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SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCETM “MIXES IT UP” AT TOY FAIR 2013

From the Innovators who Brought “Toys to Life” Comes an Entirely New Innovation – Swapability 

16 New Characters With Swappable Top and Bottom Halves Can Be Customised into More Than 250

Unique Combinations, Taking Skylanders and the “Toys to Life” Category to a New Level  

Stellar HD Graphics Deliver Cinema-Quality Visuals and Storytelling, Immersing Players

in Gameplay Like Never Before

 

Sydney – February 6, 2013 – In just over a year, the novel concept of bringing toys to life has made Skylanders one of the most beloved and successful children’s video game franchises of all time1, establishing a new category in family entertainment. Today, Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), revealed Skylanders SWAP Force,  the next installment in the popular franchise, which will be featured at Toy Fair 2013, February 10-13 at the Javits Center in New York City.

SWAP Force builds upon the success of the franchise’s signature gameplay with an all-new innovative play pattern — swapability — that gives kids more choice than ever before by letting  them swap the top and bottom halves of the toys to create their own characters.  The game lets Portal Masters reconfigure 16 SWAP Force characters into more than 250 unique combinations.  Kids can mix and match characters’ powers and moves, and then bring them to life in the game.   Fans of the franchise also can play Skylanders SWAP Force with their entire collection of characters from both Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure® and Skylanders GiantsTM, now with the added capability of jumping.

“With Skylanders, we didn’t just create a beloved new franchise, we actually created an entirely new category that brings the world of physical toys and video games together like never before. And now with Skylanders SWAP Force, we are pushing the genre we created forward with another big innovation:  customization,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. “The idea that kids can customize their own characters in the physical world, and have their unique combinations recognized in the virtual world, is an idea as big as the concept of bringing toys to life itself.”

In Skylanders SWAP Force, Portal Masters embark on an all-new adventure in the mysterious Cloudbreak Islands, home to a mystical volcano that erupts every hundred years to replenish the magic in Skylands.  During an epic battle, a brave group of Skylanders were caught in the volcano’s eruption, which blasted them apart and sent them to earth.  But, the magic of the volcano gave these heroes a remarkable new power — the ability to swap halves – turning them into a special team known as the SWAP Force.  Meanwhile, Kaos is back with a new evil plan.  And now, Portal Masters everywhere must reassemble the SWAP Force — in their original form or in new combinations — and send them back to Cloudbreak to save Skylands!

Skylanders SWAP Force features 16 new SWAP Force characters, along with 32 core Skylanders characters (16 completely new Skylanders and 16 new versions of fan favourite characters from previous games) and eight new LightCore™ characters.  Skylanders SWAP Force also delivers high-resolution graphics that bring the game’s detailed characters and rich environments to life, immersing players in the gameplay like never before.

“Skylanders Giants was named to our 2012 Holiday Hot Toy List for good reason – it extended the franchise’s breakthrough gameplay and its performance at retail has been incredible. We’re continually impressed by the originality that Activision delivers in bringing toys to life,” said D-J Aquilina, General Manager – Marketing and Ecommerce, Toys“R”Us, Inc. “The innovation of allowing kids to customise their toys in the real world and then send them into the Skylanders SWAP Force game is sure to raise the bar for the franchise.”

About Skylanders

In 2011, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure originated a new play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms and became the top-selling kids’ videogame of the year2. In October of 2012, Skylanders Giants further evolved the genre and added the mega-sized Giants and LightCore™ characters to the collection of interaction figures that have helped the franchise achieve more than $500 million in U.S. retail sales, including accessories and figures, reaching the milestone faster than any other kids gaming property.3 Skylanders SWAP Force is being developed by Vicarious Visions, an Activision studio. The game has not yet been rated by the Australian Classification Board. For more information, visit www.skylanders.com.

