Fight the Galactic War from New Fronts and Platforms Including Four-Player Co-Operative Multiplayer

SYDNEY, Australia – October 13, 2011 – Earth has been captured, the galaxy is on the verge of total extinction, and it’s up to you as Commander Shepard to assemble the counter offensive and take Earth back. Award-winning developer BioWare, a label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced today that multiplayer will be coming to the critically-acclaimed Mass Effect™ series for the very first time as part of the new Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system. With the Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system, players will fight for the survival of the galaxy against an ancient alien race known only as, Reapers, in both the single player campaign and through a suite of Mass Effect games and applications. Progress made in each of the components of the system, including the new multiplayer mode, will directly link back to the player’s main campaign, helping Commander Shepard rally the forces of the galaxy to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all. The Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War feature can be activated via the Online Pass code found in every new copy of Mass Effect 3. The Mass Effect 3 Online Pass can also be purchased separately on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.

“The theme of galactic war in Mass Effect 3 presents us with the perfect opportunity to introduce multiplayer into the Mass Effect series,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series. “Multiplayer not only features amazing combat and deep customization options, but it will give players another way to help the war effort against the Reapers in the main event — the single player campaign.”

Featuring four-player cooperative gameplay, multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 puts players in the role of a team of elite Special Forces soldiers sent to protect resources and assets that can help the war effort against the Reapers. Players will have the option of playing as one of six classes and from six different races: Human, Krogan, Asari, Drell, Salarian and Turian.

Multiplayer and other components of the Mass Effect 3: Galaxy at War system provide alternative ways for players to wage the final war against the Reapers. The new system will also connect players to their BioWare Social Network accounts to stay up to date on the latest Mass Effect 3 news and access downloadable content (DLC) and add-ons.

The Mass Effect franchise is one of the most highly decorated series in the history of games, having earned over 200 awards worldwide. Mass Effect 3 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.

Next Generation Aerial Shooter Brings Fire to the Skies with Explosive New Gameplay 

SYDNEY – 13 October 2011 – Today NAMCO BANDAI Partners Australia is proud to announce that ACE COMBAT^™ ASSAULT HORIZON is now available in stores across Australia & New Zealand for Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3.  Developed by the Project Aces team at NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. in Japan, ACE COMBAT ASSAULT HORIZON brings a new intensity to the franchise, escalating combat to the next level with aircraft that are literally torn apart, spewing oil and debris across the sky. Players will engage in intense single player, co-op and online multiplayer combat over real world locations around the globe, dodging skyscrapers and turning enemies into fiery supersonic debris. 

“This was a chance for us to take the franchise in a completely new direction, and that is exactly what we have accomplished with ACE COMBAT ASSAULT HORIZON,” said Kazutoki Kono, Producer at Project Aces, NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. “We’re excited for both long-time fans of the franchise and newcomers alike to get their hands on the game and get closer to the explosive action than ever before.” 

ACE COMBAT ASSAULT HORIZON for Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 has been approved for landing and is available now in stores across Australasia.  Stay in radio contact at www.acecombat.com and join the ranks at www.facebook.com/AceCombat. 

Fans of the franchise can also look forward to a new 3D ACE COMBAT experience with the forthcoming ANZ release of ACE COMBAT ASSAULT HORIZON Legacy for Nintendo 3DS™ on December 1^st, 2011.

AVG unveils global Community Powered Threat Report — Q3-2011  

Pickpocketing Digital Currency the new gold mine, criminals outsourcingmoney collecting to mobile operators and eavesdropping on Android  

MELBOURNE and AMSTERDAM, 12 October 2011 — AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd, the Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific distributor of the award-winning AVG Internet and mobile security software, today released the “AVG Community Powered Threat Report — Q3 2011”, providing insight, background and analysis on the trends and developments in the global online security threat landscape. Highlights in this quarter’s report are the risks of digital wallets, using mobile phone operators to collect money and how an Android Trojan records your calls.

