Helsinki, Finland — Umbra Software, the provider of state of the art rendering optimization middleware, have announced that Guild Wars 2, the highly-anticipated MMO from ArenaNet, is taking advantage of Umbra’s occlusion culling technology. ArenaNet has integrated Umbra’s technology into its rendering pipeline early on in the development process to make sure that the beautiful world of Tyria where Guild Wars 2 is set in is realized in the most optimized fashion possible.

“Umbra 3 provides an excellent solution for our expansive, open world environments. We are very happy with the choice we made with Umbra and the support we’ve been given by the Umbra team” said Patrick Laukaitis; the Senior Software Engineer at ArenaNet who has worked closely with Umbra’s engineering team throughout the production of Guild Wars 2.

“ArenaNet are one of Umbra’s earliest clients and closest partners, so we are excited to see the game nearing completion. Guild Wars 2 is epic in scope, so it’s been a fun challenge to meet the technological needs of Patrick and his team; they’ve really pushed us to take our middleware to the next level” stated Umbra’s Chief Technology Officer Otso Mäkinen.

Guild Wars 2, which has already garnered several most anticipated games of the year awards, is currently in beta and will be released on August 28, 2012.

Umbra 3 is a rendering and performance optimizing middleware that is used to improve frame rates and help to create visually striking game worlds.  Umbra 3 does this by optimizing critical parts of a game such as rendering, audio and game logic. Umbra automatically generates portals for game environments, no matter how large or continuous – completely taking away tedious manual work from artists.

Developers taking full advantage of Umbra’s technology include: Bungie, BioWare, Giant, Guerrilla, IO Interactive, Sony Online Entertainment, Square Enix Inc., Tripwire, NetEase, Remedy Entertainment and many others.

Umbra 3 is available for evaluations from http://www.umbra3.com

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The summer season for games is not as expansive as the winter releases, but the August game releases include some of the biggest games coming out for the summer season: a new Mario game on the horizon, a sequel to the popular Transformers game, and an introduction to the next Square Enix game Sleeping Dogs. The August game releases show much promise to some exciting games.

Action

8/7 Persona 4 Arena (PS3, Xbox 360)

8/14 Darksiders II (PS3, Xbox 360)

8/14 Sleeping Dogs (PS3, Xbox 360)

8/19 New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo 3DS)

8/21 Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (PS3, Xbox 360)

8/28 Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron (PS3, Xbox 360)

8/28 Ratchet & Clank Collection (PS3)

8/28 Journey Collector’s Edition (PS3)

Persona 4 Arena is a new take on ATLUS’ most popular game franchise. ATLUS is taking the characters from Persona 4 and putting them into a fighting game. Each character will have special moves and combos based on their focal traits from the RPG, and there will be various levels that will showcase some of the scenes from the RPG. Persona 4 Arena was actually a Japanese Arcade game, but due to the dying arcade franchises in the US, the Arcade game was never released in the States, but instead has been turned into a console game.

Sleeping Dogs is a new game by Square Enix, and with the financial success of Deus Ex and Final Fantasy 13-2, Square Enix is looking to further success with a new franchise. The game focuses on the player playing as an undercover cop in Hong Kong to take on the Triads in a Grand Theft Auto style open-world city. The style garnered high appeal at E3.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the continuation of the revamped side-scrolling Mario adventure. This is the 3DS version of the New Super Mario Bros. series, with the console New Super Mario Bros. game to come out for the Wii U later this year. The game  is all about collecting coins, with new powers and game modes which focus entirely on collecting coins. So instead of just going around to collect the most 1-Ups you could possibly get, players must now compete to see who can collect the most coins.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is the sequel to the successful Transformers: War for Cybertron. The game brings in more expansive levels for the game missions and multiplayer maps and also introduces a few new features to the game. The online mode customization is back and more expansive with new transforming abilities and weapons to pick and choose from, and the game also features the ability for players to transform into dinobots.

RPG

8/14 The Last Story (Nintendo Wii)

8/28 Guild Wars 2 (PC)

Guild Wars 2 brings back the popular MMO to the forefront in this new installment. With the human race in decline, different species have starting coming out to the forefront to strive and take over humanity. Guild Wars 2 introduces an in-depth story being told through the game in which every action the player takes leads to changes in future events. The game also includes a new action-oriented combat system to change the combat flow from your typical RPG to a more faced paced combat feel.

With the addition of a Player Vs. Player mode, Guild Wars 2 also has a World Vs. World mode, in which hundreds of players compete for domination over various expansive maps in one large scale battle. The game also does not have a subscription fee in-order to play the game, so once the game has been purchased, the player can jump right in without having to pay for a subscription in order to play the game, as most MMOs require now.

Sports

8/28 Madden NFL 13 (Nintendo Wii, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox 360)

Madden NFL 13 truly seems to be the next generation in sports games. The game features a new physics engine powered by the infinity engine, a massive connected Career network, and Madden Social which adds a more unique experience with challenging against your friends. The game also introduces the Madden Ultimate Team, which allows players to build their own team by using both NFL and fantasy players.

