Chair Entertainment (champion of Unreal Engine and developer of Undertow) has been acquired by Epic Games.  Chair becomes a subsidiary of Epic and maintains their name while focusing "on creating new original game properties which utilize Epic’s Unreal Engine technology" according to the press release.

The relatively young Chair has been working with Unreal Engine for some time now so this is hardly shocking.  Chair was even criticized for supposed opportunism when they came out backing Epic when the Silicon Knights suit against Epic hit the news.  When I asked Donald Mustard, Creative Director for Chair, about that very issue he responded simply:

"We love the Unreal engine.  We have been using Unreal tech for several years at this point and feel that it has become the most versatile and stable engine on the market."

All previous questions and criticisms aside, Chair has a bright future indeed and pairing with Epic seems a natural choice. 

Press release junkies, meet me after the break.

[via Kotaku, thanks Shadow Kisuragi]

What would you say to a 2d side scrolling adventure game that draws inspiration from such classics as Castlevania and Metroid? Now what would you say if I said that it done using the fantastic looking Unreal Engine 3?

But wait, there's more :)

On top of that, if it's anything like Chair Entertainments previous XBLA title, we can look forward to some stealer online action!

All cheesy infomercial impersonations aside, the German Xbox site, X-Power.be has posted scans of EGM's coverage of the title (Queue the lawyers in 3...2...1), that has quickly jumped to if not my most wanted title, then at the very least the top three.

Here's hoping Chair raises the bar again.

[UPDATE2] It's now up to the "proper" 400 points, hope some of you were able to get the discount while it was available.

[UPDATE] It seems that the DLC has come out at 200 points. Were still trying to find out if this is a mistake or not, but if I were you I'd pick it up now just in case!

When Undertow became the apology game from Microsoft for their issues over the Holidays, you had to think that with this expanded user base, DLC was almost certain. The only worry that we had was would an expansion of the UE3 based underwater shooter be substantial enough to keep gamers satisfied?

Their was never any need to worry!

Click read more to read more about this expansion as well as see many more screenshots.

Announced today is the continuing partnership between Chair Entertainment (the development team behind Undertow) and Orson Scott Card. The next fruit of their partnership will be a new multiplatform game based on the "Battle Room" from Orson Scott Card's sci-fi classic Ender's Game.

The press release lacks a specific mention of XBLA but based on Chair's history and the emphasis on hitting "all next-generation consoles" as well as "downloadable platforms" I think an XBLA release is safe to assume. Development is slated to begin later this year.

The partnership comes as no surprise considering their previous collaboration on Empire which was penned by Card and is being developed into a movie by Warner Brothers. Development of future comic books and video games based on Empire rests with Chair. And Chair has a keen focus on telling powerful and compelling stories. When talking with Donald Mustard (Creative Director, Chair Entertainment) earlier this year he said, "It’s really that core story that is helping us create opportunities to expand the franchise into film, games, and potentially other mediums."

Read the full press release after the break.

[via press release]

For those of you who picked up their free copy of Undertow yesterday and have been practicing your fingers to the bone, tonight is your night to shine!

Ok, so maybe not shine, but tonight is Chair Entertainment's Play with the Developers on it's special night (it's normally on Tuesdays). Starting at 10pm EST, you'll be able to get's some tips, and talk with some great folks, while playing a fantastic game.

What more could you ask for? (yeah, OK I'm asking for DLC too :) )

There will be two more people able to join the fun tonight at 10 with the fine folks at Chair tonight thanks to Chair's generosity and my skills with a random number generator (Tri-county champion, in fact). The lucky two are:

pacmanness and polkeroo

Congrats to those two and thanks to everyone that entered. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about everyone's watery favorites.

And of course, thanks to Chair Entertainment Group for helping us share the XBLA love.

I've got another contest cooking so keep your eyes peeled.

Think you're pretty good at Undertow? Or maybe you're still new to the game and need some expert advice? Either way, clear some time tonight to get schooled (appropriate for both situations) by members of the team that brought you Undertow -- Chair Entertainment Group.

Starting tonight Chair will be hosting "Tuesdays @ 10", an opportunity to play against (or with for that matter) many members of the development team.

Just boot up Undertow tonight (and on future Tuesdays) at 10ET/7PT, select Multiplayer, and start jumping into some Xbox Live player matches. Why resist the opportunity to use Chair as your stepping stone for your 10,000 kill achievement? Answer: Don't. Just be sure to bring some extra oxygen.

Press Release after the break.

[via Press Release]

Chair Entertainment, that team of bold IP creationists behind Undertow, have been kind enough to present us with an opportunity to provide you, the XBLArcade faithful, more free stuff.

Perhaps you tried Undertow. Perhaps you liked it, but you were still on the fence. Perhaps you just need a push in the right direction. How about get your Undertow diving license for free? Sound like a plan? Good.

You know the drill, comment below for a chance to win one of two Undertow codes. But here's the twist: In your comment include the title of your favorite water (or underwater) themed story. It could be a movie, or a book, or something from the outer reaches of your mind.

Just remember, if you don't win you will just have to acquire it the old fashioned way: begging for points cards for the holidays.

(This contest is for North America only at this time as I'm not sure of the validity of the codes in other countries. If I find out they're good anywhere, I'll open it up to all. Also, one comment per person -- cheaters will be disqualified.)

[Update] I forgot (silly me) to say, you can only win one XBLArcade contest every 3 months. Sorry, bajingo. (-_-)

[Update 2] It's space cadet central over here -- contest ends 8PM Eastern on Monday. So, we'll announce the winners soon after that.

Nope this isn't the title of some long lost Tick episode, but rather the kind people at Chair Entertainment have decided to send along a couple of pointers for those of you having troubles climbing up the leader boards. 

Read through the following tips, go buy the game, then start practicing, because were looking to have our first XBLArcade.com game night soon, and this title will definitely be the one were playing.

1 - If you are playing with a buddy online, try to coordinate what units you are.  One killer combo is the Destroyer and the Dragoon.   The Dragoon can hide inside the Destroyer, protecting it from nearby enemies and shooting down enemy torpedoes, allowing the Destroyer time to bombard the enemy with its huge explosions.
2 - Low on health?  Take cover and wait for your health to regenerate.

Today, you will all likely be downloading a demo to Chair Entertaiment Group's freshly released game Undertow. The game has garnered quite a bit of attention for an XBLA game -- probably stemming from their use of Unreal Engine 3 to create some beautiful bubbles as well as delivering the first ever 16-player XBLA multiplayer experience.

To get a peek at how Undertow was born and what Chair has in store for us (now and in the future) I pounced on an opportunity to interview Donald Mustard, Creative Director for Chair. We discuss the future of Undertow as a game (and possibly more), the upside of the 50MB XBLA limit (yes, some developers like it), and how unbelievably quickly Undertow went from pie in the sky to a fully playable prototype.

Hit the jump for the full interview and to get Donald's top tips to help you get your Undertow experience off on the right foot. (Oh, and click on any of the concept images here for the bigger version.)