Pre-order the Crysis 3 Hunter Edition for Early Access to the New Crysis 3 Signature Bow and XP Boost in Multiplayer*

SYDNEY, Australia. – April 16, 2012 – The hunted becomes the hunter! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and award-winning developer Crytek GmbH, today announced Crysis® 3, the premier sandbox shooter experience of 2013. Powered by Crytek’s proprietary CryENGINE®, Crysis 3 advances the state of the art with unparalleled visuals and dynamic shooter gameplay. Players take on the role of ‘Prophet’ as he returns to New York, only to discover that the city has been encased in a Nanodome created by the corrupt Cell Corporation. The New York City Liberty Dome is a veritable urban rainforest teeming with overgrown trees, dense swamplands and raging rivers. Within the Liberty Dome, seven distinct and treacherous environments become known as the Seven Wonders. This dangerous new world demands advanced weapons and tactics. Prophet will utilise a lethal composite bow, an enhanced Nanosuit and devastating alien tech to become the deadliest hunter on the planet.

“Crysis 3 is a thrilling mix of sandbox gameplay, advanced combat and hi-tech human and alien weaponry that shooter fans will love,” said Cevat Yerli, Chief Executive Officer of Crytek. “Leveraging the latest CryENGINE technology, we’re able to deliver seven unique themes that offer stunning and visually loaded gameplay experiences. We cannot wait until people get their hands on the game.”

Set in 2047, Prophet is on a revenge mission after uncovering the truth behind Cell Corporation’s motives for building the quarantined Nanodomes. The citizens were told that the giant citywide structures were resurrected to protect the population and to cleanse these metropolises of the remnants of Ceph forces. In reality, the Nanodomes are CELL’s covert attempt at a land and technology grab in their quest for global domination. With Alien Ceph lurking around every corner and human enemies on the attack, nobody is safe in the path of vengeance. Everyone is a target in Prophet’s quest for retribution.

Crytek also announced that players who are ready to start the hunt can pre-order the Crysis® 3 Hunter Edition* today . The Crysis 3 Hunter Edition gives players the tools to become the ultimate hunter in multiplayer with early access to the new signature bow and its attachments, plus the Hunter Nanosuit module which adds additional power and functionality to the super-suit. Gamers who pre-order now will also have a head start when playing online with a bonus XP boost up to level 5, a unique bow skin and three exclusive dog tags to hunt in style**. The Crysis 3 Hunter Edition is available on Origin.com and other participating retailers.

In addition to receiving the Crysis 3 Hunter Edition, select retailers are offering gamers that pre-order Crysis 3 the following early multiplayer unlocks:

• Stalker Pack – Includes the base game, all Hunter Edition content and the following early multiplayer unlocks: for players who like to stalk their prey from the shadows the Stalker Pack provides early multiplayer access to the deadly semi-auto Jackal shotgun. This powerful, close-range shotgun comes with a unique silencer attachment, custom weapon skin and two exclusive themed in-game dog tags.
• Overkill Pack – Includes the base game, all Hunter Edition content and the following early multiplayer unlocks: the Overkill Pack features early multiplayer access to the Typhoon assault weapon and skin. Spewing 500 rounds a second, the Typhoon gives players the ability to go guns blazing to take back the Liberty Dome. Also included are two exclusive Overkill themed in-game dog tags.
• Predator Pack – Includes the base game, all the Hunter Edition content and the following early multiplayer unlocks: the Predator Pack delivers early multiplayer access to the Feline submachine gun and exclusive camo. With an extremely fast rate of fire and a 60 round magazine the Feline is highly effective and deadly, at short range.

Developed by Crytek and powered by the proprietary cutting edge CryENGINE technology, Crysis 3 will be available Autumn 2013 for the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system, PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system and PC. For more information on Crysis 3, please visit www.crysis.ea.com, and for the latest news visit www.facebook.com/crysis or follow us on Twitter® at www.twitter.com/crysis.
**Offer available while stocks last.
***Conditions and restrictions apply. See www.crysis.ea.com/preorder for details.

For a May 2012 release on PC and MAC platforms

Haarlem, The Netherlands – 16 April 2012 – Independent videogames publisher Iceberg Interactive and game development company Gaijin Entertainment today announced that they have come to a distribution agreement for the hack-and-slash steam punk action game Blades of Time: Limited Edition, which they are spinning towards PC and Mac players starting end of May 2012.

Erik Schreuder, CEO of Iceberg Interactive says: “We are thrilled to continue our co-operation with Gaijin Entertainment. With Blades of Time we add a first class action game to our growing range of quality action games for PC and Mac. We feel that Blades of Time will definitely stand out from the crowd with its unique feature of Time Rewind, its stunning graphics and the addition of many extra´s that our version will include.”

