SOURCE: Greenwave Games
Feb 26, 2008 13:33 ET

The Hansens and the Northwestern are featured on Discovery Channel's highest rated and Emmy®-nominated series -- "Deadliest Catch." The series that captivated nearly three million viewers each week returns for a fourth season this April.

Whether the gamer is a die-hard fan or someone who has never seen the Discovery Channel series, "Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm" is an immersive and challenging experience, putting them at the helm of one the world's most dangerous jobs -- that of a crab boat captain in the icy Bering Sea.

"Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm" lets gamers captain their own boat in the frenzied search for an undersea jackpot. Gamers select one of five real crab boats, including the Northwestern, Cornelia Marie and Sea Star -- all featured on the series, or create and customize their own boat. Gamers then recruit and lead their own crew from a roster of twenty real crab fishermen. Selecting the wrong boat or recruiting the wrong crew member can mean the difference between landing a Bering Sea jackpot or disaster. Lead your fatigued, hungry and hardworking crew in the strategic search for King Crab and Opilio Crab, while battling to secure your catch and livelihood before other captains and crews get to the crab first.

Authenticity and realism were critical to the Hansen brothers. They invited key development team members to Dutch Harbor, Alaska to personally experience life on the Northwestern. The game's realism is enhanced with four real Bering Sea harbors and 34,000 miles of real Bering Sea coastline created from the United States Geological Survey. In addition, "Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm" is the first video game to feature United States Coast Guard vessels and helicopters.

With waves over 40 feet high, "Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm" features the best wave effects in a video game to date. In the words of Captain Sig Hansen, "It may not be life or death, but chills went up my spine the first time I saw the Northwestern sink in the game."

Weather and fishing conditions are based on authentic weather and storm data and get progressively worse each season, increasing the challenge. The ultimate goal is to return safely each season, upgrade your boat and crew, and attempt to break Captain Sig Hansen and the Northwestern crew's actual lifetime catch of twenty million pounds.

"Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm" includes the following features and content:

--  Career Mode (Realistic and challenging simulation for gamers and
    "Deadliest Catch" fans)
--  Missions (Gamers experience the hard core Bering Sea life, including
    participation in United States Coast Guard search and rescue missions and
    ice flow navigation)
--  Arcade Mini-Games (Allows casual gamers to enjoy fun challenges,
    including crab boat races and skiff races)
--  Five Authentic Crab Boats (including Northwestern and Cornelia Marie)
--  Twenty Real Fishermen (including Edgar and Norman Hansen, Josh and
    Jake Harris)
--  Six Authentic Captains (including Captains Sig Hansen, Phil Harris and
    Larry Hendricks)
--  4,500 lines of recorded character dialogue
--  United States Coast Guard Search and Rescues (First time in a video
    game)
--  Captain the 370ft. USCG Cutter Mellon
--  Throw-the-Hook Mini-Game
--  Skiff Racing Mini-Game
--  34,000 Miles Actual Coastline
--  Four Real Bering Sea Harbors (Akutan, Dutch Harbor, King Cove and St.
    Paul)
--  Interactive Virtual Tour Northwestern Crab Boat
--  100 Exclusive Crew Videos
--  Xbox Live multiplayer  

Captain Sig Hansen personally announces the game he inspired with a video on Discovery.com at www.discovery.com/deadliestcatch. Every Tuesday until "Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm" launches, a new video featuring captains or crewmembers from the "Deadliest Catch" series discussing the game will be released at www.discovery.com/deadliestcatch.

"Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm" is being developed by Liquid Dragon Studios (www.liquiddragon.com). The exclusive crew videos were filmed on location on the Bering Sea by Hi-Five Films (www.hifivefilms.com). The game is published by Greenwave, a recently established video game publisher based in Seattle. The game will be available April 2008 for the Xbox® 360 video game system from Microsoft and for PC. The game is not yet rated. For more information about "Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm," visit www.alaskanstorm.com or www.greenwavegames.com.

About Greenwave
Greenwave is a new video game publisher creating fun, high quality games for existing markets and fan communities. The company is privately held and headquartered in Seattle. For more information visit www.greenwavegames.com.

