Spies from the Union Army of the United States of America today revealed new details on Confederate armor and flying machines that could affect the outcome of the war with the South. Tanks capable of taking down buildings and decimating companies of men as well as great flying machines, or “Zeppelins” that can oversee the entire battlefield will give generals more devastating power to crush their enemies. 

“The Confederate’s recent access to futuristic technology has not gone unanswered and we are confident that the states involved in this violent succession will soon be defeated by our own access to technology beyond anything imaginable,” said General Winfield Scott, commander of the Union Army for the United States of America. “It’s not too late for a full surrender by the South before we deploy our weapons of even greater power.”

Gettysburg: Armored Warfare is a free-to-play, online action game that brings futuristic weapons to an alternate reality of the Civil War. The hybrid Real-time- Strategy (RTS)/ First-Person shooter (FPS) game will offer 32 vs. 32 battles with multiple game modes as Union and Confederate troops fight to change the course of history. Developed by Radioactive Software, Gettysburg: Armored Warfare is powered by Paradox Connect and scheduled to launch later this year.

“We’re thrilled to have been recognized for our achievements in 3D Flash,” said Steve Couture, CEO of Frima. “Luc Beaulieu, our CTO, and our entire R&D team did an exceptional job working with the 3D technology to create the Zombie Tycoon: Icefield Demo. Frima has always focused on new and cutting edge technology, and this award inspires us to continue to be a leading edge video game developer.”

In Zombie Tycoon, players control their very own horde of ravenous zombies! Developed in just a few months by Frima Studios’ R&D team, the Zombie Tycoon: IceField Demo offers three levels of zombie madness. Two game modes are available to try; mild, which offers players a chance to explore and conquer the game world, and chunky mode which offers players the chance to see the full power of the new technology with over a hundred zombies moving on the screen at the same time. Zombie Tycoon: IceField Demo was also nominated for the ‘Technical Excellence in Flash’ award.

To play the Zombie Tycoon Interactive Demo on Adobe Molehill, click here: http://molehill.zombietycoon.com/

The FITC Award Show highlights the best of the creative and technical applications of Flash and digital media in Canada. For more information about the 2011 FITC awards, visit: http://www.fitc.ca/awards/

About Frima

Frima is a prominent game developer based in Quebec City, Canada. Since 2003, the company has been developing countless world-class products for the Web, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system, PlayStation Portable, DS, Facebook, iPhone, iPad, TV and mobile markets. Frima’s clients include world-renowned names such as Electronic Arts, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon. With over 265 artists and programmers to develop our products, Frima produces high-caliber games that are as remarkably outstanding artistically as they are technically. For more information, please visit www.frimastudio.com.

About FITC Toronto

FITC (http://www.fitc.ca) is a Canadian company that produces events that inspire, educate and challenge the best animators, designers, developers and motion graphic artists working in Flash and other new media platforms. Over the past seven years, the company has held 17 events in nine cities and four countries with over 10,000 attendees and over 700 presentations. The company’s flagship conference, FITC Toronto: The Design & Technology Festival is one of the largest and most important events of its kind, attracting participants from around the world and serving as a launching pad for new ideas, new methods, and new technologies.

Frima Studio, a leading and award-winning multiplatform developer based in Quebec, announced at the Flash Gaming Summit 2011 yesterday, that an interactive demo of Zombie Tycoon is now available on Adobe Molehill, the upcoming version of the Flash player. Media and game developers are invited to experiment with the demo and see how Molehill can enable advanced 3D experiences in Adobe Flash.

Developed in just a few months by Frima Studio’s R&D team, the Zombie Tycoon: IceField Demo offers three levels of zombie madness. Two game modes are available to try; mild, which offers players a chance to explore and conquer the game world, and chunky mode which offers players the chance to see the full power of the new technology with over a hundred zombies moving on screen at the same time.

“Today we invite flash developers everywhere to see the progress our team has made in just a few short months of working with Molehill,” said Luc Beaulieu, CTO, Frima Studio, in a session entitled ‘Making a Game with Molehill: Zombie Tycoon’, at the Flash Gaming Summit 2011. “Adobe’s new technology, combined with Frima’s IceField 3D engine, allows us to continue to push the boundaries of the platform forward and strengthen our position as a leading‐edge Flash developer,” added Steve Couture, CEO, Frima Studio.

