Monte Cristo Unveils the Next Generation of City-Builders Think massive, think online, think CITIES XL™

PARIS, France. April 17, 2008 - Monte Cristo is pleased to announce CITIES XL™ for Windows today. In this next-generation take on the city building genre, realism will be pushed to the limit with cities that are bigger, more realistic and more sophisticated than ever before. CITIES XL™ will expand upon all the features that make city builders fun and interesting, while also letting players take their game online, as they interact with others in a massive online environment.

Download new CITIES XL™ screens at:
http://www.calico-media.com/montecristo/citiesxl/CitiesXL.zip

CITIES XL™ allows gamers to develop cities on realistic 3D maps using an incredible collection of unique structures and monuments based on American, Asian and European-influenced architectural styles. The maps feature a variety of environments: mountains, hills, canyons, beaches and islands, all set in different climates from tropical to desert, Mediterranean to temperate. Players must create the right combinations of social services, leisure activities, special events and other job opportunities within their cities in order to feed, clothe, employ and entertain their citizens. Be it planning and building a new zoo, public park, residential neighborhood or transit system - there's always a fresh and exciting challenge for would-be city managers and mayors in CITIES XL™.

"We believe that the level of detail and realism brought to CITIES XL™ answers the needs of city-builder fans," said Jérôme Gastaldi, COO of Monte Cristo. "We believe fans of the genre will definitely enjoy CITIES XL™ and many of those fans have provided us with feedback on our development so far. We are really proud to have such a cool and proactive community."

The game's online features and services will allow players to create interconnected cities on virtual and persistent planets. Mayors can share and trade with one another, specialize their economy and team up with befriended cities to create sprawling metropolises. Life on the planet will be punctuated by events and competitions - a concert held in one town may, for example, be attended by visitors from other areas who can also enjoy a walk around the city to admire the urban creations of multiple players. By combining a fantastic single-player game with the social and multiplayer aspects of an MMO, CITIES XL™ will shape the future of the genre by offering more variety, bigger cities and multiple gameplay layers.

For more information about CITIES XL™, which will ship in 2009, please join the continuously growing community at www.citiesxl.com
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Toots over at Gay Gamer points to a neat flash game called Funeral Quest. It's a take-off of business sims like Railroad Tycoon. Toots explains:

You begin the game by naming your character and the funeral home in which you run. The first order of business is to wait for a customer to show up, who represents four different economic classes of customers from the Super-Rich to the Poor. When dealing with a customer you have to judge their mood and barter with them to raise the price of the funeral arrangements. If a person is in an amicable mood, you can plus-sell the pants off of them. Once a customer gets angry, they are one foot out of the door and will not budge on their price. You can work with their mood and sway them in either direction by giving them a sympathetic response, or lay on the guilt trip to beat them into submission. Each customer presents a struggle between getting the highest amount of money from them, before they leave for another funeral home and you lose the sale. The more money you get from each customer adds to your Bury Points, which boosts your social standing in the race with other funeral homes.

What's more, you can also explore the town and sabotage competing funeral homes. I played around with it a tad, and the game looked fun. Also made me wonder: Why has a funeral home game taken this long? Brian Ashcraft

Funeral Quest [Gay Gamer]

In the sequel, you're Hugo Hafner, the "erotic scene's star producer" and your goal is to "extensively care for your girls in your pompous villa, arrange many parties and have fun with your guests and your roommates." Also, you're apparently supposed to "convince the young beauties constantly with a fine figure and enough endurance" because "the Grim Reaper is constantly closing in!".

I thought about trying to decipher what that all means, but realized, hey, it's a German mobile phone game. I'd want those minutes back on my death bed.

The extensive feature list and unmissable press release are after the jump. Michael McWhertor

HandyGamesTM starts in 2007 with "Porn Manager 2 - The Villa"

After the huge success of Porn Manager, HandyGames proudly presents this year's top seller, which is based on the motto Enjoy your life to the fullest!"!

As the erotic scene's star producer you have reached everything during your professional life: girls, fame and lots of money!

You slip into the role of the most enviable man of the world! It's your task to enjoy your retirement as long as possible in the most comfortable way and to reach a truly biblical age!

Because your elixir of life are pretty, glamorous girls, you have to try to gather as many of them around you as possible. Since you are a true gentleman, you extensively care for your girls in your pompous villa, arrange many parties and have fun with your guests and your roommates.

A life of total privacy wouldn't be suitable for an old pickup like you! Invite the press regularly and use your beautiful girls to increase your popularity. Convince the young beauties constantly with a fine figure and enough endurance.

Try hard - the Grim Reaper is constantly closing in!

As from the 6th February 2007 will Hugo Hafner's funny game be available for download.