About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications is the world's number-one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Company (NASDAQ: DISCA) (NASDAQ: DISCB), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery's founder and chairman. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

The GRAW™ 2 Co-op Collection has been available now for almost a month and brings you five Co-op Campaign missions that continue the story of GRAW 2. With a total of nine maps to select from, seven that are classic maps of Ghost Recon and two that are brand new. Your sure to find hours of endless fun in this blast from the past game.

So head on out to the the Xbox Live Marketplace and pick up the new maps for 800ms points. In addition to that, you can also download for free the bonus weapons pack. The new weapons pack adds 7 additional weapons to the Single Player Quick Mission mode in GRAW 2.

So if your looking to take a break from CoD4 and your waiting for the new content from Infinity Ward or your waiting for the Halo 3 Heroic Map pack from Bungie to release for free. Dust off your copy of GRAW 2 and exercise Scott Mitchell a little bit... the Ghosts are ready for action now, are you?

I was hanging out at the local Best Buy and I've made a few trips in the past few weeks to look around at things. Being a 360 my owner and avid gamer, I like to look in that area of the store too. Something I've noticed over the past few trips is the lack of units/skus to purchase. It seems its hard at least in this location to find various Xbox 360's for purchase.

The only item I could find was a couple of the Arcade skus, these pretty much replaced the Core version. So that's fine to get the end user/first time buyer going I guess, but your going to miss out on some downloads with a Harddrive missing. Other than that, you have pretty much the same workings and standards on the insides as the Elite models.

That's right any unit you pick up will for the most part be the same as an Elite on the inside and down the HDMI port. What the Elite has over these is the color black and very roomy 120 gig harddrive. So you can pick from the Arcade and up to an Elite, with the Premium/Pro model in the middle. Oh and lets not forget the ultra cool Halo Edition for the Uber Halo Fan, an 20 Gig premium with an Halo paint scheme and like the others same insides with HDMI as the Elite.

Here's the kicker though, it seems that units sold around Christmas have caused a shortage. That's right its not like you can walk into all stores and just pick up an Elite or other flavors. But they are still available. The Best Buy sales associate said more are on the way and its possible to play an order as well.

Now the arcade is availabel and you could buy an Harddrive and be set, but it costs more that way. I feel that the Xbox 360 is still the clear choice for what all is available in a gaming system. Yes Blu-ray has won the war and that means the PS3 is sitting nice in that respect, but they don't have as many games as it stands and I didn't buy a system to watch movies on.

Supply is low and perhaps you can say the units are in demand now, but I don't think its bleak and if you seek you can still find a great gaming system in the Xbox 360 to be found. Just might need to do some leg work or place an order is all.

Sadly plenty of HD-DVD drives for the Xbox 360 were available and they are great players, its just that line of titles are going to dry up and I don't think your going to find a Demand for those players, if so look at Bestbuy the shelf was full of them.

Looking for more information on gaming and how to have your voice heard then look at what the ECA has available and learn more about them.

The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit membership organization established to serve the needs of those who play computer and video games.

Formed in 2006, the ECA is an advocacy organization for consumers of interactive entertainment. Gamers represent nearly fifty percent of the US population and spend $10 billion annually on gaming, yet as a group are continually overlooked by both politicians and the mainstream press. The mission of the ECA is to give game consumers a voice and to ensure that elected officials hear their concerns and appreciate the growing influence of the gamer demographic.

The organization, which is headquartered in Connecticut, focuses its advocacy efforts on consumer rights, anti-games legislation, and a host of other public policy concerns as well as providing substantial community, educational, and affinity benefits to its members—from discounts on subscriptions and game rentals and purchases to education, employment assistance, and insider access to industry news and events.

If your tired of what is being said about video gamers in the media and want make sure your voice is heard, then you might take look at the Video Game Voters Network. Here you can find resource information on gaming and at least let your State Reps know how you feel about gaming. Otherwise your going to find the government stepping in and trying to say what you can or can not participate in down the road.

Government does not regulate our access to or the sale of movies, books, and cable TV. So there is no reason to hold our video games to a higher scrutiny and by them taking legislative action against video games, we are creating a double standard for this innovative medium.