• Last month, Keith Alexander, director of the US National Security Agency told attendees of the “Maneuvering in Cyberspace” conference that the global cost of cybercrime is estimated to be US$1 trillion. (1*)
• Last week, the PCeU — the e-crime unit of the UK Metropolitan Police — reported to have prevented over £140 million-worth of cybercrime in the UK over the last six months alone. (2*)
• A recent report by the Ponemon Institute — a U.S. based information security policy research centre — states that over the past year, the median cost of cybercrime increased by 56 percent and now costs companies an average of US$6 million per year. (3*)

Cybercrime has come a long way since it was mostly a digital form of vandalism. It has developed into a criminal business operated for financial gain and is now worth billions. In this report AVG focuses on some of the most notable cybercrime developments in the last quarter.

Stealing digital currency

Digital Currency has become very popular in a short time. Facebook Credits, Xbox Points, Zynga coins and Bitcoin now play a vital role in a multi-billion dollar global gaming economy. Far from being just of virtual value, many of these currencies are actively traded for real currency. This has not gone unnoticed by cyber criminals, now aiming to steal digital wallets from people’s computers. In June a digital wallet containing close to US$500,000 was stolen when someone broke into the victim’s computer and transferred most, but not all, of the money out of his wallet.

Outsourcing the hard part, collecting the money

In a bid to outsource the hassle and risks of collecting the money, cyber criminals are moving beyond credit cards details and are increasingly using mobile phone operators to do the collecting for them. A criminal might install a Trojan on to a victim’s smartphone that sends premium SMS messages when the owner is asleep. They might use a Facebook scam to get hold of people’s phone numbers and sign them up for an expensive monthly phone charge. A victim’s mobile operator will process the charges and transfer the money to the criminal organisation, even if they reside on the other side of the world. If and when a victim notices the charge and the mobile operator is alerted to stop processing payments, considerable amounts may already have been stolen. If the amounts are small enough, many victims may not even notice for months.

Eavesdropping on Android

With Android taking almost 50% of the world’s smartphone market share, it is no wonder that cyber criminals consider the platform an attractive target. Most Android malware focuses on making money from premium SMS. However, in July AVG investigated a Trojan that records a victim’s phone conversation and SMS messages and sends them to the attacker’s servers for analysis to identify potential confidential data. This clearly demonstrates the power of modern mobile operating systems but also the tremendous risks unprotected mobile users are open to.

Other key findings in the report:

• Rogue AV Scanner is currently the most active threat on the web
• Exploit Toolkits account for over 30% of all threat activity on malicious websites (‘Fragus’ is most popular, closely followed by ‘Blackhole’)
• Angry Birds Rio Unlocker is the most popular malicious Android application
• The USA is still the largest source of spam, followed by India and Brazil

“In Q3 we started to see a clear trend in cybercriminals shifting their focus to simplifying money collection,” said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Chief Technology Officer, AVG Technologies. “Well-organised criminal gangs are now letting mobile phone operators handle the money collecting part by focusing on mobile phones and setting victims up for charges that will appear on their phone bill some time later. Not only is it a lot easier, it also scales to tremendous volumes making money by stealing small amounts from very large groups of victims.”

A recent report authored by the research agency The Future Laboratory (Cybercrime_Futures), reveals that while cyber criminals and malicious programs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect, users are, alarmingly, becoming the weakest link as they are less vigilant about protecting their online devices. The combination of these two factors presents a potentially disastrous cybercrime scenario.

JR Smith, CEO of AVG Technologies, said “It’s increasingly evident that each unprotected individual makes us all more vulnerable, so it’s vital that as a global society we find ways to address this trend and ensure that we are protected together. We’re securing people’s digital life, or as we like to say: Providing Peace of Mind to the Connected World.”

About the report
The AVG Community Powered Threat Report is based on the Community Protection Network traffic and data, collected over a three-month period, followed by analysis by AVG. It provides an overview of web, mobile devices, Spam risks and threats. All statistics referenced are obtained from the AVG Community Protection Network.

The AVG Community Protection Network is an online neighbourhood watch, helping everyone in the community to protect each other. Information about the latest threats is collected from customers who choose to participate in the product improvement program and shared with the community to make sure everyone receives the best possible protection.