 
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New 3DMark is #3 best-selling on Steam

Futuremark have have just launched a new version of 3DMark, theirflagship benchmarking program. PC gamers, in particular, will be keen to try Fire Strike, our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark test for high-performance gaming PCs.

http://www.futuremark.com/3dmark

3DMark is also available from Steam where it is currently #3 in the top sellers list. Can you believe that? http://store.steampowered.com/app/223850/

WHAT’S NEW IN 3DMARK?

The new 3DMark includes everything you need to benchmark Windows hardware. With three all new tests you can bench everything from tablets and notebooks to the latest high-end gaming desktops. It’s the most powerful and flexible 3DMark we’ve ever created.

We designed 3DMark for gamers, overclockers and system builders who want to get the most out of their hardware. 3DMark is a complete PC benchmarking tool kit for those who are serious about performance. And it’s no longer just for Windows. With 3DMark, you will be able to compare scores with Android, iOS and Windows RT devices too.

We have just released the Windows version of 3DMark. New versions for Android, iOS and Windows RT are coming soon, pending testing and app store approvals.

3DMARK LAUNCH TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzPQtG-E0N4

NEW 3DMARK BENCHMARK TESTS

Fire Strike – For high performance gaming PCs Use Fire Strike to test the performance of dedicated gaming PCs, or use the Fire Strike Extreme preset for high-end systems with multiple GPUs. Fire Strike uses a multi-threaded DirectX 11 engine to test DirectX 11 hardware.

Cloud Gate – For notebooks and home PCs Use Cloud Gate to test the performance of notebooks and typical home PCs. Cloud Gate uses a DirectX 11 engine limited to Direct3D feature level 10, making it suitable for testing DirectX 10 compatible hardware.

Ice Storm – For tablets and entry-level PCs Use Ice Storm to test the performance of your Windows tablet, ultra-portable notebook or entry-level PC.  Ice Storm uses a DirectX 11 engine limited to Direct3D feature level 9, making it the ideal benchmark for modern portable devices targeting that feature level. You can compare Ice Storm scores from Windows, Windows RT, Android and iOS devices.

WINDOWS EDITIONS AND PRICING

3DMark Basic Edition – FREE

– Includes all three tests: Ice Storm, Cloud Gate and Fire Strike.

– View and manage results online.

3DMark Advanced Edition – $24.99

– Run each test individually for faster benchmarking.

– Unlock the Fire Strike Extreme preset for extreme hardware.

– Explore your PC’s performance limits with custom settings.

– Use benchmark looping for stability testing and burning in.

– Get in-depth insights with interactive performance graphs.

– Automatically save your results offline.

SPECIAL LAUNCH OFFERS

Save 25% in the Futuremark store

People who own 3DMark 11 Advanced Edition can get a 25% discount when they buy 3DMark Advanced Edition from the Futuremark store. http://www.futuremark.com/3dmark

Save 25% with Steam

3DMark is also available on Steam. For the first week only, you can save 25% when you buy 3DMark Advanced Edition from Steam.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/223850/

 
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Marvel’s INFINITY Is COMING!—First Contact At FCBD 2013!


The biggest super heroes in comics today – the Avengers, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, Fantastic Four, Inhumans, Superior Spider-Man & more!

The most dangerous threat in the Marvel Universe – Thanos!

The grandest Marvel Comics event of all time – INFINITY!

This May for Free Comic Book Day, prepare yourselves for the greatest battle for survival ever waged in the Marvel Universe as Marvel marches towards Infinity! In this all-new story by the blockbuster creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Jim Cheung, witness the opening shots of the war that will be heard around the galaxy. Plus, get a sneak peek behind a major Marvel release that hasn’t been announced yet and relive Thanos’ first solo story.

With the entire Marvel Universe on the brink of intergalactic war, no fan can miss this year’s Free Comic Book Day!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013: INFINITY

Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN

Pencils & Cover by JIM CHUENG

ON SALE – MAY 4th, 2013!