Back when I was growing up it use to be listening to Rock Music made you evil. But I think some people just become evil and its more to it then music or game. Instead of waisting time and money on a portion of a problem, it would be better to identify more of the issues and not make blanket judgements, that don't trully fix the real problem.

April 1999 Columbine, Colorado was the site of High School massacre and the two troubled students played video games. Now more and more the finger is pointed to video games as the root of these evil acts. They claim the Virginia Tech massacre was committed by a video gamer, but evidence collected at the shooters room does not support that claim, they didn't find any games. Now the latest shooting at NIU was once again from a video gamer and they say its games that made him do it.

The infamous attorney Jack Thompson claims its the games making them do it. These murder simulators are turning them into killers. Based on his thoughts, its clear that the only answer is for the Government to step in now with strict regulation and stop the madness.

Please... Sure these games are very visual and realistic, so are movies and books and we don't regulate those the same way. Fact is in all of these cases, these individuals had more troubles in their lives and its not a video game that caused them to be what the way they were. I don't know of a single game that says go in and kill innocent people and then kill yourself.

Do some games amp you up and make you violent? Well they don't have that effect on me, but I could see where extensive play by younger kids might make them aggressive or more competitive. But its not the governments job to say stop. I'm the parent and that's my job and I don't need the government trying to do my job.

That's right I'm a parent and I play games and my family plays games. I don't play certain games in front of my kids and at the same time I watch what they play and regulate how much they play. The same goes for movies, TV, and other forms of media entertainment. I also take part and I'm involved in my kids lives.

Its sad what has happened in all of these shootings, but pointing the finger at games is not the explanation. Sitting back and doing nothing is not going to help either. What are you going to do?

The Beta for CoD4 was the last game that hooked me and had me coming back for more and more. I'm still a huge CoD4 fan, so don't get me wrong now. What I'm talking about is Betas and Demos and the parts they release to get you hooked and show off their titles.

Betas help promote the title and provide feedback to the producers on how things are going. It helps end users get a feel of what its all about before its released. Its a feature I love from Xbox Live, the whole try before you buy aspect is just great.

So I've only made it into one Beta so far... at least I hope I'm lucky enough to get into other betas. But I've done my share of demos and some give you a good taste and you can tell if your going to like the game or not. Some give you just enough of the game play and end with you wanting more.

Frontlines: Fule of War is the latest demo that I've tried and I'm hooked, its just like CoD4 all over and has me wanting to fire it up and play every time. It has a cool story line and I love the team based game play. I'm not sure how long they'll keep this demo going after the games actual release, but I'll be playing this demo a lot over the next few days and weeks before that day comes.

So what can you do in the demo you might ask? Well as you can see above, you can do just about all of this and more. You can select from more than 60 futuristic vehicles & weapons, remote controlled drones, gun cams, and elaborate countermeasure systems, all of these inspired by many of the weapons of today. All you have to do is create your soldier and select your weapon loadout and specialized role and then deploy.

With a focus on heavy team play, the multiplayer drops players on the front lines or near to help move the your line forward and on to victory. With the use high-tech Intel systems for the gathering and the sharing of relay recon, targeting the enemy, and providing threat information between your teammates, your able to help in winning the war or at least this battle.

If your into team based games and working as a unit, then you should give Frontlines: Fuel of War and look. The release game will has single player and I missed that demo, but from what I've seen of the 32 player multiplayer action available out of the demo, I'm really pleased in this game.

Download the demo and join up while you have the chance. Your needed on the front lines and you never know how long this war/demo will last. Besides, you can look at this a basic training for the actual release on February 25th 2008.

Some call it rubbing and most race fans just call it racing, but last night at Silverstone, you were treated to a fair share of off & on the track antics from our drivers. So its a good thing that all of these teams get along with some of the bumps that took place in both the practice and the actual race sessions. So after reviewing last nights race footage, the league owner had the following comments and suggestions for all of the drivers.

"I watched the replays and there was definitely some avoidable contact. Everyone needs to do a better job of talking about where you are and making better decisions that won't cause problems for you and the other drivers," said TakenTripod, FM2 D400 league manager.

