– April 22th, 2009 – Codemasters Online and NetDevil together with Atari Australia today unveiled the wealth of spacecraft that will be available for gamers to pilot in its fast-paced, epic space combat MMO, Jumpgate Evolution.

The in-depth Lore document and new screenshots released today demonstrate that no matter which of the in-game factions players choose to side with – be it Quantar, Solrain or Octavius – they can take the controls of a stunning variety of spacecraft, each with their own distinctive racial designs and functions.

Starting with ultra-light training ships and increasing in size through combat fighters and to the vast, hulking commercial freighters that ferry cargo across the galaxy, players are certain to find a ship type that perfectly suits their personal style of play.

Budding pilots can expect a huge variety of ships to fly at Jumpgate Evolution’s launch in July, each of which can be categorised into one of three distinct classes:  Fighters, Gunboats and Commercial Cargo Ships.

• Fighters
All rookie pilots begin Jumpgate Evolution with a simple Trainer vessel, a light-duty combat craft with great handling and minimal extras, making them perfect for spaceflight learners. As players progress they can move onto more powerfully armed ships, either Combat Fighters, that specialise in ship-to-ship combat and are ideal for escort or patrol missions, or the faster, lighter Advance Fighters, which are designed for tactical reconnaissance and sabotage sorties.
 

• Gunboats
These heavily armed weapon platforms’ thick armour, powerful cannons and high torpedo payloads make them perfect for leading assaults on hostile capital ships, though they can be slower to manoeuvre than Fighter ships. Combat Gunboats form the backbone of any major strike force and, together with the aid of smaller support craft, pack a powerful punch. Support Gunboats possess similar levels of armour and shields as their Combat counterparts, but come loaded with Electronic Counter Measures and support abilities instead of weapons. While not directly involved in combat, they can help turn the tide of a major battle.

• Commercial Cargo Ships
Commercial ships are the heart of the galaxy’s economic welfare, moving commodities and goods throughout space. Though not suited for combat, all carry some level of shields and armament. Runners are fast, small to moderately-sized cargo vessels favoured by one-man delivery outfits along with pirates and smugglers. Freighters are vast cargo ships that trundle enormous quantities of commercial goods, legal or otherwise, throughout space.

In addition, players also have the option to fully adapt and customise their ships with a vast range of different weapons, amour set-ups and unique modifications, further increasing the enormous variety between each of the different spacecraft types that will populate the Jumpgate Evolution universe when it launches this June. For more information on Jumpgate Evolution and to sign up for BETA visit, jump over to www.jumpgateevolution.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.

LEGO Rock Band combines the multiplayer music experience of Rock Band® with the fun, customization and humour of the LEGO videogame franchise packed with brilliant chart-topping songs and classic favourites suitable for younger audiences, including:

Blur:   “Song 2”
Carl Douglas:  “Kung Fu Fighting”
Europe:                         “The Final Countdown”
Good Charlotte:  “Boys and Girls”
Pink:                              “So What”

Players will become rockers as they embark on a journey to stardom that the whole family can enjoy as they work their way through local venues, stadiums and fantasy locations on Earth and beyond that mimic the imaginative settings that the LEGO world offers. Also continuing the LEGO “build-and-play” gaming experience, players will be able to create their own LEGO Rock Band style as they customize their minifigure avatars, band and entourage, including roadies, managers and crew. LEGO Rock Band supports Rock Band instruments, as well as other music game controllers.

“LEGO Rock Band combines two compelling properties and creates an experience that family members of all ages will enjoy playing together as a group,” said Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games.  “Harmonix and MTV Games are the world experts in music gameplay, and we’re genuinely thrilled to bring the unique and humour-filled LEGO experience to their Rock Band universe.” 

“We’re thrilled to offer another LEGO branded gaming experience that will deliver humourous and social play for families and friends,” said Henrik Taudorf Lorensen, Vice President, the LEGO Group. “LEGO Rock Band is built around the same values of imagination and family-friendly creative role play that is present in other LEGO videogames. It will deliver innovative new elements of game play that complement the fun of the Rock Band experience.”

“Rock Band is a social game experience that crosses every generation and every genre of rock,” said Bob Picunko, Senior Vice President of Electronic Games for MTV Games. “Harmonix and MTV Games are big fans of the LEGO game franchise and excited to work with TT Games to develop a new take on Rock Band that focuses on great music and LEGO humour that’s fun for the whole family.”

