Steig Larsson Release Date
Steig Larsson died in Sweden in 2004 but shortly before his death, attempted to get three manuscripts he had written published. He posthumously won in 2009 the Galaxy Book Awards he won an award for The Books Direct Crime Thriller of The Year, with his best selling novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second novel in the million-selling Millennium Trilogy won the Best Swedish Crime Novel award in 2006 and has now been translated into English and now available for the first time in paperback in the UK.
The plot begins with Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, who has made his living exposing the crooked and corrupt practices of establishment Swedish figures. A young journalist approaches him with a meticulously researched thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden and those in high office who abuse underage girls, Blomkvist immediately throws himself into the investigation. Mikael is a character from the first book in the trilogy and also featured in the plot is Lisbeth Salander, the ‘Girl’ of the title and a “social misfit hacker extraordinaire”.
The Girl Who Played with Fire is released on 2nd July.
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Spore Expansion Pack Release Date
Spore: Galactic Adventures is a special edition of the game which features our hero, who beams down from his UFO to earth, arrives as a hero and becomes a Galactic Hero!
This expansion pack version additionally includes a Making of Spore DVD video, How to Build a Better Being DVD video by National Geographic Channel, The Art of Spore hardback mini-book, a fold-out Spore poster and a 100-page Galactic Handbook published by Prima Games.
But never mind all that – it’s a Galactic Adventure! You create countless adventures in an ever-expanding universe of possibilities. Share, browse and rate new adventures on the Spore website, providing an endless variety of fun new challenges to play.
Spore: Galactic Adventures is released for PC & Mac on 26th June.
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Rock Band 2 Release Date
Rock Band 2 is the second in the Rock Band series. It does require a drum, microphone or guitar controller for play. Gameplay allows you to form bands of up to 4 musicians playing three different instruments.
84 songs are included with 20 free downloadable songs, and over 550 additional downloadable songs have been released for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 versions, with more being added each week.
Musical styles range from punk, metal and alternative to classic and southern rock. New features for Rock Band 2 include a Drum Trainer, Battle of the Bands, online capabilities for World Tour mode, and merchandising opportunities for the players’ virtual bands.
Rock Band 2 is released on 26th June.
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Pro Evolution Soccer Release Date
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 will be released on the 31st October in Europe, reportedly featuring FC Barcelona Argentine star Lionel Messi as its cover star.
With an exclusive deal with UEFA, both the UEFA Champions League and for the first time the UEFA Europa League, will be fully licensed. Club teams featured are Juventus and FC Barcelona.
The graphics for the 2010 version of PES are improved with better compatibility for HD image technology and several other new features have been implemented, most notably:
- Teamvision 2.0 has been implemented, intuitive zonal defending.
- Versatile goalkeepers, reworked referees making more balanced decisions.
- Midfielders and defenders now work together to cover open space and close down attacks.
- Players can move several players at once, sending them into different areas.
- During free kick scenarios, players can now instigate the runs of other players into the penalty area.
- Master League has been thoroughly renewed with the enhancement of managerial aspects.
- A new power gauge system allows users to balance their strategy before a match.
- A new penalty system has been implemented, offering greater control, placing and accuracy.
- Enhanced online mode.
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