Sports

Funcom is known for their fantasy and sci-fi based games like The Longest Journey, Age of Conan, and their upcoming MMO The Secret World. However it looks like the company is branching out with, of all things, a snowboarding game.

The Develop web site reports that the game, titled On The Edge Of The World, will apparently be free-to-play for both the PC and Mac and feature things like online tournaments and social networking features. The developer received a $260,000 grand from the Norsk Film Institutt to make the game which is being designed to promote Norwegian winter sports. No release date for the game has been announced.

It's downright scary (sorry, had to be done) how many new PC game titles are scheduled for release this week. In addition to a number of original games, PC gamers can look forward to trying out the Left 4 Dead 2 demo (if they pre-ordered) and a new retail collection of all of Firefly Studios' Stronghold games:

Borderlands: Gearbox Software's sci-fi first person shooter blends elementes of an action-RPG in the mix as your characters go on quests on an alien world and deal with lots of monsters and enemies. Much has been made of the near infinite number of weapon variations that can be found in the game and the four-player co-op doesn't hurt either.

The Games Workshop based fantasy-themed sports-strategy game Blood Bowl has apparently become a big hit in retail store in Europe. So much so that the development team at Cyanide Studio has decided to add a new team to the game, the Dark Elves.

According to a note on the game's official web site the new team will be added into the main game as a free download sometime in November. The Dark Elves join the eight other teams in the game and will have their own star player, animation and even their own cheerleaders. In addition the full game will be re-released in Europe via download and in retail stores with the new Dark Elves team includes. Sadly, the US market is still digital download only with no retail release.

This patch for Championship Manager 2010 addresses a number of game issues and adds game enhancements. A list of changes is shown after the jump. The playable demo can be downloaded here.

Download Championship Manager 2010 October Patch (118 MB)
Download Championship Manager 2010 Demo (720 MB)

This is the playable demo for FIFA Manager 10.

"The demo of FIFA MANAGER 10 contains all the available game modes such as the 3D game, text mode, videotext and instant results. That means the players can try out, among other things the improved 3D match engine featuring your manager on the sideline and the new user interface with resolution up to 1920x1200."

Download FIFA Manager 10 Demo (897 MB)

This is the English language 'Vanilla' demo for Football Manager 2010, which features a half season of gameplay and is available for both PC and Mac. It includes the English and Scottish leagues, but with no player photos or logos, to make it easier for download. The larger 'Strawberry' demo includes all player pictures and logos, with quickstarts for the world's biggest leagues, giving players a chance to try out their skills in leagues from multiple countries. It is also multilingual.

Save game files from either versions of the demo will be compatible with the full game when it releases on October 30th.

Download Football Manager 2010 Vanilla Demo (274 MB)
Download Football Manager 2010 Vanilla Demo [Mac] (231 MB)

Download Football Manager 2010 'Strawberry' Demo (1 GB)

After a busy last few weeks, things on the new PC game release front slow down a tad for this week. In addition to the games listed below you can also get the Fallout 3: Game Of The Year edition this week which has the original game and all five previously released downloadable mini-expansions. Also this week comes another collection of previously released material, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Collection.

NBA 2K10: While EA has pretty much abandoned the PC market for its sports games, 2K Sports is releasing their latest pro basketball game for PC owners as well as their console audience. Sports game developers Visual Concepts are in charge of this title which has features like updates and news that will reflect the real NBA season.

People who used to watch VH1 back in the day before it was taken over by reality TV shows might remember a show called Pop-Up Video. In it, little bits of trivia and commentary would appear in bubbles as music videos played. It looks like the FIFA 10 team took the idea and ran with it when they put together this trailer, although all the popping can potentially get on your nerves. Want to see if messages in these talk bubbles are true? The FIFA 10 demo can be downloaded here.

Download HD FIFA 10 Pop-Up Trailer (123 MB)
Download FIFA 10 Demo (2.16 GB)
Check out all FIFA 10 downloads

Blood Bowl, based in the UK born Warhammer fantasy niverse is finally releasing in its country of origin. This custom tailored trailer celebrates the game's UK release while showing off many of the game's tactical and team management aspects. Just don't cry about being beaten down on your home field when a greenskin steps on your face.