About TT Games
TT Games (www.ttgames.com) is the combined publishing and development group behind the hit games LEGO® Star Wars™, LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame, LEGO® Indiana Jones™:The Original Adventures and BIONICLE® Heroes. Incorporating renowned UK developer Traveller’s Tales, TT Games has a distinctive focus on console, handheld, mobile and PC games of the highest quality, aimed at young gamers and their families.

About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group (www.LEGO.com) is a privately held, family-owned company, based in Billund, Denmark. It was founded in 1932 and today the group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials for children.  The company is committed to the development of children’s creative and imaginative abilities through its products, which can be purchased in more than 130 countries. Visit www.LEGO.com

About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.

About MTV Games
MTV Games is dedicated to creating, marketing and publishing high-quality, innovative interactive products that are relevant to the MTV audience and complement the core values of the MTV Networks brands.

About Harmonix Music Systems, Inc
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA, and established in 1995, is the leading developer of groundbreaking music-oriented videogames. Harmonix was founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who formed the company to invent new ways for non-musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music and have pioneered music and rhythm gaming in the US. For more information please visit www.harmonixmusic.com

About Backbone Entertainment
Backbone Entertainment, a Foundation 9 Entertainment Studio based in Emeryville, California, is a long-standing developer of original, classic, and re-imagined games for all major platforms. Established in 1992 with an early foundation in emulations, conversions, and handheld games, the studio then broadened its focus to develop games for consoles. Backbone Entertainment is a leading developer of downloadable titles for XBLA and PSN, and specializes in clever games based on original and popular gaming franchises. The studio is one of the most experienced developers in the industry, and has shipped over 230 titles across all platforms over the last sixteen years. For more information please visit www.backboneentertainment.com.

About Foundation 9 Entertainment
Foundation 9 Entertainment is the largest independent games developer in North America. The company has studios across North America, Europe and Asia, making it a development powerhouse, uniquely positioned to deliver quality games on all gaming platforms for all age groups. The company’s studios are masters in working with original and licensed properties and have collectively developed more than 600 titles since 1992, including more than 45 in 2008 alone. For more information, please visit: www.f9e.com.

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick and the Knob configurations and the Minifigure are trademarks of the LEGO Group. © 2009 The LEGO Group ©2009 Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Harmonix, Rock Band and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., a MTV Networks company. Rock Band developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. MTV: Music Television, MTV Games and all related titles and logos are trademarks of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.  EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Backbone and the Backbone logo are trademarks of Backbone Entertainment, a Foundation 9 Entertainment company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Standalone AVG LinkScanner® delivers real-time protection for Windows users, no matter what other security products they may use 

Melbourne, 21 April 2009 – AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd, the Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific distributor of the world’s leading free anti-virus software, is today announcing AVG LinkScanner as a free standalone product to protect users against random, invisible online threats. 

On any given day, some two million web pages are poisoned by hidden threats. And every day, 60 percent of those threats shut down or move to a different destination on the web – which makes real-time link scanning crucial. Any type of site can be affected, from a small business to a government department to a major brand-name company. If a user simply visits one of these poisoned web pages they don’t even need to click on anything to get into real trouble, to lose their credit card details, their ID or other valuable information or files. Regular anti-virus software alone cannot protect against this type of threat.

AVG LinkScanner gives users an additional real-time layer of protection on top of their existing security software. It works by looking at the web page behind a link or a web address typed into a browser and analysing whether it harbours a threat. If it does, then AVG LinkScanner stops the user from downloading that page. This means that, for the first time, Windows XP and Vista users can truly know whether it is safe to click on a link at the only time that matters – when they click on it.

“It’s our belief that every computer user has the right to basic security protection, regardless of the ability to pay,” said J R Smith, AVG Technologies’ CEO. “These dangerous web pages threaten to disrupt the very fabric of the internet as well as how we view and use it, posing an even bigger threat to users than viruses. Our 80 million users are already protected by AVG LinkScanner, which has been an essential part of our suite of security products for some time. So now we’re making it available to users of other major security software brands, who just don’t have the same degree of protection. Now any PC user can surf and search the web with confidence and without fear of losing their ID, bank account information, credit card details, valuable files and information to cybercrooks.”
 
AVG LinkScanner also applies this targeted analysis of web pages to search results from Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Whenever users search using these search engines, they will see safety rankings for all ‘organic’ search results. In addition, the AVG LinkScanner will scan users‘ bookmarks as well as links contained in instant messages and emails before they open them to ensure the links are safe.