 
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Celebrate Chinese New Year with Traci Harding

Australian readers are hungry for Chinese historical fiction. Wild Swans, Mao’s Last Dancer, Falling Leaves, Life and Death in Shanghai… it’s clear that there’s something about the Chinese cultural landscape that captures our collective imagination.

It’s therefore not surprising that while in the early stages of researching her latest novel, Dreaming of Zhou Gong, Traci Harding became fascinated with ancient China – a period she soon realised was “far more rich with invention, culture and tradition than I could possibly have imagined”.

Harding is renowned both within Australia and internationally for her own unique brand of fantasy that combines elements of historical fact, time travel and quantum physics – a formula that has translated to book sales of nearly 350,000 copies locally. While Zhou Gong is a new direction for her, it’s one that she believes both old and new readers alike will enjoy.

“In all of my travels through time, space and history, I have never been so enchanted, fascinated and immersed in any culture, as I was with ancient China,” says Hawkesbury, NSW-based Harding.

“My readers have always been happy to follow my characters wherever their journey led, much as I do, and considering the amount of enjoyment I derived from writing the story of Zhou Gong, I do believe my readers are in for an unparalleled adventure!”

Dreaming of Zhou Gong is a beautiful story of Hudan, one of the mysterious Wu who lives on the sacred mountain of Li Shan. The Wu have been living in isolation for decades while the Shang Emperor and his enchantress have ruled the land. It has been a terrible time for the common people and the noble Ji brothers are keen to bring the emperor’s arrogant bloodthirsty reign to an end. They believe an ancient prophecy has predicted the fall of the Shang emperor and they are keen to enact it, but first they must journey to the mountain and seek out the Wu.

When the Ji brothers join forces with the beautiful, enigmatic Hudan and her equally mysterious tiger sister, they begin a powerful journey of love and adventure.

But the Shang emperor is not their greatest threat. There is a dark curse that has plagued the rulers of the land for generations. And the mysterious Sons of the Sky who visit Hudan in her dreams have a plan to destroy it. Can Hudan trust them?

About the author

Since the 1996 bestseller, THE ANCIENT FUTURE, Traci Harding has published seventeen books with HarperVoyager. These are available in print and e-books; she has also been translated into several different languages. Go to traciharding.com and find out all there is to know about Traci and her books. 

 
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TECMO KOEI ANNOUNCES PRE-ORDER BONUS AND DETAILS ONLINE MODE FOR DYNASTY WARRIORS 7 EMPIRES

TECMO KOEI EUROPE and MINDSCAPE ASIA PACIFIC announced today the pre-order bonus content for Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires, which will be released on the 22nd of February 2013 exclusively on the PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system.

In Australia, those who pre-order the upcoming tactical action fan-favourite will receive a DLC including the outfits of Diao Chan and Zhao Yun from Dynasty Warriors 6 as well as the costume of Nobunyaga, a feline version of Samurai Warrior’s Nobunaga Oda.

Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires’ combines thrilling battlefield action with strategic gameplay, giving each player the opportunity to influence the way history unfolds: gain fame in battle and rule their own nation as a ‘Ruler’, use strategy to seize power and invade neighbouring territories as a ‘Strategist’ or become a mercenary and sell their services around the land as a ‘Free Officer’. Through actions such as earning fame on the battlefield, protecting the people or looking to expand their own personal wealth and power, the choices made during the strategy and battle phases have an impact on the character’s position.

The newly improved Edit Mode enhances the personalised gameplay, allowing the player to fully customise their own unique character by picking the facial features, personality, weapon animation, abilities, outfits etc and throw them into battle.

These characters can then be shared online for others to download and incorporate in their own game through the ‘Extras’ mode. In this mode the player can utilise all the available online features of the game, like putting together teams of up to four created characters and forming their own kingdom, co-operating with another player to clear a level or using downloaded characters as guest officers who can provide assistance in the battlefield.

Edited characters also include their creator’s play history with character, so the play style is carried over, allowing for a simulated multiplayer experience.

