THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUND OF TEARING FLESH 

– Take the Gore Tour in ‘Splatterhouse’, Now Officially Confirmed for Australia in 2010 on Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 – 

– 15 October 2009 – Rick is annoyed, and when Rick’s annoyed, limbs start coming off.  NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe takes great gruesome pleasure in officially announcing the re-imagining of the 1988 arcade flesh-fest Splatterhouse, coming to Australia and New Zealand in 2010 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3. It’s a fine line between harmless and arm-less. 

College beefcake Rick Taylor is on the bloody trail of his beloved Jennifer who has vanished after an ill-advised visit to the eerie West Mansion.  While the beasts of the other-world are doing their utmost to cramp Rick’s style, he’s lucky enough to stumble on the ‘Terror Mask’ which imbues our hero with the raw power of a freight train and the physical charms of a giant rippling rack of barbecue ribs.  With a blood-curdling primal scream, the pure brute force of Rick is unleashed on the legions of foul demonic creatures, who are incidentally starting to wish they’d stayed in their nice warm hell-beds that morning. 

“Today’s console technology is literally decades ahead of what powered Splatterhouse when it made its first indelible bloody mark on gaming, which means we now have gore like never before for all the fans and the new generation of gamers lining up to get to grips with Rick,” said Hiroaki Ochiai, VP Sales and Marketing, NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S. “If you have the stomach for it, there’s nothing more satisfying than beating a hell beast to death with its own leg.” 

In Splatterhouse, Rick will stray far beyond the West Mansion in an original storyline written by Gordon Rennie, the critically lauded comic book author behind works including Necronauts and Judge Dredd.  Original artwork for the game is created by artist and Marvel contributor Dave Wilkins, enhancing the impeccable comic book credentials of the game’s offal-soaked universe. 

Players will learn how to harness and focus the juggernaut power of Rick to perform countless brutal attacks and stop his relentless opponents gaining the upper hand, or indeed his actual hand if they succeed in ripping it off.  The dynamic combat system will see Rick performing bone-smashing combos and grapples while putting a house full of makeshift weapons to good use, including the series trademark 2×4 and no shortage of limbs ripped from the unwary foes who cross his path.  

Despite his heavy musculature, Rick has a new gift of agility which he employs to great effect leaping great distances and swinging from handholds in the environments, which he can now explore with abandon.  If the odds are stacked unfairly against him, Rick can choose to reanimate the shattered corpses of his fallen combatants to fight alongside him, adding a new dimension to the tactical bloodshed.  With no health bar, the horrific damage Rick sustains is shown on his body as torn flesh, exposed organs and lost limbs.  Judicious use of the ‘Terror Mask’ lets Rick regenerate, affording players the pleasure of watching his bones, veins, muscles and skin grow back in real time. 

Splatterhouse is scheduled for release in Australia and New Zealand for 2010, while those of a nervous disposition would be well advised to stick to the knitting and jigsaws.

XBox Live is rolling out a global preview of the new features, including Facebook, Twitter, and Movies on Demand. It’s free to sign up by filling in a survey and the lucky users will be hearing back in about a week if they’re accepted into the preview program. We’re looking for thousands of gamers across a wide range of locations, ISPs, network setups, etc. so there’s a good chance of acceptance.

Who wouldn’t want a sneak peek?!

The link to sign up is here:

http://connect.microsoft.com/XboxLIVEUpdate

Visionary director Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of the magical Dickens’ Christmas tale – A Christmas Carol

November 5, 2009 is set to be released in IMAX 3D at IMAX Melbourne Museum on Disney’s A Christmas Carol Robert Zemeckis — the director responsible for is a multi-sensory thrill ride imagined by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Forrest Gump, Polar Express 3D, Beowulf 3D and the famous Back to the Future magical essence of the classic Dickens tale by using the art of performance capture.

“It’s as if Charles Dickens wrote this story to be a movie—it’s so visual and cinematic. It’s the greatest timetravel story ever written and I wanted to do the movie the way I believe it was originally envisioned by the author,” Zemeckis said. “Zemeckis proved his skills in producing amazing 3D films through this technique in trilogy. In this latest groundbreaking 3D motion picture event, Zemeckis captures theThe Polar Express 3D and Beowulf 3D level”, said IMAX Melbourne Museum Manager, Richard Morrison.

