SYDNEY, Australia – February 15, 2012 – After a successful release in North America and Europe, BioWare™, a Label of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) announced today that the fastest growing subscription MMO ever, Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, will be officially launching in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore on March 1, 2012. Fans in those regions will be able to play the critically-acclaimed massively multiplayer online game on regional servers, enjoying the story-driven experience that has captivated gamers worldwide. Players in these countries who currently have or have had an active Star Wars: The Old Republic account prior to February 28, 2012 will have the opportunity to request a free character transfer for a limited time to an Asia Pacific server after the launch on March 1, 2012. All players who qualify for a character transfer will be notified in early March with more details.

“Our biggest priority for The Old Republic has always been to deliver a high quality product and high quality service and we are pleased with our results in North America and Europe,” said Dr. Greg Zeschuk, General Manager of the BioWare Label’s MMO Business Unit and Co-Founder of BioWare. “We appreciate that our fans in these countries have been patient and we are excited to deliver this same great customer experience to players this March.”

BioWare and EA will also be offering players in the region an in-game color crystal to change their weapon effect as a pre-order incentive* for reserving a copy of the Standard Edition from participating local retailers. There are no participating retailers for pre-orders in Hong Kong and Singapore. Finally, players in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore will also be eligible for the Founder’s medal**, a distinction given to the early members of The Old Republic community.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a story-driven, massively multiplayer online (MMO) game from BioWare and LucasArts, breaking new ground in online gaming by delivering high quality, fully-voiced storylines with personal choice and consequences. Set thousands of years before the classic Star Wars movies, players are immersed as they team up with friends online to fight in heroic battles reminiscent of the films, exploring a galaxy of vibrant planets, experiencing visceral Star Wars combat, all set to a sweeping musical score. Players are asked to join forces with either the Galactic Republic or Sith Empire and choose one of eight iconic Star Wars characters, including the Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, Trooper, Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter and Imperial Agent.

Players in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore will be able to choose from the Standard Edition ($79.99 AUD, $89.99 NZD, HK$389.00, S$64.00) and the Digital Deluxe Edition ($89.99 AUD, $99.99 NZD, HK$465.00, S$76.00) of Star Wars: The Old Republic at participating retailers. The Digital Deluxe Edition is exclusive to Origin.com. Included with the purchase of every copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic is 30 days of access to the game, after which players can continue to play by subscribing*** to the ongoing service. Subscribers will also receive ongoing content such as the recently released Game Update 1.1, Rise of the Rakghouls. For more information on Star Wars: The Old Republic, please visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com, follow the game on Twitter® at http://twitter.com/swtor or “Like” Star Wars: The Old Republic on Facebook® at http://facebook.com/starwarstheoldrepublic.

*PRE-ORDER OFFER EXPIRES WHEN PRODUCT RELEASES. CODE EXPIRES DECEMBER 31, 2012. GOOD ONLY FOR NEW PURCHASES OF “STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC” (“PRODUCT”). VALID ONLY AT PARTICIPATING RETAILERS. CODE WILL BE GIVEN WHEN PRODUCT IS RELEASED AND MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, TRADED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. ACCEPTANCE OF END USER ACCESS AND LICENSE AGREEMENT, PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION, ACCOUNT REGISTRATION (13+ TO REGISTER), PAID SUBSCRIPTION AND VALID AND ACCEPTED PAYMENT METHOD OR PAID GAME TIME CARD (IF AVAILABLE) REQUIRED TO ACCESS GAMEPLAY. GAME INTENDED FOR PLAY ONLY WITHIN NORTH AMERICA EUROPE AND CERTAIN OTHER TERRITORIES. SEE www.swtor.com/info/faq/game#q209655. ; EULAS AND DISCLOSURES CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. PAYMENT METHOD AGE RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY. SEE PRE-ORDER FAQ’S AT WWW.SWTOR.COM/PREORDER/FAQ FOR DETAILS. SWTOR ONLINE SERVICE MAY BE RETIRED AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE POSTED ON WWW.SWTOR.COM. SEE EUALA FOR DETAILS. AGREEMENT TO SHARE ACCOUNT INFORMATION WITH LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD. (“LUCASFILM”) IS REQUIRED. PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE AVAILABLE AT WWW.SWTOR.COM. THE FIRST 30 DAYS OF SUBSCRIPTION IS INCLUDED IN THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE PRODUCT. SUBSCRIPTIONS MAY BE CANCELLED AT ANY TIME. SEE WWW.SWTOR.COM FOR DETAILS. WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. PRE-ORDER QUANTITIES LIMITED.

