EA Mobile  announced the availability of SimCity for the iPhone and iPod touch. SimCity provides an addictive environment for players to construct, manage and even destroy their own dream city, all in the palm of their hand.

“SimCity for the iPhone and iPod touch takes mobile games to a whole new level,” said Adam Sussman, VP Publishing Americas and Asia for EA Mobile. “Easy to learn, a lifetime to master, it’s one of the largest mobile games ever produced, providing our customers with hundreds of hours of great gameplay.”

Build an entire metropolis on your iPhone, from budgets to bulldozers, taxes to tornadoes, everything is in your control and the sky’s the limit. With SimCity, you can make your city look stunning by incorporating contemporary landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Washington Monument. Strike the perfect balance between industrial and residential zones to keep your city thriving, manage utilities like water and garbage, and even control traffic to keep your citizens happy. Ready for a change? Just tap the screen to call in a disaster and watch UFO’s rain destruction upon your city’s foundation!

Humana “Games for Health” is launching two online initiatives that will make you think twice about reaching for a second piece of pie this holiday season. The initiatives are an online game called the “Freewheelin Cycle Challenge” and a Facebook application called “The Battle of the Bulge.”

Freewheelin Cycle Challenge

Inspired by Humana’s Freewheelin bike-sharing program, the Freewheelin Cycle Challenge launches today at www.humanagames.com. It is an online bicycle-racing videogame that matches you and a quirky virtual opponent, such as Lucia – a cheerleader with an attitude, or Sgt. Henderson – a tough-talking veteran marine. To make it to the finish line first, players energize their bicyclist and pick up speed by capturing nutritious snacks, such as nuts and oranges. They lose energy, however, by rolling over holiday junk food, including candy canes, cookies and other sugary snacks.

On the way to bicycle glory, players also learn about exergaming, or games that require a player to move his or her body to play.

Humana Games for Health developed the game for parents and children alike to provide an important message about exercise and nutrition during the holiday season in a light-hearted way. The game – available on the Humana Games for Health site (www.HumanaGames.com) – is also being submitted to several popular casual-gaming Web sites. The game can even be e-mailed, allowing players to challenge each other for top spot on the leader board.

The Battle of the Bulge

“The Battle of the Bulge” is an application that will be available at Facebook.com beginning Dec. 24. To participate, users go to “The Battle of the Bulge” Facebook page and answer a few questions about their lifestyle, including exercise and eating habits. Based on the responses, users are assigned a virtual waistline, affectionately called a “bellytar.” The goal of the game is to maintain an ideal weight.

But it won’t be easy. Other “friends of flab” can “fling fat” your way, making your bellytar’s pants literally bulge at the seams. In a worst-case scenario, you could be headed toward an online heart attack. To shape up, simply answer questions about exercise correctly and watch your bellytar shrink before your very eyes. Then answer questions about nutrition correctly to fling some fat of your own.

For example, which has more calories – a gingerbread house or fruitcake? If you said fruitcake, then you can fling seven pounds of fat on one of your “deserving” friends.

To find the application on Facebook, simply search for “Battle of the Bulge” and click “download application.”

“The holidays can be a tough time for your waistline,” said Paul Puopolo, who oversees Games for Health as a director with Humana’s Innovation Center. “By delivering a healthy message at this time, we’re hoping to guide people away from the heartburn medicine and into the gym.”

Blizzard Entertainment today announced that World of Warcraft, its award-winning subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is now played by more than 11.5 million subscribers worldwide. This new high was reached following the November 13 release of the game’s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

Within its first 24 hours of availability, Wrath of the Lich King sold more than 2.8 million copies, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. In addition to winning a number of editor’s choice awards from major gaming publications, the expansion has now gone on to sell more than 4 million copies in its first month, setting a new record for monthly PC-game sales. Both sales records were previously held by World of Warcraft’s first expansion, The Burning Crusade.

“We’re pleased to welcome the new and returning players who have helped World of Warcraft reach these new milestones, and we appreciate the enthusiasm and support that the game’s global community has continued to show,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment^®. “We look forward to providing all of them with an excellent entertainment experience for a long time to come.”