Utilizing Frima’s revolutionary IceField 3D Engine developed to extend Adobe’s Molehill technology, Frima is now able to create in Flash a wide variety of atmospheres like static and dynamic lighting, shadows, fog, and mirror effects. Additionally, the engine delivers the ability to create, add texture and animate hundreds of avatars simultaneously without losing performance as well as generate advanced special effects never before seen in a Flash game.

To play the Zombie Tycoon Interactive Demo on Adobe Molehill, click here: http://molehill.zombietycoon.com/

To view the Zombie Tycoon “Molehill” Tech Demo, released at Adobe Max last year, click here:http://www.zombietycoon.com/MolehillTechDemo.html

For more information on Frima Studio and their development capabilities, please visit
www.frimastudio.com

• About Frima Studio

  Frima is a prominent game developer based in Quebec City, Canada. Since 2003, the company has been developing countless world‐class products for the Web, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system, PlayStation Portable, DS, Facebook, iPhone, iPad, TV and mobile markets. Frima’s clients include world‐renowned names such as Electronic Arts, Build‐A‐Bear Workshop, Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon. With over 265 artists and programmers to develop our products, Frima produces high‐caliber games that are as remarkably outstanding artistically as they are technically. For more information, please visit www.frimastudio.com.

This video is a wide overview of what Cities XL 2011 offers players; please enjoy this minute and a half of new footage from the game.

- Watch the trailer

- Download the trailer (53 MB)

- Visit the official website

About Cities XL 2011:
Imagine and build cities of all types and sizes on the Cities XL planet. From a crowded metropolis to a lavish seaside resort or an industrial city, anything is possible in Cities XL 2011!

Take advantage of an incredible collection of over 700 buildings and structures and nearly 50 different types of maps with realistic environments. Enjoy never-seen-before freedom in a city building sim!

As a virtual mayor, find the right balance between economic development, aesthetics, transportation, pollution control, social services, taxes and even leisure activities.

For the first time in a city sim, Cities XL 2011 finally lets you go beyond the simple creation of a city. Connect every city with a trade network, specializing some of them to provide for others and create large-scale economic balance.

Cities XL 2011 will be released on PC this month.

About Focus Home Interactive

Founded in 1996, Focus Home Interactive is an independent French publisher based near Paris, France. Known for the quality, diversity and originality of its catalogue, Focus has published and distributed original titles that have become benchmark titles worldwide — such as Blood Bowl, Sherlock Holmes, TrackMania, Runaway and sports games like Cycling Manager and Virtual Skipper. For additional information about the company and its video games, please visit the official website:
http://www.focus-home.com

Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order Ltd have today announced details on how to sign up for the limited Closed Beta for Cities in Motion, a mass transportation simulator set across four European cities and due for release on PC in early 2010. Developed by Colossal Order Ltd, Cities in Motion sees players develop and operate their own public transport company building a travel network across Vienna, Berlin, Helsinki and Amsterdam using more s 5 modes of transport, and over 30 vehicles of transport including buses, trams, subway trains and water buses. As each city develops and grows the player must continue to meet the ever changing transport needs of its commuters, while at the same time ensuring it remains as profitable as possible.

Sign up for the Cities in Motion Closed Beta now at:
http://beta.paradoxplaza.com/
Sign up before midday on October 11th!

If you  are selected for a place in the Closed Beta,
you will receive a confirmation e-mail before the 25th of October.

Featuring an in-depth campaign mode made up of 12 scenarios along with an open ended sandbox mode, an advanced map editor that allows players to create their own cities, plus much more, Cities in Motion will challenge players to create the perfect public transport system that has no cancellations, no delays and where the passengers are always happy!

