Haunt, Happy Action Theater and Rhythm Party Get Release Dates

Kinect is well suited to Live Arcade, where ambitious projects can thrive at an affordable price. The next few weeks will see three solid looking releases, starting with NanaOn-Sha's Haunt which will be available to download January 18th for 800 Microsoft Points. From the creators of Parappa The Rapper, players are made to freely explore a haunted mansion, outsmarting ghosts and working their way past a variety of puzzles and traps. Check out the trailer here.

Next up is Double Fine's Happy Action Theater, a collection of looping mini-games with a strong focus on augmented reality and fun rather than competitiveness. Legendary game designer Tim Schafer announced on Twitter that the game will be available to download February 1st. Check out the trailer here.

Finally February will also see the release of Konami's dancing game Rhythm Party, previously titled Boom Boom Dance. Rather than follow specific choreography as found in the likes of Dance Central and Just Dance, Rhythm Party lets you dance in any way you want as long as you hit the circles in time with the beat. With more in common with titles like Elite Beat Agents and Konami's Bemani games, and a crazy and varying art style, it's sure to offer a unique Kinect dance experience when it launches February 8th. Check out the trailer here.

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Zumba Fitness Rush Coming Exclusively To Kinect

There's no denying the success of Zumba, so it comes as no surprise that Majesco are launching a sequel to Zumba Fitness, the best selling fitness title of the past year.

Zumba Fitness Rush aims to "combine both dance and fitness with fun, high-energy choreography, contagious music and multiplayer functionality that lets friends and family join the party," said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment.

"Zumba Fitness Rush is packed with features and improvements that Kinect fans have asked for-from licensed music to a calorie tracker, 40+ all new routines with more than twice the dance styles of the original, a custom playlist feature and online connectivity. This is an incredibly robust experience that fans will love."

Additional Zumba® Fitness Rush Features:

• Hot Dance Music - 42 new routines and music tracks including hits from chart-topping artists Pitbull, Nicole Scherzinger and Yolanda Be Cool & DCup.
• Superstar Instructors - Dance and interact with six of Zumba Fitness' elite instructors:  Beto Perez, Tanya Beardsley, Gina Grant, Kass Martin, Jason Thompson and Erica Pierce.
• Huge Range of Dance Flavors - Choose from 24 different dance styles, from fan favorites Salsa and Reggaeton to new styles including Bollywood, Axe, Latin Pop and Pasodoble.
• Customizable Workouts - Create a Zumba® workout that's right for you by choosing your favorite playlist and workout length. Low, Medium and High Intensity routines also cater to dancers of all skill levels.
• Exotic Party Venues - Dance it up in 10 new, dynamic environments, with 5 venues including Rio Carnival and Las Vegas that are exclusive to the Kinect game.
• Master Your Flair - Full tutorial mode offers a breakdown of the basic steps and rhythms by core styles.
• Exclusive Access - Earn achievements and unlock behind-the-scenes Zumba videos as you play, only available in Zumba® Fitness Rush for Kinect.
• Keep the Dance Party Going - New choreography and licensed music will be released post-launch via add-on content only available on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Download the digital content right into your game.

Sequel to Best-Selling Fitness Video Game That Has Sold More Than 3 Million Copies Worldwide Exhilarates Your Body in an All New Controller-Free Experience  

