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Majestic, creators of Limbo of the Lost, has come under for its blatant thievery of Oblivion and other games of late, and while Tri Synergy has had all unsold copies of the game pulled from shelves and production on the game halted, they seem to be the only ones who have issues a statement up until now.

Yesterday, Majestic decided to issue a statement after being quite for so long - apparently they were on holiday, and had this to say regarding the matter and I highlighted the most interesting sentence:

In response to the shocking notification that some alleged unauthorized copyrighted materials submitted by sources external to the development team have been found within the PC game Limbo of the Lost, we (the development team) have given our consent and full cooperation to both publishers who are recalling all units from all territories immediately.

Please be assured that we do not condone in anyway the use of unauthorized copyrighted materials and if we had been made aware earlier, we would of course have ceased development of the product and rectified the issue prior to the publication process.

To the best of our knowledge no one at Majestic, [European publisher] G2Games or [North American publisher Tri Synergy, Inc.] knew about this infringement and knowingly played any part in it.

We can only apologise to all regarding this issue, as a team we are shocked and mortified regarding these events and we continue to work with said publishers in order to rectify the issue.

To be honest with you, I find it a bit hard to believe that a development team would not look over the game with almost a Sherlock Holmes mentality before unleashing it on the public, if not they are not worth what they are getting paid. That being said, while the audacity of the situation is indeed mind boggling, I personally believe that the game never should have seen the light of day to begin with if the video posted below is any indication of the game’s quality.

Apparently, Tri-Synergy did not look over the game before deciding to publish the steaming pile of crap either, so both are at fault here.

Thanks: VG247

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So I am off work for a week due to moving and I come back hoping that my usual Saturday post would give me something actually exciting to write about. Sadly, I was mistaken because there are little demos that are new this week. Seems like a growing trend as of late, but I digress.

The only really hyped up demo that was suppose to hit this week was the GRID demo from Codemasters, but unfortunately yesterday after it was put up, it was quickly pulled due to blackout issues. We received an email stating that it would fixed by later that afternoon, and then another email saying that it will be fixed by Monday. Therefore, if you are still interested in the demo, check back with us Monday and hopefully any outstanding issues with it should have been fixed.

Here are the demos that hit FileFront this week:

• Dead Wake Beta 4: Dead Wake zombie survival game is in production. The game brings barricades, blood, and weapons to zombie fans. Headshots and physics play a major role when player attempts to survive against the zombie hordes.
• The Amazing Brain Train Windows Demo: Grubby Games has released a Windows demo for The Amazing Brain Train, a title that offers 15 different brain games in 5 categories, three different ways to play, 32 unique trophies to unlock, and more. Also available for Mac and Linux.
• Droid Assault Windows Demo: Puppy Games released the Windows demo for Droid Assault, a modern-retro arcade shooter game which is aiming to capture the raw feel of 8-bit games such as Paradroid and Quazatron, with a slick shiny sheen of modern graphics and sound. Also available for Mac and Linux.
• Overclocked: A History of Violence English Demo: Created by award-winning developer House of Tales Entertainment, players will delve into the world of Overclocked to explore the deranged minds of three of the five patients admitted to the Staten Island Forensic Hospital. This highly anticipated Adventure game on PC DVD-ROM is available in stores now.
• Lights of Dreams Demo V2.15: This is the demo version V2.15 of Lights of Dreams : The Angelical Blade… It is free to play…Play as Xylvan to find a way to save the future Earth of 3800…
• The Lost Cases Of Sherlock Holmes Demo: Legacy Interactive release a demo of The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, a whodunit casual computer game of theft, espionage and murder in which the player must tap their own powers of observation to solve puzzles and identify the culprits.
• Bee Oh Bee Demo: LunaKite has released a demo for Bee Oh Bee, an adventure casual game where you play as a God-bee, bees that live above in the sky to help homeless cute earth-dwelling honey-bees.

