Majesco Entertainment and Eidos Interactive have started a partnership to distribute Majesco titles across Europe and Australia. This partnership focuses on Nintendo DS and Wii titles such as Cake Mania, MechAssault: The Phantom War, Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Old World Park, and The New York Times Crosswords. The deal also encompasses unannounced Nintendo Wii video games that Majesco is currently developing.

Ian Livingstone, the Product Acquisition Director of Eidos, spoke on this new partnership saying, "There is an obvious synergy between Eidos’ focus on the casual games market and Majesco’s expertise in this field." He added that, "This is just the start of an exciting relationship with Majesco and furthers our commitment to casual games."

From the side of Majesco Entertainment International, Managing Director Jason Dutton, has also stated how this partnership is beneficial to both parties involved.

This partnership with Eidos provides us with a focus that our mass market games will really benefit from, and is a natural progression in our company’s evolution. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to work with some of the best professionals in the industry while benefiting from a proven international distribution network.

This is not a short-term deal that both companies entered. Eidos has already committed to distributing 8 video games this summer with 15 more to follow suit. If this partnership works out, then European and Australian gamers should be happy for the greater selection of games that will be made available to them.

Majesco Entertainment has announced that they have finally shipped Cake Mania for the Nintendo DS. Cake Mania is originally an online game developed by Sandlot Games, which proved to be very popular, as evidenced by the 35 million downloads it has under its belt.

Here, players will assume the character of Jill who returns home from culinary school only to find out that her grandparents' bakery was shut down because of the bigger competition in the form of Mega-Mart. The mission, then, is to try and get the bakery to re-open by upgrading Jill's kitchen with new baking/cooking technology as well as serving her difficult customers.

Says Ken Gold, Marketing VP for Majesco, "By including the entire original online game plus the expansion pack onto the game card... we're offering Nintendo DS owners an excellent game at an outstanding value."

Cake Mania is now available across U.S. for a suggested retail price of US$ 19.99.

Iron Chef just got cuter. That's how some would probably describe Digital Embryo's upcoming game, Cake Mania. That is, if Iron Chefs weren't opposed to the idea of wearing cute pink aprons and catering solely to customers' confectionery cravings.

If you found the idea intriguing, then you might wanna check out this game from Majesco which lets you take on the role of Jill, a culinary student who goes home to find that her grandparents' bakery has closed down. You're then faced with the task of reviving the business by using your culinary skills.

Here are some of the game's features:

• Includes the entire original online Cake Mania game plus the full Back to the Bakery expansion pack
• Over 80 levels and five locations (Home Bakery, Beach Front, Circus, Casino and Hawaii)
• full touch screen support
• customizable kitchen - upgrade your kitchen equipment using the cash you earn from cake sales
• get to serve seasonal (albeit very important) customers like Cupid and Santa Claus with custom holiday cakes
  

Cake Mania is set to sweeten your handhelds on April 10 with an attached price tag of US$ 19.99.

   

Sandlot Games' mad creations are beloved by casual gamers, insomniacs, and people in need of cheering up. Their games are popular the world over, and one of the most wildly popular game is Cake Mania. It's in this list of big hits for the PC, and it's about to be a big hit on the DS.

The game is simple - but frantic:

• Help Jill save her grandparents' bakery. Earn money so you can re-open the shop.
• Customize your kitchen. You can buy state-of-the-art upgrades and baking tools to serve even more customers.
• Live to bake, bake to live. You wait for customer requests, you bake the cakes, and then you ice and decorate and serve.
• Five locations. Home Bakery, Beach Front, Circus, Casino, Hawaii.
• Lots of levels. Over 80 in all.
• Touch screen insanity. Use the screen to hand out menus, make cakes, and collect money.
• Extra touches. Serve seasonal confections like Cupid and Santa Claus cakes. Listen to customer feedback, hand out cupcakes, and set the TV to their favorite channels.
  

Fun, huh? If it weren't for casual games from Sandlot Games, GameHouse, PopCap Games, Big Fish Studios, Last Day of Work Software, and Zylom, people would get more work done. *smirk* And there's a bonus: Cake Mania for the DS includes BOTH the original online Cake Mania and the full Back to the Bakery expansion pack.

More screenshots after the jump! Click on the "Full Article" link below.

Majesco Entertainment wants to let the flour fly in Cake Mania, a new online game heading to the Nintendo DS. The game is based on a casual game by Sandlot Games of the same name. Cake Mania for the DS takes the same gameplay, which essentially boils down to manic cake-baking, and adds touch screen controls as well as a new appearance. The original online game and its expansion Back to the Bakery will also be included.

In Cake Mania, players jump into the role of Jill, who returns from culinary school to find her beloved grandparents' bakery closed down because a new Mega-Mart store opened in the neighborhood. The ultimate aim of the game is to earn enough money so that Jill can re-open her grandparents' bakery. This can only be achieved by serving the increasingly difficult customers and updating Jill's kitchen with new baking tools in over 80 levels.

All aspects of the gameplay will be handled via the touch-screen, from handing out menus and collecting cash, to baking, frosting and decorating cakes. In the later levels, Cake Mania promises to be as hectic as no other similar game, as more and more customers need to be served.

Cake Mania will be available in early 2007 for a mere $19.99. And if you think that a casual online game made into a DS title isn't worth the money, check out Magnetica which, in the end, turned out as a quite decent little game. So let's just hope the same will be true for Cake Mania.