Melbourne, 7 July 2009 – AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd, the Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific distributor of the award-winning AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security products, has thumbed its nose at the “global financial crisis”, achieving strong continued growth with record sales in April 2009 followed closely by the second highest month ever in May 2009. This growth has led the company to increase its headcount by seven in the last three months, bringing it to a total of more than 30 staff in the region. AVG (AU/NZ) has also achieved a ranking of 15 in the just-announced 2009 BRW Fast Starters List, up from No. 48 last year.

AVG (AU/NZ) Managing Director, Peter Cameron, said sales revenue for April 2009 was 115 per cent higher than in April 2008. Overall sales results for the first quarter 2009 showed a 101 per cent growth over the same period in 2008. 

“We’ve achieved excellent results in the last financial year, with many months of record sales. And of course we’re delighted to have made it into BRW’s Fast Starters list for the second year in a row, highlighting our strong performance in this market.”
 

Preliminary figures show that AVG (AU/NZ) has achieved just over 63 per cent sales revenue growth for the full 2008–2009 financial year. Cameron said this was the result of superior technology, supported by an innovative and highly effective business model.
 

“Our market is primarily consumers and small to medium enterprises (SMEs). We are very focused on those sectors with carefully tailored offerings that meet their security needs at a very affordable price. The expansion of our Client Care teams has enabled us to continue to provide service and support of the highest calibre to our clients and resellers. Unlike many of our competitors, there is no charge for this support for our commercial clients,” Cameron continued.
 

Innovative Model Delivers Results

“The AVG Technologies’ model of seeding the market with free product and then encouraging users to upgrade at their convenience has allowed us to build high brand awareness and substantial market share. We now have a market share much higher than certain respected industry analysts give us credit for,” Cameron said.
 

“Across the full product range, we are protecting more than 2.7 million users in Australia, and more than 500,000 users in New Zealand. That’s a very solid base on which to continue to build and grow our business.”
 

Multi-Tier Distribution Model Works for Everyone

AVG (AU/NZ) operates a multi-tiered distribution strategy, working with its more than 2350 resellers, plus major corporate partners, to roll out its security solutions. The company has found that the combination of its proven technology, comprehensive local support services and the powerful backing of AVG Technologies, make an attractive package for companies interested in offering trial versions of AVG to their customers. In recent weeks AVG (AU/NZ) has announced such partnerships with both Suncorp Bank and 3 Mobile Broadband.
 

“We recognise that small business and home consumers are cautious about how they spend their money and appreciate the opportunity to trial software before making an investment. By allowing them to experience the quality of our software, services and support, we have been successful in converting hundreds of thousands of users to the AVG brand,” said Cameron.
 

“We’re also seeing this translate into small business customer growth as consumers, having seen how well our products work at home, then choose to implement them at work.
“Another interesting development is a strong trend towards customers purchasing our premium AVG Internet Security integrated security suite solution. Rather than settling for the base product as they did a few years ago, most customers now purchase the best level of online protection available.
 

“As people increasingly use online services they are more aware of the need for a comprehensive security solution. People want peace-of-mind and AVG Internet Security truly delivers, especially now that the new AVG Identity Protection is included in the 8.5 version.”
 

Business Operations Expanded to Support Sales Growth

Cameron said AVG (AU/NZ) is extremely committed to the Oceania marketplace, improving services and expanding its local team.
 

“We’re just coming to the end of the first stage of a managed business expansion programme. We’ve added seven new personnel in the past three months. The extra people, combined with other systems and operational changes, have allowed us to extend our service and support offerings and further enhance the way in which we touch our customers and channel partners.
 

“The AVG (AU/NZ) team is excited about stage two and are looking forward to being better able to serve our customers. Still we have more to do. Just yesterday an AVG reseller gave us a brilliant insight as to how we could do something to make the sales process much easier for many of our resellers. Our team is already working to make it happen.
 

“We’re here for the long haul and plan to cement AVG’s position as a leading provider of security software solutions in this market,” he said.

Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus 2010 Betas Now Available for Download

Sydney – July 7, 2009 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), makers of Norton security software,  today unveiled its Norton Internet Security 2010 and Norton AntiVirus 2010 betas, which feature new reputation-based security technologies that tackle undiscovered malware and today’s toughest threats head-on.  The upcoming versions of Norton products mark a significant shift in the way the global leader in security software will protect computer users from cyber crime. This new protection model, codenamed “Quorum” will be introduced to the mass market for the first time with the official product launch expected in September 2009.

Traditional security solutions are obsolete. Symantec security researchers see 200+ million attacks on average every month, the vast majority of which are never-seen-before threats and delivered via the web. While Symantec created nearly 1.8 million new virus definitions in 2008, the reality is that the signature approach and other traditional methods of security are not keeping pace with the number of threats being created by online criminals. 

“Looking at the sheer volume of infected systems in the world, one thing is resoundingly clear: basic security protection is not good enough,” said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec. “Norton pioneered the signature-based model of security and today we’re introducing a new standard that reconsiders all facets of protection. “’Quorum’ lets us stop the bad guys even if we’ve never seen their ’wanted’ poster.” 

Similar to the auto industry recognising the need for a significant shift to more fuel efficient vehicles, Symantec believes the security industry demands a similar “rethinking” of the traditional approach. With the 2010 Norton products, Symantec will introduce “Quorum”, the codename for a  new protection system based not only on the traditional “fuel” of malware signatures but also on the new “fuel” of reputation with an intelligent control system using each when necessary.

In spite of the dramatic shift to a constant flood of deceptive and unknown malware, industry responses have been largely based on adjusting existing protection models rather than adopting a fresh approach. Project Quorum introduces not only new reputation-based threat detection, but also reconsiders other fundamentals such as security alerting, threat removal, antispam and parental controls.

The New Fuel: Reputation

From web page rankings to finding the perfect restaurant, the concept of reputation has harnessed statistics and ratings to solve a diverse series of problems online.  Similarly, Symantec’s 2010 products use application reputation in response to the problem of dealing with online criminals who use unique, new threats to evade security vendors.  Application reputation is created by leveraging the millions of users in the worldwide Norton Community Watch program who choose to anonymously contribute data about the characteristics of the applications running on their systems. Most users run mostly good applications, of known origins and with known publishers and other common attributes. Conversely, malware typically has never been seen before, has an unknown publisher, and other attributes that give it a poor reputation.  This data enables Symantec to calculate a reputation safety score for each application. Without ever having to ask the user, Symantec can statistically infer with an extremely high degree of accuracy the likelihood of an unknown application being good or bad.

The Control System: SONAR 2

The next generation behavioral antimalware system, SONAR 2, intelligently measures feedback across the PC to make high accuracy decisions, seamlessly switching between protection “fuel” types as needed. SONAR 2 is designed to detect unknown threats by harnessing intelligence from all Norton protection features, whether it is driven by network communications, program activity on the system, leveraging reputation data in the cloud, or other defenses.

The New Dashboard Gauges

The new genre of deceptive threats that trick users into installing them by posing as software updates and codecs have made typical detection alerts outdated as they fail to describe what has happened in plain language.  Norton 2010 will introduce a new experience that will help users better understand what has happened during an attempted infection, while still remaining unobtrusive. Novice users can now quickly grasp what took place while technically savvy users can drill down to details such as the threat origin and any activities performed.

The new protection model of Norton 2010 additionally extends to both AntiSpam and Parental Controls.  AntiSpam features a new engine from Symantec Brightmail to bring enterprise-class protection to consumer inboxes. The new AntiSpam feature offers dramatic effectiveness improvements with no time-consuming “training”, working from time-tested heuristics and cloud-based signatures. Additionally, Norton 2010 users can sign up for  a free subscription to OnlineFamily.Norton, a new Web-based service that keeps parents in the loop on their kids online lives and fosters communication about what’s appropriate and inappropriate behavior on the Internet. 

“Symantec is in a unique position to bring this approach to market due to our unmatched installed base and the fact that we’ve had teams of engineers developing and refining this technology for the past three years,” said Trollope. “No other vendor’s approach to consumer protection comes close. Our new approach changes the ‘rules’ by both enhancing traditional security techniques to make them more aggressive and by making it dramatically more difficult for attackers to evade detection by simply changing their malware.”

