TEKKEN^TM6 ONLINE UPDATE – MORE DETAILS AND RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED 

NAMCO BANDAI Games today released further details about the forthcoming free downloadable update designed to improve the online game experience for players of TEKKEN^TM6 on Xbox 360™ and PlayStation®3. The update is scheduled for release on 26^th November.

The update is separate from the online co-op Scenario Campaign mode download which is scheduled for release separately this winter. 

Online gameplay enhancements in the update include the following: 

• Improved input response: improvement of the game’s responsiveness to button / command inputs;
• Selectable search priorities for ranked matches: players will be able to set search priorities for opponents in ranked matches based on comparable rank or connection quality as well as location;
• Optimized data transmission between fighters and spectators: fight data will be optimized in order to reduce the bandwidth load on the host’s console;  
• Signal strength bars: the signal strength bar will reflect connection quality more accurately;
• Chance to cancel match: players will be able to cancel the match before it begins once the opponent’s signal strength has been displayed on ranked matches.  

The team at NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc is committed to delivering the best possible experience with TEKKEN 6 and would like to thank the thousands of fans all over the world for their invaluable feedback.  Let the sixth King of Iron Fist Tournament continue. 

TEKKEN™6 & © 1994-2009 NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc

SYDNEY, November 25^th, 2009 – Square Enix London Studios, a part of Square Enix Europe, today in partnership with Namco Bandai Partners Australia New Zealand announces that the anticipated action sequel to 2006’s top-selling Just Cause™ will release in-stores on April 1^st, 2010, in Australasia.

Developed by Avalanche Studios and using the proprietary Avalanche 2.0 Engine, Just Cause 2™ features over 1000Km² (400miles²) of South East Asian island paradise in one of the richest, most realistic game worlds ever seen. Snow-capped mountains, sun-kissed beaches, dense jungle and arid deserts create a stunning backdrop for a unique and compelling take on open-world gameplay.

“Just Cause 2 offers the freedom to explore and tackle the world in any way you choose”, said Lee Singleton, General Manager of Square Enix London Studios. “The grapple and the parachute mechanic will change the way you play open-world games, allowing players to be in the air in seconds, tackling missions from above and using the aerial advantage. If you prefer to stay on solid ground, the choices offered by the grapple are limited only by your imagination.”

As Rico Rodriguez, the Agency’s most powerful weapon, players must take on the island of Panau and its military regime in order to track down Rico’s former boss and mentor, Tom Sheldon, who has gone rogue with millions in Agency cash and intel. Using a unique grapple and parachute combination, there is no vertical limit as the air becomes your playground: grapple a passing plane in flight, hijack helicopters, BASE jump from the tallest buildings or mountains and leave a trail of chaos and destruction in your wake. Just Cause 2 offers players the freedom to attack missions any way they choose and, with over 100 vehicles and countless upgrades and collectibles, the choices for relentless adrenaline-fuelled action are limitless. 

Just Cause 2 will be available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows, and will be released under the EIDOS brand portfolio. More information is available on the official website at www.justcause.com.

Dinosaurs come alive in IMAX 3D 

Dinosaurs come to life on the world’s third largest screen in Dinosaurs Alive 3D, the breathtaking new IMAX 3D adventure, opening at IMAX Melbourne Museum on January 1, 2010.  

Narrated by Michael Douglas, Dinosaurs Alive 3D will enthral audiences with its unique look at the entire age of dinosaurs. Featuring spectacular animation and a live-action story, this film joins renowned palaeontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and their graduate students in Mongolia and New Mexico as they uncover new fossils.

 Dinosaurs Alive 3D brings dinosaurs, their behaviour and their ancient environments to life on the IMAX screen as they’ve never been seen before — juxtaposing stunningly realistic and scientifically accurate computer generated imagery (CGI) with intriguing 1920s documentary footage and dramatic new scenes of real fossils and “dinosaur hunting” expeditions. Using state-of-the-art techniques, the filmmakers have created an array of amazingly life-like creatures based on the latest fossil evidence. 

“Dinosaurs Alive 3D will give audiences the chance to feel like they’re experiencing the world as it once was, surrounded by life-size dinosaurs,” said Richard Morrison, IMAX Melbourne Museum Manager. 

“It’s an incredible film to see in conjunction with the Dinosaur Walk exhibit at Melbourne Museum.”   

Dinosaurs Alive 3D also follows a real-life scientific adventure that looks at the science of paleontology and the discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of the mysterious creatures that dominated the earth for 150 million years. The film reveals how paleontologists search for, discover, and study fossils to determine different dinosaur species and how they lived and died. 