“Viewers will be totally immersed by this amazing 3D technology on the world’s third largest screen”. Performance capture is a process that digitally captures the performances of the actors with computerised cameras in a full 360 degrees. This technology allowed Zemeckis to present a true Dickensian world with no artistic restrictions, transporting the audience to a time and place previously unavailable.

With Disney’s A Christmas Carol, he takes the art of performance capture to an entirely new. Jim Carrey stars in a multitude of roles including Ebenezer Scrooge as a young, middle-aged and old man, as well as the three ghosts that haunt him. Scrooge begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk (Gary Oldman) and his cherry nephew (Colin Firth). But when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come take him on an eye-opening journey revealing truths old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he must open his heart to undo years of ill will before it’s too late.

Disney’s A Christmas Carol: An IMAX 3D Experience

Disney Studios that have been digitally re-mastered in IMAX 3D, including the highly anticipated release of Tim Burtons. To view the heads an impressive list of upcoming films from WaltAlice in Wonderland 3D on 11 March 2010.Disney’s A Christmas Carol trailer go to www.imaxmelbourne.com.au or http://www.youtube.com/user/imaxmelbourne

Release Date: 5 November 2009
Where: IMAX Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens
Tickets: $22.50 adults, $18.50 concession, $16.50 child, $68.00 family (2 adults & 2 children)
Session times: For regular updates join IMAX Melbourne Museum on
www.imaxmelbourne.com.au or 03 9663 5454Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

MELBOURNE – Thursday 15 October, 2009 – The Game Developers’ Association of Australia (GDAA) today unveiled the preliminary program for Game Connect: Asia Pacific (GCAP) the region’s premier game development conference.

GDAA President, Tom Crago has called the program the strongest yet, in the history of the conference. “The Australian industry has been running this event for ten years now and I have been fortunate to have attended every show. Looking at this year’s program, I can’t recall a better lineup of Australian and international speakers,” he commented.

“The whole point of GCAP is to provide an educational and professional development service to the industry in this region, and to build on the collegial atmosphere we share as an industry here. We also use it as an opportunity to host international publishers, and to introduce them to our many, talented development studios. I am very confident that the 2009 GCAP will be a great success on both these criteria.” 

Key Note Speakers for this year’s GCAP are Vicarious Visions Design Director Tim Stellmach, and Eat, Sleep Play Founder David Jaffe.

David will appear by video link, in a session to be hosted by the presenters of ABC Television’s Good Game.

A final Key Note Speaker will be announced in the weeks leading up to the conference.  

Other program highlights include international speakers from Sony, Microsoft, Autodesk and Havoc, as well as presentations from local studios including Team Bondi, Torus Games, 2K Australia and Big World.

Two presentations will cover recent release Heroes Over Europe from Transmission Games.

This year’s GCAP will also have a focus on Audio, with sessions run by Stephan Shutze and Alex Ringus, culminating in a presentation by Blue Tongue Senior Audio Designer John Guscott on the interactive soundscapes of deBlob.  

A double-session panel discussion on serious games will be another highlight, as will Firemint CEO Rob Murray’s presentation on his company’s success with iPhone titles Flight Control and Real Racing.  

Local Indie developer Farbs will share his experiences on life as an independent, and the conference will culminate in a panel discussion featuring games media luminaries including Yahtzee and Jason Hill.

The panel will be chaired by Tantalus Creative Director David Hewitt, and will be entitled. ‘What I hate about Video Games: A Critic’s Perspective’. 

To view the program in full, visit www.gameconnectap.com 

Registrations for GCAP are now open, and delegates are encouraged to register early to take advantage of reduced rates. 

For further information about the conference or to register interest as a conference speaker visit www.gameconnectap.com

Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie will be available on Disney DVD 16 December 2009, with a never-before-seen extended scene and exclusive bonus features. Starring Disney tween sensation Selena Gomez, this all-new, extended edition feature film is based on the Emmy-award winning Disney Channel Original series, Wizards of Waverly Place (#1 in its timeslot on both Disney Channel and free to air).  

It’s wizards as you’ve never seen them before in this holiday season’s must-own magical family comedy.  Alex Russo (played by Selena Gomez) is the hippest and most hilarious young wizard in training. When her parents (played by Maria Canals-Barrera and David DeLuise) take the magical Russo family on an unwanted vacation to the Caribbean, an accidental spell turns the family holiday into a thrilling journey through the jungle when a resentful Alex wishes her parents never met. A spell is unwittingly cast, reversing her parents’ fateful first meeting and putting their family’s very existence in jeopardy! 