**GOOD ONLY FOR PURCHASES OF STAR WARS™: THE OLD REPUBLIC™ WITH REDEMPTION OF A PURCHASED GAME TIME CODE OR BILLING OF AN ACTIVE GAME RECURRING SUBSCRIPTION WITH AN APPROVED PAYMENT METHOD. VALID WHEREVER GAME IS SOLD. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. CUSTOMERS WILL ACCESS THE ITEM IN-GAME. VIRTUAL ITEM ONLY. ITEM WILL BE APPLIED TO ALL CHARACTERS UNDER USER’S ACCOUNT. PLEASE ALLOW 7 DAYS FOR NOTIFICATION OF DELIVERABLES.
AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND – OFFER EXPIRES APRIL 30, 2012 AT 12:01AM EDT; 2:00AM NZDT HONG KONG and SINGAPORE – OFFER EXPIRES APRIL 29, 2012 AT 9:01PM HKT, 9:01PM SGT

*** Subscription pricing in Australia,New Zealand, HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE will be $14.99 USD per month, $41.97 USD for three months ($13.99 USD per month) or $77.94 for six months ($12.99 USD per month).

SYDNEY, Australia – February 15, 2012 – Commander Shepard — a battle hardened, no-nonsense leader — wants you to join the fight to take Earth back! Today BioWare, a label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), released the demo for Mass Effect™ 3 on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC. Mass Effect 3 is the most anticipated game of 2012, blending world class combat, deep customization options, cinematic storytelling and blockbuster action on a huge scale. The demo delivers a preview of this powerful combination, whether you are an N7 veteran or the galaxy’s newest recruit. BioWare has designed Mass Effect 3 to deliver the satisfying payoffs veterans have been waiting for while also making sure it is the best entry point into the franchise for new players.

In continuing the lead up to launch, BioWare also revealed today that an all-new CG trailer for Mass Effect 3, “Take Earth Back”, will make a worldwide debut on Sunday’s episode of “The Walking Dead”, AMC’s critically-acclaimed, post-apocalyptic horror series*.

“I’m incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished with Mass Effect 3, and am very excited for fans around the world to experience something really special when they play the demo today,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series.

The Mass Effect 3 demo kicks off with the devastating, all-out attack on Earth by an ancient alien race known as the Reapers. It also includes another thrilling single player mission from later in the game. Players will be able to choose the name, gender and appearance of their Commander Shepard. These initial choices along with choosing Shepard’s background cause the game to re-write itself, ensuring the player knows everything that happened in previous games, and can hit the ground running. Additionally, Mass Effect 3 allows players three different ways to experience the epic battle for Earth: “Action” allows players to focus mainly on combat, giving them the opportunity to pre-set the tone of decisions made during the interactive cinematic scenes; “Story” focuses more on the conversations and scales down the difficulty of the action; and “Role Playing” presents the classic Mass Effect experience which blends both challenging, intense action with rich, interactive storytelling where the choices lie with each player. All settings can be adjusted throughout the game, and all are available in the demo. Mass Effect 3 will also be one of the first pre-launch demos to support full voice recognition functionality on Kinect™ for Xbox 360.

Also included in the demo is a sample of the new multiplayer mode in Mass Effect 3. For the first time in the franchise, Mass Effect 3 will feature a fun, addictive co-operative gameplay as part of the Galaxy at War System**, which gives players an opportunity to link progress made in multiplayer or other applications directly back to the player’s main campaign to save the galaxy. The co-op portion of the demo will unlock on February 17, 2012. Gamers who have activated their Battlefield 3™ online pass will be able to unlock the co-op portion of the demo beginning today***.

Mass Effect 3 thrusts players into an all-out war to save the galaxy from an ancient alien race known as the Reapers. Players will assume the role of Commander Shepard, a war-torn veteran who’s willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate this nearly unstoppable foe. With a team of elite, battle-hardened soldiers at your side, each player decides how they will take Earth back, from the weapons and abilities they utilize to the relationships they forge or break.