All flagship Norton products including Norton 360, Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus are planned to be Microsoft Windows 7 compatible as of the general availability of the new operating system. Norton users with a valid product subscription will receive the compatibility updates delivered automatically online at no additional cost.

Norton beta testers are encouraged to share feedback and discuss their product experiences in our online Norton Public Beta Forum.

Beta Availability

These beta products are available for free public download now at:

Norton Internet Security 2010 beta: www.norton.com/nis2010beta

Norton AntiVirus 2010 beta: www.norton.com/nav2010beta

About Norton From Symantec

Symantec’s Norton products protect consumers from traditional threats with antivirus, antispam, anti-spyware and phishing protection, as well as bots, drive-by downloads and identity theft– while also being light on system resources. The company also provides services such as online backup and PC tuneup, and is a trusted source for family online safety.

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organisations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

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Note to Editors: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and are valid only in the United States.

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Experience fear and anticipation on the island of Skira in a new gameplay video available at www.flashpointgame.com.

– Tuesday, 7th July – Witness the ruthless precision of the US Special Forces and feel the fear of impending battle in the stunning new Operation Flashpoint®: Dragon Rising ‘Fear and Anticipation’ gameplay trailer, released today and now available from www.flashpointgame.com.

In the video a squad of US Special forces take advantage of the low light of dawn to covertly assault a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) checkpoint. A convoy passes by as the squad move silently through the undergrowth, approaching their targets. Turning the situation hot, key guard positions are eliminated but the PLA are soon alerted to the Special Forces presence. With air and vehicle support in place, and superior numbers, PLA troops pursue and surround the Special Forces squad. What began as a covert insertion is about to turn into a fearsome, bloody flashpoint…

In Operation Flashpoint®: Dragon Rising gamers play the decisive role in defusing a military flashpoint between two global superpowers that threatens the entire world. Players take the role of US Marines and Special Forces operatives dispatched to take back the oil-rich Russian island of Skira from an invading force of Chinese PLA.

The 220km2 island becomes the ultimate open-world battlefield as players are empowered to make their own choices, deploy their own tactics and fight war on their own terms. Objectives are set – how they are accomplished is always up to the player who has the full resources of the US Marine Corps at their disposal and the ability to attack from any direction. Intelligent squad and enemy AI, based on authentic military tactics, react in real-time to situations as they unfold to ensure that no two games will ever play out the same.

Players will become immersed in a stunningly realistic conflict with unprecedented levels of detail, freedom and authenticity. Every decision counts, every action has a consequence and every bullet can kill as Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising recreates the lethality, tension and adrenaline of real war like never before.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising will set the new standard for sandbox shooters when it arrives this spring for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games For Windows®. Build your anticipation by downloading the new video, now available online at www.flashpointgame.com.

For more information on Atari’s entire product line up visit www.atari.com.au and log on to the Atari Trade Site for all box shots, demos, trailers and online screenshots.

Multi-threading, hardware tessellation and Shader Model 5.0 to turbocharge off-road racer – AMD (NYSE: AMD) powers new levels of visual realism with DirectX 11 software engineering expertise.

– July 7th 2009 – Codemasters®  in partnership with Atari Australia today announced that the Games For Windows® LIVE edition of Colin McRae: DiRT 2, the thrilling and stylish sequel to the award-winning off-road racer, will support the wealth of new performance enhancing features that will be available in DirectX 11. 

With DirectX 11 hardware expected to ship in the second half of 2009, and DirectX 11 coming to home computers with the release of Microsoft Windows 7 on October 22, 2009, Codemasters also announced that the Games For Windows® LIVE edition of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will benefit from an extended development program to take advantage of DirectX 11 and is now scheduled to be published in December 2009.

“While the console editions of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will retain their September ship date, we believe that the DirectX 11 feature set is too compelling to ignore, especially considering how much more it can add to the visual experience for PC gamers,” said Bryan Marshall, chief technical officer, Codemasters. “As a leader in digital racing entertainment, we are staying ahead of the pack by immediately taking advantage of key new technologies such as hardware tessellation, multi-threading and Shader Model 5.0 to deliver the most realistic, immersive and exhilarating racing experiences in the business. The fusion of DirectX 11 with Codemasters’ EGO™ Engine will raise the technical bar considerably in the racing genre.”