“Not only is Wrath of the Lich King still doing well, the base World of Warcraft game and the World of Warcraft Battle Chest are performing better than last year,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop. “That type of traction is very impressive for a game that is going into its fifth holiday season and speaks to the enthusiastic player base Blizzard Entertainment products have.”

To keep pace with the continued growth of World of Warcraft as well as development on other Blizzard Entertainment games, the company is currently hiring for numerous open positions. More information on available career opportunities can be found at www.blizzard.com/jobs. More information about the latest World of Warcraft expansion is available at the official Wrath of the Lich King website: www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath.

Digital Chocolate announced that its first two games for iPhone and iPod touch are leading on the Apple App Store. Redesigned and adapted specifically to take advantage of the iPhone, Chocolate Shop Frenzy and Crazy Penguin Catapult previously won numerous awards including an Editors’ Choice Award from IGN Wireless and Silver Award from Pocket Gamer.

“We think the iPhone is the coolest invention of all-time,” said Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate. “We’ve won more awards for mobile games than any other company in recent years and we’re starting to show what we can do on the iPhone and iPod touch.”

Both games will be available for $4.99 from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

Two-and-a-half million Club Penguin players embraced the spirit of the season and displayed their passion for helping others this holiday by participating in a unique online giving opportunity that let them donate virtual coins to support real world causes.

The second annual Coins for Change campaign, which ran from Dec. 12, 2008 through Dec. 22, 2008, encouraged the kids who play Club Penguin to donate the coins they earn playing games within the popular virtual world in support of causes dedicated to helping children.

At the end of the campaign, players had donated three billion virtual coins. The virtual donations served as votes which were tallied for New Horizon Foundation, an organization started by the founders of Club Penguin, to help it determine how to allocate $1 million amongst charities dedicated to helping children. New Horizon Foundation has selected the following charities to receive a portion of its donation:

• Partners in the Horn of Africa will receive $30,000 to support education, play therapy, and structured activity programs for AIDS orphans in Ethiopia.
• War Child will receive $340,000 to support education, children’s rights and poverty reduction for children affected by war in Georgia, Afghanistan and Northern Uganda.
• Partners In Health will receive $300,000 to help provide medical care to children in Haiti and Rwanda.
• Free The Children will receive $330,000 to help communities in India, Ecuador and rural China build schools and provide education to children who are poor and can’t attend school.

“The children who play Club Penguin often ask us for ideas on how they can give back and make the world a better place but we still never could have imagined when we launched Coins for Change we’d get this kind of response,” says Lane Merrifield, co-founder of Club Penguin and executive vice president and general manager of Disney Online Studios. “It’s absolutely incredible to witness how our players jumped on board for the chance to help make a difference in the lives of kids throughout the world.”

A video game for girls, a game and NERF blaster combo for boys and two video games for everyone in the family to play prove hot holiday sellers for EA. The first wave of console and handheld titles under the EA and Hasbro, long-term agreement have combined to sell two million units globally since their respective fall launches, according to internal EA sell-thru data.

LITTLEST PET SHOP for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC reached store shelves in October and according to NPD aggregated DS skus were the #2 overall Nintendo DS title in the US for the month of November and the #1 Nintendo DS title in France in October. The game, inspired by the Hasbro blockbuster toy line, is teeming with adorably cute pets that girls can collect, take on adventures in four vibrant worlds, or play with via a myriad of mini-games.

NERF “N-Strike”, available on the Wii since October, was the #10 title according to NPD for the month of November. The game, inspired by the globally popular Hasbro franchise, features non-stop NERF-style pandemonium where players are faced with a series of challenging missions that put blasting strategies and skills to the ultimate test. NERF “N-Strike” also ships with a custom NERF SWITCH SHOT EX-3 blaster, the first ever 2-in-1 video game and toy peripheral bundle to hit the market.

HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT, available on the Wii and PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, launched in November and was awarded a Toy Wishes 2008 All-Star Award. Featuring six games including: BATTLESHIP, YAHTZEE, BOGGLE, CONNECT FOUR, SORRY! and the all new, SORRY! Sliders. Both MONOPOLY which is available for the Wii, PlayStation2 and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment systems and HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT had strong launches and continue to build momentum through the holiday.

