Melbourne Australia – 22 October, As a sinister power is rising in the Middle-East, Marine Sergeant “Black” discovers how far he would go to defend his country… this is the time for gamers to get their last taste of Battlefield 3 before they take over from Black and commence their own personal wars… Check out this amazing trailer for what will definitely be one of the best games of the 2011.

Melbourne Australia – 22 October 2011 – Sometimes it makes you wonder just what on Earth Hollywood is thinking. It’s understandable that The Descendants starring George Clooney will be amazing but Harold & Kumar Christmas 3D… 3D? One can only expect how lame but probably amusing the 3D will be. Needless to say, check out our other trailers for this weekend that include TinTin and Sherlock Holmes 2 starring Robery Downey Jnr.

The Descendants Trailer 2

Chronicle Trailer

The Flowers of War Trailer

TinTin Trailer 2

Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows Trailer

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas 3D

Piranha 3DD Trailer

Ignite – price and release date fixed

Just A Game announces new details for its upcoming arcade racer 

Berlin, October 21^st 2011 – Hello Motorsport fans, in times of economic downturn and the oil crisis, driving a car can be an expensive business, a heavy foot on the accelerator can see your cash sink lower than your suspension! However, these problems fade away when playing the upcoming arcade racer “Ignite” from Berlin based publisher ‘Just A Game GmbH’. This highly anticipated PC racing game will tear out of the pit lane and will be available on Steam, October 28th for the bargain price of €14.99, $19.99 or £12.99. So prepare yourself, step onto the race track – your challenge starts next week. 

Ignite is a furious and fun arcade racer with a breakneck online mode, appealing graphics and a unique tactical score system.

Every race is different in Ignite. Each race brings something new as players try to win by using their own tactics. The score system in Ignite allows for tactics to be used during a race. Gathering score allows the use of nitro in the race and converts to time bonus at the end. So short term usage of nitro can help the players get out of situations ahead of the others but using a lot of nitro and thus score may cost him the game. There are different methods of gathering score (drafting, hitting objects, drifting) and some cars are more suited for a method then the other. Choosing the right car for the preferred method and playing out your strategy will make the player win the game. 

For more information on Ignite, racing enthusiasts should head to www.ignite-racing.com

Bitdefender offers free removal tool for Duqu, or ‘son of Stuxnet,’ rootkit 

SYDNEY & AUCKLAND – October 21, 2011 –Bitdefender®, an award-winning provider of innovative internet security solutions, has released a free removal tool against an aggressive family of rootkit malware built on the notorious Stuxnet e-threat.

The new e-threat, dubbed Rootkit.Duqu.A, shares a multitude of features with the Stuxnet worm that was used in September 2010 to compromise the Iranian nuclear program. It protects a keylogger component that gathers information from the infected computers.

Rootkit.Duqu.A is built on relatively old technology but infections can lead to confidential information theft, loss of intellectual property and other risks associated with the presence of a keylogger.

“Although the Duqu rootkit has been attributed to the Stuxnet gang, we believe the two e-threats are completely unrelated,” said Catalin Cosoi, Head of the Bitdefender Online Threats Lab at Bitdefender. “Stuxnet has been successfully reverse-engineered and its code was published online earlier this year. Now, Stuxnet is serving as a source of inspiration for other cyber-criminal gangs. That code is serving as open source for the virus community, basically adding millions of dollars in value to the virus community’s R&D.”

The removal tool can be downloaded here: www.duquremoval.com.

SYDNEY: Quickflix (ASX: QFX), Australia’s leading online movie rental subscription company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment to stream its subscription movie service to PlayStation®3 (PS3™) starting later this year.

Announcing the deal, Quickflix Chief Executive Officer Chris Taylor said: “Having entered a streaming agreement for Sony Bravia in July we’re very excited to now extend the partnership to PlayStation via its game console platform.

“Over 1.3 million Australian consumers who own an internet connectable PlayStation 3 will have access to Quickflix’s on demand movie streaming service. This is a significant moment in the evolution of IPTV delivered entertainment in Australia and a major development for our company,” Mr Taylor said.

Globally, PlayStation 3 is the game console platform most consumers connect to their TV screen at home to stream movies. In the US1 and UK, PlayStation 3 is estimated to account for over 30 percent of movie streaming by the leading online movie subscription providers in those countries.

The Quickflix movie streaming service on PlayStation 3 will provide unlimited viewing of movies from a constantly changing catalogue, complementing its online DVD and Blu-Ray rental by mail service which provides unlimited rentals each month from Australia’s largest movie and TV series library that features more than 50,000 titles.