Watch the announcement trailer at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FemH4GhEqEs

Planned Features for the final game:
- Realistic 3D graphics with over 100 unique buildings
- Advanced economy simulation including contractor deals, banking, insurance and fluctuating economic trends
- Play through 100 years of transportation history across four eras between 1920 and 2020
- Choose between over 30 different vehicles based on real-life models including buses, trams, water buses, helicopters and a subway system with underground view
- Real-time city and traffic simulation as people commute between their homes, workplace and social lives.
- Three difficulty levels – easy, medium and hard

Check out the latest Cities in Motion developments:
Facebook – www.facebook.com/citiesinmotion
Twitter – www.twitter.com/citiesinmotion

About Colossal Order Ltd
Colossal Order Ltd is an independent game development studio located in Tampere, Finland. Founded in 2009 by experienced developers and serious fans of the genre, the company focuses on original IP strategy and simulation games for PC platform. The highly motivated and talented team is working on the first title Cities in Motion, which will be released 2011.

About Paradox Interactive
Since 1999, Paradox Interactive has been a leading global developer and publisher of PC-based strategy games. World-renowned for its strategy catalog, the company holds a particularly strong presence in the United States and Europe. Its steadily-growing portfolio includes originally developed titles such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis and the Hearts of Iron franchises, as well as publishing titles such as the Elven Legacy series, Mount&Blade and Majesty 2. Paradox made an explosive entry onto consoles during 2010 with the release of Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West. For more information, please visit www.paradoxplaza.com and follow www.twitter.com/pdxinteractive

The pre-order announcement coincides with the release of the Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943 demo, offering a taste of the game’s focus on realism and both tactical and strategic depth.

For more info, visit www.paradoxplaza.com/games/achtung-panzer-kharkov-1943 or join the Achtung Panzer fan page on Facebook where one copy of the game will be given to fans daily leading up to the release of the game.

Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943 Main Features:

• Great replayability and flexible AI behavior: “smart” AI analyzes tactical movements of player and chooses the best strategy based on opponents’ behavior, rather than following scripts. It allows players to complete the same scenarios using different tactics as if playing with a human player.
• Painstaking landscape reconstruction of Kharkov region in scope and size
• Thorough re-creation of weapons, artillery and vehicles: all battle characteristics, including missile trajectories or number of crew, were modeled according to military archive materials and WW2 chronicles.
• Dynamic change of day & night, and weather effects that affect combat – terrain traversal, visibility on the battlefield, disguise abilities of all forces, etc.
• Destructible environment: blast and destroy almost everything, from ground terrain to houses and enemy defenses. All traces of previous battles (shell-holes, broken vehicles, corpses, etc.) are left on the battlefield until the end of the scenario.
• Real ballistics: bullets and projectiles follow authentic trajectories. Proper shot longitude, number of frags and their range are calculated.
• Real vehicle damage system: engine, suspension, weapons, aiming appliances can all be damaged separately, affecting the combat abilities of the vehicle.
• Real soldiers’ behavior: every soldier has some basic parameters, such as experience level, fatigue and morale that affect his behaviour and effectiveness.
• Military Encyclopedia with 3D model viewer and detailed data on all units, describing their historical and in-game characteristics.

About Paradox Interactive

Since 1999, Paradox Interactive has been a leading global developer and publisher of PC-based strategy games. World-renowned for its strategy catalog, the company holds a particularly strong presence in the United States and Europe. Its steadily-growing portfolio includes originally developed titles such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis and the Hearts of Iron franchises, as well as publishing titles such as the Elven Legacy series, Mount&Blade and Majesty 2. Paradox stands poised to make an explosive entry onto consoles during 2010 with the release of Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West. For more information, please visit www.paradoxplaza.com and follow @pdxinteractive on Twitter.

“We wanted to create a game that was not only fun and accessible to young audiences, but that also tied in real-world themes and responsibilities around caring for animals,” said Peter Driessen, CEO of SPIL GAMES. “Animal Shelter combines both of these initiatives seamlessly, and we’re looking forward to hearing our audiences’ response to the game.”

In Animal Shelter, players step into the role of Shelter Director, responsible for the health and happiness for a host of cuddly creatures including cats, dogs, turtles, hamsters, and bunnies. In this simulation game, players must feed and clean up after the animals and give them medicine and affection. Based on how well they do this, they will earn money to spend at the animal shelter. Players also need to create advertisements for each animal to help get them adopted, taking photographs, writing a short description, and deciding where to place the advertisement – online, in a newspaper, or on television – while keeping their overall budget in consideration. While animal rescue and adoption processes are different all around the world, Animal Shelter provides an easy-to-learn and accessible simulation experience for all audiences to enjoy playing.