“It feels great to have Iceberg Interactive as a partner” says Anton Yudintsev, President of Gaijin Entertainment. “I am completely confident that Iceberg will provide successful retail distribution to bring PC and Mac gamers the unforgettable experience of Blades of Time innovative hack’n’slash and shooting”

The PC and Mac version of Blades of Time: Limited Edition will be distributed in retail stores by Iceberg in North-West Europe, Australia/New-Zealand and South-Africa – and worldwide via a multitude of digital download portals. Fully localized versions have been announced by Iceberg Interactive for  Germany and France.

About Blades of Time
Blades of Time is a companion piece to Gaijin’s game, X-Blades, which had its release back in 2007. Play as the gorgeous gun sword-wielding treasure hunter Ayumi as she carves a path of destruction through a mysterious and dangerous island. While rich with bounty, the island is also caught in the throes of Chaos magic. Ayumi soon discovers that it is also the home of thousands of long-held secrets, including special powers and abilities that she can gain for herself. Using everything she can, she must find a way to defeat armies of menacing villains and a multitude of treacherous traps in order

to break free of the possessed island’s grasp.

With a host of colorful characters, eye-popping visual appeal,

tons of treasure and a huge variety of combat skills to master,

Blades of Time will satisfy gamers’ hunger for an entertaining

yet deep action game that even gamers new to the

hack-and-slash genre will enjoy.

The Blades of Time: Limited Edition will include a galore of

extras, such as the PC and Mac exclusive Sky Islands map for the

Outbreak mode, the Blades of Time Art Book, the Original

Soundtrack, the hi-res quality Wallpaper Collection, and the

Dismal Swamp DLC that allows you to play the story of the

striking heroine Michelle. Accompanied by her mentor Zero and a

small squad of Skyguards, she rushes into the Temple of Dragons

facing hordes of deadly beasts – the creates of Chaos – in order to

complete her desperate mission to prevent the lead protagonist

Ayumi from joining the Keeper of Chaos.

Veteran game designer Jane Jensen launched Pinkerton Road Studio just two weeks ago, and this weekend the project’s early backers got to vote for the first adventure game the studio will make. Drum roll please… with 61% of the vote, the winner is Moebius!

Jane is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for Moebius’s development. As of this writing, we’re more than halfway to the $300k funding goal: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1005365109/jane-jensens-pinkerton-road-2012-2013-csg

Backer rewards include behind-the-scenes involvement in the development, downloadable and physical copies of Pinkerton Road’s games, and “design bibles” from Jane’s Gabriel Knight days. (More rewards will be added this week!) If enough funds are raised, Pinkerton Road will pursue a second adventure game this year as well.

Okay, enough of the backstory! Here’s the scoop on Moebius…

The Story

Moebius is a metaphysical sci-fi thriller in the vein of Fringe, Jane’s novel Dante’s Equation, and (of course!) Gabriel Knight. Antiquities dealer Malachi Rector hunts down artifacts all over the world and compiles dossiers on their history. He has a knack for sensing “the soul” of an object. After his upscale Manhattan store is destroyed in a fire, Rector is hired by millionaire Amber Dexter to investigate a series of events and document them in his meticulous way.

The first event is the death of a young woman in Venice, who was found hanging from a bridge. As Rector investigates her life, he soon realizes that this beautiful and talented young woman — and the interrupted path of her life — had great hidden significance. It appears that Amber Dexter and his associates are playing with the fabric of life in a way Rector never imagined possible. Even he, Rector himself, is part of a larger pattern.

Malachi Rector must figure out who is doing what — and whether their intentions are for good or ill — before he can decide whether to play his pre-scripted role or try to change the outcome.

Game Details

Moebius will be a point and click, third person adventure game with a 2D graphic novel look. The game will have two modes: Casual Adventure and True Adventure. Casual Adventure mode includes hints, a hotspot revealer, and a simplified interface. True Adventure will be more of a challenge along the lines of Jane’s past adventure games (Gabriel Knight, Gray Matter). Assuming Pinkerton Road meets its $300k funding goal, Moebius is planned to release around March 2013.

Assets

Jane’s video update announcing Moebius as the winner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Icfk0tW9ak

To hear more about Pinkerton Road, please contact me! Jane is available for interviews to talk about why she’s striking out on her own and her exciting plans for the future. You’ll also find answers to frequently asked questions on the Pinkerton Road Kickstarter page, and in this update video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ4tEyiYk5M

Eighth Rift™ update brings new 20-person raid, tradeskills, and leaderboards

As the Telaran sun sets on the Carnival of the Ascended, a violent new day breaks next week as Trion Worlds launches Infernal Dawn, the next Rift™ content update. The update’s centerpiece is a new 20-person raid that pits players against the dragon lords Maelforge and Laethys within the volcanic depths of Ember Isle’s Mount Carcera. Additional features include a guild finder tool, leaderboards, Fishing and Survival tradeskills, and Instant Adventure on Ember Isle.