To download screenshots and other available assets from the extras and edit modes as well as images of the pre-order bonus, visit:

For more information please visit http://dynastywarriors7.eu/empires

 
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Dead Island™ – over 5 million copies sold!

Deep Silver has reached a new major milestone in sales of Dead Island 

Sydney, Australia – February 6, 2013 – Deep Silver today announced they have achieved a major milestone in worldwide sales for the zombie action game Dead Island. Since its release in September of 2011, Dead Island has sold-through over five million copies worldwide and still maintains an exceptional strong sales rate in all channels. This achievement includes sales from both retail and digital versions.

“While others focus on ever-increasing development budgets and driving brand messages via ballooning marketing expenditures, Deep Silver stands for hitting the zeitgeist, innovation and fresh gameplay. Dead Island has an incredibly active and enthusiastic community, and we are thrilled to welcome the five millionth player to the world of Banoi. This once again proves that venturing into new waters in terms of games publishing does matter for success and that even at the end of a console cycle new IPs can be created and nurtured into lasting franchises,” says Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media.

“We’re very proud to have achieved five million units sold worldwide! We see this sustained excellent performance as a particularly good omen for the projected sales of Dead Island Riptide, our upcoming next installment, that will be released later this year,“ adds Menno van der Bil, International Commercial Director, Koch Media. “The continued success of Dead Island has proven that we’re on the right track with our overall IP strategy for Deep Silver. Further new IPs with an innovative angle and maybe even surprising touch can be expected from Deep Silver.”

Dead Island Riptide is the next installment in the Dead Island franchise. Its story is a continuation of the incidents taking place in the original game and adding many new features to the co-op focused gameplay.

About Dead Island Riptide:

With invigorating new elements infused into a proven mix, Dead Island Riptide will reanimate the zombie terror in the original game. A monsoon has hit the once beautiful archipelago and heavy rainstorms have laid waste to large areas of the islands. The city of Henderson and jungle areas on the island of Palanai were flooded leaving boats as the only remaining way of transportation. Dynamic weather conditions will force the team members to adapt to changing visibility conditions.

A fifth character will join the team, with an all-new and unique skillset. The combined skills of the group will be sorely needed, since terrible, new and unknown zombie mutations have emerged all over the island.

In a new hub defense missions the coop teamplay skills of the survivors will be tested to the limit – they need to strategically place traps, fences and turrets to fend off oncoming Zombie onslaughts and to protect the humans in these sanctuaries.

New communication features in coop mode also allow players to enjoy an even more intense and strategic teamplay experience.

Dead Island Riptide is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by All Interactive Entertainment and will be released on April 23, 2013.

For more information, visit one of the following official Dead Island sites:

Official Website: www.deadisland.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadislandgame

Youtube: www.youtube.com/deadislandgame

Twitter: twitter.com/deadislandgame

 
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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 “Legends of the Majors” Trailer

 
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Bethesda is pleased to announce that Dragonborn™ is now available to PC users. The game add-on can be downloaded from Steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/226880/ and is available in selected retailers across Australia and New Zealand for AUD $24.95 and NZD $29.95.

Bethesda is pleased to announce that Dragonborn™ is now available to PC users. The game add-on can be downloaded from Steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/226880/  and is available in selected retailers across Australia and New Zealand for AUD $24.95 and NZD $29.95.

With this official add-on for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim®, journey off the coast of Morrowind to the island of Solstheim. Encounter new towns, dungeons, and quests, as you traverse the ash wastes and glacial valleys of this new land. Become more powerful with shouts that bend the will of your enemies and even tame dragons. Your fate, and the fate of Solstheim, hangs in the balance as you face off against your deadliest adversary – the first Dragonborn.

For more information on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim® or Dragonborn™, please visit www.elderscrolls.com.

