NEWS - Wednesday, December 1, 2004

Games Launch on Xbox Live Arcade
Vetern casual game makers, Silver Creek Entertainment, add Hardwood Solitaire and Dangerous Mines move to Xbox Live Arcade lineup. Grants Pass, OR (PRWEB) December 1, 2004 -- Silver Creek Entertainment announced today two of their addictive games titles, Hardwood Solitaire™ and Ruckus Buck's Dangerous Mines™, are among the first games launched with the new Xbox™ Live Arcade. Xbox Live Arcade is a new service that lets Xbox Live members play broad-appeal, casual games on the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft. "Hardwood Solitaire and Ruckus Buck's Dangerous Mines are a perfect fit," says Jonas Stewart, Creative Lead for Silver Creek Entertainment, "the Xbox Live Arcade is squarely aimed at a segment of players we've been successfully serving for 10 years, the casual gamer." Of the seven offerings launched with Xbox Live Arcade on November 3, 2004, IGN.com gave Hardwood Solitaire the highest rating, stating the game “…is the best deal of the Live Arcade launch titles.” In the review of Dangerous Mines’ game concept, they stated, “The idea is pretty smart.” Dangerous Mines is an all-new version of the classic Minesweeper offering 2 new modes of play. FreeEdge gives players the ‘edge’ to work off of, since the squares along the boarders are cleared. This lets you avoid the Click-Click-Boom problem associated with the original Minesweeper, as you attempt to find a decent opening. Gauntlet mode offers another twist, as you race against a clock clearing rounds of boards. This makes every second count. Hardwood Solitaire has withstood the test of time, as one of the longest running electronic solitaire collections available. In its 10th year, this rebuilt incarnation continues to offer one of the best-looking design concepts. SCE is known for its great graphics (in 2001 they won the Best Visual Arts award at the Independent Games Festival), and this version takes the classic to a new visual level. The game’s 3D graphics give a natural, life-like feel with features such as swaying rows, as you move a long row to another pile. The Hardwood Solitaire collection offers over a 100 Solitaire games, including Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, and Yukon, as well as original solitaire games you can’t find anywhere else. The Xbox Live Arcade disc is free ($4.99 U.S./$7.99 Canadian for shipping and handling.) Microsoft will send the disc to enable your Xbox console to play free trials of the games, Including Hardwood Solitaire and Dangerous mines, as well as an entirely free version of Ms. Pacman. More information about Xbox Live Arcade can be found at http://www.xbox.com/livearcade Hardwood Solitaire http/:www.hardwoodsolitaire.com is also available on PC, with Dangerous Mines http/:www.DangerousMines.com currently in development for PC and Mac OSX. All of Silver Creek games also being brought to Mac OSX in the coming weeks. For more information about these and other Silver Creek Entertainment games, visit http://www.silvercrk.com About Silver Creek Entertainment: Silver Creek Entertainment has been making high-end casual games since 1994. They are the winners of the Best Visual Arts award from the Independent Game Festival, in 2001. Products include Hardwood Solitaire, Hardwood Hearts, Hardwood Euchre, Hardwood Spades, and Ruckus Buck's Dangerous Mines. Players can find SCE games on Windows, Mac OS X, and Xbox. Silver Creek Entertainment is located in Grants Pass, Oregon and on the web at http://www.silvercrk.com or http://www.hardwoodgames.com About XBOX LIVE A new frontier in imagination and extraordinary interaction, Xbox Live offers rich online gameplay. The world’s only unified global online console games service, Xbox Live is continuously innovating to provide members with unparalleled experiences. This unique service unites gamers together in a dynamic community where they can experience the best online games, exclusive programming and continuous downloadable content. Xbox Live launched in the United States in November 2002 and is available in 24 countries. Please visit http://www.xbox.com/live for more information.Source: http://www.prweb.com