Free-to-Play Online Action Adventure Welcomes Millionth Player

Thursday 7th July, 2011 — SEGA® Europe, Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that Spiral Knights™, a free-to-play adventure with fast-paced, retro-inspired action, has grown to one million player accounts worldwide. Spiral Knights joined the Steam distribution service in early June after the official launch in April of this year. To celebrate this milestone, SEGA and Three Rings have also announced a new batch of content being added today, available for free to the many, many Spiral Knights players around the globe.

“So many people came together to make this achievement possible – from Three Rings’ incredible team to our partners at Steam and, of course, the million players who have joined the game thus far,” said Haruki Satomi, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA of America. “We look forward to welcoming even more new players in the coming months as we continue to expand and enrich the world of Spiral Knights.”

“During development, we hoped Spiral Knights’ classic action, handcrafted art, and co-operative nature would appeal to gamers of all stripes, and reaching this milestone is confirmation of our vision for the game,” said Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings. “Seeing a million eager knights forging ahead into the Clockworks, building guilds and our game community, is gratifying for our entire team. As seen in recent content updates like the Ironclaw Munitions Factory and the Gloaming Wildwoods, we are more determined than ever to continue expanding and adding to the Clockworks for our fans.”

Starting today, Spiral Knights’ daring adventurers can also explore the Ironclaw Munitions Factory, a new dungeon located deep within the Clockworks. Intel from Spiral HQ has confirmed that gremlin engineers have banded together to develop a weapon of incredible power, known only as “Project Roarmulus.” Spiral Knights will have to survive a harrowing trip through the complex’s destructive devices if they want to put an end to the project, but fortunately there are a number of new weapons, including the Polaris and Supernova guns, to help them succeed!

Learn more about Spiral Knights by visiting http://www.spiralknights.com.

Thursday 7th July, 2011 – SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced the launch of SEGA Rally Online Arcade™ on PlayStation® Network. Already released on Xbox LIVE® Arcade in May, SEGA Rally Online Arcade is now available on PSN for AUD $ 12.95.

SEGA Rally Online Arcade brings back all the features players could want from the popular arcade and console racers. Featuring a brand new achievement system, 13 high-speed rally cars, online leaderboards and an exciting online racing mode that lets players race with up to five drivers around the world. SEGA Rally Online Arcade delivers lap after lap of intense rally action on hi-definition consoles.

For more information, please visit www.sega.com

Save The Earth From The Insect Invasion on July 21st Across EMEA And Australasia

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 5th July 2011 – The insects have set their sights on planet Earth as D3Publisher today announced that Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon has gone gold and is set for release across EMEA and Australasia on July 21st for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for only $49.95.

In Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, thousands of giant insects and aliens once again ravage the earth, and only the Earth Defense Force can stop them. Create a squad of up to three players in co-op play using any four upgradeable armor types and destroy the monsters at all costs, even if it means turning entire city blocks to rubble with an arsenal of over 300 weapons.

Taking place in the fictional city of New Detroit, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon for Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 is a completely new game developed by Vicious Cycle that follows in the footsteps of Earth Defense Force 2017 (Japanese Title “Earth Defense Force 3” developed by Sandlot). Insect Armageddon continues to follow the rich history of hardcore fun and addictive gameplay that made the franchise a cult classic.

Insect Armageddon also adds a new aspect to the Japanese-born Earth Defense Force series, with additional elements for all EDF soldiers to experience. Players can now participate in Campaign mode via online co-op for up to three players, or grab a friend and play in split-screen against the insects and aliens across a completely destructible city. Every EDF soldier can collect over 300 weapons and choose from four upgradeable armor sets including the vaunted Jet Armor for battles on the ground and in the air. Players will engage in the fastest and deadliest non-stop arcade action in the series against a seemingly unstoppable swarm of insects and giant alien invaders.

The game also features a six player Survival mode that pits a human squad against a relentless onslaught of the largest enemies the aliens have to offer. New Detroit’s giant bug problem is unavoidable, and mankind’s last hope lies with the Earth Defense Force.

For more information on Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, please visit http://www.namcobandaigames.eu, www.edfia.com and www.facebook.com/EarthDefenseForce.

Spearheaded by IRT: Deadliest Roads Season 1, this August – in time for Father’s Day, Magna Home Entertainment together with HISTORY™ will take you on a journey through the ages with

new release and back-catalogue DVD and Blu-Ray titles in the ‘Where Will HISTORY Take You’ campaign.

IRT: Deadliest Roads Season 1

This pulse-pounding series sends today’s toughest drivers to navigate the world’s most dangerous roads as they haul their way through India’s Himalayan Highways – some of the most historic and lethal on the planet! With over 1 million Australian viewers tuning into the Channel 7 premiere of the series (World’s Deadliest Roads), this death-defying series comes from the makers of Ice Road Truckers. Join the drivers who put their lives on the line everyday – Rick Yemm, Lisa Kelly and Alex Debogorski – as they steer their way from the crowded streets of Delhi to treacherously steep, narrow and congested mountainside roads, embarking on an exhilarating, exhausting and terrifying adventure…where the difference between life and death is just a few inches…or one very blind corner.

