“Millions of players have experienced these worlds over the years, and this will open the door for long time players to revisit those memories while inviting new audiences to discover them for the first time,” said New Business vice president Deborah Papiernik. “Atari has a rich gaming legacy and deep appreciation for these classic titles, we’re excited to see how they’ll evolve and connect with players in fresh, meaningful ways.”

With this acquisition, Atari has stated that it intends to bring back these smaller gaming experiences to a new audience, with releases being planned for current platforms with “renewed publishing frameworks”. Along with re-releasing the games under Atari’s publishing label, the company has also confirmed that it plans to work on expanding the audiences for them with new content and extended distribution channels as well.

“Ubisoft and Atari both have a legacy of crafting worlds that players can fall in love with — games that resonate with generations of players not just for how they played, but for how they made us feel,” Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen. “We’re excited to reintroduce these titles while also exploring ways to expand and evolve these franchises.”

For context, all of the IPs acquired by Atari have been dormant for quite some time, with the most recent of the releases being Grow Up, which came out in 2016 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The oldest among these acquired IP is 2005’s Cold Fear, which was originally released on PC, PS2 and Xbox.

Atari has been expanding its portfolio quite a bit. Back in July, the company had announced a deal with Thunderful Group, which ended up with the company becoming an 82 percent of Thunderful Group’s shares and votes. As part of this deal, around €4.5 million worth of shares were issued, amounting to 333,333,334 new ordinary shares. This announcement also came in light of Thunderful Group going through a rough financial period which also resulted in the company laying off around 20 percent of its workforce.

“This transaction marks another important milestone in Atari’s development with the expansion of its publishing and development capabilities in the European region,” said Rosen about the agreement. “Thunderful is recognized for publishing and developing critically acclaimed games, and with the announced transformation plan, as well as the quality and commitment of Thunderful’s teams, we are confident that Thunderful will be returning to a profitable growth path while helping to further develop Atari operations in Europe.”

As for Ubisoft, the French gaming company had recently opened up a new subsidiary with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’s son Charlie Guillemot taking up the position of co-CEO of this new subsidiary alongside Christophe Derennes. The new subsidiary was founded as part of a €1.16 billion deal between Ubisoft and Tencent.

To wind down the year, Microsoft has some free games to offer Xbox Live Gold subscribers in December 2017 as part of its free Games With Gold promotion. The four games in question include Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide and Back to the Future: The Game – 30th Anniversary Edition, both for the Xbox One.

Xbox 360 players – or those taking advantage of backwards compatibility on the Xbox One – can play Child of Eden (from the creator of cult classic Rez) and Marlow Briggs and The Mask of Death, a hack and slash title. If you download any of these games, they’ll be a part of your library forever.

Each game has a different availability window though. Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide is available from December 1st to 31st but Back to the Future: The Game – 30th Anniversary Edition will be available December 16th to January 15th 2018. Meanwhile, Child of Eden will be available from December 1st to 15th but Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death will be available from December 16th to 31st.

The PS3 version of Child of Eden gets a new trailer titled Lumi. Check that above.

Child of Eden thrusts the player into the centre of a battle to save Project Lumi, a mission to reproduce a human personality inside Eden, the archive of all human memories. As the project nears completion, the archive is invaded by an unknown virus. The player’s mission is to save Eden from the virus, restoring hope and peace.

The game is due on  September 27th, 2011. Stay tuned to GB for more news and updates.

The game launches on the PS3 on September 30th and will support Playstation Move and 3D stereoscopic support. “The PlayStation Move captures a full range of motion giving you ultimate control over how you play the game,” Ubisoft said. “There are other added bonuses, like the ability to hook up multiple controllers for added sensory effects.”

Ubisoft has released a new trailer for Move, which you can check below. Also check out our Child of Eden review, our Author gave it a 7.5 stating, “An innovative new IP that breaks the mould and proves to be a breath of fresh air. Using a normal pad it’s a fantastic game but with Kinect, it’s an altogether better experience.”

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Adding fuel to the contradictory bonfire that gamers cry for originality and then don’t buy the titles that try for it, Shadows Of The Damned and Child Of Eden have, predictably, flopped sales-wise, despite massive critical praise – Shadows Of The Damned selling a measly 24,000 copies on the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined, with Child Of Eden faring a little better with 34,000 copies sold. That’s still not great mind. Duke Nukem: Forever is still selling surprisingly well though, even if not as well as had been predicted. Just thought I’d chuck that in there…

Thanks to Gamesradar for the info.