Recently named by over 100 outlets around the world as one of the most anticipated games of 2012, including winning the fan-voted Most Anticipated Game of 2012 award at the Spike TV VGAs, Mass Effect 3 is available for pre-order now at participating retailers. Fans who pre-order**** have the opportunity to arm themselves with cutting-edge in-game weapons and armor to prepare for the all-out galactic war. The game arrives on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC in Australia on March 8, 2012 and in New Zealand on March 9, 2012. For more information on Mass Effect 3, please visit http://masseffect.com, follow the game on Twitter at http://twitter.com/masseffect or “like” the game on Facebook at http://facebook.com/masseffect

Unlock Exclusive In-Game Content By Pre-ordering Today 

Melbourne, VIC. Feb 15, 2012 – THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced a range of pre-order bonuses for its upcoming action-adventure title Darksiders^® II, which is scheduled to come to the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft,  PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC on 26^th June 2012. 

Players who pre-order the game from EB Games will receive the ‘Death Rides’ pack. Featuring multiple exclusive side-quests, this pack allows the most fearless adventurers to explore more of the Maker’s Realm and Dead Plains and earn additional experience and loot. Aid an ancient Construct, battle The Bloodless and retrieve Karn’s lost treasure in around two hours of unique game play content. 

Pre-order the game from JB HiFi to unlock the ‘Angel of Death’ pack. Give yourself an edge with a unique set of enhanced armor with an angel inspired design as well as a pair of upgraded matching scythes and a exclusive visual trail for your companion crow Dust. 

People who pre-order the game from Game will get to ride into battle with increased speed thanks to the ‘Deadly Despair’ pack. This unique pre-order offer adds an additional speed boost for Death’s trusty steed Despair, allowing players to travel across the vast world even faster than before. This perk is a permanent increase that will last throughout the game.

WORLDWIDE DEMAND FOR THE SECOND HIGHEST GROSSING TITLE OF 2011

NEW HONOURS FOR SKYRIM AS GAME IS NAMED ‘GAME OF THE YEAR’ 
AT 2012 INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Sydney, Australia – February 15, 2012 – ZeniMax® Media Inc. today announced that the Creation Kit™, a free tool that allows PC players to create their own custom content for Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, has been enthusiastically received by PC gamers who have been uploading, downloading, and installing custom content through the Skyrim Workshop on Steam. Within 3 days of the release of the Creation Kit, gamers have downloaded more than 2 million mods via the Skryim Workshop. More than 2,500 mods have been published by the gaming community, all of which are available for free.  

Worldwide revenues generated by Skyrim have placed it among the industry’s most successful titles, and demand for the title shows no signs of slowing. Measured by revenue, Skyrim was the second best selling game of 2011, and 2012 sales remain strong, with continuing digital downloads and large shipments of units to retail. Within the first month following its release in November, Bethesda Softworks® reported it had shipped over 10 million units of Skyrim across all platforms, representing approximately $650 million in retail sales, and those results have since increased substantially.   

Data from Steam, the digital download service, reveal that the average number of hours that a gamer plays Skyrim exceeds 75 hours, underscoring fan devotion to the game. The PC version of Skyrim in North America outsold all other PC games by a factor of over three to one in the month of its release, and Skyrim is the fastest selling title in Steam’s history.

Console versions of Skyrim reveal equally strong fan demand. The Xbox 360 version of Skyrim outsold all Xbox 360 exclusive titles in 2011 in North America, and the PS3 version of Skyrim outsold all PS3 exclusive titles on that platform.  These strong commercial results match the high scores and widespread praise of critics that the game has received.  

The critically-acclaimed title was most recently honoured with the ‘Game of the Year’ award at the 15^th Annual 2012 Interactive Achievement Awards (IAA) held at the 2012 D.I.C.E.  Summit. Skyrim also received top honours in the ‘Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering’, ‘Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction’, ‘Role-Playing Game of the Year’, and ‘Outstanding Achievement in Story’ categories. The IAA’s focus is on peer-based voting and its awards are considered to be among the highest honours of recognition in the interactive entertainment industry.   

Skyrim had already garnered dozens of ‘Game of the Year’ awards from major outlets worldwide, including winning the top honour of ‘Game of the Year’ at the 2011 Video Game Awards which are voted on by a panel of editors from the industry’s most respected magazines and websites. To date, Skyrim has received over 200 perfect review scores worldwide, earning the highest praise from some of the industry’s most influential critics including: Wall Street Journal, USA Today, G4TV, The New York Times, GameSpy, Wired, Eurogamer, Destructoid, GamePro, Official Xbox Magazine, Joystiq, The Guardian, Famitsu and GamesRadar. G4TV describes Skyrim as “one of the greatest games ever” and Eurogamer was one of many outlets to call it a “masterpiece.” 

