BLAZBLUE CONFIRMED FOR AUSTRALIA.

The highly acclaimed 2D fighting game gets set to arrive down under!

Gold Coast: 16^th December 2009. N3V Games together with All Interactive Entertainment (AIE) are pleased to announce that they will be releasing BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger across Australia and New Zealand on PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360®.

BlazBlue is a new experience in 2D fighting games making exceptional use of the power behind the Next Gen consoles and online gameplay networks. The game is created by Arc System Works, the Japanese developers behind the critically acclaimed, long running Guilty Gears fighting franchise which began in 1998.

BlazBlue has been hailed as the “game that every self-respecting console fighting fan should play”. It has already enjoyed huge success in Japan and critical acclaim in North America with over 70% of reviews rating the game as 90% or higher, three giving it a perfect score!

N3V Games will be publishing the Zen United line-up including the much anticipated BlazBlue.

“We have a fantastic line-up going forward into Christmas and are starting the first half of 2010 aggressive with 3 monster titles with BlazBlue being one of them! The Zen titles are a welcome addition to N3V’s line-up and we will be working very closely with them to make all their releases a great success. We have big plans for BlazBlue upon release that I’m positive all the OZ gamers out there will enjoy – so keep up to date via our website and the BlazBlue Australian site which will be active come December.” – Paul Olsen (N3V Games – Production Head).

In the PAL version all characters have an “Unlimited” unlockable and there are new character colours. Online, the PAL version is completely compatible with US and Japanese networked players.

Features:
For those new to the fighting action genre, the game has been specifically designed so that it’s easy to pick up at the beginning, with an ever increasing depth which introduces new and more demanding skills.

The game features an all-original Goth-anime cast with intricately detailed hand drawn high-Definition character sprites. And they are a unique bunch indeed.

A Plethora of Defensive and Offensive Options at Your Disposal – Take advantage of Barriers, Counter Assaults, Rapid Cancels, Barrier Bursts, Ukemi Tactics and Distortion Drives to turn the tide of battle.

Drive your way to victory! Use the unique “Drive Attacks” specific to each character to decimate your opponent.

Console-Exclusive Content – Brand new music, animations, backgrounds, and a fully fleshed-out story mode have been made exclusively for the console release.

Online Battle – Train your skills online through ranked and player battles.

RISING TIDE EXPANSION HITS PERFECT WORLD INTERNATIONAL

New Expansion Releases New Race, Classes and New Server

Dec. 16, 2009 – Redwood City, Calif. – Perfect World Entertainment has launched its largest expansion, ‘Rising Tide,’ for flagship MMORPG title Perfect World International. This chapter adds a plethora of new content including a new race, classes and quests, entirely free-to-play. Due to the exploding popularity of Perfect World International, a sixth, new PvE server, Raging Tide, will be introduced alongside the expansion.

“’Rising Tide’ is a major milestone for Perfect World International,” said Dr. Alan Chen, CEO of Perfect World Entertainment. “In just little over a year, we already have a third expansion which continues to prove our commitment to providing new and amazing content our players and a superb gaming experience.”

The ‘Rising Tide’ expansion focuses on the appearance of the Tideborn—an aquatic race that has only recently surfaced, revealing themselves to the rest of the world. Unraveling the mystery behind the Tideborn will be up to the player as they journey into new zones and undertake all new quests.

‘Rising Tide’ will introduce a range of new and updated features including:

• New Race – “Tideborn”
• Two New Classes – the stealth “Assassin” and support caster “Psychic”
• New Quests – more than 200 new adventures to complete
•  Faction Warfare – Additional territories to conquer
• Cooperative Questing – A new public quest system
• New Dungeons – Over 100 new monster types to discover
• New “Recasting” equipment system
• Daily Quests added just for Married Players
• New Fashion Slot—for the hair/hat option
• Newly implemented shared stash system for player accounts

“Perfect World International” is the English-based, international version of Perfect World II with millions of players worldwide. “Perfect World International” offers an immersive online world and now offers four unique races and eight different classes, as well as one of the most extensive character creation interfaces to date.

To learn more about the ‘Rising Tides’ expansion, please visit: http://pwi.perfectworld.com/expansion.

About Perfect World Entertainment

Perfect World Entertainment, a subsidiary of Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD), publishes free-to-play, online games and provides online services in North America. The Company primarily publishes three-dimensional, or 3D, online games based on the Perfect World proprietary Angelica 3D game engine and game development platform. The Company’s releases include “Ether Saga Online,” “Jade Dynasty” and “Perfect World International,” a free-to-play MMORPG which is currently played by millions of people worldwide; and single player action RPG “Torchlight.”

