Another War for Cybertron Afoot!

Hasboro, in its latest investor-focused event, announced a number of new video game products for the Transformers series, including movie tie-ins and a sequel to to Transformers: War for Cybertron.

Hasboro, the toy manufacturer and owner of the Transformers name announced multiple Transformers-based game products at its November Hasboro Investors Day. First off, the company made mention of movie-based games for the 2011 Michael Bay project Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The game will be heading to all current consoles and a new version for the Nintendo 3DS.

The second major game announced with the Transformers franchise is an upcoming MMORPG for China and Korea. MMO-developer Net Dragon will be collaborating with Hasboro to produce the game, and while it will be released first in Asian countries, there are plans to port the project to other countries in the future.

Finally, the company unveiled that it would be working with Activision to develop sequels to the 2010 hit Transformers: War for Cybertron (the subtitle is "Cybertron Adventures" on the Wii). No concrete details have been released for this project, but it is most likely expected for all consoles and DS/3DS. The game will be released in 2012.

The company's only slide regarding video game content is linked below, but for more information on the actual investor event itself, check the source.

SOURCE: TFW2005

Panasonic Reveals the Jungle

Revealed in the newest episode of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory on MTV, Panasonic is making a new handheld gaming device called the Jungle.

The Jungle is a portable gaming device which is focused on Massive Multiplayer Online gameing, more commonly known as MMO games. The device is set into a clamshell design, similar to Nintendo's more recent handhelds. As for input, the Jungle will have a D-Pad, mini-keyboard, touchpad, and shoulder buttons. Other details such as its touchpad's usability and the actual innards of the product are still unknown.

In its unveiling video, it appears that the Jungle will have a special relationship with an upcoming MMO: Battlestar Galactica Online. Otherwise, software specifics are also hidden.

This is not Panasonic's first venture into the gaming industry. The company's debut console into the industry was the 3DO, made in part by the 3DO Company in 1993. It was sold at a highly-set $700 and failed in the market, but it remained available until 1996. The system, a CD-based console, is best known for the combination of its authentic arcade ports and its horrible interactive movie games. A successor, the M2, was in production but was ultimately canceled. Furthermore, in Japan Panasonic released a special version of the GameCube, entitled the Q, which had GameCube functions as well as DVD playback.

No release date has been given as of yet.

REVEAL TEASER

SOURCE: Gaming-Age

Acclaim is Gone...Again.

As a result of the Playdom acquisition made by Disney, Acclaim Games, a provider for free online games including a number of MMOs, has announced that as of August 26th, 2010, their games will no longer be available for play and the company is being shut down.

BOTS!!

Acclaim Games was an online game provider based in Beverly Hills, California, which acquired the name for Acclaim for $100,000 in late 2004 following Acclaim Entertainment's bankruptcy. Since then, the company brought in a collection of Asian MMOs to America and Europe, including BOTS!!, The Chronicles of Spellborn, and 9Dragons.

The company was purchased by online game producer Playdom on May 18th, 2010, just a few months short of the Disney-Playdom purchase. Unfortunately, it appears that the Playdom acquisition did not include Acclaim Games, and as the website states:

We regret to inform you that all Acclaim games will no longer be in service effective August 26, 2010

Those who wish to claim their unused Acclaim coins may do so by emailing the company at its skeleton website. Specifically, users of 9Dragons who purchased anything within the last 30 days may be reimbursed for the items.

9Dragons

Some of Acclaim Game's games will live on: 9Dragons will be held by GamersFirst, Kogamu is available through Facebook, and RockFREE is still available, according to Gamasutra.

The original Acclaim was known for developing the Turok series, Exteme-G titles, and publishing such titles as the original two Burnouts up until 2004, in which it went bankrupt. There is no word on whether the other MMOs will be picked up by other companies.

SOURCE

Twisted Pixel's Secret Contract

Located on developer Twisted Pixel's website is a newly-added segment dedicated to an unknown, upcoming MMO title for Turbine.



There has been reports that Turbine has been making a new MMO title for the last year and a half, and with this posted discreetly on the company's games page, it might just correlate.

Twisted Pixel is the developer of The Maw, Splosion Man, and the upcoming Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley. We interviewed CEO Mike Wilford at PAX East last March as Game On for Rowan Television Network, and we can only expect more insanity in the near future.