Here are the patches that hit this week:

• Harpoon: Advanced Naval Warfare v3.9.2 Patch
• Battlefield 2142 v1.40 to v1.50 Beta Patch
• Fury v35256 to v35416 Client Patch
• Albatross18 S3 Revolution v4.14 Client Patch
• Conquer Online v5021 to v5023 Patch

As always, for the full list of demos and patched available, click here and here.

Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot,

Legacy Interactive announced today the release of The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, a whodunit casual computer game of theft, espionage and murder in which the player must tap their own powers of observation to solve puzzles and identify the culprits.

The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes is the first computer game officially licensed by the Conan Doyle Estate. It features familiar personalities including Sherlock Holmes, Watson, Mycroft, Inspector Lestrade and more than 100 historical characters that will launch players into the world of the eccentric and famous detective. For each of the 16 individual cases, an overall storyline is revealed and a list of potential suspects is whittled down until the perpetrator is ultimately exposed.

In each case, set in Victorian London, players encounter the following puzzles: a hidden object puzzle, Sudoku, find the difference puzzle, and a picture memory game. There are also additional puzzles and mini-games such as anagrams, cryptograms and jigsaw memory games, which are available at various levels. Legacy has gone to great lengths to insure that the puzzles and mini-games are relevant to the period and storyline of the game as the player journeys from locales such as the British Museum, Big Ben, Kew Gardens, the Royal Theater and others in search of clues that are then evaluated back at 221b Baker Street.

Game Features:

• Play as part of the venerable team of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson
• There are 16 different mystery cases for players to solve
• Over 100 visual puzzles and mini-games tailored to the subject and period of the game reveal a cohesive storyline as you play
• A wide variety of mind-bending puzzles including hidden object, find the difference, picture Sudoku and picture memory games
• Realistic and relevant clues for each case
• Gamers can easily begin their adventure where they just left off; there is no disruption in game play
• Players can explore 40 historically accurate locations around Victorian London
• Officially licensed by the Conan Doyle Estate

For more information on The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, or to download the game, click here.

Via: Press Release

Another week is upon us, and while we are all sitting around marking the days off our calenders for GTA IV, some other games are being released next week and they deserve to be mentioned just as much as any car-jacking, hooker humping, free for all video game on the market.

I have broken the lists down by Console, Handheld and PC. If any of these release dates change it is not my fault - blame the publisher not the messenger. This list also does not take into account any new DLC for the week,  just retail releases.

Nintendo DS: Cory in the House, High School Musical 2: Work It Out, MLB 2K8 Fantasy All Stars, Rhondo of Swords, Teenage Zombies

Nintendo Wii: Dream Pinball 3D, Emergency Mayhem, Okami, Summer Sports: Paradise Island

PC: Dancing with the Stars, Europa Universalis: Rome, Final Fantasy XI: Vana’Diel Collection 2008, Jack Keane and The Dokktor’s Island, Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis, The Sims 2: Double Deluxe, The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Design Stuff,
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Turok

PS2: Nothing

PS3: Gran Turismo 5: Prologue

PSP: Nada

Xbox 360: Zilch

A new trailer featuring a minute and a half of footage from Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis was emailed to us this morning from Focus Home Interactive and Frogwares Studios. I must say this game is looking pretty good, and if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes like I am, you may just want to try it out.

In an adventure game fully playable in 3D real-time, you will not only get into a battle of wits with the legendary Arsène Lupin but lead your investigation into the very heart of London. Famous sites such as the British Museum, the National Gallery and even Buckingham Palace are fully open to players during the adventure and as these investigation sites are real places, they can also be admired by art-lovers as hundreds of works of art, objects, sculptures and paintings have been faithfully reproduced for the purposes of the game. By clicking on each object, you can take a closer look and listen to the personal commentaries from Sherlock Holmes about the work as well.

For more information on Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis check out our previous posts which also includes a link to the demo.

Thank God March is almost over and as my least favorite month of the year comes to a close, hopefully, so will the drought we have had in the way of decent demos.

This week was especially scarce in the demo department (more so than usual) and with the exception of Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis, and Runes of Avalon 2 there is not much to write about - unless you like soccer. However, to appease our readers, Weclock in particular (wink wink nudge nudge say no more) I have listed details about them anyway.