On World Animal Day, occurring each year on October 4th, animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned at locations all around the globe. Typically, on this day, animal rescue shelters hold fundraising events and open days, wildlife groups organize information displays, schools engage in animal-related projects, and individuals and groups of friends or co-workers donate to animal charities or pledge to sponsor a shelter animal. To learn more about World Animal Day and how you can participate, please visit www.worldanimalday.org.uk.

To view the intro video for Animal Shelter see below.

For more information about Animal Shelter, please visit www.GirlsGoGames.com. For more information, please visit: www.spilgames.com.

“World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder™ is truly an immersive game where players can build intricate societies,” said Isaias Vallejo, Senior Producer at Big Fish Games. “There is also a lot of room for customization and players can really express themselves creatively by building villages based on their vision.”

“We designed World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder™ to be accessible for everyone, from seasoned city-building veterans to new players who are trying their first strategy title,” said Mariana Cardoso, General Manager of GAMEINVEST. “We’ve also incorporated an intriguing storyline to entertain and draw in audiences, creating a deeper experience in the game.”

In World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder™, players are tasked with helping seven rulers develop their lands into prosperous and productive kingdoms. Players will build roads, orchards, fisheries, farms, shops and more, as they improve the lives of villagers and solve the mystery behind the Zellian rulers’ ailing societies. As players level up, they will earn trophies and travel through seven kingdoms – Prairie, Forest, Ruins, Mountains, Tundra, Volcano, Desert, and Coast – featuring new challenges and areas in the world to explore.

Using accessible computer mouse controls, players will freely create, destroy or move objects, and more. With accessible gameplay mechanics and increasing levels of tasks to manage, players of all ages and skill levels will be drawn into the World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder™.

For more information on World of Zellians: Kingdom Builder™, please visit www.bigfishgames.com.

In Ship Simulator Extremes, take control of a wide variety of ships including hovercrafts, coast guard interceptors, mammoth tankers, tugs, cruise liners, and more as you engage in storylines that will take you to locations all over the globe. Find out what it’s like to lead a ship across a wide range of geographic locations and into a variety of ultra-realistic weather conditions. Players will navigate the open seas in an attempt to complete missions that will lead you anywhere from the bitter cold of Antarctica, to the tropical paradise of Bora Bora.

For a preview of the action to come, watch the Gamescom trailer below.

Ship Simulator Extremes is scheduled for release in Q1 2010. To keep up with the latest news about Ship Simulator Extremes, visit: www.shipsim.com or www.paradoxplaza.com.

Have you ever wondered how it feels to sail a half-million ton supertanker through the perfect storm or to take on illegal whale hunters in the Antarctic? Feel the rush of serving as a coast guard as you evacuate an island threatened by a volcanic disaster. With missions based on actual events that take place in realistic environments and locations from all over the world, Ship Simulator Extremes has you endure extreme conditions, fight the elements and face all of the challenges associated with being a ship captain.

“Following the successful legacy of our game series, we look forward to cooperating with Paradox Interactive and continue to give gamers worldwide all the excitement of being in the captain’s helm chair,” said Frank Dolmans, CMO of VSTEP.

Key features:

• Wide range of vessels to control, including hovercrafts, coast guard interceptors, mammoth tankers, tugs, cruise liners, and many others.
• Includes exciting storylines and missions all over the world.
• From the very hot to the very cold, sail to the most enchanted regions of the world. Explore the Antarctic or take in beautiful Bora Bora. Includes famous harbors and locations worldwide.
• Official Greenpeace license : sail famous Greenpeace ships and take on ecological missions based on real events!
• Realistic water & weather system. Sail a calm sea or take on the most extreme conditions ever witnessed at sea.
• Online Multiplayer mode. Sail online with your friends and take part in cooperative missions and community events.

Ship Simulator Extremes is scheduled for release in Q1 2010 and will be officially introduced to world press at the Gamescom 2009 in Cologne. To keep up with the latest news about Ship Simulator Extremes, visit: www.shipsim.com or www.paradoxplaza.com.