Audiences will come face to face with and learn about dinosaurs including the Tarbosaurus (a close relative to T.Rex), Velociraptors, Protoceratops and Seismosaurus, and witness them locked in mortal combat, nesting in colonies, protecting their young, and facing catastrophic forces of nature.  The film will also explore the Dinosaurs habitats, travel patterns, hunting techniques and other surprising behaviors.

It is estimated that paleontologists have discovered less than two percent of all the dinosaur species that once lived. For young paleontologists, the adventure is just beginning, and this spellbinding new film is sure to spark imaginings of what mysteries still lie buried beneath our feet. 

IMAX Melbourne Museum delivers the world’s most immersive film experience. Combined with the world’s third largest screen, 15,000-watt digital audio system, revolutionary projection system and customized theatre geometry, IMAX Melbourne Museum truly does deliver the ultimate film experience.

Release Date:                          1 January, 2010

Where:                                     IMAX Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens

Cost:                                       Adults $17.50, Concession $14.00, Child $12.50, Family $50.00

Session times:                        www.imaxmelbourne.com.au or 03 9663 5454 

For regular updates join IMAX Melbourne Museum on Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

BAND HERO™, THE BIGGEST MUSIC EVENT TO HIT LIVING ROOMS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, IS AVAILABLE AT RETAIL OUTLETS NATIONWIDE  

Set List Features Top 40 and Most Popular Music from Favourite Bands Including Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects, Jackson 5 and More 

Band Hero for Nintendo DS™ Lite Introduces Innovative Drum and Vocal Gameplay Allowing Players to Take their Band’s Performance On the Road 

Sydney, November 25^th 2009 – Hitting store shelves throughout Australia today, Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Band Hero™ for Wii™, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems and Nintendo DS™ Lite explodes onto the scene with the most exciting and accessible set lists everyone can enjoy at home or on the road, featuring chart-topping tracks from the most popular bands of yesterday and today.  With the console versions, up-and-coming pop superstars can create the band of their dreams with any combination of multiple guitarists, bassists, drummers and vocalists or hit all the high notes together in the new karaoke-style Sing-Along mode.  Fans can also step into the spotlight as their favourite popular music stars with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine making appearances as playable characters. 

“Band Hero takes the critically acclaimed Guitar Hero® 5 game features to new heights and delivers the most popular artists into your living room,” said Dan Rosensweig, president and chief executive officer of Guitar Hero®.  “Band Hero will become the new soundtrack to family game night.” 

Hit the road with Band Hero as Nintendo DS Lite owners join the band with an all-new gameplay experience that allows full band play on-the-go for any combination of guitar, bass, drums and vocals.  Featuring an exclusive set list, Band Hero for Nintendo DS Lite extends the renowned guitar-only gameplay from the Guitar Hero® On Tour® series to full band play with the introduction of the innovative Drum Grip™ and use of the built-in microphone for vocal play.  Band Hero for Nintendo DS Lite players can also connect to the Wii version to unlock extra gameplay and content including Fan Request challenges.  

Band Hero for Wii also features multiple exclusive game modes for Nintendo fans that will allow living room rock stars to interact with their music and friends in a new social gameplay experience.  While players and their bands are rocking away on the Wii version of Band Hero, family and friends who own Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi can update and change the band’s set list on the fly giving them the ability to experience the performance they want in DS Party Play.  Nintendo DS fans can virtually live the life of a band roadie thanks to Roadie Battle mode which allows up to two Nintendo DS players to connect with two Band Hero Wii guitarists for an intense competition of navigating from one side of the stage to the other trying to sabotage opponents’ equipment while repairing any damage to their own.  Band Hero also features Mii™ Freestyle Mode made popular in Guitar Hero 5.  In addition, an all-new drum kit controller featuring a slimmer, more sturdy design and quiet ‘floating’ drum heads will be available at launch, bundled exclusively with the Wii band kit version of Band Hero.  

Band Hero also offers a great value to owners of multiple Guitar Hero games by allowing players to import select songs from Guitar Hero® 5, Guitar Hero® Smash Hits and Guitar Hero® World Tour.  In addition, Guitar Hero fans can play most of their purchased Guitar Hero World Tour or Guitar Hero 5 downloadable content in Band Hero, for a music library that consists of hundreds of tracks.                                                      

Brought to you by the makers of Guitar Hero, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, Band Hero features the hottest chart-topping hits from everyone’s favourite bands including Fall Out Boy, Nelly Furtado, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects and Jackson 5.  Band Hero is the ultimate party game where friends and family can choose to join the band or “take five” at any time without interrupting the performance in Party Play mode.  Band Hero allows fans to create the band of their dreams, using any combination of vocals and guitar or drum controllers, providing budding pop stars the chance to customise how they interact with and experience their favourite music. 