To undo this magical mishap, Alex and her equally magical older brother Justin, played by David Henrie (of That’s So Raven and How I Met Your Mother fame), begin a quest through the jungle to find the ‘stone of dreams’ – their only hope of reversing the spell.  Will the magical duo be able to find the stone and save the family’s existence?

With exclusive bonus features only available on Disney DVD, including a never-before-seen extended scene, Wiz Pix bonus feature and a personal tour behind the scenes with the cast, Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie will take the whole family on an adventure with its hilarious, heart-warming charm – sure to bring a touch of magic to your home this holiday season!

Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie reached over 150,000 viewers on the Disney Channel when it premiered on 19 September and was the fourth largest Disney Channel Original Movie premiere EVER with kids. The Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie premiere is the top subscription TV program for kids so far in 2009.

Starring in her own Disney Channel Original series, other successful teen flicks including Princess Protection Program and rocking on her upcoming album, this year’s teen choice female TV star Selena Gomez unleashes her secret powers and steals the show as the coolest teen wizard in town.  Also starring Jake T. Austin (Hotel for Dogs) as Alex’s hilarious younger brother Max, this cast of wizards will have you sitting on the edge of your seat as their super powers are unleashed with hilariously funny consequences.

Don’t miss all the fun and wizardry! Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie will charm the entire family when it comes to Disney DVD 16 December, just in time to cast a spell over your Christmas holiday.

                Torchlight will be Available on Steam Beginning October 27 

Steam users, rejoice! 

October 13, 2009 – Seattle, WA – Runic Games, Inc. (“Runic Games”), a specialized developer of PC-based entertainment software in the United States, is thrilled to announce today that its upcoming action-RPG, Torchlight, will now be available on Steam starting the first day of launch, October 27.

For more information or to download the game from Runic Games’ official web site, please visit http://www.torchlightgame.com/ 

Runic Games had previously announced during PAX that Torchlight would be exclusively available for the first 30 days through Perfect World Entertainment’s portal with availability on Steam thereafter. 

“It’s important for us to make Torchlight as widely available as possible. Steam is an enormous outlet that many players use exclusively – we’re big fans ourselves – so we are really happy that it will be on Steam starting day one,” says CEO Max Schaefer. 

Torchlight will be available for digital download on October 27th, through Steam and www.torchlightgame.com.

About Runic Games, Inc.

Runic Games is a developer of PC-based entertainment software, designing games that focus on quality, approachability, and fun.  Runic Games is staffed by a team with experienced members, including leads on “Diablo,” “Diablo II,” “Diablo II: Lord of Destruction,” “Fate,” “Hellgate: London” and “Mythos.” Runic Games is located in Seattle, Washington, United States.

– Myer Sydney City, Level 6, 436 George St, Sydney – Thursday, October 15 at Midday-

Australia, 14 October, 2009 –

The Nintendo Connection arrives at Myer Sydney City, Level 6, on Thursday, October 15 at Midday. Be the first to experience this dedicated Nintendo Gaming Area, the first of its kind in Myer.

Come along to play your favourite Nintendo games and the latest releases for Wii and Nintendo DS. The Nintendo Connection has something for everyone, you don’t need to know the rules, just pick up and play! Be on the lookout for your favourite Nintendo characters, you never know who will make an appearance.

Make sure you arrive early as the first 50 people to enter the area will receive a gift bag including a standalone Wii Fit Plus (Wii Balance Board not included), which is also released that day. There will also be other great prizes up for grabs, so make sure you come along!

For more information visit:

www.nintendo.com.au

Two new videos have been released for the latest Star Wars games. 

Learn how to control the ‘Stap’ in Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes by watching the video  here.  

Star Wars Battlefront Elite Squadron is set to release next month on the DS and PSP. Watch the game play trailer  here.

For more information visit www.lucasarts.com

EXPORT AND DLC FUNCTIONALITY FOR XBOX 360 AND PLAYSTATION®3 CONFIRMED 

Upcoming Game Allows Songs to be Played In Rock Band™ Music Platform 

Sydney, Australia – October 13, 2009 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), today announced the full track list for the upcoming LEGO® Rock Band™ game, including songs from Queen, Bon Jovi, P!NK, Jimi Hendrix and Blur. In addition, the game will support downloadable content from the massive Rock Band™ Music Store to be played within LEGO Rock Band, while enabling songs from LEGO Rock Band to be exported on Xbox® 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft or PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and available to play across all game modes in the Rock Band Music Platform. 

