We have all been treated to screens of Pirates of the Burning Sea. In fact, onlookers of the game have been taking sneak peeks - mostly two at a time - at how the game will look like. And though these previews were pretty amazing, it was the game's promise of epic-scale naval battles and exciting treasure hunts that lured the pirate in most of us. But the Flying Lab offering's wonders do not end there. In fact, it has much more to offer than just the regular pirate lootings and scrimmages.

Gracing the Penny Arcade Expo 2006, Pirates of the Burning Sea's producer John Scott Tynes let slip that the MMO's feature list will now include avatar combat. The extremely tactical new feature will come in the following forms:

• Musketry. Master the good ol' art of gun - risk being an easy target while trying to be an accurate shooter by standing still.
• Fencing. Classic swordplay is all about getting the upper hand - and that's what you need to perfect in this initiative-based form.
• Brawling. Hand-to-hand combat style: here's your chance to do that smash-a-beer-bottle-in-the-enemy's-head move that looked oh-so-cool in the movies.

This avatar battles will be character and player skill-based, with movement, positioning, and facing being the major factors in determining one's defensive and offensive abilities. With land missions acting as the "avatar combat-arama", players can count on more variety for Pirates' land activities.

Currently, the game is suffering from a good audience rapport- even the developers will admit this. Dana Massey of MMORPG.com, however, says that although the game on a demo screen projects a non-exciting energy, a shot at the demo might actually overcome the first impression. As Massey shares, "I saw hosts of gamers dismiss it out of hand, and then change their mind after a turn at the demo station. They seem to have achieved a good pace to sailing and simplified it enough to make it easy to use."

Well, the game is fully funded and those who are convinced that the game is a worthy wait will surely have a Flying Lab treasure sailing their way June of next year. For those who have yet to be convinced, you still have lots of months to marvel at what Pirates of the Burning Sea has to offer...who knows, nine months from now you might actually be one of those waiting for the game's release.

Those who are eagerly waiting for Pirates of the Burning Sea can now start singing "A-pirating we will go" or some song in the same vein, because as it turns out, the folks at Flying Lab Software know how to keep promises. They said they'll be announcing the launch date of their upcoming title at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), and guess what? They did.

All the swashbuckling and plundering and various piratey activities will commence once the game hits shelves in June 2007. By the time of its release, Pirates of the Burning Sea will have been in development for almost five years and in beta testing for a year and a half, so expect a game with extra-polished and innovative gameplay.

Speaking of gameplay, Flying Lab also announced at PAX the addition of avatar combat to Pirates. This means that when you board an enemy ship in the game, you'll be able to duel the opposing captain. It's a feature that fans have been clamoring for for quite some time now, and this announcement will surely keep them busy counting down the days until Pirates is released.

Freedom Wings is a flight simulation game developed by Natsume, Taito Corporation for the DS.

The plot? "Aerial pirates" have taken over our once-safe-skies. Because of this, the government created the Air Patrol Association, which is made up of the world's top pilots. Their job? To put an end to these pirates' reign.

This game makes use of the handheld's touch screen, features tons of missions and aerial combat, as well as a wide array of aircraft and weapons at your disposal.

To have a better idea of how this game looks like, take a peek at these videos we have for you.

Download: [Freedom Wings Video 1]
Download: [Freedom Wings Video 2]

WizKids introduced the constructible strategy game (CSG) genre with the launch of "Pirates" in 2004. That game sold out a month before it was released (they initially produced enough sets to last them two years, or so they thought). After it sold out, it went on to the mass market.

Packaged like a collectible card game, "Pirates" had players use die-cut parts from each card to construct 3D galleons, schooners, and pirate ships, seeking treasure on the high seas while fending off enemy attacks, arrrrr. The game is quite easy to learn and fast to play. Each game pack contains everything a person needs to play, including two ships, crew and treasure, an island, complete rules, and a die.

Pirates CSG Online is expected to launch this fall, featuring sea monsters and the supernatural with the Pirates of Davy Jones Curse and an online version of WizKid's upcoming Pirates board game, "The Quest for Davy Jones Gold."

Why this fall? We're guessing it's because September 19 is "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" (we kid you not, that's a real day and some of us here will celebrate that day by writing like pirates, hearken me hearties, arrrrr).

Anyway, about the game. The online game will feature tools to manage offline and online Pirates CSG collections, as well as quick and easy match-making for a variety of two-player and multiplayer game formats and scenarios, a robust fleet-building utility, secure ship trading, league and tournament play, and great promotional tie-ins between the offline and online versions of the game.

Considering the buzz over other pirate games, this game should prove to be treasure chest.

It's said that "the Devil is in the details..." In the case of Pirates of The Burning Sea, this means avatars and how they move.

Awhile back, one of the PoTBS team members was presented with a problem. Justinian was informed that data involving avatars' position  and animations was being sent back and forth between the client and server far more often than necessary.

The result: avatar animations  that resembled a Michael Jackson parody or a bad music video (characters popping from one place to another, sliding around without  leg and  feet movement, shaking and shivering as if having the "java  jitters," etc. The human avatars were bad enough - the chickens(!) were apparently even worse (yes, there ARE chickens in PoTBS!!)