“By innovating with these family brands and delivering a quality, fun game experience our EA Hasbro video games are something parents and friends can gift with pride this holiday season,” said Chip Lange, Vice President and General Manager EA Hasbro. “Our focus on creating audience-appropriate games has paid off with the consumers we wanted to reach and made EA Hasbro titles THE gift to give this holiday.”

Namco Networks today announced the worldwide availability of i Love Katamari for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The game is available now for $7.99 through Apple’s App Store.

In i Love Katamari, the King of All Cosmos has accidentally knocked all the stars out of the sky during a crazy night out. It is up to the pint-sized Prince to put the twinkle back in the heavens. Players are challenged to roll the katamari ball over various objects in each stage. As more and more objects are rolled up, the katamari will increase in size, making it possible to roll-up larger and larger objects.

“i Love Katamari is a unique, addictive game that makes great use of accelerometer technology,” said Scott Rubin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Namco Networks. “Similar to Rolling with Katamari on mobile phones, i Love Katamari is a great addition to the Katamari franchise.”

Based on the console hit Katamari Damacy, which has enjoyed a strong cult-following worldwide for its creative and addictive gameplay, i Love Katamari features levels that take place in five different environments (the Takeda Residence, a backyard, a park, a town and an island). It also features a range of fun-filled modes, such as “Story Mode” (find and roll-up the King’s requested object), “Time Attack Mode” (roll up as much as possible in a limited time), “Exact Size Challenge Mode” (match exactly a requested katamari size), and “Eternal Mode” (roll at your own pace without any time or size limit).

Players tilt the phone right, left, front, and back to roll the katamari with precision, taking full advantage of the iPhone/iPod Touch’s accelerometer. While tilt control is the main control method, the game does include some swipe control features. For example, just tap the katamari to stop rolling or touch the 180 turn icon to turn 180 degrees. Players will also enjoy control options familiar from Katamari Damacy like “Parallel shift”, “Prince turn” and “Prince dash.”

Rockstar Games has announced the release date for Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the latest entry into the genre-defining Grand Theft Auto series. Developed by Rockstar Leeds, in conjunction with series creators Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available for the Nintendo DS on March 17 and 20, 2009 in North America and Europe, respectively.

“Rockstar Leeds have once again created a game that far exceeds our standard for deep and innovative entertainment,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We are incredibly excited to share this enormous and uncompromising Grand Theft Auto experience with DS fans.”

Edge Magazine commented, “How does Rockstar follow Grand Theft Auto IV? By rebuilding Liberty City from the ground up on DS - and not compromising its vision one iota.”

Nintendo Power added, “…it’s undeniable that Chinatown Wars is doing something no other DS game has come close to: creating that living, breathing world the Grand Theft Auto games are known for.”

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate.* An abducted soul, a lifetime of sins, a journey to the depths of despair. EA announced today that EA Redwood Shores, the studio behind the hit horror game Dead Space, is now working on another original property — this one based on the medieval epic poem The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The dark fiction gave birth to the Tuscan Italian dialect and is widely considered the work that has defined the western world’s contemporary conception of hell and purgatory. The poem tells the tale of Dante who journeys through the twisted, menacing nine circles of hell in pursuit of his beloved Beatrice. Dante’s tortured and tormented world is an ideal setting for this 3^rd person action and adventure of a video game, Dante’s Inferno.

Written in the 14th Century, The Divine Comedy was published and read aloud in Italian (unlike the Bible), thereby making the poem accessible to the mass public. The poem delivers a striking and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife and the punishments of hell. In part one, known as Dante’s Inferno, Dante traverses all nine circles of hell; limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery.

“The time is right for the world of interactive entertainment to adapt this literary masterpiece, and to re-introduce Dante to an audience who, until now, may have been unfamiliar with the remarkable details of this great work of art,” said Jonathan Knight, Executive Producer for Dante’s Inferno. “It’s the perfect opportunity to fuse great gameplay with great story.”

For more information on Dante’s Inferno, please visit www.dantesinferno.com and sign up for the newsletter and bookmark for news, features and upcoming events.

* Translation: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.