Today's round-up includes news that WorldWinner will co-host the Worldwide Web Games championship with SkillJam, NPD's top-selling PC titles for April, and the Inaugural Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts, Serious Games Source news, product news and Gamasutra job postings.
- Fun Technologies subsidiary WorldWinner announced that it is joining SkillJam Technologies to co-host the Worldwide Web Games, formerly known as the Skill Games World Championship. Together, WorldWinner and SkillJam comprise Fun’s 'Fun Games' division, and both companies are working together to bring casual gamers worldwide an opportunity to compete for the $1 million prize at the Worldwide Web Games finals in September. Available immediately, WorldWinner players can enter tournaments in
Solitaire to qualify for the Worldwide Web Games championship, and the high scorer in each qualifying tournament wins a seat at the finals. WorldWinner plans to add qualifying tournaments in
Bejeweled 2 and
Zuma shortly. Visit
the website for Worldwide Web Games for more information, including how to enter.
- The NPD Group has released its list of best-selling PC games for the month of April.
The Sims 2 Open For Business Expansion Pack took the top spot, followed by
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Another expansion for
The Sims 2, subtitled
Family Fun Stuff, took the third spot, followed by Blizzard's popular MMORPG
World Of Warcraft in fourth. NCsoft's recently released
Guild Wars Factions ranked as the fifth top selling PC title for the month, followed by LucasArts'
Star Wars: Empire At War. Electronic Arts' continues its dominance of the list with
The Sims 2 in the number seven spot, followed by the company's
Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II. Microsoft's popular real-time strategy title
Age of Empires III finished out the top ten in the final spot.
- Several companies and organizations, including EA, Ubisoft, A2M, Auto Desk, Studio B, Voicebox, Nitrogen, Bardel, Western Imperial, David Kaye Productions, Budget Monks, British Columbia Film, Sheridan Institute, VanArts, Selkirk College, and The Art Institute of Vancouver have been confirmed as being on board and backing the new
Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts (CAEAA 2006). The event will serve as a way to bridge the animation and video gaming industries, as well as recognize the students and educators who supply the talent for both trades. The first year of this awards event is being held near Vancouver, BC at the River Rock Theatre on September 14, 2006.
- The latest updates on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include
a look at the History of Videogames "booth" in Kentia Hall at E3, a rather
negative look at SiN Episodes Vol. 1, recently released last week during E3 over Steam, and
a special bikini packed-in to the Limited Edition of the PSP title
Finder Love, out this June in Japan.
- Also updated today:
Serious Games Source news on
a call for papers for Serious Games Summit DC 2006,
public reaction to Darfur Is Dying, an
E3-themed serious game pitched during the conference, and a
feature discussing the merits of using video games to teach students in school, plus Gamasutra product news regarding
EVE Online Getting Vivox Voice Chat, as well as the latest
Gamasutra job postings, featuring openings from ArenaNet, iBase Entertainment, Idol Minds and Splash Damage.
