” profiles the creators, games, live action models and fans who have made Tomb Raider a pop culture phenomenon. The documentary is available for free viewing at www.gametap.com/tombraider. New segments will be added each week through June 7. Fans can also purchase the PC version of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary at GameTap.com’s new digital retail storefront. GameTap subscribers can play the game day and date when it hits retail shelves on June 5th.

The first service pack for Microsoft Game Studios’ Flight Simulator X is available for download at fsinsider.com. Service Pack 1 provides a 20 to 40 percent performance increase, is optimized for multi-core CPUs, improves draw times for faster loading, addresses multiplayer and backward compatibility issues, and offers improved renderings of key geographical locations, landmarks and airports. Microsoft also said a new expansion pack called Flight Simulator X: Acceleration will be available this fall.

With only a few weeks left before the start of the 94th Tour de France, Focus Home Interactive and French studio Cyanide have launched the official website of Pro Cycling Manager Tour de France 2007 for PC and PSP. Game details, screenshots and trailers are on hand at cycling-manager.com.