Full list of features included in RIFT: Infernal Dawn:

• Infernal Dawn – Epic 20 person raid within Mt. Carcera on Ember Isle
• New Tradeskills – Fishing and Survival come to Telara
• Leaderboards –  Ascended stat tracking comes to Rift
• Instant Adventure – Join the adventure on Ember Isle

Experience the first 20 levels of the game for free now by downloading RIFT Lite.

Epic Japanese Role-playing Masterwork to include Japanese and English voices, with English, French, Italian, German and Spanish Subtitles

NAMCO BANDAI Games is pulling out all the stops to ensure that Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch™ gives Australian and New Zealand fans the experience they want when the game launches in Q1 2013. The epic title is being localised from beginning to end in five languages, with English voices joining the original Japanese voiceover, and subtitles in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

“We have worked very hard on Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and it has been a great honour to collaborate with Studio Ghibli and Joe Hisaishi, so it was important for me that players outside Japan also have the best experience of the game we can give them,” said Akihiro Hino, President and CEO of LEVEL-5. “To make this possible, we decided to invest the time in localising the game so that as many people as possible across Europe can enjoy the full experience in their own language.”

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a heart-warming tale of a young boy called Oliver, who embarks on a journey into a parallel world to become a magician in an attempt to bring his mother back from the dead. Along the way Oliver makes new friends and adopts many of the wonderful creatures that inhabit the world, raising them to battle other creatures on his behalf as he takes on formidable enemies.

The unique fantasy adventure is developed by LEVEL-5, the studio behind the smash hits Dragon Quest VIII and IX, and the Professor Layton series. For the game’s characters and animations, LEVEL-5 collaborated with the legendary Studio Ghibli, the team responsible for countless anime masterpieces including My Neighbour Totoro, Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away. The in-game music comes from the hand of Joe Hisaishi, the composer of the scores to over 100 films including many of Studio Ghibli’s greatest productions.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is scheduled for Australian and New Zealand release in Q1 2013. For more information on NAMCO BANDAI Games’ entire line up please visit www.namcobandaigames.eu.

© 2012 NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S. All rights reserved

SYDNEY – (April 16, 2012) – Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in Europe and across PAL territories today announced the upcoming open world cop drama Sleeping Dogs™ will go on sale across Australia & New Zealand on August 16^th 2012, on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.

The Special ANZ Limited Edition pack of Sleeping Dogs contains the following additional content:

 ‘Georges St. Pierre (GSP)’ content:

• GSP’s signature “flying punch”
• Exclusive GSP outfit including T-shirts, headband and shorts
• The GSP outfit unlocks the “flying punch” and increases grappling and throwing damage

 ‘Police Protection’ content:

• “High Speed” Mission
• HK Police SWAT Outfit
• SWAT assault rifle
• SWAT Police Vehicle

‘Martial Arts’ content:

• Shaolin Showdown Mission
• Shaolin Warrior outfit (with increased striking damage)
• Bonus Triad XP points
• Wing Chun decoration for safehouse (with temporary combat buff)

The ANZ Limited Edition of Sleeping Dogs will be available at the standard RRP for a limited time only.  

ABOUT SLEEPING DOGS

Developed by United Front Games in collaboration with Square Enix London Studios, Sleeping Dogs is a gritty open world cop drama set in the vibrant city of Hong Kong. Taking the role of undercover cop Wei Shen, players are tasked with taking down one of the world’s most fearsome criminal organizations from the inside – the Sun On Yee Triad.

Offering players an island packed with action, every street corner, market stall, harbor dock or city skyscraper can become an opportunity for intense shoot-outs, adrenaline-fuelled street races and intense, brutal martial arts combat. Featuring an intuitive and imaginative combat system, Sleeping Dogs empowers players to perform an extensive set of martial arts moves, single-handedly taking on numerous opponents. Players perform bone-crushing kicks and combos, vicious counters, and a cinematic set of environmental takedowns making use of countless real-world items from circular saws to phone booths, incinerators to refrigerator doors.

Related Links

Sleeping Dogs Official Homepage: www.sleepingdogs.net

Sleeping Dogs Official Facebook® page: www.facebook.com/SleepingDogsGame

Follow Sleeping Dogs on Twitter®: @SleepingDogs

MELBOURNE, Monday, 16 April, 2012: Madman Entertainment announced today a partnership with FUNimation to distribute the upcoming animated feature films Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker and Mass Effect: Paragon Lost in Australia, for release on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2012.

Both films are based on the critically acclaimed Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises, developed by award-winning developer BioWare, a label of Electronic Arts.