Melbourne, 17 December 2009.  AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd has today dropped the prices of AVG Internet Security, AVG Anti-Virus and AVG plus Firewall consumer products. This price reduction is a result of AVG (AU/NZ) passing on reductions to its cost price brought about by the strengthening of the Australian dollar over the US dollar.

“We are delighted to enhance the already high value proposition offered by our consumer products,” said Peter Cameron, Managing Director of AVG (AU/NZ).

“A one year licence for our premium product, AVG Internet Security 9.0, is now only A$69.00 inc GST, a two year licence is even better value at $104.99,” said Cameron. “If people are simply looking for anti-virus protection, a two year licence for AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 is now only A$66.50 which equates to just over $30 per year.”

Previously, AVG Internet Security 9.0 on one PC cost A$74.99 inc GST for a one year licence and A$109.99 for two years, while a two year licence for AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 was A$69.99.

About AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd — www.avg.com.au 

Based in Melbourne, AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd distributes the AVG range of Anti-Virus and Internet Security products in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. AVG software solutions provides comprehensive real-time protection against everything from viruses, spam, spyware, adware, worms, Trojans, phishing and exploits to cyber-criminals, hackers, scammers and identity thieves. AVG provides outstanding technical solutions and exceptional value for home, small to medium business and enterprise clients. AVG delivers always-on, always up-to-date protection across desktops, servers and e-mail in the home plus corporations, government agencies, utilities and educational institutions.

AVG products actively protect more than 80 million users worldwide, including more than 3.3 million users in Australia and New Zealand.

AVG (AU/NZ) has more than 2500 resellers across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Trailer Embeddable Code

What:              Assassin’s Creed™ II DLC Details & Pricing Structure

When:             Battle of Forli launches end of January & Bonfire of the Vanities end of February.

Price:               Battle of Forli: $5.30

Bonfire of the Vanities: $6.60

Details:            Sequence 12: Battle of Forli

Assassin’s Creed II Sequence 12: Battle of Forli expands the Assassin’s Creed II experience by delivering a missing piece of the storyline.  Join Machiavelli and Caterina Sforza to defend Forli from the Orsi Brothers.  Accomplish a daring rescue and prevent the Piece of Eden from falling into the hands of the Templars.  Uncover new depths to the historical conspiracy by gaining access to six challenging new memories.  Pilot Leonardo’s flying machine across Romagna.

Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities

A must for Assassin’s fans, Assassin’s Creed II Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities continues to expand the addictive AC2 universe. Work with Machiavelli to free the city of Florence from the grip of the mad monk Savonarola by targeting influential citizens under his control.  Battle, sneak and free-run your way through more than ten challenging new memories.  Discover a new district of Florence, and utilize Ezio’s brand new move: the spring-jump.

How:               Must own a disc copy of Assassin’s Creed II on Playstation 3 or Xbox 360, have an Internet connection to download the additional content and a minimum of 1.0 GB of memory available for each DLC

THE ACADEMY AWARD® WINNING DEPARTURES prepares for DVD – FEB 2010  

2009 Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Language Film, DEPARTURES is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage.
 

Daigo Kobayashi is a professional cellist who faces unemployment when his orchestra is dissolved. Upon answering an advertisement entitled “Departures”, thinking it is for a travel agency, Daigo finds himself in the role of Nokanshi , or encoffineer, a funerary celebrant who prepares bodies for entry into the next life. While his wife and others around him despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of Nokanshi, acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. Daigo experiences a profound and sometimes comical journey as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

Amongst DEPARTURES bounty of global accolades, lead actor Masahiro Motoki has recently been awarded Best Performance by an Actor at the 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 

DEPARTURES is the latest in a long line of films available from Madman that have received Academy Awards® including: COUNTERFEITERS, MAN ON WIRE, SPIRITED AWAY, AMORES PERROS, TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE, HARVEY KRUMPET, LA STRADA, RASHOMON and TSOTSI to name but a few.

To celebrate the release of DEPARTURES, and the 2010 Academy Awards® season, Madman is offering Academy Award® winning DVD packs including the above titles for giveaways and promotions. To reserve yours, please contact Madman Publicity on the details below.

