Week of December 10, 2006

Just in time for the holidays, 2K will release a free holiday scenario for Sid Meier’s Railroads! In this new special seasonal mode, players reemerge as a former railroad tycoon, determined once again to redeem himself and more importantly, save Christmas! Help Santa and his elves make and transport toys to Santa's Station by the rapidly-approaching deadline.

The new scenario will be ready next week at www.sidmeiersrailroads.com and include a new holiday train with 2 skins and custom sounds; holiday-themed goodies like cookies, eggnog and toys; cheerful music to get players in the holiday spirit; a wide-open, rugged North Pole environment; and a challenging scenario that pits you against up to three other robber barons who are out to destroy Christmas.

Fuelled by sales of the hit game Guild Wars NightfallT82;, the latest release in the award-winning Guild Wars® franchise, sales for one of the world’s leading subscription-free online roleplaying games have surpassed three million units worldwide in a little more than a year and a half. This milestone event was announced today by ArenaNet®, developer of Guild Wars®, Guild Wars FactionsT82;, and Guild Wars NightfallT82;, and NCsoft® Corporation, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games.

In further news, ArenaNet announced today the details of the in-game Wintersday Festival, as well as some exciting new features to be implemented in the game over the holiday season.

Wintersday 2006 — Special in-game events have become fan favorites the world over, and during this holiday season Guild Wars players will be in for another Wintersday Festival! During this event, players will find favorite outposts dressed to the nines with holiday décor, as they are invited to complete holiday-themed quests, participate in PvP snowball fights, and receive unique holiday rewards such as Winter Gifts, a Snowman Summoner, Eggnog, and Candy Canes. Wintersday 2006 will take place in-game December 20, 2006 through January 1, 2007. Visit www.guildwars.com for more event details.

Party Search — A brand new Party Search panel will be added to Guild Wars this December, which will allow players to more easily form groups. Casual and hard-core gamers alike will benefit from this new system, as it will make it easier for players to form parties for some of the tougher quests and missions in the game, find the last cog needed for a fearsome group that can tear through the PvP arenas, or just connect with old friends online to go explore the diverse Guild Wars world.

Reconnect After Disconnect — One of the most player-requested features comes to Guild Wars! If a player gets dropped from the game due to a connection problem, and that player can reconnect within ten minutes, the player’s character will be relocated to the spot of disconnection. If the character was performing an action, such as casting a spell or auto-attacking a target, that character will complete the action as if still connected. If a player is in a group when disconnected, the other members of the party will be notified about the player's connection problems.

Several games yesterday were given the patch treatment:

In case you missed it Friday, Sony released 3 new e-Distribution games for PS3 at the PlayStation Store, including Lemmings 2, Go! Sudoku 2 and Genji: Days of the Blade (Playable Demo).

We have three new PlayStation 3 game reviews for you to enjoy today.