“There are plenty of avid gamers at Madman, myself included, who are big fans of both the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games,” said Tim Anderson, Managing Director, Madman Entertainment. “Both franchises offer great stories and rich characters, and we couldn’t be more excited to see BioWare’s immersive storytelling brought to life in these animated films.”

Produced respectively by Tokyo-based production company, T.O. Entertainment (Vexille, Appleseed) and Production I.G. (Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex) the feature-length animated films are based on the deep fiction of the award-winning Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises.

Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker follows heroine, Cassandra Pentaghast, in an epic quest to uncover a conspiracy that threatens the realm’s most powerful religious order, the Chantry of Andraste. Accused of treasonous crimes and hunted by friends and foes, Cassandra must clear her name and overcome her raging emotions to ensure order in the realm.

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is centered on the early career of alliance marine, James Vega, as he commands a squad of elite special forces into battle against a mysterious alien threat known as The Collectors. The animated film will follow Vega’s journey in the epic science-fiction saga.

“Over the last few years, we have revealed different pieces of the Mass Effect world through different media. Extending the story through an anime medium is another amazing opportunity for us,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer for the Mass Effect series. “Partnering with FUNimation ensures that we will bring this rich universe to life with the utmost quality and the same attention to detail that the Mass Effect games are known for.”

DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER will be available on DVD & Blu-Ray, 6 June, 2012. 

MASS EFFECT: PARAGON LOST will be available on DVD & Blu-Ray late in 2012.

Melbourne Australia, 15th of April 2012 – Who would have thought an RPG port from the PC could have turned out so great for the XBox 360. That’s right, The Witcher 2: Assassin’s Kings from the PC has received a massive upgrade for the XBox 360 that has created one of the best RPG experiences on this console.

It also features playmate Triss Merigold… to find out more, check out our review at – http://impulsegamer.com/360thewitcher2assassinsofkingsenhancededition.html.

The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings Enhanced Edition for XBox 360 is available on the 17th of April 2012 and we scored the title a whopping 9.5 / 10!

SYDNEY, 12 April, 2012: Canon Australia announced today that Canon is developing a new digital cinema camera capable of recording 4K-resolution video in response to growing expectations for higher levels of imaging performance. Targeting Hollywood and the broader motion picture and television production industry, the interchangeable-lens EOS C500/EOS C500 PL will support 4K (4,096 x 2,160 pixels) video capture with RAW output to ensure the utmost in image quality.

In January this year Canon released the EOS C300 digital cinema camera, part of the company’s Cinema EOS System, which was introduced in November 2011, marking Canon’s full-fledged entry into the motion-picture production market. Highly acclaimed by professionals in the industry, the camera realises not only exceptional video quality performance, but also outstanding mobility, durability and expandability.

Professionals in the high-resolution production market have growing expectations for filmmaking tools offering even higher levels of video image quality. In response, Canon is moving forward with the development of a new interchangeable-lens digital cinema camera, available in two models: the EOS C500, which supports Canon’s diverse line-up of interchangeable EF lenses and EF Cinema Lenses; and the EOS C500 PL, with a PL lens mount for compatibility with industry-standard PL lenses.

Supporting 4K-resolution video capture and RAW data output, the EOS C500/EOS C500 PL will achieve exceptional video results without loss in quality. In addition, the digital cinema camera will newly employ a 12-bit RGB 4:4:4 signal during 2K (2,048 x 1,080 pixels) video output, delivering rich colour expression and high compatibility with such image processes as chroma key compositing. While further details regarding the EOS C500/EOS C500 PL, including specifications and pricing, have yet to be decided, plans call for the digital cinema camera to be launched during 2012.

Canon will be displaying a prototype of the EOS C500/C500 PL digital cinema camera at NAB Show 2012, one of the world’s largest events for the video, broadcasting equipment and digital media industries, from April 16 to 19 in Las Vegas, U.S.A.

In addition to targeting a swift launch of the EOS C500/C500 PL, Canon will continue to enhance its Cinema EOS System product line-up, contributing to further expanding the possibilities in visual expression and the development of cinematic culture.

Related Links:

–        Visit the product pages for the Cinema EOS System

–        EOS C300 dealer websites:        http://www.lemac.com.au/

http://www.videocraft.com.au/page/contact_us.html 

About Canon 

Canon is the world’s leading imaging brand that actively inspires with imaginative ideas that enable people to connect, communicate and achieve more than they thought possible through imaging solutions for business and consumers. Canon’s Australian R&D company, CiSRA, develops and exports digital imaging technologies for use in Canon products worldwide. Canon has ranked among the top-four US patent recipients* for the past 20 years, and had global revenues of around $US46 billion in 2011. Canon Australia also operates Canon Finance Australia, which offers one-stop shopping for customers wanting leasing or finance services. For more information, visit www.canon.com.au, www.facebook.com/canonaustralia, www.twitter.com/canonaustralia, www.youtube.com/canonaustralia