Army of Two ships to retailers

Electronic Arts announced that it has begun shipping its new co-operative third person shooter, Army of Two , to retailers today. While many of the press releases and trailers say the game is releasing either tomorrow or Friday, the boxes are shipping marked “Rush to floor”. So if you're looking to pick up a copy in store, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

Developed by EA Montreal, Army of Two features a new take on co-operative gameplay, as players can seamlessly switch from an A.I. partner to live players, on or offline. One of the more interesting aspects of the game's co-op intensive gameplay is actually the partner A.I. though, as it is built to learn and adapt to work well with players as they play through the game, like a live partner would. However, EA prefers to tout the game's live multiplayer experience.

” We’re focused on providing a great multiplayer experience for players as they engage in complex extraction and bounty missions that make them feel as if they are fighting alongside and against some of the toughest combatants the military world has to offer,” said Alain Tascan, VP and General Manager of EA Montreal and Executive Producer of Army of Two . “ Allowing people to play online together through the campaign or versus mode, we’re encouraging players to approach a shooter game in a new light through close collaboration and a higher level of team work that no other game has offered.”

Army of Two is available now for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for $59.99 USD and CAD and is rated M for Mature.

Panasonic sponsors gamer

We'd like to congratulate professional gamer Tom “Tsquared” Taylor on getting a sponsorship from Panasonic. The announcement was made today by Panasonic Projector Systems Company (PJSC), a unit of Panasonic Corporation of North America, which has partnered with Major League Gaming to have “Tsquared” promote a new “gaming friendly” projector. “Tsquared” is a member of one of Major League Gaming's tournament teams, Str8 Rippin, one of the League's top Halo 4-on-4 competitive teams. This past November, the team placed second in a Halo 2 4-on-4 tournament at the Ford MLG Canadian Open, taking home a total of $10,000.

Now “Tsquared” gets to make even more money through this sponsorship, promoting Panasonic products, specifically Panasonic's PT-AX200U high-def projector, which he demonstrated to reporters and attendees at this year's CES in Las Vegas. Just take a look at what he had to say about the projector, “ Panasonic's AX200 is truly in a class by itself. This is the only projector I'll ever need to use. I practice on it at home before tournaments, use it for casual gaming and it’s great for watching sports with my friends”.

What he forgets, and probably isn't allowed, to mention is the fact that the projector doesn't even do full 1080p resolution, meaning his hig-def Xbox 360 experience, as indicated by the controller he's holding in the photo to the side, won't be the full experience. Of course, we can't blame “Tsquared” for wanting to be sponsored. Sponsorship means money, and money means that he gets to continue doing what he loves for a living. And really, that even makes being a corporate shill worth it. Tom “Tsquared” Taylor will be participating in Panasonic events and promotional opportunities throughout the year, alongside his activity in this season's MLG Pro Circuit events:

• MLG Pro Circuit Event 1, April 11-13: Meadowlands, NJ

• MLG Pro Circuit Event 2, June 13-15: San Diego, CA

• MLG Pro Circuit Event 3, July 11-13: Orlando, FL

• MLG Pro Circuit Event 4, August 22-24: Toronto

• MLG Pro Circuit Event 5, October 3-5: Dallas, TX

For more information on Major League Gaming, check out www.mlgpro.com. In Canada, go to www.mlgcanada.com.

Mario & Sonic hits 5 million in sales

SEGA announced today that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has sold five million copies worldwide. The game, developed by SEGA for Wii and Nintendo DS, the game includes a couple of major video game milestones for both Nintendo and SEGA. The title brought Mario and Sonic together in a video game for the first time ever. Also, in the spirit of the Olympic Games, a number of Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog franchise characters, aside from Mario and Sonic themselves, appeared in the game, to compete in various Olympic events.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was published by SEGA across Europe and North America, and by Nintendo in Japan, making its worldwide debut on November 6, 2007 when the game released at retailers throughout North America. According to the NPD Group, which tracks sales data in the United States, the game was one of the top-ten best-sellers in the United States – across all platforms – in the critical holiday sales month of December.