Filled with chart-topping songs and classic favourites suitable for family members of all ages, the full track list for LEGO Rock Band console versions includes:

The full song list for LEGO Rock Band for Nintendo DS™ includes: 

Fans can extend their LEGO Rock Band experience on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with downloadable content that can be purchased through the LEGO Rock Band store.  Players will have access to all of the songs in the Rock Band Music Store that have been identified to be suitable for all ages. Those cleared songs are the only tracks that will appear within the LEGO Rock Band store for purchase.  The LEGO Rock Band store will continually highlight any new family-friendly tunes that can be played across the Rock Band platform as they are released for Rock Band. 

 Disc export will rely on the technology pioneered by Harmonix to export tracks from the original Rock Band disc to the music library of Rock Band 2. Owners of LEGO Rock Band on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be able to enter a unique code from an insert in their game manual into a dedicated website. The website will provide instructions allowing owners to unlock the export functionality of LEGO Rock Band. At that point, players will be able to export tracks from LEGO Rock Band to their hard drives for play in all game modes of the Rock Band Music Platform for a nominal export fee. An internet connection is required to perform this disc export. 

LEGO Rock Band combines the multiplayer music experience of Rock Band with the fun, customization and humour of the LEGO videogame franchise to create a unique family-friendly music experience that allows tweens, teens and parents to experience a wild journey to rock stardom where they can “Build a Band and Rock the Universe.”  Players will become rockers 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, gamers can create their own LEGO Rock Band style as they customize their minifigure avatars, band and entourage, including roadies, managers and crew. LEGO Rock Band is compatible with all Rock Band and The Beatles™: Rock Band™ instrument controllers, as well as most Guitar Hero® and other authorized third-party music video game peripherals and microphones.  

LEGO Rock Band for Xbox 360®, PlayStation 3 and Wii™ system is rated “G” by the OFLC and is developed by TT Games in partnership with Harmonix.  The Nintendo DS version is rated “G” by the OFLC and is developed by Backbone Entertainment, a Foundation 9 Entertainment studio, and will be compatible with Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS™ Lite and Nintendo DSi™.  All versions are scheduled for release November 2009.

Engin Offers Best Ever VoIP Deal for Residential Customers 

600 Minutes of Calls to Local, National, Mobile and 100+ International Destinations

for $29.95 a Month  

Sydney, 13 October 2009: Engin (ASX:ENG), Australia’s leading broadband telephony company, has released an industry-best deal for consumers. The Engin Max Plan allows residential customers to make 600 minutes of calls to local, national, mobile and more than 100 international destinations (including some international mobile destinations) for just $29.95 per month. 

International mobile destinations include Canada, China, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, USA and Vietnam. For a full list of international destinations please click here. 

Greg Crameri, Residential Marketing Manager for engin said: “We’ve been offering VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to residential customers since 2004 and they’ve told us they want a simple plan which covers all call types. So we built it. We believe this is the best offer on the market. This means customers can cut their phone costs and control their spending. And heavy users who go over the 600 minutes a month are still entitled to our extra low normal rates.” 

The rates after the 600 minutes are used up are 15c for local and national calls; 27c per minute for mobile calls; and international rates from 1.9c per minute. 

“People with a network of friends and family living in other countries who need regular contact and real conversations will make phenomenal savings. 

“If you haven’t looked at VoIP before, now is the time. For those who have been a bit wary of VoIP in the past, let me assure you that when we say this is easy, it’s true. And all this comes with a no risk 30 day trial,” Crameri said.

To be able to use the Engin service people need a broadband Internet connection (cable modem, ADSL); a router or switch; an Engin Voice Box (which converts the analogue phone signal to digital) and any cordless and corded telephone or an Engin Internet phone. 

To sign up for the service, please go to www.engin.com.au/

About Engin Limited www.engin.com.au  

Engin is an Australian owned and operated telecommunications company listed on the Australian stock exchange (ENG).

 The Engin service delivers Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony services. Any broadband user is able to make and receive calls using their existing telephone handset. VoIP sends voice signals over the Internet, rather than through the regular telephone network. The advantage of this technology is significantly reduced local, mobile and international call rates. 

Engin’s growth has been underpinned by a 2007 strategic partnership with the Seven Network.