• Doggie Dash - Clean, groom, and pamper Dinertown pets while you grow your business! Help reluctant pet spa partners Walter and Scarlett get a Dinertown business up and running!
• ZOMBZ: Night of a Million Billion Zombies: NOMBZ: Night of a Million Billion Zombies is a 3D action shooter that challenges the player to lead a posse of survivors through a zombie-infested city! Fight! Survive! Escape!
• UEFA Euro 2008 - EA has released a fixed demo for UEFA EURO 2008 which features a match between England and Germany.

The same could not be said for patches. Yes, UT3 and WoW were the most popular but here are some other ones just in case you missed them:

America’s Army: Special Forces, The Settlers: Rise of an Empire, Pacific Storm: Allies, and AVENCAST: Rise of the Mage.

For the full list of demos click here. For patches click here.

Frogwares Studios and Focus Home Interactive have released a demo for Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis (formally known as Sherlock Holmes vs. Arsène Lupin). This new demo contains several hours of gameplay and lets you play as the great detective, hot on the trail of Arsène Lupin, the famous French thief, who plans to steal a precious painting at the National Gallery in London.

This is the fourth game in the Sherlock Holmes adventure series and for more information, visit the official website and our previous posts. Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis is expected to be released for the PC sometime in the Spring.

From the developers at Frogwares Studios (Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened) Dracula: Origin will give players the opportunity to play as Professor Van Helsing, famed vampire hunter, as he tracks the dark and mysterious vampire Count Dracula. Players will explore locations in London, Egypt, Austria and -of course- Transylvania, in the quest to hunt down and destroy the father of all vampires before he finds a manuscript that will allow him to raise his long-dead wife from the grave. You see, Count Dracula may be the prince of darkness but he is a romantic at heart. Young, charming and devout, but emotionally broken since the suicide of his wife, Count Dracula has been transformed into a monster, with an insatiable thirst for blood and vengeance.

As Van Helsing, not only are you trying to stop Dracula from raising his wife from the dead, but your goal is to also liberate the souls of those who have crossed his path. To do this, you must kill Dracula. Using conventional point & click gameplay, Dracula: Origin is an adventure title supported by a rich storyline, with a subtle combination of 2D environments and animated 3D characters, the game reproduces the world imagined by the author Bram Stoker with all its associated motifs (horror, love, blood, crucifixes, stakes, garlic, etc.) in an absorbing Gothic atmosphere.

Focus Home Interactive and Frogwares Studios have promised a Q2 release for the PC game, but check back often as I am sure we will get a more concrete date soon.

MORE SCREENS

Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis, which is also known as Sherlock Holmes vs Arsene Lupin, continues the gameplay of its predecessor (The Awakened), including a first-person view of an adventure which is very often played in the third person.

In the game, Sherlock Holmes confronts the gentleman burglar Arsène Lupin, who provides the perfect foil for Holmes as he attempts to pull of the ultimate heist. This battle of wits between the most famous detective of all time and the world’s greatest thief takes the player to late 19th century London where Arsène Lupin is a young French burglar at the beginning of a glittering career, who comes to town with one goal - defy Scotland Yard and Sherlock Holmes. He states that he will steal five objects of immense value in five days from prestigious sites such as the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Tower of London and even Buckingham Palace thus turning Holmes’ plans of victory into a race against the clock.

This is the fourth game in the Sherlock Holmes adventure series and for more information, visit the official website and our previous posts. Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis is expected to be released for the PC sometime in the Spring.

MORE SCREENS

The point-and-click genre seems to be making a come back as of late. Not only do we have Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie mysteries to solve, along with our favorite detective of all - Sherlock Holmes, we now have a creepy abbey to add to the picture.

Crimson Cow and Alcachofa Soft plan to tread new paths in the narrative of this new point-and-click adventure called The Abbey. The storyline for this “whodunit” adventure reminds me of “In the Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco - not the horrible movie starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater, but the novel - which apparently was a bit of an inspiration for the game. Featuring new technology which allows camera angles and action scenes that until now have only been seen in movies, The Abbey is a clerical mystery with suspense that goes beyond that of a conventional adventure.