According to Quickflix Founder and Executive Chairman Stephen Langsford, connected devices are key to the company’s growth strategy. “Combined with our rapidly growing DVD-by-mail business the PlayStation 3 deal strategically positions Quickflix to become the most popular movie streaming service in Australia,” Mr Langsford said.

Sony Computer Entertainment Australia & New Zealand Managing Director Michael Ephraim said: “This exciting agreement with Quickflix will further enhance PS3’s already strong entertainment on demand credentials across TV, games, music and now, an even larger range of movie options. If you love games, and your family loves movies, quite simply there is no better choice of device for your home than PlayStation 3, which is also one of the most highly awarded Blu-Ray players.”

The Quickflix movie subscription service will feature on the PlayStation 3 Xross media bar (XMB) interface to enable viewers to watch movies instantly. The console also features a DVD Blu-ray player, 3D playback capability and two existing on demand services: PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service (PSN VDS) and MUBI. 

Many customers will pay less for plans on the National Broadband Network (NBN) than existing ADSL 2+ and line rental plans, according to an analysis by leading comparison site WhistleOut (click here to download). Price analysis of the four internet service providers that have announced NBN consumer pricing – iiNet, Internode, Exetel and iPrimus – shows the collective underlying prices for many NBN plans are cheaper, on a per gigabyte usage basis, than their existing monthly ADSL 2+ and phone line rental plans.

WhistleOut Director Cameron Craig, says, “On the NBN’s entry level speeds (12Mpbs and 25Mbps) we found consumers will actually be paying less than today’s ADSL 2+ and line rental plans for the equivalent usage, with savings of 23% to 43% on the entry level speeds (12Mbps). Our analysis centres on what people already pay for copper phone line rental and ADSL usage from the four providers.”

“However, as the speed options get faster on the NBN, consumer plans get more expensive than today’s ADSL2+ prices, with the highest increase being a combined hike of 66% across the four providers over today’s prices when you look at top NBN speeds of 100Mbps and mid-tier data usage,” says Cameron.

The high-speed network will make internet usage and interaction significantly faster for the majority of Australians. Currently, on the largest usage quota ADSL 2+ plan of 1000GB, it takes 9 days, 22 hours and 36min to download the 1000GB, compared to 7 hours and 9 minutes on the NBN’s highest possible speed of 100Mbps. Movies will take just one to two minutes to download on the top speeds.

“While 10 per cent of Australians already have access to high speeds via cable internet in metro cities, 90 per cent of Australians are on speeds from dial up to ADSL2+ with no guarantee of the actual speed they’ll get. Around 569,000 Australians are still on dial-up internet access. The NBN’s biggest benefit will be the democratisation of high speed internet access,”says Cameron.

Telstra and Optus are yet to announce their consumer pricing for the NBN, but have passed NBN Co’s certification process in readiness to test services and signed landmark agreements with NBN to share infrastructure. The network is forecast to be completed in 2020 and is currently being rolled out in states across Australia under the Regional Backbone Blackspots program and in Tasmania.

Grab the “Gears of War 3” Season Pass on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and be the first to jump into the “Horde Command Pack” on Nov. 1 and “RAAM’s Shadow” on Dec. 13 

Today, Microsoft and Epic Games announced “RAAM’s Shadow,” the new campaign experience for the award-winning blockbuster, “Gears of War 3¹.” Starring a cast of characters both new and eerily familiar to the series, “RAAM’s Shadow” will deliver more than three hours of gameplay set in a storyline that precedes the events of the first “Gears of War,” as well as six new multiplayer characters, the Chocolate Weapon Set and an additional 250 Gamerscore. “RAAM’s Shadow” will launch Dec. 13 for 1,200 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace2, marking the second major game add-on for this year’s critically-acclaimed blockbuster, “Gears of War 3.”

“When we announced the ‘Gears 3’ Season Pass, we immediately started getting hundreds of questions from fans about what the game add-ons would be,” said Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski. “We’re really excitedto be lifting the curtain on the first two releases, first with the ‘Horde Command Pack’ and now with ‘RAAM’s Shadow,’ which gives fans a new perspective on the ‘Gears’ universe and is also the biggest DLC release we’ve ever made.”