Great content lined up for launch of Digital Comics for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable)

• Digital Comics has arrived on PlayStation®Store with hundreds of launch titles
• Download your favourite comics to read on PSP
• Autoflow feature takes you from frame to frame – just as you would move your eyes across the page

SYDNEY, 17^th December 2009: Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.) has confirmed another major addition to the content line-up for the launch of Digital Comics.  Alongside the extensive line up of content available, including comics from publishers such as Marvel, IDW and Rebellion, is the arrival of Disney, offering comics for the younger PSP owner.  Available now, Digital Comics is a revolutionary new service that brings the brightness and excitement of your favourite comics to the screen of PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) or PSP® (PlayStation®Portable)go.  Now including favourites from the Disney stable, Digital Comics lets PSP users download their choice of hundreds of classic and new comics from PlayStation®Store to PSP to read page by page or frame by frame – wherever they are.  PSP owners can now take a huge collection of comics to enjoy on the move, and pick up your favourite edition from any Wi-Fi hotspot, offering a brand-new way to use their PSP for entertainment on the go.

New Action Game Delves Deep into the TRANSFORMERS Universe, Introduces All-New Visualisations of Iconic Characters in 2010

Sydney, Australia – December 18^th, 2009 – Experience the legendary battle between the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS as Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Transformers™: War for Cybertron is in development by award-winning High Moon Studios.  Based on Hasbro’s legendary TRANSFORMERS property, the game takes players to the TRANSFORMERS characters’ home planet of CYBERTRON for a new look into the epic story of the grand civil war that spawned one of the most brutal rivalries of all time. 

“Transformers: War for Cybertron is an origins story, taking players on a gripping, adrenaline-fueled journey that precedes the TRANSFORMERS characters’ arrival on Earth,” said Rob Kostich, vice president of global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc. “The game transports players to a living, metallic planet where they will battle as giant converting robots in single player, online co-op or head-to-head multiplayer matches that are fully immersive from start to finish.”

“For the first time, Hasbro is working with Activision to drive the TRANSFORMERS fiction forward into new story arcs, demonstrating pivotal moments in Transformers history that defined who they are,” said Aaron Archer, Senior Design Director, Hasbro.  “This remarkable video game helps us to tell a critical event in TRANSFORMERS lore that will be used as canon for future storylines in a way we could have only dreamed of a few years ago.  It is a testament to the success of the TRANSFORMERS brand and a key element to the story we look forward to telling in 2010 and beyond.”

Transformers: War for Cybertron features two distinct storylines: the AUTOBOT campaign tells a story of heroism to save their home planet against overwhelming odds, and the DECEPTICON campaign tells a story of an unquenchable thirst for power to control the universe.  For the first time in a TRANSFORMERS title, fans will be able to play the game with their friends through team-based online co-op, or go head to head in a variety of intense, online multiplayer game modes.  The game features a sci-fi art style that introduces to fans the entire living, metallic world of CYBERTRON, as well as all-new visualisations of the iconic TRANSFORMERS characters in their original Cybertronian forms.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is in development for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Windows® PC, Wii™ and Nintendo DS^™, and is not yet rated by the Australian Classification Board.

For more information and to receive exclusive updates about the Transformers: War for Cybertron video game, visit www.TransformersGame.com

About HASBRO

Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children’s and family leisure time products and services with a rich portfolio of brands and entertainment properties that provides some of the highest quality and most recognisable play and recreational experiences in the world. As a brand-driven, consumer-focused global company, Hasbro brings to market a range of toys, games and licensed products, from traditional to high-tech and digital, under such powerful brand names as TRANSFORMERS, PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, CRANIUM and WIZARDS OF THE COAST. Come see how we inspire play through our brands at http://www.hasbro.com. © 2009 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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 Publishing 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

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as “outlook,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms, declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware (including peripherals) and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology, industry standards and consumer preferences, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, licensees, licensors, vendors and third-party developers, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates and tax rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, and the other factors identified in the risk factors section of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL CONVICTION™ LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION REVEALED 

AUSTRALIA – December 15th 2009 – Today, Ubisoft^® announced the Limited Collector’s Edition of E3^® 2009 Xbox 360 most awarded game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction™. This Limited Collector’s Edition will be available on February 25th in Australia, for both the Xbox 360^TM  and Windows^® PC and will include:

–      An exclusive Sam Fisher statue

–      Infiltration Mode : Eliminate all hostiles in the mission area without being detected

–      A special playable skin: Shadow Armor

–      Early access to 3 weapons: SC300, SR2 and MP5

–      The official Splinter Cell Conviction Soundtrack (more than 17 tracks) 

The Splinter Cell Conviction team invites everyone to connect to Xbox LIVE^® from the 17^th of December for the worldwide premiere of the multiplayer modes. 

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, please visit www.splintercell.com