Skyrim, available for the Xbox 360® video game entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and PC, is the third consecutive game developed by the team at Bethesda Game Studios® to earn ‘Game of the Year’ honours.  Bethesda Game Studios, which was named ‘Studio of the Year’ at the 2011 Video Game Awards, also created the 2006 ‘Game of the Year’, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, and the 2008 ‘Game of the Year’, Fallout® 3. 

For more information on Skyrim visit http://elderscrolls.com.

SYDNEY, 15 February, 2012: Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced a playable demo of its eagerly-awaited METAL GEAR SOLID: SNAKE EATER 3D title will be available via the Nintendo eShop across Europe from February 16th. 

METAL GEAR SOLID: SNAKE EATER 3D will be released for Nintendo 3DS™ on March 8th 2012, and the demo will allow users to experience the immersion of exploring its incredibly detailed jungle setting. The demo showcases the opening segment of the game, with series hero Snake picking a path through the swamps and foliage of a Soviet jungle in search of an imprisoned scientist. 

Players will also be able to experiment with the unique camouflage elements that allow Snake to blend in with his surroundings, and familiarise themselves with the close-quarters combat techniques used to quietly neutralise guards. 

Nintendo 3DS is a trademark of Nintendo. © 2012 Nintendo

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – February 15, 2012 – Ubisoft^® announced that Mad Riders^TM, an adrenaline-fueled off-road arcade racing game, is coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®Network and PC Digital this Autumn.

Mad Riders, developed by Techland, will see players performing amazing aerial stunts and racing on over 45 stunning tracks from all over the world, at breathtaking speeds.  To gain the edge on the competition, players will need to use their boost skill wisely and take advantage of shortcuts hidden in the tracks.

For players who want to take the experience online, Mad Riders has extensive competitive features and leader-boards, allowing players to test their skills against the rest of the world. Thanks to an intuitive drop-in system, players can compete in three exciting multiplayer modes playable up to 12 players

For more information on Mad Riders please visit: http://madriders.ubi.com

Sydney, AUSTRALIA – February 15, 2012 – Today, Ubisoft® announced downloadable content for Anno 2070^TM, the latest iteration of the hugely successful Anno franchise, is now available.

Anno 2070 shifted to the future for the first time, offering an island of new technologies and challenges for the player to manage, along with a deep economic system and a dynamic game world. 

In this first downloadable content pack titled the ‘Eden Project’, a new world event comes alive with brand new technologies for a clean and sustainable economy. Players can take advantage of the “Former Technology” to develop this powerful tool to keep their island healthy. 

ring beauty to your cities with the new Eden architecture line in Anno 2070. 

For more information, head to: http://anno-game.ubi.com/anno-2070/en-au/home/

Gorgeous Deals on Mobile Titles for Valentine’s Day! 

Monday 13^th February 2012—SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced some truly heartwarming deals on hit mobile titles just in time for Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re looking to impress a potential Valentine or just treat yourself to a few new games, don’t miss your date with these deals on the App Store and Android Marketplace! 

Sale-priced titles on the App Store from 11^th-14^th February include: 

• Sonic CD™ for AUD$2.99 (was AUD$ 5.49)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4™: Episode I (iPhone) for AUD$ 1.99 (was AUD$ 4.49)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4™:: Episode I (iPad) for AUD$2.99 (was AUD$ 5.49)
• Super Monkey Ball 2™: Sakura Edition for AUD$0.99 (was AUD 2.99)

Players can also grab the following three titles for Android Smartphones and Tablets at a discount starting now through February 14:

• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I for AUD$ 1.85 (was AUD$4.49)
• Sonic CD for AUD$ 2.99 (was AUD$5.49)
• Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition for AUD$0.99 (was AUD$2.99)

For more information about the SEGA Valentine’s Day sales, including a full list of the discounted titles, visit the official SEGA blog at http://blogs.sega.com. 

For more news, follow SEGA on Twitter @SEGA or “like” us on Facebook.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 the Complete Official Guide… by Impulse_Gamer