 
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BATTLE TO A DIFFERENT TUNE WITH NEW MYTHICAL POKÉMON MELOETTA

Get the Forme-changing Melody Pokémon Meloetta, Available via a Special Character Distribution Event at Selected Retail Stores in Australia and New Zealand

6th February, 2013 — Starting March 4, a special Meloetta character distribution event begins at selected retail stores in Australia and New Zealand: selected EB Games and Target stores in Australia, and selected JB Hi-Fi stores in New Zealand. Pokémon fans will be able to add the much-anticipated Mythical Pokémon Meloetta to their Pokédex in Pokémon™ Black 2, Pokémon™ White 2, and the original Pokémon™ Black and Pokémon™ White games. Making its video game debut, Meloetta is a rare and powerful Pokémon with a musical flair—and a very special Ability in battle. For players new to the world of Pokémon, it is a great opportunity to enter the Unova Region of Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 with a strong, uniquely gifted Pokémon right out of the gate.

Striking a chord between its two distinct Formes, Meloetta hits all the right notes in battle. Meloetta fights as a Normal- and Psychic-type Pokémon in its Aria Forme. Though Aria Forme is powerful in its own right, Meloetta can change mid-battle to its Pirouette Forme, taking on new strengths and weaknesses as it becomes a Normal- and Fighting-type Pokémon. Meloetta is the first Pokémon able to change its Forme and type during battle using a specific move, and its Pirouette Forme is the only Pokémon with a Normal- and Fighting-type combination.

This Mythical Melody Pokémon distribution event is only available for a limited time, so players will need to visit one of the selected retail stores beginning March 4 until April 19 for a chance to pick up Meloetta.

Later this month, fans can expect more information from The Pokémon Company International on this one-of-a-kind Pokémon, including its move-set and how it changes Formes in battle.

To receive Aria Forme Meloetta during the distribution time period, fans will need the following:

• A Nintendo 3DS™ or Nintendo DS® system
• A copy of the Pokémon Black 2, Pokémon White 2, Pokémon Black, or Pokémon White game
• The Pokédex within the game
• No more than 11 Wonder Cards in their possession

 
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AMD Kick Starts 2013 with the Ultimate “Gaming Evolved” Game Partnerships and “Never Settle

Sydney, Australia — 6th February, 2013 — AMD today announced the arrival of its “Never Settle: Reloaded” game bundle, the sequel to last year’s monumental “Never Settle” bundle. Available now for Australia and New Zealand, “Never Settle: Reloaded” delivers by bundling up to four of this year’s most anticipated PC games ? “BioShock® Infinite” by 2K Games and Irrational Games, “Crysis® 3” by Electronic Arts, “DmC Devil May Cry™” by Capcom® and “Tomb Raider®” by Square Enix ? with select AMD Radeon™ HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards. Participating Australian and New Zealand partners include ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, Powercolor, HIS, XFX, Sapphire, Vertex3D.

The bundle highlights the continued commitment by AMD to ensure an incredible gaming experience on the world’s top PC titles optimised for AMD Radeon™ graphics cards.

“AMD knows gaming and in 2013 we plan to make a huge mark on the industry. Today we begin that journey by showing the world that the best PC game developers are AMD Gaming Evolved partners,” said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics. “The ‘Never Settle: Reloaded’ bundle clearly stands apart from anything else in the market. Gaming has always been, and will remain, the core of the AMD Graphics strategy and success. In 2013, we plan to forge greater inroads into the gaming industry and it begins with packaging this year’s biggest games with the best graphics hardware from AMD.”

The introduction of this gaming bundle further demonstrates AMD leadership in and commitment to gaming as the centerpiece of its long-term graphics strategy. In 2013, AMD plans to further reinforce its position as an industry-leading graphics provider by focusing on four critical pillars. The first pillar is content, where AMD will continue its ground-breaking work with game developers to ensure the greatest games are optimised to play on the greatest hardware, AMD Radeon graphics. Second, AMD will work with console developers to evolve and improve the console experience for both gamers and game developers. Third is the cloud, where AMD will expand the limits of online gaming through technology partnerships with companies like CiiNow, enabling game publishers, retailers and carriers to tap into the growing online video game market, ultimately providing greater choice for PC gamers. And finally, AMD will continue to deliver cutting-edge graphics technology which ultimately sets the foundation for driving the best gaming experiences regardless of the platform.