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The following is a list of games that will be released in June of 2012 with their respective dates and console releases. The games coming out in June of this year vary from several re-releases to a couple movie tie-in games to some unique original projects which have the potential of becoming some of the hottest games of the year! It will be interesting to see which of these games will last the span of time or fall into the abyss shortly after their release.

Action

6/5- Madagascar 3: The Video Game (Nintendo Wii, DS, 3DS, PS3, Xbox 360)

6/10- Pinkmin 2 Selects (Nintendo Wii)

6/12- 4 in 1 Action Pack (PS3)

6/12- Gravity Rush (PS Vita)

6/12- iCarly: Groovy Foodie (DS)

6/12- Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, Xbox 360)

6/12- Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection (PS Vita)

6/12- Phantom Breaker (Xbox 360)

6/19- Disney Pixar Brave: The Video Game (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS, PS3, Xbox 360)

6/19- Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Nintendo Wii, DS, 3DS, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox 360)

6/19- Steel Battalion Heavy Armor (Xbox 360 Kinect)

6/26- The Amazing Spider-Man (Nintendo Wii, DS, 3DS, PS3, Xbox 360)

‘Pinkmin 2 Selects’ is a re-re-release of the popular Nintendo classic and is a greatest hits release of the re-release of ‘Pinkmin 2′ for the Wii.

‘Lollipop Chainsaw’ is a new take on the zombie “beat ‘em up” genre, led by SUDA 51. The story, written by James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead), is about Juliet Starling fighting off hoards of zombies at her school, San Romero High, with the living head of her boyfriend. The GameStop pre-order exclusive includes the alternate costume Ashley Williams from the Evil Dead Series.

Just like the PS3 and Xbox 360 release, the ‘Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection’ is a high-definition remake of Metal Gears 2 and 3 for the PS Vita.

‘Lego Batman 2′ is a sequel to the popular Lego Batman game, but this time, players have the opportunity to play as other DC super heroes, as players fight off minions of the Joker and Lex Luthor and, like the other games in the Lego series, players have the option to drop in and out for co-op play.

‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is a return to the Spider-Man movie tie-in games, and like the movie it is based on, this is going to be an attempt to revive the series after the abysmal failure that was Spider-Man 3 the movie/game as well as the lack luster standalone Spider-Man games.

RPG

6/1- End of Nations (PC)

6/12- Gungnir (PSP)

6/18- Pokemon Conquest (DS)

6/19- Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Gods and Kings Expansion (PC)

6/19- The Secret World (PC)

6/26- Guild Wars 2 (PC)

6/26- Record of Agarest War 2 (PS3)

‘Pokemon Conquest’ takes Pokemon battles and adds a new twist to it. Instead of the turn-based combat in a typical Pokemon game, it now has a tactical RPG combat system, where the player controls his team of Pokemons on a battlefield while defeating other warlords and having them join your party in conquest of the Pokemon Kingdom.

‘The Secret World’ is a very unique MMO that has done something almost no MMO has ever done. ‘The Secret World’ takes place in the modern world and is based on every myth, legend, and conspiracy that exists in this world. Players are thrown into the game with a clean slate. You play the game the way you want; there are no classes or leveling in the game. Players make their own decisions on what their characters will become, and they can choose the abilities that they want. This is definitely one of the more unique MMOs to come out this year.

‘Guild Wars 2′ is the long awaited sequel to the MMO ‘Guild Wars’. ‘Guild Wars 2′ features dynamic events that change as time progresses, and the events the players participate in affect other events in the game. The series also introduces a new, more action-based combat system to bring in more rapid-paced, intense action.

Shooter

6/1- Inversion (PS3, Xbox 360)

6/1- Max Payne 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

6/12- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier (PC)

6/26- Spec Ops: The Line (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

‘Max Payne 3′ is the very long awaited sequel to the Max Payne series. The game focuses on a new shooting mechanic for more precision gun play and also revamps the famous bullet time as seen in the original Max Payne series. ‘Max Payne 3′ also features a multiplayer mode that features the combat system and cinematic feel of the single player game and the traditional modes of the average multiplayer mode. ‘Max Payne 3′ is a new perspective on the original Rockstar series for the PS2 and Xbox.

‘Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier’ is a continuation of the Ghost Recon series. There are several different modes in the new Ghost Recon series, such as co-op with up to three other players, PvP mode, and Guerrilla mode (players and teammates fight waves of enemies). The game also introduces Gunsmith mode, in which the player customizes all their weapons for an increase in game customization.

‘Spec Ops: The Line’ is a third person shooter that will attempt to give players a truly brutal war experience. As the player leads their delta squad through the remains of a destroyed Dubai, the players will be thrown into a unique battle zone of sand, sand, and more sand. This detailed focus on the in-game sand mechanics offers a very unique experience in desert combat. Players will be fighting their way through gunfights that take place through intense sandstorms as well as sand avalanches. This is indeed true desert combat at its core.

Sports

6/12- DiRT Showdown (PS3, Xbox360)

6/26- Summer Stars 2012 (Nintendo Wii)

Simulation

6/5- Sims 3 Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats Pack (PC)

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