Game Features, Storyline, and Screenshots after the break.

Read the full article

There is news galore surrounding Sherlock Holmes this week. First off, cdv Software has released a new video for Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, their recently released title for PC. The video offers players a peek into the dark and terrifying world of The Awakened, where Holmes is set to face off with a mysterious cult of the elder god Cthulhu. Also announced, are new desktop wallpapers, available in multiple resolutions, which can be downloaded here.

In other Holmes related news, Frogwares Studios the makers of these fine PC games, have announced a new episode in the Sherlock Holmes adventure franchise set for release in late 2007 titled Sherlock Holmes VS Arsene Lupin which is being published by Focus Home Interactive.

“It’s the end of the 19th century and an amazing battle of wits and wills is going to take place between two great figures: Sherlock Holmes, armed with his vast crime-fighting experience, and Arsène Lupin, the ultimate criminal mind and gentleman thief. Lupin has announced that he plans to rob the capital of five objects of immense value over the course of five days. The objects are housed in highly prestigious locations such as the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Tower of London and even Buckingham Palace! Sherlock Holmes will have to muster all his courage and ingenuity to save England from terrible humiliation. ”

For more information on the above mentioned games, please click on their respective links. Enjoy the new screens from the Holmes VS Lupin title, and the newest The Awakened trailer.

On Saturday, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened hit stores across the country. Yesterday, the official site for this new horror adventure game for the PC went live with updated content in the form of news, previews, character profiles, screenshots, trailers and more Holmes goodies.

While browsing through the menu list on the website, I clicked on the ‘myth’ link to find Christopher Walken. Much to my surprise, cdv Software has never mentioned “The Continental” in any of their press releases, nor have we seen him in previously released screenshots. All kidding aside, the character in that particular link above does indeed resemble our beloved Bruce Dickinson, and if you want to add to your enjoyment of the game by pretending that it is Mr. Walken it won’t hurt anything.

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is in stores now, and as mentioned in our previous Holmes post, we still have a demo available for you on FileFront.

cdv Software and Focus Home Interactive have announced the release of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened. The horror adventure game, based on the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft, puts players in a dark and shadowy world as they search for clues to solve the mysteries of a cult of the dark god Cthulhu.

Developed by Frogwares , Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened combines the Cthulhu mythos with the deductive reasonings of Sherlock Holmes. The Awakened is the first fully 3D Sherlock Holmes game with the point-and-click interface with plenty of puzzles and thrills and chills for fans of the mystery/detective genre. With over 60 unique characters roaming around, Home’s will be unsure as to who is friend or foe in this his most challenging, and horrifying, adventure yet.

Available for the PC, you can still check the game out for free via the demo on FileFront.

via: Press Release

This week there are a few games being released, although none of them have the hype behind them that BioShock did when it was released. The only ones that even come close in the anticipation department are possibly Stranglehold, or maybe Medal of Honor: Airbourne - we will all just have to wait until the holiday releases come full swing to get excited about too much. Anyway, here are this weeks releases.

Monday, 9/3: Panzer Killer! (PC)

Tuesday, 9/4: Garfield’s Nightmare, Medal of Honor: Airborne (PC, X360), Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 (PS2), Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (PC), The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (PC) , Worms: Open Warfare 2 (DS, PSP)

Wednesday, 9/5: Cyberball 2072 (XBLA), Fatal Fury Special (XBLA), Stranglehold (X360)

Gamers itching for WWII air combat action can now get it from Steam. Today, cdv Software has made Attack on Pearl Harbor available on Steam, priced at $24.95 with an additional 10% discount until August 27. The game offers players four exciting campaigns packed with a wide variety of missions for flying aces as they fend off waves of enemy aircraft or perform bombing runs on key land targets and enemy ships.

For more Attack on Pearl Harbor information, please check out our previous posts, take a gander at the official website, and go on over to Steam and see it for yourself!