The AVG LinkScanner Advantage

AVG LinkScanner’s unique ability to analyse web links in real-time enables AVG to deliver far more accurate and relevant protection than other safe-surfing solutions. Checking the safety of a page at the precise time the user is about to click to it is crucial in today’s world of transient threats. Relying on information about a web site’s relative safety days or weeks in the past cannot protect users against threats that remain in one place for less than 24 hours, and so AVG has rejected the traditional approach of relying on information about sites previously found to have been poisoned.

Unlike other solutions, AVG LinkScanner analyses individual pages on a web site to generate a rating for those pages. Imagine that one or two pages on a vast site like Facebook or MySpace are being used to spread malware. If a safe-surfing solution only rates entire sites based on what it finds on a couple of pages, a bad rating on those one or two poisoned pages would result in blocking users’ access to any of their friends’ pages on that site.

“The Web has become the primary distribution mechanism for viruses (and other malware), drive-by downloads and other stealthy web threats which represent vast majority of attacks,” said AVG Technologies CTO Karel Obluk. “So we’ve evolved our product range to put greater emphasis on combating this more insidious and dangerous form of attack. AVG LinkScanner is at the front line of this additional protective layer. By making this layer freely available, it’s our goal to give users the confidence to always feel safe when they go online.”

Neighborhood Watch Research

AVG’s ‘neighborhood watch’ approach to AVG LinkScanner research also increases the product’s ability to provide relevant protection to users – putting the protection where users actually go and when they go there, rather than trying to map and secure the entire Internet. The LIVE Intelligence Network has for the past five years focused solely on this area of evolving threats through the combined resources of:
a global team of expert human researchers and a network of ‘hunting pots’

an intelligent filter for known and suspected threat distribution sites and mechanisms

automated threat encounter feedback, ensuring focus on real-world threats that affect real users

AVG LinkScanner aggregates intelligence gained through these three channels, correlates it in real time, and integrates it back into the threat analysis process to continually improve user protection.

Other tricks are being developed all the time, and users should not assume they are safe if some other pop-up appears while they’re surfing the web or downloading files. Running AVG LinkScanner will protect users against new as well as existing forms of social engineering trickery.

Availability and System Requirements

AVG LinkScanner continues AVG Technologies‘ mission to deliver lightweight, easy-to-use solutions that don’t slow users’ computers down and provide robust protection as soon as they’re installed. The software is free for use on any personal home computer for non-commercial purposes. It can be downloaded from http://linkscanner.avg.com. Support is available through a free online forum hosted by AVG at http://freeforum.avg.com.

AVG LinkScanner runs under all current versions of Windows XP and Vista, both 32- and 64-bit. The software is compatible with all major security software and with Internet Explorer 6 or later and Firefox 2 or later browsers. AVG LinkScanner is available today in English and will be available in Bahasa, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (Traditional & Simplified),Czech, Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish from mid May.

Keep in touch with AVG

For up-to-the-minute news on the latest cyberthreats:

Subscribe to AVG Chief Research Officer Roger Thompson’s blog at http://thompson.blog.avg.com/

For general AVG updates

Follow AVG on Twitter @officialavgnews.com

Register at www.avgnews.com

Critically acclaimed movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is to be the first ‘day and date’ title, released on 3rd June 2009.

SYDNEY AUSTRALIA 15th April 2009 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Australia will make its content available via Video on Demand through FOXTEL Box Office Pay Per View, iTunes, Bigpond as well as the online presence of various rental chains on the same day the Blu-ray and DVD becomes available to buy and rent.  The announcement of this move was made by Roger Clarke – Managing Director of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Australia.

“This is a significant step in the development and growth of our industry in Australia, providing an important new opportunity to increase the audience for our content. Working with our partners, FOXTEL, iTunes, Bigpond and various rental chains, this strategy means we are giving the consumer more options to experience their favourite content when, how and where they want to.” said Clarke.

Beginning with the much anticipated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, set for release on 3rd June 2009, consumers will be able to access this film via the internet, PC or set-top box on TV. The launch of this initiative is supported by FOXTEL, iTunes, Bigpond and various rental chains.

Brian Walsh, FOXTEL’s Director of Television said, “This is a great win for FOXTEL subscribers and a major step forward for our Box Office Pay Per View service. More than ever, this decision reinforces the value of having FOXTEL in the home.”

