February to June 2009

H.O.P.E. Project Exhibition

The H.O.P.E. (Hope, Opportunity, Purpose and Education) Project Exhibition features paintings by Indigenous students from Mildura Primary School that reflect their beliefs about who is important to them, where they feel connected and safe and the difference that being part of the project has made in their lives. Each artwork has a unique personal story attached that represents strong cultural identify and hope for the future.

Date: Until 26 June 2009

Top Designs 2009

Be inspired and motivated by the creativity and skills of the best design works from Victoria’s final year VCE secondary school design students. Students’ works range from film, furniture, fashion, graphic design, mechanics, photography, publishing and food. Top Designs also features the development of the final product. View folios, work briefs, production stages, product evaluations and design plans.

Presented in partnership with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority as part of the VCE Season of Excellence.

Date: 21 March to 12 July 2009

Dinosaur Walk

Get ready to walk among, around and even above the Museum’s collection of dinosaur skeletons in Dinosaur Walk. Come face-to-face with Amargasaurus and Protoceratop, as well as Quetzalcoatlus, the largest flying animal of all time. Dinosaur fans can touch displays of dinosaur teeth, bones and fossilised poo and discover how dinosaurs moved, what they ate and how they survived in their changing environments. Dinosaur Walk is the first permanent exhibition to be opened as part of Museum Victoria’s Science and Life Gallery redevelopment.

Date: 3 April 2009

Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour

This Comedy Festival, Ben McKenzie, the Man in the Lab Coat, returns to host the Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour. Joining him will be Melbourne comedy legend Janet A. McLeod and The Collectors host and comedian Andy Muirhead for a spooky and exciting trip through Melbourne Museum after hours. Prepare to learn something new and have your funny bone tickled in this evening of science, history and laughter.

Date: 16 to 18 April and 23 to 25 April 2009

Cost: $15 adult, $10 concession

agIdeas 2009 NewStar

The agIdeas NewStar Award is an opportunity for emerging Australian designers to enhance their design career by winning International travelling scholarships. The finalists, ranging from multimedia, 2D or 3D works, are exhibited at Melbourne Museum with winners announced at the agIdeas 2009 International Design Forum.

Date: 24 April to 24 May 2009

A Day in Pompeii: Melbourne Winter Masterpieces

The drama and tragedy of ancient Pompeii will be showcased in the Melbourne Winter Masterpiece exhibition A Day
in Pompeii, on display at Melbourne Museum from 26 June to 25 October 2009.  Exclusive to Melbourne, A Day in Pompeii is developed by Museum Victoria in partnership with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei (SAP), and will feature over 250 objects from daily life in Pompeii and surrounds, as well as a number of body casts.

Melbourne Winter Masterpieces is a Victorian Government initiative and is exclusive to Melbourne, Australia. A Day in Pompeii is presented in association with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei (SAP).

Date: 26 June to 11 October 2009

Cost: $20 adult, $14 concession, $12 child, $54 family (includes Museum entry)

Melbourne Museum, Nicholson Street, Carlton. Open daily 10.00am – 5.00pm. Admission: Adult $8, children and concession FREE. For further details phone 13 11 02 or visit museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum

Melbourne, Australia – February 24, 2009 – Once upon a time, on the 24th of February 2009, Impulse Gamer was allowed into the hidden kingdom of Rising Star Games’ “Little King’s Story”. Guided by Ben Chalmers-Steven of Rising Star Games from the United Kingdom and AFA’s Robert Picciau, editor and Chief Andrew Bistak of Impulse Gamer laid his eyes on the Nintendo Wii’s most promising game for 2009!

EXPAND YOUR KINGDOM

CONQUER THE WORLD

WORK YOUR HAPPY LITTLE SUBJECTS TO DEATH!

Fill the royal shoes of King Corobo as you build your empire and let the feeling of absolute power go straight to your head.

– An original title for Wii developed by key members of the Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy XII and Dragon Quest VIII teams.

– Experience a unique combination of life simulation, real-time strategy and adventure game elements

– Command your loyal townspeople to dig for treasures, construct new buildings, break down obstacles or fight to the death in your name

– Unite the surrounding rival kingdoms under your flag to turn your sleepy little hamlet into the best king ever!