With the introduction of Microsoft Windows 7, DirectX 11 will be made available both as part of the operating system and as a downloadable update to Windows Vista.  Codemasters intends to immediately take advantage of DirectX 11 features that add to the realism of the racing environment. Hardware tessellation will further improve the appearance of water and other surfaces as well as crowd animations. 

The shader performance of Shader Model 5.0 (SM 5.0) will aid in creating an even richer 3D experience, enhancing key image quality parameters such as depth of field, ambient occlusion and shadows. These DirectX 11 features, and many others, will add the horsepower needed to improve performance.

“We expect Codemasters’ early move to DirectX 11 to place them in a leadership position in developing the next generation of PC games and simulations,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Products Group. “To aid in transitioning to DirectX 11, AMD is providing Codemasters with access to our software engineering expertise in DirectX 11 technologies such as tessellation and shader modelling. DirectX 11 has all of the ingredients needed to take PC gaming to a new level of realism by giving developers tools to effectively utilize the multi-CPU, multi-GPU systems now available to players.”

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 is being turbocharged for Games For Windows® LIVE supporting DirectX 11 and is set to ship this December. Editions for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system are scheduled to launch in September. For the latest videos and information, powerslide over to www.dirt2game.com.
For more information on Atari’s entire product line up visit www.atari.com.au and log on to the Atari Trade Site for all box shots, demos, trailers and online screenshots.

Sydney, Australia, 30th June, 2009

It was a cold June night and an excited throng of people gathered in the modern, spacious THQ/Capcom Sydney headquarters to see the current crop of games that were shown in E3, as well as others currently in development. The headquarters is one of those new-age workplaces, with pool a table, balcony and a bar/cafe; but on this occasion, it had been overtaken with a plethora of Wiis, PS3s, XBOX 360s, LCD screens and projectors showing the latest and greatest.

DarkSiders
The star of the night was DarkSiders with 4 large LCDs showing this behemoth of a game. Based loosely on the New Testament, the protagonist is War, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, hellbent on vengeance as he progresses through a brutal and violent world. The emphasis should be brutal and violent, as you’ll be slashing, stabbing and ripping apart opponents (using the familiar God of War context sensitive button pushing). DarkSiders sets itself apart though by trying a Zelda-like open-exploration world, in an attempt to forgo the linearity of its influences. The visuals are excellent and stylish, portraying a dark, unforgiving world with realistic and detailed animations. An extended inventory system beyond the usual weapon advancement seemed to add more unexpected complexity to a game of this nature, allowing you to equip different items, armor and weapons. Currency is in the usual form of orbs which gravitate towards you as you make your umpteenth kill and can be spent on character customisation, item acquisition and in an interesting twist, information from the inhabitants of the world. DarkSiders is a game to look out for as it seems to diverge away from the usual GoW hack and slash clone and tries to do something slightly different.

Marvel Superhero Squad
When I walked past this at the beginning of the night, I thought to myself this will be one popular game. 4 Wii-motes and characters such as Captain America, Storm, Hulk, Thor in mini cute super-deformed versions – how can you go wrong? Similar to Super Smash Bros, with up to 4 players fighting at a time, players choose characters from the Marvel Universe as they combat against each other in different environments and arenas. Each character has individual super powers with the usual combo attacks (using a combination of button mashing and remote swinging). Boasting an Adventure mode for the anti-social amongst us, the feature that most people would be interested in is how fun is it in a group. This game was really popular amongst the crowd, eager to try it out.

A few things I found were that unlike SSB, the arenas were huge compared to the characters contained on them. The arenas that I played were quite similar to each other and although told about items that can be picked up, I didn’t see any on the night. Even so, this game does have potential and is worth checking out when released.

Drawn to Life – The next chapter
Drawn to Life, the game that reminded us why we dropped art in school, now has a sequel on the Wii. Drawn to Life – the Next Chapter, was shown on a huge digital projector, only amplifying our woeful efforts at drawing, but indicated in a big way that Drawn to Life – The Next Chapter will follow in its predecessor’s success. Doing away with the overhead view storytelling elements of the original, this sequel focuses on platforming – and why not. The original was one of the best platformers of 2007 and the sequel continues on with this winning formula. One big feature that people are excited about is the in-game drawing. The player will eventually encounter a drawing rectangle, where they can draw freeform lines and shapes in order to progress. For example, if the player needs to progress to an unreachable cliff, they can draw a ramp or two. Readers who have seen and enjoyed the independent game Crayon Physics, know what I am talking about. It was rare to see the wii-mote free all night, a testament to its playability and appeal to a wide selection of people.

