BioGamer Girl

During E3 2011 it was announced that BioWare and LucasArts had partnered with Razer, the world’s leading provider of high-end gaming products, to create a line of premium PC peripherals based on Star Wars ™: The Old Republic™. To coincide with the December 20th release of Star Wars : The Old Republic, Razer released several peripherals based on the game, including a gaming keyboard that is the first of its kind. The Star Wars : The Old Republic Gaming Keyboard by Razer features several programmable Macro Keys, as well as ten adaptive tactile keys that will allow you to have quick access to your most valued skills and abilities. But what sets this keyboard apart from anything else is the full-color multi-touch LCD track-panel that you can use to control your media player, or navigate the game world more efficiently. The keyboard is  $249.99 and is available for order now.

Epic Games, Inc. has released the UDK Beta , the latest version of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides access to the award-winning toolset used in blockbuster video games, 3D visualizations, digital films and more. The latest beta is available now at http://www.udk.com/download . UDK Showcase: Waves             This month’s showcase features the breakout indie game developed by Squid in a Box , which delivers addictive gameplay peppered with a confetti of striking visuals. To celebrate the arena shooter’s launch on Steam , we sat down with CEO Robert Hale to talk about his years spent making games and the decision to go with UDK. Read more . You can check out more outstanding UDK projects at http://www.udk.com/showcase and http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase . Also be sure to check out the Works in Progress and the Released Projects forums....

Actress Jena Sims stops my to discuss Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader in this interview.

With the close of 2011, all of the staff at BioGamer Girl would like to thank all of you for your continued support. The magazine is officially 1 year old! To finish off the season check out IGN's 2011 PC Games Holiday Guide to find the perfect gifts for that special gamer this holiday season.

Strange Games announced  that it is developing Demolicious; the ultimate action-puzzle-shooter showcasing cutting edge physics and destruction on mobile devices. Powered by the UNIGINE Engine , Demolicious packs a powerful punch technologically and is available in stunning HD. Strange Games is independently publishing and developing Demolicious, which will be released on the iOS App Store, and Android Market later this year. Demolicious will be available for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and supported Android smartphones and tablets.

Reviews include the Brotherhood, Hard Rock Zombies and Rare Exports in this episode.

Shanda Games Limited (Nasdaq: GAME, " Shanda Games " or the "Company"), a leading online game developer, operator and publisher in China , announced that its board of directors declared a special one-time cash dividend of US$0.51 per Class A or Class B ordinary share, or US$1.02 per American Depositary Share ("ADS").

Epic Games, Inc. announced an agreement with Square Enix Co., Ltd. granting Square Enix a license to develop multiple games with Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine 3 technology. Epic Games Japan, which supports the company’s licensees locally, worked directly with Square Enix on the new license. “It is a pleasure to provide Square Enix with an exceptional game engine that will help them bring thrilling new experiences to legions of fans all over the world,” said Taka Kawasaki, territory manager of Epic Games Japan. “Many Western games have achieved great success with the Unreal Engine, and this milestone reflects the Japanese development community’s trust in our technical prowess. We can’t wait to see how Square Enix fuses the power of Unreal Engine 3 with its beautiful characters, enthralling storylines and fantastic gameplay.” Details about the games using the Unreal Engine under this license agreement will be revealed by Square Enix.

James Balsamo stops by to talk about Hack Job in this interview.

Epic Games, Inc. and its award-winning Salt Lake City-based development studio, ChAIR Entertainment, announced “Infinity Blade II” has officially launched on the App Store. The highly anticipated follow up to the groundbreaking iOS sword-fighting adventure, “Infinity Blade,” “Infinity Blade II” combines addictive gameplay, breathtaking visuals and an engrossing story to deliver the definitive blockbuster experience on Apple’s world-class gaming platforms.

Reviews in this episode include, Deadtime Stories: Volume 1, Kill Katie Malone, The Ruins, Blackdeath and many more!

The £100,000 ($154,700) TIGA Games Contest launched November 25, 2011, offering four £25,000 prizes to games developers to build a prototype and use it to secure further development funding. The funding, which was announced by Creative Industries Minister Ed Vaizey at the NESTA Investment Conference earlier this week, comes from Abertay University’s Prototype Fund. There are three categories for applications: games on-the-move, games in-the-home and social web gaming. Two prizes are available for the social web gaming category, with one for each of games-on-the-move and games-in-the-home.

The National STEM Video Game Challenge is now open, aiming to motivate interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) learning by tapping into students’ natural passion for playing and making video games. The annual competition, held by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media in partnership with sponsors AMD Foundation , the Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS KIDS Ready To Learn Initiative, Entertainment Software Association and Xbox 360, is accepting submissions of original video game concepts and designs from students and educators in four categories at stemchallenge.org .