“RAAM’s Shadow” drops players into the events of Sera post-Emergence Day, as Zeta Squad is enlisted to evacuate Ilima City and protect the citizens against a Locust Kryll storm. Taking on the infamous Locust leader from “Gears 1,” General RAAM, Zeta is led by Michael Barrick (from “Gears of War” comics fame) and comprised of familiar faces such as Lt. Minh Young Kim (“Gears 1”) and Tai Kaliso (“Gears 2”), and also includes a new female comrade, Alicia Valera.

In addition to fighting as a new squad of Gears, players will step into the boots of RAAM himself, and for the first time storm the human stronghold from the perspective of one of the series’ most legendary bosses.

“RAAM’s imposing size and strength, along with his Kryll shield, make him one of the most powerful and daunting foes in the ‘Gears’ universe,” said Bleszinski. “We think fans are going to have a blast unleashing hell upon the poor humans for the first time in a campaign setting.”

With the announcement of “RAAM’s Shadow” and in anticipation of the launch of the “Horde Command Pack2”  on Nov. 1, featuring new maps, characters, weapon skins, Horde fortification upgrades and Achievements, there’s never been a better time to purchase the “Gears of War 3” Season Pass for 2400 Microsoft Points, entitling you to the first four game add-ons for discount of more than 30 percent! 

Developed exclusively for Xbox 360 by Epic Games, “Gears of War 3” is available worldwide in three distinct editions – Standard (AUD $99.95 RRP)³, Limited (AUD $129.95 RRP)³ and Epic (AUD $199.95 RRP)³. For a limited time only, the custom-designed Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Gears of War 3” Console is also available for a recommended retail price of AUD $549 RRP³, and features a copy of the game, two specially-designed Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers, limited edition downloadable content2, built-in Wi-Fi and a massive 320 GB hard drive. The Limited Edition Wireless Controller is also available separately for a recommended retail price of AUD $89.95³. For additional details on the game, custom console and controller, please visit: gearsofwar.xbox.com.

¹ Gears of War 3 is rated MA15+. Gears of War 3 (sold separately) required to use RAAMs Shadow, the Horde Command Pack and the Gears of War 3 Season Pass.

2 Xbox LIVE ®Gold Membership Account (sold separately) required.

³ Recommended retail price, the price you pay will be determined by your retailer.

Match Engine Fully Supports 3D NVIDIA 3D Vision Technology

Friday 21st October 2011 – Sports Interactive and SEGA Europe Ltd. have today released the fan favourite management game, Football Manager 2012. Sporting over 800 new features, Football Manager 2012 also includes all the changes to the rules of the beautiful game and all the updated statistics and transfers in over 50 playable leagues.

To top it off the Football Manager 2012 Match Engine is now available in full 3D, giving fans the added realism to their match experience. To watch matches in full 3D all you need is a 3D capable NVIDIA graphics card and 3D Vision certified monitor or 3D TV with NVIDIA 3DTV Play. For more information please visit uk.geforce.com.
Phil Eisler, 3D Vision General Manager at NVIDIA said “3D Vision adds an extra level of immersion and excitement to Football Manager 2012. Using NVIDIA’s stereoscopic 3D technology, gamers will truly get the feeling of being pitch-side as their team goes for greatness! This is a great example of a developer using 3D to genuinely enhance the gameplay experience.”

Football Manager 2012 for PC and Mac was developed by London based award winning developer Sports Interactive, and is available now at retailers and via digital distributors. The PSP version, Football Manager Handheld 2012, will be released on the 28th of October 2011, with the iOS version for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch coming soon.

For more information about the game, please visit www.footballmanager.com.

Confrontation, the new tactical role playing game for PC by Cyanide (Blood Bowl, A Game of Thrones) today unveiled a series of 5 new screenshots. Confrontation is the adaptation in a video game of the universe of the famous board game by Rackham. Finely combining role-playing game elements with strategy, Confrontation offers a rich and unique experience that focuses on intense and extremely tactical battles.

On today’s screenshots, you will discover the reckless elite soldiers of the Griffin entering deep into the dense forests of Aarklash, the world of Confrontation. They will soon boldly attack groups of some of the biggest, meanest and most dangerous creatures of the Scorpion!

These are some of the harsh battles that will require the Griffin squad a perfect use of the different skills of each members, in order to hope emerge victorious!

Confrontation will release exclusively for PC in early 2012.

Unique add-on content includes hours of additional gameplay features and modes

Sydney, Australia– October 21,2011 – 2K Sports today announced the upcoming release of “Legends Showcase,” a downloadable add-on for NBA® 2K12, the latest installment in the top-selling and top-rated NBA video game simulation franchise. Legends Showcase will be available this holiday season for $12.95 via PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and for 800 Microsoft Points via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.