Tatsunoko vs Capcom
A games night isn’t complete without showing a beat-em up and what better one to exhibit than Tatsunoko vs Capcom, following the successful Capcom Vs. (…or Vs Capcom) formula. Pulling characters from the Capcom stables like Ryu and MegaMan Volnutt and more obscure characters from the Tatsunoko anime stables like Swan from G-Force, this game boasts large characters (PTX-40A and Gold Lightan took over almost 1/3 of the screen), over the top hit-combos, tag-team and outrageous hyper moves. The visuals seem great for a wii game and the action is exciting and fast paced. New gamers to the genre can opt for a simplified control scheme but there should be enough depth here to win over the capcom fans out there.

World of Zoo
With all the ultra-violence, it’s good to have a change, so for the younger games, World of Zoo fits in that slot. Blue fang, the developer of Zoo Tycoon, is also developer of World of Zoo, with an entirely different take on the zoo management game (management being used very loosely). You’re a zookeeper, in charge of all the exhibits and keeping the animals happy. Imagine Nintendogs but with 90 animals as you befriend your animals and try to keep them happy. In addition, you can customise your animals and learn interesting facts about them. With cute, cheerful visuals, an exceptionally easy control system and a variety of animals and exhibits, this game should appeal to its intended younger audience.

I haven’t gone into all of the games on show, but others which caught my eye were Resident Evil : Darkside Chronicles (the great undead splattering goodness continues), Lost Planet 2 (Impressive graphics and bosses) and Ninja Gaiden 2 (Oh the violence…. and ninjas!). All in all, an exciting night and it’s pleasing to see so much potential in these handful of games.

Ho Wong

Multimedia Elements:

• Lexar Image Gallery
• Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn data sheet
• Lexar JumpDrive Retrax data sheet
• Lexar Media’s YouTube page
• Lexar Media’s facebook page

Sydney, Australia, 7^th July 2009 – Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today expanded its popular family of JumpDrive® USB flash drives in Australia and New Zealand  with the introduction of the JumpDrive TwistTurn, JumpDrive Retrax and JumpDrive VE flash drives – three new USB storage solutions geared to meet the demands of today’s budget-conscious consumers.  

Lexar® JumpDrives feature individual designs to cater to all its consumers USB flash drive preferences. Lexar has produced two cap-less alternatives – JumpDrive TwistTurn rotating USB drive and JumpDrive Retrax retracting USB drive.  Whilst for consumers who prefer the traditional capped USB, the JumpDrive VE has a slimline design and features a protective cap to boot! 

All three drives come in a variety of attractive colours – based on capacity – allowing customers to choose the colour best suited to his or her personal taste or to help them identify capacities by sight.  The Lexar JumpDrive line is available in a range of capacities, from 2GB up to 32GB, which allows users the flexibility to quickly and easily store an abundance of photo, music, video, and data files.   

Lexar Media has created the new JumpDrive TwistTurn, JumpDrive Retrax and JumpDrive VE flash drives specifically to address the portable storage needs of today’s value-conscious consumers. 

“In today’s economy, shoppers are naturally looking to get the more for their buck, yet they don’t want to skimp on performance, style, or quality,” “The new Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn, Retrax and VE flash drives offer consumers a choice of convenient, affordable storage solutions that offer today’s most advanced performance capabilities at very attractive prices” said Richard Clarke, National Sales Manager A/NZ, Lexar Media. 

Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn

The hi-speed Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn USB flash drive features a unique cap-less design, with a rotating case cap that is easily attached to a keychain or backpack. JumpDrive TwistTurn flash drive is available in a different colour for each of its varying capacities (2GB in white, 4GB in red, 8GB in blue, 16GB in silver, and 32GB in black).