FULL PRESS RELEASE AFTER THE BREAK

Read the full article

I have a dark spot in my soul reserved for love of the noir genre. The hard boiled detectives stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon inspired countless books, and detective comics. Doyle and Hammett may have passed on, but their legacy lives on in book, films and video games. The latest issue of the Escapist, “Dark and Stormy Night” plumbs the depths of noir in games and their place in the industry.

In “Girlfriend, Rat,” Russ Pitts interviews Swedish game designer Jonas Ferry and gets his input on his noir title, One Can Have Her. Anthony Burch praises the nonlinear noir game The Last Express and takes a look at the genre as a whole in “Blackmailers Don’t Shoot”. In “The Illuminated One,” Kieron Gillen highlights the importance of lighting as a mechanism in next-gen games. Allen Varney approaches the world of party games and exposes a potentially untapped segment of the game market in “Murder Parties.” And in “The Thin Man,” Shannon Drake delves into the world of Sleuth.

I’m especially looking forward to reading “Murder Parties”. We often get together with our friends who are mostly gamers and board games, card games and party video games are always a hit. We’ve enjoyed the Call of Cthulhu and the 221-b Baker St. Sherlock Holmes board games and I can imagine that our group would really enjoy a noir mystery party game. There is nothing like trying to discover who among you is a murderer.

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened will be released on September 4th for the PC, but until then you can play the demo. CDV Software is pulling out the big guns with this new Homes adventure and it looks like it is going to be one grisly tale. For more information regarding the storyline, check out my previous post, or for new screens, Jonathan posted some Thursday. For the full demo, click on the badge below my Dear Watsons. I think I am actually going to try this one out myself, and trust me… I will be more than happy to tell you if it is craptacular or not - but I think it is going to be pretty cool.

From the developers at Frogwares Studios (Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened) Dracula: Origin will give players the opportunity to play as Professor Van Helsing, famed vampire hunter, as he tracks the dark and mysterious vampire Count Dracula. Players will explore locations in London, Egypt, Austria and -of course- Transylvania, in the quest to hunt down and destroy the father of all vampires before he finds a manuscript that will allow him to raise his long-dead wife from the grave. You see, Count Dracula may be the prince of darkness (sorry Ozzy) but he is a romantic at heart. Young, charming and devout, but emotionally broken since the suicide of his wife, Count Dracula has been transformed into a monster, with an insatiable thirst for blood and vengeance.

As Van Helsing, not only are you trying to stop Dracula from raising his wife from the dead, but your goal is to also liberate the souls of those who have crossed his path. To do this, you must kill Dracula. Using conventional point & click gameplay, Dracula: Origin is an adventure title supported by a rich storyline, with a subtle combination of 2D environments and animated 3D characters, the game reproduces the world imagined by the author Bram Stoker with all its associated motifs (horror, love, blood, crucifixes, stakes, garlic, etc.) in an absorbing Gothic atmosphere.

Focus Home Interactive will be the publisher, and we have no word on an exact release date (2008), but check back often. The three screens we have been given for the game are below, and I am assuming the disheveled man in two of them is Van Helsing. When are they going to make a game, movie, or anything where Dracula wins? He has become the literary equivalent of the Trix Rabbit.

When one thinks of Sherlock Holmes, many things come to mind. Pipes, houndstooth jackets, funny looking caps, inept assistants, glow in the dark hounds - but one never thinks to put the great detective into the realm of H.P. Lovecraft. That is, until now.

Yes, that’s right - Holmes and Watson are back and this time, CDV Software is putting a new twist on the mystery-detective genre. Sherlock Homes: The Awakened for the PC features the lifelong bachelor in a new mystery involving nebulous and esoteric events with unspeakable terrors. Combining the spectral mysticism of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, this fully 3D game for the PC in development by Frogwares promises to be rich in graphics with highly detailed environments. Using a point and click interface, gamers will lead Sherlock through multiple heart-rending environments to solve mysteries and challenging puzzles and the game includes 60 unique characters running about, so you never know who is friend or foe in Holmes’s latest adventure.

Slated for a September release in North America, we have some screens to whet your appetite until then.