Mobil1 had to love Major Rookie's win at Silverstone

In the end we saw some shifting in our final placing positions out of the top three teams and an inspiring win from zerMatt 951s in the second race for Team Earl. TXPaladin and Team U360 did make some changes to their car, but they still remain firmly in last place.

"We just wanted to try and compete some more and keep the other drivers from lapping us... we met that goal tonight in Silverstone. Now we're looking towards Road Atlanta short and feel better about that track," said TXPaladin.

Road Atlanta Short takes will place on February 13th and marks the halfway point in the FM2 D400 Series.

SEASON POINTS TOTALS & PI Adj.
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
138 / (-2.00, D398)	131 / (-2.25, D398)	123 / (-.75, D400)
4th Place	Week 2	5th Place
116 (-1.00, D399)		92 (-0, D400)

Disney is releasing Discs of Tron on Xbox Live Arcade next week on February 13th. The mini-game is based on the 1980s film Tron from Disney and has players facing off against the evil Sark from the movie. An enhanced mode will also be available with modern graphics in this title.

Its another Play and Win weekend for Rockers, so if your a fan of Rockband, you can't win unless you sign up and play. Take a break and rock it for a change of pace.

You can also join in on some Game With Fame action as well, but today is the last day for this part. While your playing, look up some of the game developers and join in for some live play action with those who made it all possible.

Don't forget, you can't have a shot at winning the prizes, if you don't get into the game. Check out Xbox.Com for more details on this Play and Win contest and future Play and Win contests.

Happy gaming now and let there be rock my friends!

Last Wednesday marked the start of the FM2 SimRacing League: D400 series, as it kicked things off from Mugello Short, with the first two races out of ten race series. The league has an option to add another track with an additional two races to the series. This is the first time that these five teams have gathered together to race in series like this.

The field of drivers and their teams are as follows. Racing for Team U360 is none other than rookie driver, TXPaladin. Team Earl's driver is zerMatt 951s, moving from the amateur ranks into the pros this series with more driving time under his belt. Team Mobil's driver is Major Rookie, a professional driver as well. Team Greenhill Air's driver is Chuckyst2000, another professional driver and no stranger to these tracks. Then rounding out the field of five drivers and racing for Team KontrolFreek is a seasoned professional driver TakenTripod, the series favorite and the racing league series Manager.

Tonight races will take place at Silverstone International and we managed to catch up with U360's rookie driver TXPaladin and asked how his team was doing. "Well our goal is try and keep from being lapped in tonights races and we got out to Silverstone as fast as we could to put some time in on the track. We are looking at some possible adjustments to our car and hope to try and give it a good run. We can only go up from here after all."

Looks like it will be a fun night for racing, check back later in the week for race result updates and photos.

SEASON POINTS TOTALS & PI Adj.
1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
70 / (-1.50)	66 / (-.75)	66 / (-.75)
4th Place	Week 1	5th Place
52		46

Podshow #4 has arrived and I'm talking Rockband. What I love about the game and what the publics love for this title means. Also check out the after show and then learn about Drum Machine for all of you Drummers.

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Wow, looks like my answer to Diablo II and my childhood days of playing Dungeon's & Dragons perhaps has been answered. I've slowed down on some of the demos lately and a co-worker told me about KUF and I decided to give the demo a try.

I love the demos from the Marketplace by the way and glad I can do the try before buy on a lot of games. So KUF is a third person RPG game and I have to say I love the look and feel of the demo. They give you a taste as to how the controls work and then your off to do battle. It's hard to think back to the days of Diablo II compared to the graphics and play available here now.

I'm not normally a fan of third person games, but this one I really loved and felt comfortable with it. A huge plus in the full version is it has 4 person Co-Op. Looks like this could very well be a must buy in 2008 and I might have to think twice on looking at Elder Scrolls now. Not to mention listening to all my friends playing this title now, it could be only a matter of time before I'm drawn into the world of KUF. Oh and it has a Paladin class... Love it!

I'm back at last with Show #3, been busy lately and it was hard to get some shows recorded and out. I'm working on a plan to catch up now.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the show, I talk about my gamertag, mention and old western on the Marketplace, pay tribute to Bobby Fischer, and discuss your options with Spyglass Board Games and Ubisoft's latest Chessmaster Live. That's right this show is all about the game I love, Chess.

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