EDISON, N.J., October 26th, 2011 - The sequel to the best-selling fitness video game of the year debuts on Kinect^TM for Xbox 360® this February in a hot new controller-free dance-fitness experience! Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, along with Zumba Fitness LLC, today revealed plans to release Zumba® Fitness Rush exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360 in February 2012.  The wildly popular original Zumba® Fitness video game has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide since its launch in November 2010.  
"Our Zumba Fitness games combine both dance and fitness with fun, high-energy choreography, contagious music and multiplayer functionality that lets friends and family join the party," said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment.  "Zumba Fitness Rush is packed with features and improvements that Kinect fans have asked for-from licensed music to a calorie tracker, 40+ all new routines with more than twice the dance styles of the original, a custom playlist feature and online connectivity. This is an incredibly robust experience that fans will love."
Featuring 42 hot new music tracks, sizzling choreography and a huge variety of new dance styles and arenas, Zumba® Fitness Rush invites players to dance their way into shape with a fun and proven program.   Six Zumba® instructors get you moving to the beat, including celebrity instructors Beto Perez, Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant, plus new stars exclusive to the Kinect game: Kass Martin, Jason Thompson and Erica Pierce.  Each star instructor personally guides players through choreography that ranges in style from Merengue and Samba to Bollywood and Latin Pop.  Dance hands-free as Kinect for Xbox 360 accurately tracks your every move.  Monitor improvements with the Progress Tracker, which adds up calories burned, grades dance styles, and displays trophies, stats and overall rank. Whether playing in Single Song, Full Class or Zumba Party mode, players will have a blast with this unique dance-fitness experience that shapes, tones and transforms their bodies as they party themselves into shape.
Additional Zumba® Fitness Rush Features:

• Hot Dance Music - 42 new routines and music tracks including hits from chart-topping artists Pitbull, Nicole Scherzinger and Yolanda Be Cool & DCup.
• Superstar Instructors - Dance and interact with six of Zumba Fitness' elite instructors:  Beto Perez, Tanya Beardsley, Gina Grant, Kass Martin, Jason Thompson and Erica Pierce.
• Huge Range of Dance Flavors - Choose from 24 different dance styles, from fan favorites Salsa and Reggaeton to new styles including Bollywood, Axe, Latin Pop and Pasodoble.
• Customizable Workouts - Create a Zumba® workout that's right for you by choosing your favorite playlist and workout length. Low, Medium and High Intensity routines also cater to dancers of all skill levels.
• Exotic Party Venues - Dance it up in 10 new, dynamic environments, with 5 venues including Rio Carnival and Las Vegas that are exclusive to the Kinect game.
• Master Your Flair - Full tutorial mode offers a breakdown of the basic steps and rhythms by core styles.
• Exclusive Access - Earn achievements and unlock behind-the-scenes Zumba videos as you play, only available in Zumba® Fitness Rush for Kinect.
• Keep the Dance Party Going - New choreography and licensed music will be released post-launch via add-on content only available on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Download the digital content right into your game!

Developed by Zoe Mode, Zumba® Fitness Rush on Kinect for Xbox 360 is expected to release in February 2012 and is available for pre-order now. 
For additional information about the Zumba® Fitness franchise of video games, please visit http://www.zumbafitnessgame.com/.

About The Zumba Program®

Zumba Fitness is the largest dance-fitness company in the world known for the Zumba® program, a blend of contagious and easy-to-follow choreographies set to upbeat international rhythms. Coined the "Fitness-Party^TM," Zumba® classes provide an effective total-body workout, which tones and sculpts while burning fat. In 2011, Zumba Fitness celebrates 10 years of changing lives as more than 12 million devotees attend weekly Zumba classes across 125 countries in 110,000 locations. In addition to the original Zumba program, there are now four specialty programs: the Zumba Gold® program, a modified version for active older adults; the Zumba® Toning program featuring lightweight, maraca-like Zumba® Toning Sticks; the Aqua Zumba® program, the ultimate "pool party" workout; and the Zumbatomic® program, kid-friendly Zumba routines. For at-home fitness, the brand offers the Zumba® Fitness Total Body Transformation DVD Set and the cutting-edge Zumba® Fitness Exhilarate^TM DVD collection; both feature original Zumba® fitness music created by award-winning producers. In 2010, the Zumba® Fitness Video Game was released on multiple platforms. The brand also offers its colorful and expressive multiseasonal Zumba® apparel and footwear collection. With every new project Zumba Fitness undertakes, the mission remains the same - to make instructors successful. For more information or to find a live class, visit zumba.com, and find us on Facebook and Twitter. For approved photography, email pr@zumba.com.