This my friends is …

Little King’s Story

Where can I start? Little King’s Story is a combination of “Life Simulation”, “Real-time Strategy”, “Adventure” and “RPG” in an entertaining tale about a kingdom without a king and then finally with a king. The tale revolves around a young boy named Corobo who becomes King of this make believe kingdom after years without an heir.

With a stunning, almost interactive oil painting introduction, this really sets the scene for Little King’s Story as you begin from humble heir to eventually all conquering and empowering King of seven kingdoms. Solve quests for your citizens, invade neighbouring kingdoms and create your own buildings and citizens in this epic game filled with a variety of different genres. Best of all, these genres flawlessly interact with each other so nothing seems too forced or contrived.

Interact with your citizens, give them tasks such as gathering wood, mining for gold or attacking nefarious creatures, the game is almost limitless with possibilities. The RTS aspect of the title is great as you select your citizens to become a variety of different classes such as farmers or warriors. Apparently, your king can control up to 50 different units.

After observing the game for a little over an hour, I was left speechless at how well this game designed and played. The control system is great on the Wii and I was able to pickup the controller and start playing immediately.

Little King’s Story?

Dare I say? It’s almost perfect and finally a game that can be played by gamers of all ages.

Stay tuned!

• DiRT™ 2 – September release announced, new visuals released.
• FUEL™ – new gameplay video reveals iconic US landmark locations.
• Operation Flashpoint™: Dragon Rising in action, plus new screenshots.
• Jumpgate Evolution® gets June date, epic gameplay video unveiled.
• Three new Overlord™ titles dated for June, gameplay videos break out.

– Friday, 20th February – Codemasters® showcased some of the star players from its 2009 portfolio at its San Francisco Gamers Day event, held Thursday 19th February. Featured titles included DiRT™2, FUEL™, Operation Flashpoint™: Dragon Rising, Jumpgate Evolution®, Overlord™II, Overlord™Dark Legend and Overlord™Minions.

Codemasters announced that DiRT™2, the sequel to the award-winning off-road racer, has been scheduled to ship this September for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games For Windows® LIVE, Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system; the most extensive format launch in the 10 million+ selling series’ history.

Set to deliver a thrilling off-roading experience with extreme sports attitude, new visuals released at www.dirt2game.com revealed that, in addition to Utah, Malaysia and London, DiRT 2’s World Tour of off-road events will take racers to a massive, spectator-packed Los Angeles sports stadium for an exhilarating rally cross event: the “Stadium King Shootout”.

Codemasters also showcased FUEL™, the multi-terrain, multi-vehicle action racing title from Asobo Studios that will present players with the largest environment ever created in race gaming. FUEL will have players competing across wildly different terrain, created from the most compelling, diverse and striking areas of America using satellite data.

In a new gameplay video, now available from www.fuel-game.com, gamers can tour some of the game’s iconic locations, including the Utah salt-plains and the Grand Canyon, all rendered beautiful by Asobo Studios’ A.C.E. game engine. Coming this May, FUEL will be published for the PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360 and Games For Windows LIVE.

Marking the much anticipated return of the genre-defining military conflict title, Codemasters revealed Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising in action and released new in-game screenshots (now available from www.flashpointgame.com). Set to be the most accessible, engaging and visceral sandbox shooter of the year Operation Flashpoint™: Dragon Rising is coming this summer for the Xbox 360, the PLAYSTATION® system and Games For Windows.

From an immense racing world to an entire universe, Codemasters Online and developer NetDevil announced that Jumpgate Evolution®, the action-based PC Massively Multiplayer Online game that promises exhilarating space combat on a vast scale, is scheduled for take-off this June. Previewing the game’s breath-taking visuals and an innovative twitch-based space combat, a new gameplay video was also released and is now available from www.jumpgateevolution.com.

Heralding the return of the delightfully despotic Overlord and his Minion horde, Codemasters announced that its three new Overlord titles are scheduled to ship this June. Overlord™II, the sequel to the original hit twisted fantasy adventure will launch for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360 and PC. Overlord™ Dark Legend, an all-new Overlord action adventure steeped in fairy tale lore with sinister satirical twists and starring a new, younger Overlord, will be published exclusively for Wii. While Overlord™ Minions, an irresistible puzzle action game starring an elite squad of four heroic Minions, will be available exclusively for Nintendo DS.

Revealing a taste of the terrific tales of tyranny that await players, the first Overlord II and Overlord Dark Legend gameplay videos were released and are now available from www.codemasters.com/overlordII and www.codemasters.com/darklegend respectively.