“There are more than 5.1 million Australian consumers with broadband connections and a huge appetite for great content.  Every day, more and more consumers are acquiring the habit of purchasing their movies digitally.  By offering Video on Demand at the same time as the Blu-ray and DVD release, Warner Bros. is responding to the need for greater convenience and choice that reflects today’s changing lifestyles.”

“Additionally, by providing reliable, high quality, digital product to consumers in this way, we are offering a legitimate alternative to piracy.” added Clarke.

When Batman: Arkham Asylum reaches stores this Winter, the DARK KNIGHT will be taking a fully loaded arsenal along with him for the ride.  At his disposal is a complete suite of gadgets and accessories that includes everything from a sonar resonator and a Batclaw to an explosive gel aerosol. Batman will need it all to take down the insane criminals that prowl Arkham Island.

The collector’s edition of Batman: Arkham Asylum, published by Eidos features a full array of iconic collector’s items, including:

• 14″ Batarang with stand
  • Matches the Batarang’s in-game design

• Arkham Doctor’s Journal
  • 48 pages of notes on Arkham’s inmates

• 2 Sleeve Digi-pack, including:
  • Game disc
  • Behind-the-scenes DVD

• Code for downloadable Challenge Map
  • Exclusive “Crime Alley” map, available immediately

·        Full-colour Manual

For Batman fans who want to keep up with all the latest news and development on the game, the official Facebook.com  <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Batman-Arkham-Asylum-The-Official-Page/70233106632> and MySpace.com <http://www.myspace.com/batmanarkhamasylum> pages are now live – offering fans a central hub to network and learn about one of the hottest upcoming games of Winter 2009.  True Batman fans can now keep up with all the latest developments, and prepare to get their hands on the Bat’s famous gadgets this Winter.

The accompanying image shows off the stunningly packaged collector’s edition, including all items listed above.  Please feel free to post news of the upcoming collector’s edition as well as the new Facebook and MySpace pages.

Based on the core Batman license, in Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Dark Knight takes on his greatest challenge yet when he becomes trapped with all of his most dangerous villains inside the insane asylum of GOTHAM CITY – ARKHAM ASYLUM!  Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum – Gotham City’s psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane.  Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City’s most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum.

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.

View:  http://uplay.uk.ubi.com/videos/tgtgm4v0-gameplay-videos-part-a.htm 

Download:  http://static2.cdn.ubi.com/emea/videos/download/uk/ruse_part_a_uk_Download_720p.zip

R.U.S.E., is a new intellectual property developed by Eugen Systems, creators of the critically acclaimed strategy title Act of War: Direct Action™. R.U.S.E. is scheduled for release on Windows PC, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for fiscal year 2009/2010.  In R.U.S.E., players use their brain as the ultimate weapon, fighting a war of perception, where the ability to deceive and mislead the enemy determines success. A first in a strategy game, R.U.S.E. reinvigorates the genre by using deception to give new-found depth to the game play. 

To learn more, visit www.rusegame.com

AUSTRALIA – April 17, 2009 – Today Ubisoft announced that Ubisoft Montréal is developing Assassin’s Creed II on all current-generation platforms for a scheduled Christmas 2009 launch.  The initial installment of Assassin’s Creed® was released in November 2007 to popular and critical success, selling 8 million copies worldwide, and garnering awards such as Best Action Game 2007 from 1UP and Outstanding Achievement in Animation from the AIAS.

Assassin’s Creed II is the product of over two years of intensive development by the original creative team behind the Assassin’s Creed brand.  In a vast open world environment, the game invites players to incarnate Ezio, a privileged young noble in Renaissance Italy who’s been betrayed by the rival ruling families of Italy.  Ezio’s subsequent quest for vengeance plunges players into a captivating and epic story that offers more variety in missions, surprising and engaging new gameplay elements, diverse weapons and a profound character progression that will appeal to fans of the original Assassin’s Creed as well as entice players new to the brand.

“Our creative team is working hard to top the experience of Assassin’s Creed,” said Patrice Desilets, creative director at Ubisoft. “We’ve made improvements to every aspect of the game.  And we’ve plunged ourselves into the stunning history of the Italian Renaissance so that we can offer fans a unique, varied and innovative Assassin’s Creed experience.”