In addition, Band Hero players can step into the spotlight as their own Xbox Avatar in the Xbox 360 version of the game.  Taking full advantage of the latest technology available from Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network, pop hopefuls can create the ultimate pop supergroup and mix and match their Xbox Avatars with all-new character Quincy Styles, redesigned Guitar Hero favourites like Judy Nails, Midori and Axel Steel, or even  alongside in-game talent. 

Band Hero was developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, by Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS Lite and Wii and by Budcat for the PlayStation 2 system.  The game is rated ‘G’ – General.  Become a fan of Band Hero on Facebook at facebook.com/bandhero and for more information about Band Hero, please visit bandhero.com.  

Activision Publishing Broadcast Media Center

Members of the media can visit Activision Publishing’s Broadcast Media Center to download broadcast quality video and web-ready video and high-resolution images. Members of the media using Pathfire can take advantage of a Pathfire enabled video download. 

Broadcast Media Center:  http://usngondemand.com/index.php 

Please contact Sophie at Frank PR for the SD or HD Band Hero trailer or for any further assets requests. 

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. 

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

NAPOLEON: TOTAL WAR – IMPERIAL EDITION REVEALED

Special Units Revealed, Pre-order Incentives Detailed.

Wednesday, 25^th November 2009 – SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced that the next iteration of the critically acclaimed Total War™ series, Napoleon: Total War™ will be available in 4 different versions.

• Napoleon: Total War – Standard Edition. Includes the “Elite Regiment” Special Unit Pack.
• Napoleon: Total War – Imperial Edition. Includes Premium Packaging, A3 Poster “The Life and Battles of General Napoleon Bonaparte”, the “Elite Regiment” Special Unit Pack and the “Heroes of the Napoleonic Wars” Special Unit Pack.
• Napoleon: Total War – Digital Download (Steam Only)
• Napoleon: Total War – Imperial Edition (Steam Only), includes the “Heroes of the Napoleonic Wars” Special Unit Pack

For details on these versions, please visit http://www.totalwar.com/napoleon/?t=Australian

Further to this, when consumers pre-order Napoleon: Total War from selected specialist retailers, they can receive one of the following offers: 

Pre Order any Napoleon Edition at EB Games and receive a bonus HMS Elephant unit 

Receive the Grand Battery of the Convention unit when you pre order any Napoleon Edition at JB Hi Fi 

Get the Towarczys when you pre order any Napoleon Edition at GAME 

Napoleon: Total War builds on the successful Total War series by taking all the features from previous games such as full 3D land and naval battles, detailed campaign map, and an in depth diplomacy system but taking them a step further. Napoleon: Total War releases in February 2010.

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

Final Program Announced for GCAP 09

MELBOURNE – Wednesday 25 November, 2009 – The final program has been announced for this year’s Game Connect: Asia Pacific (GCAP), the premier video game development event in the Asia Pacific region. GCAP 09 will be held in Melbourne at the Crown Entertainment Complex from 6-8 December and features a quality line-up of presenters from Australia and around the globe.

Vicarious Visions Creative Director Tim Stellmach will deliver the opening Keynote address: ‘Which Side Are You On? The Design of Momentous Choices’. David Jaffe will appear via videolink for a Q&A session hosted by the stars of ABC TV’s Good Game television program.

Tuesday’s Keynote speaker is Justin Halliday, formerly of Transmission Games, who will deliver a no holds barred post mortem of Heroes over Europe, the last game developed by Transmission before its closure.

Other conference highlights include appearances by Yahtzee and by recent Indie Award winner Farbs. A CEO panel will reflect on the state of Australian game development industry, while a Publisher panel boasts international representatives from Activision and Disney.

GCAP will kick off with two half-day forums on Education and Games for Health and includes the now legendary Epic Welcome Party and the annual GDAA Industry Awards Dinner.

For more information about GCAP and to view the program in full, visit www.gameconnectap.com

South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson is helping Australian parents be [b]better[/b] parents. That’s right, the Attorney General is opposed to a R18+ rating for video games, especially ones that involve “depraved sex and extreme violence”. 

In a discussion about this heated topic, Mr Atkinson was quoted as saying “I understand the Wii console has been phenomenally successful for Nintendo and that system provides many games to challenge and develop skill, physically and intellectually, without depraved sex, gore and cruelty” which makes total sense to Impulse Gamer as the console is definitely targeted at children and the casual gamer. 

Countries such as Finland and Iceland have the world’s lowest murder rates, yet somehow these games are available for these mature minded adults. Of course when Atkinson is talking about depraved sex and extremely violence, let’s hope he uses his power to ban the Rugby League and the AFL. Especially the under 18’s games as well! 