“The ‘Crysis’ franchise has a reputation for demanding the world’s most powerful graphics cards,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO and president of Crytek. “’Crysis 3’ pushes GPU technology even further and is the best looking game we have ever worked on, so we needed a hardware partner that could keep up with us. The AMD Gaming Evolved program clearly demonstrated that AMD Radeon and the Graphics Core Next architecture is what we needed.”

Never Settle: Reloaded Bundle

The “Never Settle: Reloaded” bundle offers the following games when purchased with select AMD Radeon™ HD 7900 graphics cards and coming soon a HD 7800 Series bundle will also be available at selected retailers. *:

 Game Title

 AMD Radeon™ HD 7900 Series

 AMD Radeon™ HD 7800 Series

 Purchase two AMD Radeon™ HD 7900   Series

 Crysis® 3 Download Code

 x

 x

 BioShock® Infinite Download Code

 x

 x

 x

 Tomb Raider® Download Code

 x

 x

 DmC Devil May Cry™ Download Code

 Sleeping Dogs™ Download Code

 x

 Hitman: Absolution™ Download Code

 x

 Far Cry® 3 Download Code

 x

“One of our goals with ‘Tomb Raider’ is to make the game experience feel believable and the graphics become one of the key components to help deliver that,” said Karl Stewart, global brand director, Crystal Dynamics. “Using AMD Radeon with the compute-driven graphics features in ‘Tomb Raider” helped us create an island which can be visually stunning or inhospitably hostile, introduce a cast of characters and tell this origins story to the best effect.”

AMD Radeon Technology
The award-winning AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards feature AMD CrossFire™ technology, immersive AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology and AMD HD3D stereo 3D, which when combined with the latest DirectX® 11.1 capable games, deliver exceptional experiences and cutting-edge visuals for gamers. For gamers looking for the ultimate gaming card to take full advantage of the “Never Settle: Reloaded” bundle, the limited-edition ASUS ROG ARES II graphics card is currently available. Equipped with two overclocked AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 GHz Edition GPUs in a slender two-slot design, the ROG ARES II suits a variety of PC cases, and has a new hybrid thermal design that combines liquid and air cooling.

“We are pleased that the AMD ‘Never Settle’ promotion of 2012 returns in 2013. This free game promotion for AMD Radeon graphics was a huge success and was very well received by our gaming enthusiasts,” said Rob Verheij, marketing coordinator, Alternate Netherlands. “I am convinced that this new bundle promotion, which contains top games like ‘BioShock® Infinite,’ ‘Crysis® 3’ and ‘Tomb Raider®’ will be a big success.”

“After the success of last year’s Never Settle Bundle, we are thrilled to see AMD, yet again, offer 2013’s most anticipated PC games packaged with their award-winning graphics cards to our customers,” said Soren Mills, chief marketing officer of Newegg North America. “Both Newegg and AMD are supporters of the PC gaming community, which is why we value this partnership and look forward to offering this exciting new bundle.”

Redemption
Coupons for games included in the AMD Radeon Never Settle: Reloaded bundle will be provided by selected resellers when customers purchase AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards, and can be redeemed on the AMD Redemption portal.

Supporting Resources
•    Product pages: AMD Radeon™ HD 7850, AMD Radeon™ HD 7870 GHz Edition, AMD Radeon™ HD 7950, AMD Radeon™ HD 7970, AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 GHz Edition
•    Follow AMD graphics news on Twitter at @AMDRadeon
•    Become a fan of AMD technology on Facebook
•    Become a fan of AMD gaming on Facebook

 
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