"Blood Bowl is an ultra-violent strategy game based on Warhammer Fantasy and American football, Blood Bowl allows players to create the ultimate "fantasy" sports teams. Coaches can build bone-crushing teams of Orcs, Wood Elves, Humans, Dwarfs and many more fantastic creatures – then throw them into the stadium for the ultimate blood sport! Blood Bowl is strategic, action-packed and violent, requiring coaches to use their best tactics, team design – and a dose of pure ruthless bloodlust always helps too!"

Download HD Blood Bowl 'Coming Home' Trailer (133 MB)
Check out all Blood Bowl downloads

This is the playable demo for Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. The full game is expected to release for the PC and console systems in October.

"In PES 2010 you'll find yourself on the largest stage in digital soccer: The Champions League. Imagine you're in a 1-1 tie in stoppage time against Manchester United. You've broken their defense and are sprinting full throttle into a man to man match of wits and reflexes with Edwin van der Sar... Do you have what it takes to punch it in for the win?"

Download Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 Demo (889 MB)

The upcoming browser-based pro football game Quick Hit Football has already made announcements about its deals with five current NFL players and five former NFL coaches. Today the game's development team has announced yet another deal that will bring nearly 100 former NFL greats to their game.

Players will be able to draft at least two of the virtual versions of these players in their games based on their own play style. You can check out the entire player list at the game's official web site. Quick Hit Football is currently in beta and is scheduled to officially launch later this year.

This is the playable UK English/Spanish/French/German/Italian PC demo for FIFA 10. Continue reading after the jump for system requirements. The full game is expected to release in Europe on October 2nd and in the US on October 20th.
"Play as Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Marseille and Chicago Fire and discover a soccer experience that will deliver a new standard for authenticity with gameplay refinements and innovations that will make it the most complete and intelligent simulation of football. In addition to playing an exhibition match, for the first time in a FIFA demo users will be able to upload created in-game videos to EA SPORTS Football World."

Download FIFA 10 Demo (2.16 GB)
Check out all FIFA 10 downloads

The Out of the Park Baseball management series is up to its 10th version this year but the game's development team wants to bring players into their series in a somewhat unique way. Instead of offering a demo of its latest version it has decided to release the eight version of the game for free.

Yep, Out of the Park Baseball 8, released in 2007, is now totally free to download. The title, which comes in both Windows and Mac flavors, is fully fuctional so no worries about the game shutting down on you. Of course the development team would love for you to pony up some money for Out of the Park Baseball 10. Their latest version of the game is available for Windows, Mac and even Linux for $39.99.

Recently we reported that the upcoming free-to-play pro football game Quick Hit Football had signed a number of former NFL coaches to help with the development of the game and provide players with single player Coaches Challenges. Today Quick Hit announced that they have gone even further by signing up five current NFL players that will "assist" the coaches in their single player challenges as "Starters".

The NFL players include Matt Cassel , quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, Ray Lewis, linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, Osi Umenyiora, defensive end for the New York Giants, Brian Westbrook , running back for the Philadelphia Eagles and Jason Witten, tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. They join former NFL coaches Bill Cowher, Brian Billick, Jimmy Johnson, Dan Reeves, and the late Tom Landry in the game.

Check out more info about the game after the jump based on a chat with the company's CEO:

What, another story about a PC-based football game? Hey, why not . . . EA Sports isn't giving football fans any love again this year. This week Quick Hit announced that they have signed four more former NFL coaches to participate in their upcoming web-based game Quick Hit Football 2009.

Brian Billick (Baltimore Ravens), Jimmy Johnson (Dallas Cowboys), Dan Reeves (Denver Broncos) and Tom Landry (Dallas Cowboys) join former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher with their participation in the game. All five coaches have at least one Super Bowl win. Players in Quick Hit Football will be able to see if their plays can beat these "Coaching Legends" in "calling the plays and formations and making the decisions to lead their team to victory." The game is schedule to launch later this fall.