Mr. Atkinson was further heard saying “Access to electronic games, once in the home, cannot be policed and therefore the games are easily accessible to children,” which is definitely true and another example of why Australia has bad parents. When children walk into Harvey Norman with their simpleton parents and take GTA IV off the shelves for the Christmas, obviously it is okay for their kids because it’s rated MA15+. Of course movies are a different story and children cannot get their hands on these… right? 

With that in mind, it’s fine to run over people in the streets and use a variety of weapons on innocent civilians but when it comes to the walking dead such as [b]Left 4 Dead 2[/b], Atkinson’s parenting comes into play because the game is more fantasy than GTA IV and less realistic. Obviously in the seat of Croydon South Australia, it is run by Zombies and that’s why he keeps winning his seat. 

Gamers of Croydon unite and vote out this Zombie! 

And if you’re looking to play uncut video games, check out eBay or the United Kingdom because that’s the place you can purchase these games without Zombie Atkinson from hiding the truth!

BitDefender Offers Tips for Safe Online Holiday Shopping  

What every savvy shopper in pursuit of online deals should know before entering a credit card number  

SYDNEY & AUCKLAND – November 24, 2009 – It’s that time of year again. Christmas is just around the corner, the holidays are coming up, and it’s time to shop! BitDefender, an award-winning provider of innovative anti-malware security solutions, offers up some simple tips to help consumers protect themselves from online scammers this holiday season. 

“The holiday season means taking advantage of the many benefits of online shopping like competitive pricing and freebies like zero shipping fees and free gift wrapping,” said Catalin Cosoi, BitDefender’s senior anti-spam researcher. “However, consumers should be extra vigilant in protecting their personal information and their PC in the lead up to Christmas and the New Year.” 

Know where you’re shopping and read the fine print. Not every website and online shop is a safe and reputable merchant. The truth is that many online criminals are skilled at crafting very convincing, legitimate-looking online shopping sites. Be very careful who you purchase from. 

If the merchant wants more than your name and email address in order to cash in that coupon, beware. A common phishing tactic targeting online shoppers utilises online promotions and sales to entice a consumer to enter personal information in order to receive coupons or other merchandise. While many reputable sites offer coupons or samples, they will never ask for excessive amounts of personal information to redeem them. Most only require a name and email address. 

Additionally: 

• Always shop from a secure PC with a trusted security suite installed. Most security suites now have anti-spam and anti-phishing features to guard against unwanted threats.
• Try to shop from well-known and trusted sites.
• To avoid hackers who use “typo-squatted” domains to lure unsuspecting consumers into entering their personal information, check that the web address you have entered or landed on has correct spelling.
• Be wary of “great gift” or “special offer” emails and newsletters from websites that you do not subscribe to. They are likely to be fake and should be avoided.
• Check for the presence of security seals on the shopping sites you frequent, in order to help determine their authenticity.
• Make sure that the connection to the website begins with an http:// or https:// header.
• Consider alternative forms of payment, such as Paypal, or add purchase insurance from a reputable third-party to your order. 

To listen to the Tips for Safe Online Holiday Shopping podcast featuring Catalin Cosoi, click here. 

To stay up-to-date on the latest e-threats, product and business news, sign-up for BitDefender’s RSS feeds.

DEMO FOR ‘PERFECT’ BAYONETTA DATED FOR DECEMBER 3RD 

SEGA of America Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. can today announce that a demo for the much anticipated third person action title BAYONETTA will be released on Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network in the US and across Europe on December 3rd. 

“Developer PlatinumGames has delivered a true masterpiece,” said Gary Knight, European Marketing Director of SEGA Europe. “The recent perfect review scores in such highly respected magazines as Weekly Famitsu and EDGE show the sheer quality of this title. We firmly believe that BAYONETTA will go on to become one of the all-time benchmarks in action gaming.” 

BAYONETTA has achieved a perfect score of 10/10 in EDGE magazine in the UK, becoming only the 11th game to do so in the magazine’s history since its first issue in 1993.

BAYONETTA was also recently reviewed by Japan’s most respected games magazine Weekly Famitsu, achieving a perfect score of 40/40 for Xbox 360 and 38/40 for PlayStation 3, with both scores garnering a Platinum award. BAYONETTA is only the 12th game ever to receive a perfect score in the magazine’s history since its first issue in 1986. 

BAYONETTA is set for release in Australia and New Zealand on January 7th 2010 on Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. BAYONETTA was released in Japan on October 29th.

There’s a Facebook worm circulating today. Nick Fitzgerald, Emerging Threats Reseacher at AVG Technologies has blogged it at http://fitzgerald.blog.avg.com/, and Roger Thompson, Chief Research Officer at AVG, has blocked the worm site.  Facebook is working on fixing the worm.  AVG’s LinkScanner (which is included in all AVG 9.0 products, or as a free product) protects by blocking the launch site.