Round-Up: Scarface, Esuvee.com, Nintendo Store

Today's round-up includes news of Vivendi's little gaming friend, a road safety campaign using games to communicate its message, as well as an official opening date for Nintendo's first ever stand-alone store in New York. - Though news of the game's existence has been circulating for some time, Vivendi Universal Games formally announced their Scarface game today, which carries the official title of Scarface: The World is Yours. Picking up in an alternate scenario where gangster Tony Montana survived the assault on his Miami home, the game puts players in his shoes as he tries to re-establish his criminal empire. Al Pacino, who played Montana in the 1983 film, has licensed his likeness (though not his voice) to Vivendi for the game, despite being the lone holdout in The Godfather's cast not to lend his support to EA's game adaptation of that film. - The Esuvee Safety Campaign has announced a web-based advergame to promote safe practices when driving sport-utility vehicles, as part of their $27 million project to reduce SUV rollovers. Players of the game at the campaign's website at esuvee.com, are challenged to navigate six checkpoints within the course, though they can also simply drive around freely if they wish. Either way, they must focus on balancing the load inside the car and maintaining the correct tire pressure to avoid rolling their SUV over. "The simulation is fun to play but it also makes important points that can mean the difference between life or death when operating an SUV," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. - Nintendo has officially announced the upcoming opening of their first Nintendo World Store, previously hinted at in want ads for a new retail space. The World Store will replace the Pokémon Center at its current location in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, though the two-floor presence will still play host to plenty of Pokémon merchandise in addition to its other goods. The grand opening will be held on May 14th, and the store will provide "a venue for tourists, teens, families, gamers and interactive entertainment fans of all ages to play new games and sample upcoming ones," said Nintendo VP of Marketing George Harrison. - Also updated today: product news involving new software suite features for Virtools, as well as newly updated jobs from Big Blue Bubble, ITT Technical Institute, LucasArts, LucasFilm, and NCSoft.