Sierra Holmes stops by to discuss Scream Queen Campfire, Piranha 3DD and Legacy of the Masque .

Download the new Video Games in the 21st Century 2010 report, which measures the economic contributions made by the U.S. entertainment software industry to the American economy during the period 2005-2009. You can download the 2011 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry . The number of programs in video game design, development and programming continues to rise at American colleges, universities, art and trade schools across the country. According to new research from the ESA, American colleges and universities will offer 343 programs in game design, development and programming, including 301 undergraduate and 42 graduate programs, during the 2011-12 academic year. View the complete list here

ACE COMBAT® ASSAULT HORIZON LEGACY is now available in stores across North America exclusively for Nintendo 3DS™ for the suggested retail price of $39.99, and launched in Europe on December 2, 2011.  Developed by the Project Aces team at NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. in Japan, ACE COMBAT ASSAULT HORIZON LEGACY delivers a supersonic flying experience with exciting dogfights and high-altitude acrobatics, all in 3D for the first time in the history of the legendary aerial combat franchise.

THIRST OF NIGHT is the upcoming strategy MMO from game developer and publisher Kabam. It’s their first to feature vampires as the protagonist race, and the new look definitely gives the title a more overt horror atmosphere than Kabam is used to. THIRST OF NIGHT is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a deadly explosion has triggered volcano eruptions all around the planet. This great catastrophe has burnt most of humankind alive and left a permanent ash cloud in the sky that almost entirely blots out the sun. With this new environment comes a new dominant species: vampires. No longer forced into hiding from the human and sun threats, vampires now rule the planet, and it will be your job to build up a new vampire civilization in this world in ruin. Completing storyline missions can be a blast, and it's always nice to get a little more information on the vampire and human war. You'll build a city including the necessary factories, homes, training grounds and other important st...

TEKKEN Hybrid™ is now available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.  TEKKEN Hybrid bookends a decade of knockdown and drag-out TEKKEN action with TEKKEN Tag Tournament™ HD, TEKKEN Tag Tournament™ 2 Prologue, and the TEKKEN: Blood Vengeance™ 3D CG movie, all available on one blu-ray disc. TEKKEN Tag Tournament HD gives players a high definition version of the beloved PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system title TEKKEN Tag Tournament.  

Leading video games publisher NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced that Saban’s Power Rangers Samurai™ will be featured on a float at the 123rd Annual Tournament of Roses® Parade in Pasadena, California on Jan. 2, 2012.  To celebrate the release of Saban’s Power Rangers Samurai videogame on Wii™ and Nintendo DS™, the float will feature the Samurai Power rangers themselves and their mighty Zords, including the Yellow Ape, Blue Dragon, Red Lion and the towering Megazord, which stands at 35 feet. The float embodies the spirit of teamwork and friendship that is central to the hugely popular Power Rangers Brand.

Jeffrey Combs stops by to discuss the Re-Animator in this interview.

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced plans for the fourth expansion to World of Warcraft ® , its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) . Unveiled to a sold-out crowd at the company’s BlizzCon ® gaming festival, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria ™ lifts the fog of mystery surrounding a long-lost continent that has been newly rediscovered following the events of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm™ . The new expansion reintroduces the elusive pandaren, originally seen in Blizzard’s real-time strategy game Warcraft ® III , as a playable race and adds a brand-new player class: the martial-arts-focused Monk. While exploring the mysteries of an exotic new land and advancing to the new level cap of 90, players will experience a range of new content and game features, including new quests and dungeons, group scenarios and “challenge” modes, pet battles, and more.

The next generation of Android tablets make their debut this holiday season and GameStop (NYSE: GME) is providing the first opportunity to get hands-on with the new quad-core NVIDIA ® Tegra ® 3 processor. Select stores nationwide will have the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, the first tablet to use the new Tegra 3 chip, available for demo beginning this weekend. 

Batman: Arkham Asylum is justifiably the most revered comic hero game ever made. It may have seemed far fetched to think that Rocksteady studios could outdo their first outing with the Bat, but they managed to do it in every single way. Batman: Arkham City is not just a good game, it is a fantastic game. Batman is a character that appeals to more than just comic fans, as he carries with him a multitude of admirable qualities for a superhero. He has easily the most robust list of rogue enemies, he's not a superhero in the traditional sense; making him more relatable to the rest of us super-powerless humans, he has an arsenal of high-tech equipment and wonderful toys, and when it really comes down to it, his dark demeanor and brutal tactics to intimidate his foes flesh out an individual that stands out from the usual hero crowd. He's possibly the most accepted cultural comic character; having a myriad of success in graphic novels, television, films, and video games. Batman: Ark...

Despite a sterling record of always hitting its release targets, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced that the expected launch window for Diablo ® III, the next title in the company’s critically acclaimed series of action role-playing games, will be moving into early 2012.