Monday 23rd February 2009 – SEGA Europe Ltd. announced that a playable demo of Empire: Total War is now available on STEAM.  Capturing just a short glimpse of the kind of epic engagements you’ll be playing from March the 3rd when the game is released, this demo will take you through the basics of land and naval command and then let you loose on two historic scenarios.

Playing as the British Empire, you’ll take on the American Army in the pivotal ‘Battle of Brandywine Creek’ and then the French Navy in the decisive ‘Battle of Lagos’.

Empire: Total War is set in the 18th century, a turbulent era that is the most requested by Total War’s loyal fan base and a period alive with global conflict, revolutionary fervour and technological advances. With themes such as the Industrial Revolution, America’s struggle for independence, the race to control Eastern trade routes and the globalisation of war on land and sea, Empire: Total War promises to be the richest and most dynamic PC strategy game of all time. Empire: Total War will be released from the 3rd of March, exclusively for PC.

For more information about the demo, please visit www.totalwar.com/demo.  For assets, please visit www.sega-press.com.

SingStar® unleashes – with new  Wireless SingStar Microphones

·         Feel total freedom as you sing, dance, and perform wire-free with new Wireless SingStar® Microphones

·         Compatible with PlayStation®2 and PLAYSTATION®3

·         Coinciding with the launch of brand-new SingStar® Pop Edition

SYDNEY, 23 February 2009 – Get ready to unleash the SingStar® within – with the launch of brand-new Wireless SingStar Microphones from Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.). Rated as ‘excellent’ by the SingStar community, Wireless SingStar Microphones will have you and your friends performing from couch to table-top – completely leads-free! Coming to stores in early April, the launch of Wireless SingStar Microphones coincides with the release of SingStar® Pop Edition for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™), featuring a brand new voice control function.

Sydney, Australia – February 24, 2009 – Having united forces with rock ‘n’ roll legends Metallica for encore performances and recordings throughout the years, GRAMMY® Award-nominated heavy metal vocalist and Mercyful Fate frontman King Diamond will take to the cyber-stage with Metallica this autumn in Activision Publishing Inc.’s Guitar Hero® Metallica®.

Fans, stagehands and groupies alike will have the opportunity to shred and drum with or wail as the digital King Diamond during performances of “Evil.”  The song, which originally was recorded in 1983 and is one of the Mercyful Fate songs that comprise Metallica’s “Mercyful Fate” medley, was re-recorded by four of the five original band members for Guitar Hero Metallica.  The recording session was overseen by guitarist Hank Shermann in the band’s native Denmark; after which King Diamond laid down his vocals in Dallas, Texas, and mixed the song with J.T. Longoria.

“It’s been absolutely amazing to be a part of this Guitar Hero experience. It was quite a trip to re-record the song ‘Evil’ almost 25 years after the original recording took place. The end result with four out of the five original musicians turned out so much better than I would ever have hoped for,” said King Diamond.  “Seeing my animated character take form was totally eerie in a very good way. It’s so strange to see yourself animated in such perfect detail – cross bone microphone, Eye necklace and all.  This game looks and sounds METAL all the way.  HORNS UP!!!”

“Ride the Lightning” with musical icons Metallica and 21 other rockin’ acts in an all new Guitar Hero® experience – Guitar Hero Metallica.  Enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience the intensity and skill of one of the greatest bands of all time.  Shred on the guitar controller, rip on the drum kit controller and wail on the mic to a set list featuring over 45 explosive hits from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Alice In Chains, Bob Seger, Foo Fighters, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Queen.  Fans will be able to rock as Metallica while performing in venues reminiscent of the band’s epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales.

Guitar Hero Metallica is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.  The Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo and the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system versions are being developed by Budcat.  The game is rated M (Infrequent Coarse Language) by the Classification Board.  For more information about Guitar Hero Metallica, please visit guitarhero.com.

– Xbox Live and PLAYSTATION Network Demos Coming March, Official Website Now Live – 

Featuring the brand new full-length ‘Assault on Dark Athena’ campaign, an HD remake of the classic ‘Escape from Butcher Bay’ and multiplayer options including the unique Pitch Black mode all on one disk, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena will deliver an incredibly rich experience to gamers following its worldwide release this coming April.