Specifications – August 24 2011 SRP: $39.95 (DVD) $44.95 (Blu-Ray)

3 discs, 10 episodes

Approximately 450minutes + extras running time

Museum Victoria has had its most successful year ever, with more than 2.3 million visits from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011, and record-breaking numbers visiting Melbourne Museum. 

Ticketed attendance across Museum Victoria venues in the year to June 30, 2011 was 2,329,558 – an increase of nine per cent (around 200,000 people) on last year’s record-breaking total.

This was the second year in a row that attendance figures topped the two million mark, making Museum Victoria the most-visited Museum organisation in Australia.

There was strong attendance at all Museum Victoria venues, with best-ever visitation at Melbourne Museum – 1,428,238 – a 25 per cent increase on last year’s attendance, making it the country’s most popular museum. Immigration Museum topped last year’s attendance with 128,350 visitors and both Scienceworks and IMAX Melbourne Museum maintained strong visitation with 447,708 and 325,262 attendances respectively.

“Museum Victoria continues to be a great place for Victorians to visit and to bring their interstate and international guests. Visitors are delighted by our own innovative exhibitions and programs and enjoy the great international exhibitions that we present, such as Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs and Titanic: the Artefact Exhibition,” said Gillian Hoysted, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Museum Victoria.

“This year marked the completion of the Science and Life Gallery redevelopment at Melbourne Museum, with international award-winning exhibitions Wild: Amazing Animals in a Changing World, 600 Million Years and Dynamic Earth, as well as the new long-term Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours exhibition at Immigration Museum. These fantastic attendance figures reflect the popularity of our international exhibitions, local favourites such as Top Designs, and of the exhibitions developed in-house by Museum Victoria.”

Ms Hoysted said growing visitor numbers underscored the value of keeping permanent exhibitions refreshed, as indicated by the huge popularity of the new Science and Life Gallery at Melbourne Museum, a four-stage redevelopment that was completed in November 2010.

“Right now we’re undertaking a major redevelopment of the main exhibition space at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum,” she said.

“In addition, we are in the process of planning a much-needed redevelopment at Scienceworks – a venue that has been love to bits by children of all ages for the past 19 years.” 

MUSEUM VICTORIA ATTENDANCE HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2010/2011:

• Most visitors to Melbourne Museum on a single day: 10,192 (23 April 2011)
• Total number of ticketed visitors to Titanic: the Artefact Exhibition: 480, 879
• Total number of patrons viewing Titanic 3D: Ghosts of the Abyss at IMAX Melbourne Museum: 56,273
• Total number of visits to education programs at Museum Victoria: 310,170

Sydney, Australia – July 6^th, 2011 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today the biggest pre-order* incentive in the franchise’s history as FIFA 12 hits stores September 29th in Australia and September 30^th in New Zealand.

Australian and New Zealand fans who pre-order:

• FIFA 12 Ultimate edition exclusively available from  EB GAMES (Australia and New Zealand) will include 24 FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold packs (4 gold packs per month, for 6 months) to build their dream club + Fifa 12 steelbook + exclusive size 2 soccer ball – (http://www.ebgames.com.au/search?title=FIFA+12)
• FIFA 12 Premium Edition exclusively available from JB HI-FI (Australia and New Zealand) will receive 18 FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold packs (3 gold packs per month, for 6 months) + 3 Month subscription to Inside Sport Australia http://www.jbhifi.com.au/games/fifa-12-game
• FIFA 12 Standard Edition exclusively available from GAME (Australia Only) will receive 12 FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold packs (2 gold packs per month, for 6 months) + Autographed Tim Cahill poster http://www.game.com.au/fifa12
• FIFA 12 Standard Edition exclusively available from MIGHTY APE (Online retailer in New Zealand only)  will receive 12 FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold packs (2 gold packs per month, for 6 months) http://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/PS3/FIFA-12/10857645/

The FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Editions will be available on PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, or PC. FIFA 12 Utlimate Team will be available this October and these editions will be available to pre-order until September 29^th 2011 in Australia and September 30^th 2011 in New Zealand.

FIFA 12 Ultimate Team is a massive online community of fans building, managing and competing with their ultimate football team from the world’s best players in FIFA 12 .

FIFA 12 brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine that delivers real-world physicality in every interaction on the pitch.  Revolutionary gameplay innovations inspired by the real-world of football make FIFA 12 deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling creates a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for better control in tight spaces, more time to make decisions in attack, and more control over the pace of the game . Innovations in attack are balanced by a re-designed defending mechanism. Defending is now as strategic as attacking with all-new Tactical Defending, which fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes and tackling. Plus, CPU players have been infused with Pro Player Intelligence, the next generation of player intelligence and performance.

For the latest news on FIFA 12 join more than five million fans in the EA SPORTS FIFA community at http://www.facebook.com/easportsfifa or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/easportsfifa.