Features:
* Lead an excessive evening of life in your pompous villa!
* Enjoy the presence of the world's most beautiful women
* Parties, press and glamour aplenty are the key to a long life
* Extensively care for your girls
* Clothe your beauties according to your wishes and make generous gifts
* Countless possibilities and actions
* Huge villa with Chill-Out area, love nest and legendary grotto of lust
* Tutorial-tour through the villa
* Savegame
* Highscore
* Simple controls

LucasArts emailed us today to tell us more about Thrillville, their upcoming theme park sim. I've never been a rollercoaster enthusiast particularly, but this bit caught my eye:

Even better, the team has hit the LucasArts vaults to uncover classic original music from past releases to complement themed areas in the game.

[...] "And the use of each piece fits contextually in that 'Disneyland' way Jesse was referring to. For example, you might hear the theme from Escape From Monkey Island in the Pirateville area, music from Gladius in our fantasy area called Ogreville, and the Secret Weapons Over Normandy score in 'Luftwaffe,' a World War II-themed forward-scrolling shooter minigame."

[...] "You'll also hear some Grim Fandango, Outlaws, Sam & Max and more,"

I thought my fellow LucasArts aficionados would appreciate this. Self-reference is such a time-honored part of Lucas games that it in or itself has become self-referential. How meta! Eliza Gauger

The upcoming train game Rail Simulator will be the first game to exploit Philips' amBX technology, which is a system of LED lights, rumble peripherals, heat and fans. In short, it turns your room into a giant rumble pack. The press release says:

By amBX-enabling the game, all the familiar sights, sounds and feelings of the railway experience will be recreated around the player, including wind, track rumble and lighting - both in and out of the tunnels. Signals, tracks, points, buffers and the experience of driving in the cab will come to life through the energy of amBX locomoting the world of the simulated railway out into the real world.

If this sim can also recreate the odor of salarymen hair tonic, the irritating jabber of schoolgirls on cell phones and the warm feeling of being rubbing up against people whose only human contact comes from rush hour train rides, I will buy this. If not, no thanks. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Guardian Games Blog]

Microsoft is roping in digital map maker NAVTEQ to make its forthcoming flight sim all the more realistic. Flight Simulator X will feature detailed information of water and landscape environments. Alice at Wonderland writes that NAVTEQ is used by Google Earth, Google Maps, Yahoo Maps and GPS navigation systems. Game flies into PCs this holiday season, expect a vapor-trail of terrorist fears and overreaction to follow. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Wonderland]

In Ohokuki for the PS2, Tokiko, orphaned after her father committed suicide, enters the household of a Tokugawa Shogun. She tries to rise through the ranks, hoping to become the clan's dominant female. How? Players do things like sneak about and easedrop on conversations, collecting data cards along the way. (Boy, they love those cards in Japan.) The more cards helps raise your status. Also, things like manner are important, giving the game a very dignified feel. Think Metal Gear Solid in kimonos, minus the shooting and the alligator eating. BRIAN ASHCRAFT

More Here [Official Site] Thanks, Chilly!

Screens Here [Watch Impress]

Party girl Bijou Philips *hearts* Will Wright's games. The friend of Paris Hilton and hippy rock spawn, Philips told Stuff Magazine that she sims for kicks. "I play The Sims. I've gotten every single expansion pack for The Sims 2, and I'm obsessed," says the former model, who started snorting coke in her early teens. "I sit online for hours downloading wallpapers and crystal spray paint - I just go nuts. I can sit and design houses and make families forever. I'd rather do that than anything else." Sure beats rehab.

More Here [GameSetWatch]

We all know sue-happy Tom Cruise is easy to piss off. So, we're going to retract our original assumption that this fan-made Sim is in fact Tom. It's not. And we'll go one better by saying the closeted star's brainwashed wife Katie Holmes was really pregnant and actually delivered their new baby girl. We love you Tom and believe every wacko thing you say.

Boy, that image is Michael Jackson freaky.

Thanks Alice... I guess [Wonderland]

In the Desperate Housewives game, players take on the role of a new housewife who moves into Wisteria Lane and unlocks the delicious scandals hidden in the seemingly "perfect" neighborhood.

Buena Vista Games Announces 'Desperate Housewives' PC Game

Train simulation games have quite a following in Japan. In fact, Game Watch Impress lists two sims coming to the PSP. One of them is the Osaka-based Densha De Go! and the Tokyo Mobile Train Simulator. As much as I'm tempted to pick up Densha De Go! (I'm a sucker for titles with exclamation points), Mobile Train Simulator offers pre-order customers a pair of white station master gloves. And yes, I realize there is only one in the picture above.

Full Story Here [Game Watch Impress]