Lexar JumpDrive Retrax

The hi-speed Lexar JumpDrive Retrax USB flash drive features a unique capless design with a durable, retractable mechanism that safely protects the drive and its contents. JumpDrive Retrax flash drive features a different colour for each of its varying capacities (2GB in white, 4GB in red, 8GB in blue, 16GB in gray, and 32GB in black). 

Lexar JumpDrive VE

The high-capacity Lexar JumpDrive VE USB flash drive features a cap to protect the drive and its contents, providing an excellent combination of durability and convenience.  JumpDrive VE is available in two colour choices — white (2GB and 4GB) or black (8GB and 16GB). 

Plug-and-Play Design

Compatible with Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, and Apple® OSX operating systems, the JumpDrive TwistTurn, Retrax and VE flash drives feature a simple plug-and-play design that allows users to quickly and easily store and access files while on the move. The drives also sport a cool LED activity light that blinks during data transfer, so users know when the job is done. Plus, these products make a fashionable accessory, offering users the ability to attach them to a backpack, purse, or briefcase. 

Packed with Features

For Windows-based users, these new JumpDrive flash drives come pre-loaded with a free 30-day trial of Dmailer software, which transforms the drive into a personalised PC on the go. With this powerful tool, the drives can easily backup and carry files, photos, and videos, as well as Microsoft® Outlook® and Outlook Express email. Access and send email from any PC, update personal calendars, view and modify data, and more. 

Availability and Pricing

The Lexar® JumpDrive TwistTurn, JumpDrive Retrax and JumpDrive VE flash drives are available now. 

The suggested Australian retail prices are:

–       Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn 2GB $16.70 / 4GB $23.90 / 8GB $43.80 / 16GB $71.65 / 32GB $135.35

–       Lexar JumpDrive Retrax 2GB $16.70 / 4GB $23.90 / 8GB $43.80 / 16GB $79.60 / 32GB $135.35

–       Lexar JumpDrive VE 2GB $15.95 / 4GB $23.10 / 8GB $42.20 / 16GB $71.65

Australian distributors of Lexar Media products include:

WestGroup – Ph: 1300 130 578 Web: http://www.westgroup.com.au/

Starting August 19th, the Cologne show will mark the beginning of a new era for visitors as well as trade partners and exhibitors. As one of the first publishers to confirm their support, Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has revealed it will the five-day event to showcase PES 2010, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and new additions to its DanceDanceRevolution series.

Gamescom opens a new chapter in the European games industry – as does the advent of PES 2010, which will be released in the Spring. PES has long been synonymous with unique gameplay and unrivaled realism, and PES 2010 has been reworked to play a more considered and realistic game. The avid PES Community has contributed massively to the development of the game, and PES Productions – Konami’s Tokyo-based development team – has collated feedback on the series’ strengths and weaknesses for months via fan forums, and from both ardent and casual PES players. 

The result will be the most challenging, realistic and satisfying PES to date. PES 2010 will be released for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC-DVD, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), PlayStation®2 and mobile phones in spring. Konami will present the results of this unique collaboration in Cologne, marking the first time the game will have been available to play in Europe. 

Konami will also use the show to premiere Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a clever re-imagining of the genre-defining first Silent Hill title which will be released for Wii™, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®2. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is abundant with innovative new features, including a psyche profile element, that monitors the way the player approaches the game and alters it accordingly. Players begin by answering various questions from a psychiatrist, and these replies and their reactions in the game result in their individual psyche profile – which affects various situations in the game. 

The player guides Harry Mason as he attempts to unravel the mystery of his missing daughter, Cheryl. The game watches the player and adapts according to the psyche profile.   The result is a clever twist to the game’s terrifying moments – depending individually on the player and his actions. Further details to the psyche profile will be announced at the gamescom.

Cologne will also see Konami reaffirm itself as the pioneer of dance and music games. A large part of Konami’s booth at the gamescom will be devoted to its most successful DanceDanceRevolution series. The ever-rising number of dance and fitness enthusiasts will get the chance to get first hands on newest versions of Konami´s DanceDanceRevolution games for various formats.

“The opening of gamescom marks the beginning of a new era. We are looking forward to an event that will set standards in every aspect,” enthused Martin Schneider, Sales and Marketing Director Germany/NL for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “We promise visitors and trade partners that Konami will make its contribution to establishing this fair as the most successful event the company has ever seen in Germany as well as Europe.”