FIFA 12 will be available for the PlayStation3, Xbox 360, Wii™, PC, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo 3DS™, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, iPhone®, iPad™, and iPod® touch. The game has not yet been rated. Screenshots are available at www.ea-anz-press.com 
EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, global videogame competitions and breakthrough digital experiences.  EA SPORTS delivers personal access to the emotion of sports through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA JAM basketball, NCAA® Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS MMA,  Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® golf , and EA SPORTS Active. For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com to connect, share and compete.
*Conditions and restrictions apply.

Ballarat GiG: Get Into Games
Where: Mining Exchange, Ballarat, Victoria. Australia
When: 22nd and 23rd July

Come to Australia’s largest regional video games career expo to meet the Aussie team that gets to combine footy and making video games into a career. The AFL live developers are confirmed for Ballarat GiG.

Not only do the guys at Big Ant have what could easily be a dream job of many; their title is also

one of the best selling titles for the year in this country. The team will talk about how they made AFL Live, what it was like and how they got into games.

AFL LIVE Features:

Besides talking about making the game, the team will also help give you the inside word on the game as well as fill you in on tricks and hints to take your team to glory and win the Premiership flag! Come done and have a blast while you learn about the games industry.

• See and feel every big play with motion captured from real players.
• Tackle, bump, fend and spoil. Take massive specky’s! Kick miraculous bananas from the boundary and unleash mighty torpedos!
• Multiple camera settings and dramatic replays.
• Expert commentary by Dennis Cometti and Brian Taylor.
• Dynamic on-the-fly interchanges.
• Team-based strategies based on your personal style of play.
• Create and customise unique players and teams in the FOOTY FACTORY.
• Competitive or co-operative multiplayer.
• Go online for head-to-head or co-operative clashes having up to 4 players on each side.
• Online Experience System: Level up to win badges for ultimate bragging rights.
• All 12 authentic AFL stadia from around Australia.

6 July 2011: Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced the latest title inspired by the hugely popular range of Beyblade toys. BEYBLADE Metal Masters: Nightmare Rex will be released for Nintendo DS in November, and marks a new direction for the series.

Inspired by the popular animated TV action series BEYBLADE from Nelvana and d-rights Inc., BEYBLADE Metal Masters: Nightmare Rex brings all the skill of the Beyblade toy range to Nintendo DS as players customise their own Beyblade spinning top, and can take on 37 characters from the TV series. The basis of the game is as simple as that of the Beyblade toys, with the winner decided in a last-man standing competition, with players timing their attacks to send their opponent out of the arena, while keeping their Beyblade tops spinning at all times.

Everything about BEYBLADE Metal Masters: Nightmare Rex has been designed to keep the controls simple, yet offers the many tactical strategies the popular series affords. Players send their Beyblade into battle and can also add combination attacks via a series of button presses. Key attacks from the TV series have been faithfully recreated, allowing users to perform the ‘Pegasus’ diving attack to smash into opposition units, and the game also features spectacular finishing moves to earn victory with finesse!

The new game is also closely tied with the ever-popular toy range from Hasbro Inc., and players can enter a special code from their bundled Beyblade toy to unlock its constructed Beyblade parts in the DS game. In total, BEYBLADE Metal Masters: Nightmare Rex offers 100s of enhancements to the user’s basic Beyblade, while experience points are also accrued by equipping the Beyblade with BEY FORCE and winning competitions to further strengthen its properties. These powered-up units can then be used in a variety of multi-player modes that complement the social elements of the toy series. Wireless ‘Battle Modes’ allow users to take each other on, while 100s of Missions and a Survival mode allow the solo user to hone their skills.

BEYBLADE Metal Masters: Nightmare Rex also comes with an exclusive Beyblade top, not available anywhere outside of Asia.

Rootkit particularly more dangerous than many other threats

SYDNEY & AUCKLAND – July 5, 2011 – BitDefender, an award-winning provider of innovative Internet security solutions has released a free removal tool for TDL4, a rootkit-based e-threat that uses custom techniques to stay absolutely hidden after it has successfully infected your system.

The TDL4 e-threat is a tool that has been used for the purposes of online crime since 2008, having been steadily developed over this time. It is also one of the few threats of its type able to infect both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows, which makes it particularly more dangerous.

Once it has successfully infected your computer, TDL4 compromises the operating system’s security and prevents some antivirus solutions from detecting and eliminating the threat. Compromised computers are added to the TDL4 botnet and used for various illegal purposes such as advertising fraud, amongst others.

“We have been monitoring this threat since it first emerged. Whilst it has no direct damaging potential itself, the danger lies in how it is used by other pieces of malware to hide themselves and gain illegal access to PCs,” said Catalin Cosoi, head of BitDefender’s Online Threats Lab. “This threat has the potential to prevent detection and removal by some antivirus solutions. In light of this, it’s a sensible precaution to check your PC and make sure that it hasn’t been infected.”

BitDefender has released a free TDL4 removal tool for 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Windows. It is now available for download from BitDefender’s Malware City blog: http://www.malwarecity.com/blog/free-removal-tool-for-tdl4-available-now-1106.html

BitDefender has also added detection, removal and disinfection to its antimalware suites, so customers have been protected against this e-threat since its discovery.