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Alliance of Valiant Arms gets Nvidia 3D Vision support and more in new update

The 3D craze in gaming is even starting to hit the free-to-play shooter genre. Today NHN USA announced that a new update for Alliance of Valiant Arms enables the first person shooter to have support for Nvidia's 3D Vision technology. You will still need to have the glasses and a monitor that supports the tech but if you have them you can see the game with 3D effects for the first time.

The update for A.V.A. has also added some new weapons, a new map called Cannon, a new daily quest system that will give players extra XP and battle points and more.You can download and play the game now at the ijji.com web site. NHN USA is ava.ijji.com/event/mediamixup.nhnalso running new contests for players to submit their best desktop wallpapers and videos related to the game. Prizes include 3D Vision glasses and kits and more.

Download the Alliance of Valiant Arms client at Big Download

Avatar's movie success didn't translate to solid game sales

No one expected that James Cameron could win the equivalent of the Megamillions lottery when Avatar was released in theaters last month, but the 3D sci-fi epic has now generated more revenue (before inflation) than any other movie in history besides Cameron's own Titanic. So, you would think all that success would help sales of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game, right?

Wrong. According to the game's developer and publisher Ubisoft, the game (which released a few weeks before the film) did not meet its expectations. In today's financial report Ubisoft stated, " . . . .not all of the Company's games have reaped the full benefits of the measures implemented, with James Cameron's Avatar: The Game . . . reporting lower-than-expected sales." The game itself, which supposedly had Cameron as an active consultant, only got average reviews from critics. One wonders if Ubisoft will be so quick to sign onto making a game based on any Avatar movie sequel.

Overall, Ubisoft didn't have as good of a quarter than it though it would in terms of revenues. Today it revealed that it was now expecting revenues for the just completed third quarter to be 495 million euros versus previous estimates of 540 million euros. For its full fiscal year it is predicting it will have revenues of 860 million euros versus predictions of 1.08 billion euros.

Saturday PC game sales show up on the internet

Want to save some money six days before Christmas? Perhaps these deals will help:

This week in PC games: November 30-December 6


The first week of December sees several retail and downloadable PC games and expansions make their way to store shelves and download services:

Dirt 2 - While the console versions of Codemasters' rally racer were released last September, the PC version that comes out this week has the distinction of being the first PC game released in the US that has DirectX11-supported graphics out of the box.

James Cameron's Avatar game due for release December 1


The man who has admitted that games based on movies mostly suck has promised that won't be the case with his movie-based game project. Now James Cameron's Avatar: The Game has a final release date to put up or shut up. Developer-publisher Ubisoft has announced the game will be released in the US on December 1, a couple of weeks before the highly anticipated sci-fi film Avatar shows up in theaters on December 16

Cameron, who has made films that have highly influenced game designers over the years (The Terminator and Aliens especially) made a promise at Ubisoft's E3 press conference last June that the Avatar game would not suck. Will the game, which is being made with 3D technology in mind, live up to that promise? Good question.

PAX 2009: James Cameron's Avatar The Game hands-off impressions (in 3D)


3D seems to be the new buzz word in gaming as well as in movies. At QuakeCon last month we reported that Nvidia showed off demos of Resident Evil 5 and Batman Arkham Asylum on a 60 foot screen in 3D. At PAX 2009, Ubisoft showed off a demo of their upcoming movie-based action game James Cameron's Avatar The Game (and yes that's the full title) via a 103-inch flat TV screen in 3D.

For those of you not familiar with the Avatar movie, the sci-fi film takes place in the future where humans are using genetically-created "avatars" of an alien race called the Na'vi to explore their planet Pandora. The game has an original story that takes place in parallel to the movie's storyline as you play another human who is exploring the extremely hostile alien world

Check out more info after the jump:

Ubisoft announces voice talent for Avatar movie game


Director James Cameron basically promised us back at E3 that the game version of his upcoming sci-fi movie Avatar from Ubisoft won't suck. While that's still to be determined, the folks at Ubisoft are doing their best to promote the still somewhat mysterious game and movie. Today they announced that a number of the movie's actors will handle the voice over roles for their characters in the game version.

Among them are Sigourney Weaver (pictured above at a San Diego Comic-Con event for the film and game). While she passed on reprising her role as Dana Barrett in the recent Ghostbusters game, she will voice her Avatar movie role of Dr. Grace Augustine in the game version. In addition actors Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang will handle voice roles as well for the PC version. The first trailer for the Avatar game will be show alongside 15 minutes of the movie on "Avatar Day" on August 21 at IMAX and select 3D movie theaters for free.

[Via email press release]

E3 2009: More info (and first screenshots) from Avatar


James Cameron talked the ears off the crowd at Ubisoft's E3 press conference on Monday about his upcoming movie Avatar and the game that Ubisoft developed based on the film. However they apparently forgot to bring any footage from the movie or game for the press event.

Ubisoft solved that problem after the press conference by providing more info about the game version of Avatar along with the first screenshots. The action game will let players pick from the human RDA Corporation or the alien Na'vi as they battle for control of the planet Pandora. Your playable character will acquire new skills as they play through the game and use over 60 weapons along with drivable vehicles and animals (for the Na'vi side). Ubisoft will demo the game at E3 2009 at their booth via a 103-inch Panasonic HD TV screen with support for 3D. Show-offs.

E3 2009: James Cameron talks about Avatar (movie and game)

Ubisoft's E3 2009 press conference today included an on-stage appearance by massive movie director James Cameron who told the audience about his upcoming new sci-fi epic Avatar. The movie is due out this December but Ubisoft, in collaboration with Cameron, is developing a Avatar game that is set in the same universe but tells a different story than the movie.

Cameron admitted that most movie-to-game adaptations "suck" and that he wanted to avoid the same fate with Avatar, which is set on an alien world where humans communicate with the intelligent native race through live "avatars"; a real hybrid of human and alien that can live on the planet but is controlled by humans via an advanced form of technology. Cameron said that Ubisoft's game became a true partnership; weapons and units in the movie that were cut are used in the game and sometimes things made first for the game made their way into the movie.

While Cameron talked at length about the game and film during the press conference (he said the final battle at the end of the movie will be "the mother of all battles") no actual footage from either movie or game was shown. However we expect to see a build of Avatar this week at E3. Before Cameron came on stage it was mentioned that Ubisoft's own visual effect department have created over 100 effect shots for the Avatar movie.
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