About Majesco Entertainment 

Majesco Entertainment Company is a provider of video games for the mass market.  Building on more than 20 years of operating history, the company is focused on developing and publishing a wide range of casual and family oriented video games on all leading console and handheld platforms as well as online, social networks and mobile devices.  Product highlights include Zumba® Fitness, Cooking Mama, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Hulk Hogan's Main Event.  The company's shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol: COOL.   Majesco is headquartered in Edison, NJ with offices in San Francisco, CA, Bristol, UK, and a social games development studio in Foxboro, MA.  More info can be found online at http://www.majescoentertainment.com/ or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/majesco.

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Konami Announce Boom Boom Dance for Kinect

Another week, another dancing game. This time from Konami, who are brining us a different take on the genre. Boom Boom Dance sees players hit rippling circles in rhythm similar to the Nintendo DS game Elite Beat Agents.

Unlike the teams previous Kinect dancing game, DanceMasters, Boom Boom Dance won't feature any choreography. You can hit the circles in any way you want, though naturally you'll have to stay in rhythm if you want to go for big points.

The games constantly-changing art style certainly makes an impact, allowing players to step into the shoes of an astronaut, a robot and more in a variety of environments, and it promises to feature collaborations with renowned artists, thought none have been revealed so far.

Although no release date has been announced yet, it'll be available via Xbox Live Arcade like other Japanese Kinect titles such as Project Draco and Haunt. Check out the debut trailer below!

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New Dance Central 2 Trailer and 13 New Songs Revealed!

Dance Central 2 is perhaps the most anticipated Kinect game launching this fall. The sequel introduces new and revamped modes as well as simultaneous multiplayer, over 40 new songs and the ability to import all of your music from the first game.

With the game playable at Gamescom all week, Harmonix have revealed a new trailer showing the all-new cel-shaded dance crews, as well as unveiling 13 new songs for the game. New features include:

Epic Full Body Dance Battle! Players rep their favorite dance crew and go toe-to-toe against one another with two-player simultaneous tracking and compete to stand out in “spotlight sections” where their solo performance is put on display. The new Free-4-All mini-game replaces freestyle sections during Dance Battle, adding an all new competitive scoring mechanic into the mix. Players can jump ahead in score by quickly performing moves from the song worth tons of points.

Meet the crews of Dance Central 2! With the addition of simultaneous multiplayer, Dance Central 2 adds 4 dance crews to the mix for players to rep. RipTide, Hi-Def, Flash4ward and Lu$h Crew all bring fierce personalities, amazing moves and unique looks to the world of Dance Central. Whether you’re playing through the crew challenge or battling it out with a friend, you have to know: which crew are you?

Voice integration throughout the game! You can use voice commands to select songs, pause during routines, and dictate rehearsal during Break it Down. Jumping into a routine is as simple as telling Kinect the song, mode, and difficulty and instructing it do what that little box has always dreamed of: “Xbox, Dance.”

An all new, customizable Break it Down experience with improved per-limb tracking, allows players to customize practice sessions to focus on select moves. Use voice commands to speed through the process, and even compare video playback of their dancing to the on-screen dancer!

Dance Central 2 launches October 21st. Check out the new tracks and trailer below!

・Flo Rida feat David Guetta - Club Can’t Handle Me
・David Guetta feat Akon - Sexy Chick
・Daddy Yankee feat Fergie - Impacto
・Darude - Sandstorm
・Daft Punk - Technologic
・O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei
・Bruno Mars - Grenade
・Donna Summer - Hot Stuff
・Gnarls Barkley - Run
・Lena - Satellite
・Enrique Iglesias - I Like It
・Lady Gaga - Born This Way
・Exile - I Wish for You

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Ubisoft Letting You Experience The Black Eyed Peas

A follow-up to Michael Jackson: The Experience is hardly surprising given Ubisoft's huge success with the dancing genre, spanning a variety of franchises and consoles, and today they have announced that the next act they're bringing to the 'Experience' singing and dancing franchise is The Black Eyed Peas.

Hitting the 360 and Wii later this year, the game will let you play through all of their hits, with the trailer below showing gameplay for 'I Gotta Feeling'. It looks like they may have left behind the Your Shape-like player projection from MJ:TE, going for a more Dance Central-esque generated character approach, which is fine by us as Dance Central still remains the reigning champion of the dancing genre.

Check out the debut trailer below, and we'll bring you more news the second it's available!

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