Ubisoft and Tetsuya Mizuguchi – pioneer of top music games such as Rez, Space Channel 5 and Lumines – have managed to breathe some fresh life in to Kinect, and give us all a reason to blow the dust of an otherwise expensive luxury.

Child of Eden is a treat for the senses

Child of Eden is a surreal and equally hypnotic treat for the senses that reels you in and keeps you hooked until your eyes bleed. Fans of Rez will know exactly what to expect; a screen awash with colour, while chirpy tunes teem from your speakers. The plot is largely irrelevant but sees you charged with saving Project Lumi – an archive of human memories – which is being attacked by viruses. There’s some metaphorical subtext going on about the internet or “Eden” – but all you really need to know is that there are lots of creatures flying about that need to be shot before they shoot you. Look beyond the music and colours, and it’s a simple single-player rail shooter at heart, but one that really should be experienced.

Depending on your chosen control method, it actually feels like two games in one. A standard pad can be used to guide the reticule about the screen and zap enemies. The occasional rumble that pulsates up your arms in time with the musical effects and explosions draws you into the game… Switch to Kinect, however, and the fun factor is the same while the experience is wholly different.

Unlike previous Kinect titles that require a play area of epic proportions and the player to jump about the place like an idiot, Child of Eden is certainly more forgiving and low impact; players largely remain stationary and use only their arm movements to control and shoot. Moving your right arm to lock on to up to eight enemies feels satisfying – the camera capturing your every movement with ease. It’s fast and fluid, and extremely fun. With the bad guys in your sights, a simple push of the hand fires the weapon and exterminates the little suckers. Destroying viruses to coincide with the beat of the music provides a hefty boost to your score, although you’ll no doubt be too engrossed by the goings on onscreen to notice.

There’s plenty going on onscreen

Incoming bullets and certain viruses can only be dealt with by using a weaker – but faster firing – laser controlled by your left arm, whereas raising both arms in the air detonates a “Euphoria” smart bomb and wipes out everything in your path. More bombs and additional health can be gained by shooting power-up orbs that occasionally pop up on screen.

At the end of each mission, stars are awarded based on how many enemies have been cleared, game time and power ups collected.

Much like Flower showcased six axis control on the PS3 a few years ago, Child of Eden perfectly uses the technology trapped inside the Kinect camera. While the controller option is available, opting for Kinect is by far a more enjoyable and altogether more surreal experience.

Players should note, however, that switching hands/weapons can occasionally cause a few seconds of confusion onscreen, and woe betide you if you have an unexpected itch during the game!

There are a few other niggles too, namely that the game is monumentally short with only a few hours max required for a playthrough of the five levels. The fact that death at any stage during a level will also require you to start over and play the entire segment again, also proves a little frustrating.

Full retail price is a lot to ask for such a short game and, in that sense it’s fairly difficult to score this. It’s hugely enjoyable and innovative, and it is perfectly suited to Kinect and the whole motion control concept – but it’s a lot of money for a game that can be completed in a single sitting.

A great game but it’s so short

Longevity is extended a little thanks to all the add-ons and content that can be unlocked during repeated playthroughs, and there’s also a challenge mode that should keep high score hunters happy. But is it really enough?

Objectively, as a game – or an experience – Child of Eden is one to be savoured and is definitely worth a purchase. If the budget is tight or there are other titles on your radar, perhaps a rental may prove sufficient. Personally, this is one game I’d keep coming back to in months to come and would readily load to show off Kinect to anyone doubting its abilities…

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360

Ubisoft have released a launch trailer for their new PS Move and Kinect shooter/sensory overload.

It certainly looks like an interesting one. Check out the trailer above.

Most trailers I have seen of the game, I don’t know if I am supposed to tripping on something or saving something or it’s a rhythm game.  In this trailer Ubisoft explains how the game works a little more as well as the Kinect controls and such.. just remember the future is in your hands… TRIPPPY!  Whew!  Xbox will see its release on June 14th while Playstation 3 users will have to wait until September.

The PS3 version of Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Rez-style shooter, Child of Eden, won’t be coming out until a few months after the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Ubisoft have supposedly pushed back the PS3 version to a targeted September release.

The 360 version seems unaffected by the delay and is set for its release on June 17th.

Thanks to IGN for the info.

Ubisoft have released a new trailer for the upcoming Kinect title, Child of Eden, and it looks pretty good till now. The trailer shows some gameplay sections, nothing new. But the music is serious sh*t.

Have a look above.