Konami can be found during gamescom from August 19th to 23rd in hall 7.1, booth C30. Further details concerning products and stage show will be announced shortly.

To view: http://videos.uk.ubi.com/index.php?video=qkgp72we

Assassin’s Creed® II is the follow-up to the title that became the fastest-selling new IP in video game history.  The highly anticipated title features a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian noble, and a new era, the Renaissance.  Assassin’s Creed II retains the core game play experience that made the first opus a resounding success and features new experiences that will surprise and challenge players.

Assassin’s Creed II is an epic story of family, vengeance and conspiracy set in the pristine, yet brutal, backdrop of a Renaissance Italy. Ezio befriends Leonardo da Vinci, takes on Florence’s most powerful families and ventures throughout the canals of Venice where he learns to become a master assassin!

Sydney, AUSTRALIA – July 7th, 2009 – QVS International today announced the start of its pre-order program and availability for the highly anticipated Western launch of Aion™, the new visually stunning fantasy MMORPG scheduled for release this September. 

Available from July 13th, players can now secure their copy by pre-ordering the Aion Collector’s Edition at EB Games (only 50,000 being produced worldwide) or the Aion Limited Edition featuring an exclusive SteelBook case available exclusively in Australia thru GAME, which both feature a variety of exclusive items. Gamers can also pre-order the standard edition. Aion’s western availability comes on the coattails of its phenomenal launch and success winning the Grand Awards of 2008 in Korea and setting launch participation records in China. 

Players who pre-order Aion receive guaranteed entry to all scheduled Aion beta events, early access to the servers at launch, exclusive in-game digital items, and special game benefits including character and server preselection privileges. Featured in-game digital items for Aion pre-orders include an exclusive Black Cloud Hat and Lodas’ Amulet, as well as one of five different Ancient Rings of Power dependent on retail purchase location. The Collector’s Edition, available at EB Games, will have the ancient Ring of Fire whilst the Limited Edition, available at GAME, will include the ring of Magic. 

Aion pre order participants in Australia can be in with the chance of winning and exclusive Aion prize pack including – information along with complete terms and conditions can be found at http://aion.qvsoftware.com.au. To take advantage of the special pre-order promotion and secure their copy of Aion, players may visit one of several participating retailers, including EB Games and GAME. For complete Aion pre-order program details and for more information on Aion or to subscribe to the Aion newsletter, visit http://aion.qvsoftware.com.au.

For more news about NCsoft, go to http://us.ncsoft.com/en/news/.

LYON, FRANCE – 8 July 2009 – NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S. today announced the completion of its purchase of Atari’s global PAL distribution operation, with the entity re-named NAMCO BANDAI Partners with immediate effect.  The company distributes titles worldwide, excluding Japan and North America, from NAMCO BANDAI Games, Atari and other major international video game publishers, representing one of the industry’s strongest international retail distribution networks.

“We are very excited about working with all our valued partners in retail, media and publishing to grow what is already a successful distribution business even further as part of the NAMCO BANDAI Games family,” said Jackie Fromion, CEO of NAMCO BANDAI Partners. “With our committed and experienced teams of professionals around the world we provide a first class distribution solution, and we very much hope to see a growing number of publishers taking advantage of this.  Our vision is to be a successful, attractive and profitable company as well as a great place to work.”

“We are very proud to have a greatly increased international presence following the creation of NAMCO BANDAI Partners.  The goal of the new organization is to make our products appeal to a wider audience, and also provide an effective distribution service which reaches the widest possible international market,” said Shu Takahara, President and CEO of NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe. “We are bringing a fantastic international team into the global NAMCO BANDAI group and together we are looking forward to a bright and profitable future with many hit games.”

Operating in 50 countries with 17 dedicated offices including UK, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Nordic, Benelux, Greece, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, NAMCO BANDAI Partners is one of the world’s strongest and most comprehensive video game retail distribution networks.

In Australia the company will operate as NAMCO BANDAI Partners Australia, working with its partners in publishing, media and retail to bring a wide range of original, entertaining and high quality video games to market for all audiences from hardcore gamers to families and casual gamers.