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Check out the new screens for Sega's Stormrise, heading to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

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I know it's not exactly news, but for those of you who suck at Naruto: Rise of a Ninja fear not - for there's a master over at the game's Xbox forum who is now offering training sessions Monday through Thursday, 6-8pm EST (though he's only accepting two appointments/night; weekend appointments vary).

Click here if you're a fan and curious about what this Naruto master could teach you. Thanks goes to Michael Smith. I'm waiting for Microsoft to start offering personal gaming tutors and charging MS points for the service.

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The history of video games and the industry thereof is very interesting and conveniently very short. It's sad, though, how few people are familiar with it. People know about the Atari and Pong and all that, but after that exists some kind of inky mystery period until the NES came around and "generations" became so easy to measure.

Those people should be pleased to know that the Discovery Channel is beginning a five-part look at the video game legacy starting tonight at 8pm called Rise of the Video Game.

Sometimes "mainstream" coverage of video game history can be pretty shaky (anyone who went to the "Game On" video game exhibit at the science museum in Chicago might understand), but from the episode guide it looks like the series will be going into great detail. Set your TiVo/Generic DVRs!

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Koei, which just released its Bladestorm for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, has announced that it is developing Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power, another historical simulation, exclusively for the PlayStation 2; the game will be available at North American retailers on February 5, 2008.

The Nobunaga series actually debuted in 1983 and has seen several renditions on the NES, GameBoy, SNES, the Sega Genesis, and most recently the PlayStation 2 and PC.

"The Nobunaga's Ambition series defined the simulation genre when it first debuted in 1983. The engrossing gameplay in many ways set the standard by which all other console simulation games would be measured," said Amos Ip, Senior Vice President at KOEI Corporation. "The franchise continues to be enjoyed around the world and has garnered numerous awards. Now, with Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power the engrossing strategy and simulation elements are presented in a rich 3D environment. KOEI is excited to reintroduce the Nobunaga's Ambition series to veteran players and to a new generation of fans."

Hit the jump for more game details straight from Koei.

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This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

The folks over at Codemasters and Liquid Entertainment have officially released the first trailer today of their upcoming action/RPG title, Rise of the Argonauts, for the PC and next-generation platforms.

Rise of the Argonauts is planned to launch in 2008 and currently has a RP rating by the ESRB. Check out the trailer by clicking the link below.

View Trailer Now

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This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

In more slightly profound Electronic Arts news, the company has officially announced the development of The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-king (and yes, that's one long title and not three distinctly separate games - go figure). The Rise of the Witch-king is the first expansion pack to the real-time strategy game Batte for Middle-earth II and "will enhance every existing feature and offer players the chance to command the rise of evil in Middle-earth while experiencing the epic battles that took place before those depicted in the New Line Cinema films."Full of exciting content, including an entirely new faction, completely new single player campaign, and additional units for all six existing factions, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-King, allows players to explore the evil side of Middle-earth.  The all new single player campaign’s innovative units will help to tell the story of the evil Witch-King’s rise to power, domination of Angmar and invasion of the great kingdom of Arnor, home to Aragorn’s ancestors.  To fully experience the evil side of Middle-earth, gamers can now play as the Angmar faction in skirmish, multiplayer, and War of the Ring modes.Experience a whole new depth of strategy and upgraded War of the Ring and Create-A-Hero features.  Create-A-Hero’s entirely unique Troll class boasts additional weapons and armor that will allow players to have even more freedom in customizing their game play.  War of the Ring, a risk-style meta-game, offers upgraded army persistence, a new siege dynamic on the Living World Map, and unified territories that serve as major control points.   "The Lord of Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-King will transport players to a new time and place in Middle-earth while adding strategic depth to the innovative gameplay gamers loved in The Lord of Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II," said Mike Verdu, Executive Producer at EALA.  "Fans will love exploring the evil side of Middle-earth as described in Tolkien's fiction and brought to life in the visual style of the New Line Cinema films. This game is set to deliver the ultimate RTS Middle-earth experience."The Rise of the Witch-King expansion pack will require The Battle for Middle-earth II in order to play and should see release during this holiday season, but only for the PC.

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This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Nate Francis.

Think you're the baddest general ever to grind an opponent into paste in Big Huge Games' Rise of Legends? Well, young one, there's forty grand at stake if you can prove it.

In a press release today, Big Huge Games has announced the "Rise of the Ultimate Champion" tournament. Gamers from around the world will have the chance to do battle with the best of the best, with $100,000 in cash and prizes to be tossed out to the best of the best - including a whopping $40,000 grand prize for the champion. From the press release:Participants can play in one of three preliminary events that will take place beginning Sept. 15, Oct 13, and Nov. 17, 2006. Results from the first three events will be used to determine seeding for the Ultimate Championship, which kicks off Jan. 12, 2007. The top eight will win a trip to the finals where they will battle it out for the title of Ultimate Champion!

For more information, visit the official contest website.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Nate Francis.

It's been more than a decade now since Westwood Studios wrenched PC gaming forward with the landmark title Command and Conquer. That genre-defining event set the stage for a virtual real-time strategy takeover of the PC gaming market, as a host of development and publishing outfits rushed to get their own RTS titles to market and utterly saturated it. Since that time, however, there've been few releases that have truly moved the RTS format forward. The Total War series blended in strategic world maps and a nonlinear scenario advancement build; Warcraft III gave us the concept of a hero that was nearly an army unto itself, whose use of special powers could help break even superior forces.

As the industry waits for the next godsend that will drive the genre into true "next-gen" territory, Microsoft and Big Huge Games have teamed up to launch the anticipated sequel to the award-winning title Rise of Nations. Rise of Legends takes the player out of the "real" and into a mythical land where gunpowder and steam engines contest with malevolent magic and fantasy creatures for the fate of the world.

Brian Reynold's team was assembled with one goal in mind: Make a better game than Rise of Nations. "You can never be satisfied," said executive producer Tim Train in a recent interview. "Don't get me wrong, we're proud of Rise of Nations, but when we sat down to consider what our next game would be, all we kept talking about were the things in Rise of Nations we felt we could have done better." Particularly unhappy with the game's dated graphics engine, Big Huge Games back-burner-ed RoN 2, and updated its money franchise with the Rise of Legends title.

So was it worth it?

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Midway Games today announced an exclusive publishing agreement with Stainless Steel Studios to release for Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War for the PC Winter 2005.

"Stainless Steel Studios is known for creating revolutionary, real-time strategy games that appeal to a worldwide audience," said David F. Zucker, president and chief executive officer of Midway. "This relationship and the upcoming launch of Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War will further establish Midway in the premium PC market."

"We are very excited to be working with Midway, a publisher who is truly committed to creating the highest quality games in the industry," said Rick Goodman, president of Stainless Steel Studios. "With its unprecedented gameplay, historical accuracy and unique elements, Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War will be one of the most ambitious RTS games to date."

Check out the first screenshots below.

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Originally written by Tim Grube

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Rumor is swirling on PlayStation boards that Need For Speed Underground: Rivals will feature an online mode.

This would be similar to the recently announced 989 Sports titles, ATV Offroad Fury and Twisted Metal: Head-On. Currently, this is still just a rumor, but if true it could lead to the assumption that EA Sports titles would also be online.

We'll keep you posted if and when further details come about from Electronic Arts.

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Originally written by Brian Mohr

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