Renowned developer Starbreeze Studios has effectively combined stealth, vicious hand-to-hand combat and ferocious gunplay in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, creating an irresistible game with something for all fans of action gaming.  With playable demos coming in March to both Xbox Live® and PLAYSTATION® Network, fans won’t have to wait long to take their first steps as the galaxy’s most notorious bad-ass, Riddick.
For more information visit the game’s official website at http://atari.com/riddick/. 

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena will ship for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and PC April 24 in Australia and Europe.

For the Next Chapter in EA’s Classic Alice Franchise 

Sydney, Australia – February 24, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Spicy Horse today announced that they have signed a publishing deal for an all-new title based on EA’s 2000 classic, American McGee’s Alice™.  The game reunites EA with American McGee, the creative visionary behind the original game.  The new title is in development for the PC, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game console.

“This new project is a dream come true for me and the fans who’ve kept the Alice flame alive,” said American McGee, senior creative director at Spicy Horse. “EA gave us creative latitude and support on the original game which resulted in something beautiful and daring. This trip through the looking glass promises to be even more exciting.”

“EA Partners is thrilled to team up with American McGee and Spicy Horse on the next installment of the Alice franchise,” said David DeMartini, senior vice president and general manager of EA Partners.  “American McGee’s interpretation of Alice was an instant classic, and EA Partners is ready to help him bring his innovative vision for the franchise to even darker, more exciting places.”

Spicy Horse was represented in the deal by CAA and Weissman Wolff.

For more information, please visit EA’s press Web site at http://info.ea.com or Spicy Horse’s Web site at http://spicyhorse.com

MELBOURNE, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 – Madman titles MAN ON WIRE and DEPARTURES have each been honoured with an Oscar® at this year’s 81st annual Academy Awards® ceremony.

MAN ON WIRE ($29.95 SRP) – the thrilling tale of tightrope artist Philippe Petit’s daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974 – has received the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. Petit toured Australia in October 2008 for MAN ON WIRE’s theatrical season, including an appearance on Andrew Denton’s ENOUGH ROPE.

MAN ON WIRE is available now on DVD.

Japanese film DEPARTURES has taken out the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film. DEPARTURES is the story of Daigo Kobayashi, a professional cellist who faces unemployment when his orchestra is dissolved. Upon answering an advertisement entitled “Departures”, thinking it is for a travel agency, Daigo finds himself in the role of “Nokanshi” or “encoffineer”, a funerary celebrant who prepares bodies for entry into the next life.

Also nominated in the category was WALTZ WITH BASHIR ($29.95 SRP), the buzz title at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and winner of the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, WALTZ WITH BASHIR is the story of Ari, an Israeli soldier, coming to terms with the suppressed memories of his service during the first Lebanon war.

DEPARTURES is coming soon from Madman. WALTZ WITH BASHIR is available on DVD, April 1st, 2009.

The 81st annual Academy Awards® ceremony was held yesterday, Sunday, February 22, 2009 (Pacific Standard Time), at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, Los Angeles, California.

ASUS will be joining green-hot right now swimwear label, Hotel Bondi Swim at this year’s Swim Fashion Week at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Believing that good design is good business – ASUS and Hotel Bondi Swim are an ideal fit, with both brands incorporating innovative, luxury products with a green edge. ASUS will have a notable presence throughout Swim Fashion Week in conjunction with Hotel Bondi Swim, showcasing the Bamboo Series notebooks in splashing style.

The couture of togs and technology together will reveal a unique and sexy theme during the Hotel Bondi Swim runway show with ASUS to be cleverly integrated on the catwalk. Hotel Bondi Swim will be showing on Thursday evening – the event will be held in a glass pavilion tent overlooking the lake at Sanctuary Cove and emanating the laid-back fun of a busy sunny afternoon on the rocks at North Bondi.

The first event of its kind and the first time to hit Australian shores, Swim Fashion Week kicks off on Wednesday, 25 February 2009.
About ASUS
ASUS is a leading company in the new digital era. With a global staff of more than ten thousand and a world-class R&D design team, the company’s revenue for 2008 was 8.1 billion US dollars. ASUS ranks among the top 10 IT companies in BusinessWeek’s “InfoTech 100”, and has been on the listing for 11 consecutive years. ASUS was also selected by the Wall Street Journal Asia as No.1 in quality and service. For more information, visit www.asus.com.au.