D3Publisher of America and Digital Extremes' Dark Sector (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) has gone gold. Pretty soon fans of this game across North America will see if all the hype that has been building for this title is well deserved. If you want to find out more about this (like when it's expected to ship to the retail stores), head on over to the full article.

A recent press release by D3Publisher of America has announced that they have just entered an agreement with Vicious Cycle Software, where the makers of the Vicious Engine for consoles, handhelds and PC platforms shall become a subsidiary of D3PA after the agreement pulls through.

 

D3Publisher was signed up as Vicious Cycle Software's publisher for Dead Head Fred for the PSP, but it appears that D3Publisher wishes to extend their relations with the North Carolina-based developer studio for a much longer time. And Vicious Cycle will be marked their first true internal developer studio as soon as the share acquisition agreement is successfully concluded.

"Having worked with D3PA for the past few years, we know the company shares our passion for creative excellence and our commitment to quality," said Eric Peterson, president of Vicious Cycle Software. He added that they are excited to be part of the D3Publisher family and providing their skills and talents to D3PA's game portfolio.

Details of the agreement seems to affect nothing throughout the management of Vicious Cycle, as the current leadership will not be changed nor shall the studio be moved from North Carolina. That said, financial figures pertaining to the acquisition have not been revealed, however.

Vicious Cycle Software, founded back in 2000 by former MicroProse game developers, is a developer for titles for a broad range of customers, including educational titles for children and action games for the mobile gamers. Their works include titles that were released on the Sony PS2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube. They have recently focused a development effort toward the Windows platforms.

However, since the release of their Vicious Engine middleware solution, they have delivered a cross-platform edge for games on both the next-gen and current-gen consoles. The Vicious Engine was conceptualized back in 2005, but recent improvements to the software allowed the engine to be the first to extend toward the Wii and the PSP.

This was the message plastered on the front page of Load Inc's website, and it sure is good news:

Mad Tracks XBLA has passed final Xbox certification and is good to go. Microsoft, D3PA and Load Inc. are still adjusting a release date. Thanks for everyone's patience; the wait is soon over.

While fans have been waiting for Mad Tracks to run its course on Xbox Live for quite a while now, it does send truckloads of relief for the bosses involved (read: publisher and developer) to finally confirm that it's soon coming our way.

While there's still no specific release date yet, we did pick up word from the Xbox GamingTalkHQ site for how much it will be available. Confirmed by Denis Bourdain himself of Load Inc., Mad Tracks is yours for 800 Microsoft Points. Anyhow, enjoy this bit of good news first. We'll be sure to bring you some more sweet goodness as they trickle in.

After the official announcement of D3Publisher that they will be bringing in more games to the Xbox Live Arcade for later this year, here comes a set of screenshots for the Xbox Live version of the handhelds original (PSP, DS) Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords.

This might just be right up D3PA's alley, especially since the handheld versions proved to be such a hit. Anyhow, this puzzle game offers you an adventure like no other as you set out into the Warlords universe. Here, you must face the challenge of creating, developing, and customizing the hero in order to salvage the land of Etheria from Lord Bane.

We still have no details as to whether or not certain elements of gameplay will be tweaked for the Xbox Live version. But whatever it may be, we're pretty sure it's going to be received just as well on Microsoft's Xbox 360.

In the meantime, why don't you go check out the screenshots?

There's more to see over at Full Article!

D3Publisher of America (D3PA) has announced that it will begin bringing games over to the Xbox Live Arcade later this year. In a press release fired off through the Intertubes, Yoji Takenaka, executive vice president and chief operating officer of D3PA, said that the company looks forward to "capitalizing on [XBLA's] wide reach and ease of use to bring gamers unique titles that fit the bill of delivering the highest enjoyment factors."

The first set of titles from D3PA consists of three titles. First off is Mad Tracks, a racing game that takes its inspiration from the old pull-back-and-go toy cars that were all the rage back in the day. Next up, RocketBowl. This will be the first bowling game on XBLA and "brings the fun of miniature golf to the bowling alley".

Finally, there's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, a downloadable version of the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP title. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords blends match-three puzzle gameplay with strategy, character-building elements and a persistent storyline set in the Warlords universe.

The wait is finally over! D3Publisher of America (D3PA) just announced that Earth Defense Force 2017 is finally available all across North America for a retail price of US$ 39.95. We know you're quite familiar with the video game, but in case some of you are a bit baffled, this is the same game developed by Sandlot Games and known as Earth Defense Force X and Earth Defense Force 3.

Anyway, the game has a lot of exciting features that will give players a new reason to use their console, be it a black and HDMI-enabled one or otherwise, all night long. Just so you know what are we talking about, we listed down a few of the video game's features worth mentioning:

• Hard-hitting, arcade-style, third-person shooter
• Ranging from giant ants and spiders to robots and bio-engineered monsters
• Hundreds of enemies on screen at once
• A wholly destructible environment
• 53 levels
• More than 150 weapons in the arsenal

D3PA Vice President of Marketing Alison Quirion was quite excited with the game as well.

This wildly popular title has done exceedingly well in Japan, and devotees of the Earth Defense Force series have been clamoring for a North American release. We are only too happy to deliver the exhilarating insect armies, alien attackers and wide-ranging defensive power to both loyal EDF series fans and new recruits.