Character animation in video games is a highly technical issue, with entire books written on the topic (if it was easy, EVERYONE would be doing it, right?) To put it simply, the solution lay in coming up with an entire new communication method in which the server sends the avatar's destination and time of arrival, allowing the client to determine out how to get there. The client will pre-calculate  the path,  which the avatar follows until it getting additional instructions from the server.

The length of the interval between data messages will be determined by the relative importance of the avatar. For example, town NPCs need few instructions, and can have long intervals as they walk around town. They "select" a destination, and no more data is transmitted until they reach it.  Players' avatars, on the other hand, require frequent updates as they move, since these must be properly synchronized on the different servers.

Justin says: "This has definitely been a really fun project to work on, despite a few frustrations and setbacks. And unless you've got a much faster net connection than I do at home, I think your network connection will be able to breath a sigh of relief as you watch all the chickens run around. Because come on.. who cares about NPCs and shops? Towns have chickens!"

Chickens...? Even Sims 2 Pets and The Movies don't have those. Apparently, the Devil is keeping company with poultry in those details.

A juicy plot summary for The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass washed up on the Camp Hyrule website earlier today. The news reveals some interesting points, including how the game will feature some characters seen in Wind Waker. Here is the summary as it appeared on the site:

Many months have passed since the events of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Link, Tetra and Tetra’s band of pirates have set sail in search of new lands. They come across a patch of ocean covered in dense fog, in which they discover an abandoned ship. Tetra falls into danger when she explores the ship alone, and Link falls into the ocean when he attempts to rescue her. When he washes up unconscious on the shores of a mysterious island, he is awakened by the sound of a fairy’s voice. With the aid of this fair, he sets off to find Tetra - and his way back to the seas he once knew.

The game clearly features the same Link as seen in Wind Waker, so there are no confusing generation gaps like in other games of the series. It must also be noted that the beginning of the story follows the same pattern as Link's Awakening for the GameBoy: Link falls into the ocean and washes up on a mysterious shore. The awakening by a fairy is taken straight from Ocarina of Time.

It sounds like Phantom Hourglass has a solid story, an important aspect in any game. The summary left me to wonder how hourglasses are involved. Does this game harness the aspect of time like in Majora's Mask? Sadly, these mysteries won't be solved for a while. Nintendo is once again reminding us that good things come to those who wait.

At one point or another in our lives, each and every one of us must have thought to ourselves, "I wanna board me a ship, cut me some throats and make people walk the plank."

Okay, maybe saying "all" is a bit of a stretch, but if there are any of you out there who have thought this thought, then Pirates of the Burning Sea just might be the game you're looking for.

Thinking about giving the game a shot? Check out the screenshots for a sneak peek. FlyingLab will announce the release date for Pirates during PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo, on August 25th.

   
   

Piracy may be en vogue these days, thanks to the swaggering Capt. Sparrow, but it can get you in trouble with the law in the real world. Just ask Jason Jones, owner of ACME LA videogames shop, and his partner Jonathan Bryant. The partners in business and crime were caught selling illegally modded Xboxes.

The two admitted charging customers between $225 to $500 per Xbox bundled with 50 pirated games. The pirates' high sailing days were cut short after Entertainment Software Association bought one of the consoles at their store. Jason and Bryant were ordered to pay ESA a $2648 fine plus they have to wear an electronic tracking ankle bracelet for six months. They also got a three-year probation.

A third person, Pei "Patrick" Cai, who was allegedly responsible for modding the consoles remains at large and is now a fugitive in the eyes of the US attorney's office. Though not the kind of criminal you'd see on America's Most Wanted, still it's a life no modder (or gamer) would want.

Today, Nintendo released a press announcement stating that the new Nintendo DS Browser will be released this coming October 6, with a price of £30. The browser has already been released in Japan only a few weeks ago.

There have been several people attempting to pirate the browser and change the language as there was no announcement of the browser's release date in the UK or the US. Now, these pirates can put that translating aside and pick up a fresh copy at their local store his October in Europe. There was no release date set for the US at this time though.

The Nintendo DS Web Browser will revolutionize the way we look at Nintendo products. The NDS was thought of only a gaming system when compared to the PSP, but things are changing now. With games that teach you how to cook to a web browser that you can use, the NDS is becoming more of an everyday tool than a now-and-then handheld gaming system.   

Cap'n, a One Piece: Unlimited Adventure scan, right ahead! Yar! *cough*

The One Piece series of games is based on the manga and anime of the same name. Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece revolves around the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his ragtag group of pirates as they sail to obtain the ultimate treasure, One Piece.

Word has it that in the game, equipping items will be done by using the Wii remote's D-pad, and actions like jumping and melee attacks will be performed with standard button presses. At E3, the One Piece demo involved swinging the Wii remote in an arc to use an equipped weapon to break boulders, so we expect similar controls for performing special attacks and the like.

A thought: if players want Zoro to use Santoryu, would they have to put the Wii remote in their mouths? Heh, that'd be a gas. Or maybe we could buy an extra Wii remote for that authentic Santoryu experience.

Anyway, the graphics look alright. Nice work on the shadows. Here's hoping that the actual in-game graphics and animation live up to expectations.