Teaser trailer download link: http://static2.cdn.ubi.com/emea/videos/download/uk/AC2_Teaser_uk_Download_720p.zip

Hero® Greatest Hits. The votes tallied in the first week established the original Guitar Hero game as the clear victor. The voting continues this week, and fans can now cast their votes online at GreatestHits.GuitarHero.com to determine which of the remaining genre-defining titles, Guitar Hero® II, Guitar Hero® Encore: Rocks the 80s and Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock, they would like to have the songs revealed from next. 

Guitar Hero Greatest Hits explodes onto store shelves on June 17, 2009 with 48 master tracks now playable for the entire band, including the following tracks from the first Guitar Hero game:

Guitar Hero®

Pantera – “Cowboys From Hell (Live)”

Franz Ferdinand – “Take Me Out”

Queens Of The Stone Age – “No One Knows”

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – “I Love Rock N’ Roll”

Boston – “More Than A Feeling”

White Zombie – “Thunder Kiss ’65”

Blue Öyster Cult – “Godzilla”

Helmet – “Unsung (Live)”

Queen – “Killer Queen”

Incubus – “Stellar”

Ozzy Osbourne – “Bark At The Moon”

Deep Purple – “Smoke On The Water”

The Donnas – “Take It Off”

The Exies – “Hey You”

Autodesk’s new Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool 7.5 software (formerly SOFTIMAGE?XSI Mod Tool) is now available. This 3D modelling and animation package for aspiring game artists is based on the same professional toolset as Autodesk Softimage (formerly SOFTIMAGE?XSI). Game studios have used Softimage software to create hit titles such as “Metal Gear Solid 4” and “Fable II.”

“Softimage Mod Tool gives the next generation of game artists access to professional tools, so they can learn while making their own games or game mods,” said Marc Stevens, Autodesk Media & Entertainment vice president, games. “Game developers can also use the software to extend the life of a game by building a community of modders. Game mods can go on to become commercial games in their own right, and they can be used by developers to identify talent for recruiting purposes.”

New Features in Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool 7.5
        New learning materials: Softimage Mod Tool 7.5 comes with training materials from Noesis Interactive. These materials show users how to create a character and export it for use in Microsoft XNA Games Studio 3.0.

        New real-time shading API (application programming interface): Softimage Mod Tool 7.5 supports the Realtime Shader API version 3.0, which helps make real-time shader development simpler and more flexible. The new version offers an architecture focused on programmable shaders (GLSL, HLSL) and file-based effects (CgFX and DxFX). With these capabilities, what game developers see in Softimage Mod Tool is what they get in the game.

        Interactive Creative Environment (ICE): ICE is an open, scalable platform that enables artists to extend the capabilities of Softimage more quickly and intuitively using a node-based dataflow diagram. Artists can now quickly create complex 3D effects and tools without writing code.

        Support for Windows Vista operating system: Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool 7.5 now supports the Windows Vista Business operating system.
Create Compelling 3D Content for Microsoft XNA and Major Game Engines
Softimage Mod Tool 7.5 can export 3D models and animation for use with the Microsoft XNA Game Studio 3 framework. Fledgling or independent game developers now have access to a professional toolset for creating original games on the Microsoft Xbox console or Windows platform.

Users can also download add-ons for content export to Crytek CryENGINE 2, Epic Unreal Engine 3 and Valve Source game engines. With this professional 3D toolset modders can produce characters and props for their favorite game.

Commercial Version for Microsoft Xbox Live Community Games Available
Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool Pro 7.5 software is functionally identical to the Mod Tool, but has an End User License Agreement that allows users to produce assets for games sold via Microsoft’s Xbox Live Community Games. Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool Pro 7.5 is available only with Microsoft’s XNA Creator’s Club Premium membership. For more information visit http://creators.xna.com.

Availability
Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool 7.5 software is available for download at www.softimage.com/products/modtool.
Autodesk Softimage and XSI are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved

MELBOURNE – Thursday 16 April, 2009 – Entries officially opened today for the 2009 Enhance TV ATOM awards – Australia and New Zealand’s most prestigious awards for achievements in Film, Television, Animation and Multimedia (including video games). 

Production houses, students, game developers, educational resource developers, independent film makers, documentary makers, animators, multimedia developers… anyone who has produced anything for the screen is encouraged to enter the 2009 EnhanceTV ATOM Awards. 

This year, the ATOM Awards program will recognise and celebrate excellence, featuring thirty six awards across three categories – Student, Educational / Vocational and General. 

“The ATOM Awards program is designed to acknowledge the work that our current and future talent is contributing to the big screen, across a wide range of media,” commented Amber Nelson, ATOM Awards Spokesperson.