AVG has focused on building communities that help millions of online participants support each other on computer security issues and actively contribute to AVG’s research efforts.

Full Q3 Threat Report: AVG_Community_Powered_Threat_Report_Q3_2011 (33 pages, 3.5 Mb PDF)  

1*http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/security/3303786/us-needs-to-be-prepared-for-a-big-cyber-attack/

2* http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/02/cyber-crime-unit-met-police

3* http://www.ponemon.org/blog/post/second-cost-of-cyber-crime-study-is-released-today  

Keep in touch with AVG (AU/NZ)

• For breaking news, follow AVG (AU/NZ) on Twitter at twitter.com/avgaunz
• Join our Facebook community at www.facebook.com/avgaunz
• For security trends, analysis, follow the AVG (AU/NZ) blog at resources.avg.com.au

With Australian telcos this week (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone) announcing price plans for the new iPhone 4S, leading comparison site WhistleOut says the introduction of lower price plans are a boon for consumers and the market will be awash with iPhone options.  The newly announced price plans will result in over 200 plan combinations on the market with 7 iPhone models to choose from, starting at $0 on the $29 Cap plans.

Plans for both the new iPhone 4 16GB and the 32GB better priced than the models they supersede from all carriers. Optus and Vodafone have knocked off a few dollars per month in handset repayments on most iPhone 4S combinations, whereas Telstra has priced the new model far more aggressively than their pricing last week on the original iPhone 4 model.

“At these price points, the new iPhone 4S model is definitely a better deal than the pricing on the original iPhone 4 16GB and 32GB models. Telstra’s new iPhone 4S prices in particular are squarely aimed at taking the fight to Optus and Vodafone and are far more competitive and evenly matched than before, even undercutting Optus on the iPhone 4S 16GB on the $59 Cap which has been one of the most popular and competitive price points,” says Cameron Craig, Director of WhistleOut.

“Overall, it is a great picture for consumers: when the original iPhone 4 prices do drop, there will be respectable price points for every category of consumer. The exception is the new 64GB variant which is the diamond of the iPhone range where the only $0 phone repayment options are $100 per month,” says Cameron.

The iPhone 4s was formally launched in the US last week, and will be in Australian stores this Friday. While it looks almost identical to the iPhone 4, there have been significant internal changes, including a faster processor, a more advanced camera, and a new antenna design.

Apple have kept the existing iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 ranges, plus added 3 new iPhone 4S models and a new cheaper iPhone 4 8GB model, bringing the range to 7 models.

 “When it launched, the iPhone was a prestige phone – expensive and powerful. Now the iPhone is ‘mass-tige’, with an offering at every price point. By keeping the iPhone 3GS in the range, Apple’s iPhones are more accessible now as they’re on entry level plans, but less aspirational,” says Cameron.

“If the past year is anything to go by, it will be the smaller Virgin Mobile which will be most competitive on pricing as Virgin Mobile have had the most competitive prices on both the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S 2 for the past 12 months,” says Cameron.

All the current price points are at: http://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/iPhone-Plans

SONIC GENERATIONS CONFIRMED FOR PC DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

Wednesday 12^th October 2011 – SEGA^® Europe Ltd. and SEGA^® of America, Inc. are delighted to confirm that Sonic Generations™ will be released on PC and available via SEGA’s partners for PC digital download in November this year.  Sonic Generations™ is the ultimate celebration of 20 years of Sonic the Hedgehog and sees SEGA’s iconic mascot racing through a brand new adventure as both the much loved classic 1991 character, and the modern day video game hero he has become today. 

Sonic Generations™ for PC digital includes Steamworks features such as Steam Cloud, which allows save files to be stored on Steam’s servers so you can resume your game progress from any PC.  As with the other console platforms, Sonic Generations™ will be available to play in full stereoscopic 3D and will contain Achievements and online leaderboards. 

Sonic Generations™ will be available via PC digital download as well as Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system on 3^rd November 2011.  

For more information please visit www.sonicthehedgehog.com/generations