TRION DEBUTS 7-DAY RIFT™ FREE TRIAL AND ASCEND-A-FRIEND PROGRAMS

Sign up now for the RIFT 7-day Free Trial at www.RIFTgame.com/freetrial

Sydney, Australia – May 11, 2011 – Trion Worlds today launched two new programs designed to give gamers a free taste of the immensely popular fantasy MMORPG, RIFT™. The RIFT 7-day Free Trial lets players experience the besieged world of Telara for a full week at no cost, and the Ascend-a-Friend program rewards current subscribers who find recruits for the Guardian and Defiant ranks. The new initiatives coincide with the debut of RIFT 1.2, the latest and most extensive game update so far. RIFT 1.2 adds several features, including Facebook integration, new 10-person raid content, and three new dynamic zone events.

“Since launching just over two months ago, RIFT has dramatically disrupted the online gaming landscape, giving players the most massive, dynamic, and engaging MMO experience currently available,” said Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer, RIFT. “With the Free Trial and Ascend-a-Friend programs, we’re opening the floodgates, inviting all into this amazing world to experience what gamers around the globe already know – that Telara is the new destination for serious MMO players.”

By signing up at www.RIFTgame.com/freetrial, would-be RIFT players can quest, PvP, and battle back planar invasions free for a full week. Free Trial players can upgrade to the full game anytime, taking their newly-minted characters with them.

With the Ascend-a-Friend program, current RIFT players can give an unlimited number of 7-day passes to their friends. If a recruit purchases the game, the recruiter will receive one or more of the following awesome rewards:

· Ascend 1 Friend – It’s like getting two friends for the price of one! If just a single buddy purchases RIFT, you’ll receive Courage, a fiercely loyal and utterly adorable canine companion.

· Ascend 2 Friends – You’re immensely popular, and you know it. Demonstrate this undeniable fact by donning the glorious Trailblazer Hat, which you’ll receive after Ascending a pair of peers.

· Ascend 3 Friends – You don’t get this many friends through charm alone. By bringing three new subscribers into the game, you’ll receive the Swift Ember Steed mount, a terrifying equine wreathed in flame that is sure to turn heads in Telara.

Additionally, Ascended friends’ characters will be automatically added to the player’s Friends List, and both will gain the ability to summon each other once every 30 minutes.

***Download high res screenshots of the Ascend-a-Friend recruitment awards here:http://trion.gamespress.com/default.asp?p=1&i=860

***For more information on the RIFT Ascend-a-Friend program, please visitwww.RIFTgame.com/ascend

***See the entire list of RIFT 1.2 features at http://www.riftgame.com/en/game/updates/spoils-of-war.php

3-D ready, Full HD with Surround Sound for a cinematic experience in the comfort of your own lounge room….

BenQ’s new W1100 home entertainment projector

Sydney, Australia May 2011: In-home entertainment is growing in popularity and as a result, high-tech equipment like full-HD home theatre projectors have never been more affordable.

BenQ’s latest offering, the W1100 Home Entertainment Projector at a RRP of $1499.00 will make movie viewing, gaming and sports events sublime – big screen ‘wow’ in Full HD 1080p boosted by an optimised optical system comprised of 12 delicate lens elements for a true cinematic experience. Add to this, the enhanced brightness of 2000ANSI lumen, 4500:1 ultra-high contrast ratio and full 10-bit colour processing – technical jargon which translated, means you’ll be amazed by the remarkable colour and sharpness of the picture quality.

Further completing the experience, the W1100’s SRS WOW HD™ technology, SRS high-quality audio processor IC and dual 10W built-in speakers provide dynamic audio performance with deepened bass response, widened horizontal sound field and raised vertical sound image – translation – room filling ‘surround’ sound complements the superior picture quality, providing an exceptional ‘audio-visual’ experience all round.

Said BenQ Australia’s general manager, Chee F. Chung, “The W1100 is convenient and affordable and needs no electrical wiring or professional installation – it’s simply plug ‘n’play and magically transforms the lounge room into a home theatre. Stay at home movie nights will rival the cinema experience in the comfort of your own lounge room. Movies and sporting events aside, the W1100 makes gaming more intense, action-packed and enjoyable in big-screen format,” she said, “which is ideal for entertaining family and friends.”

The BenQ W1100 Home Entertainment Projector will be available from May 2011 at a RRP of $1499.00. For information and stockists, contact BenQ on (02) 8988 6500 or visit the website at www.BenQ.com.au

Bethesda Softworks have just released a new Hunted video – ‘Forging a World’. Go behind the scenes with the team at inXile Entertainment as they discuss making the world of Hunted as well as the games level editor, Crucible. We have made the video available for download below.

Hunted is slated for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in Australia June 2nd and New Zealand June 3rd, 2011. For more information on Hunted visit www.HuntedTheGame.com.

Emerging markets account for 19 of the top 100 brands according to WPP company Millward Brown in its 2011 study of the Most Valuable Global Brands

Sydney – Monday 9^th May 2011 – Registering a staggering 84 percent increase in value over the past year, Apple has emerged as the most valuable brand in the world, ending the four-year reign of Google at the top of the table in the sixth annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study.

The Apple brand, as calculated by Millward Brown Optimor, a WPP company, has increased in value by 859 percent since 2006 and now stands at $153.3 billion. Other key findings in the study are that during the economic recovery of the last year, the combined value of all the brands in the top 100 has risen by 17 percent and is now worth $2.4 trillion. In terms of geography, according to the 2011 BrandZ study, 19 of the Top 100 brands now originate in “BRICs” markets, versus only two in 2006.

“Nine of the top ten brands have a strong brand history or presence in Australia,” said Martin Attwood, Senior Account Manager of Millward Brown Australia. “This has elevated the importance of building brands among the world’s most successful companies. CEOs and CFOs should be asking their marketing teams how they can leverage brand to both protect and grow the business. Strong brands, while not immune to the vicissitudes of the market, are more protected, prepared, resourceful and resilient.”

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, identifies and ranks the world’s most valuable 100 brands by their dollar value, an analysis based onfinancial data combined with consumer measures of brand equity. 

The Most Valuable Global Brands 2011

*The Brand Value of Coca-Cola includes Lites, Diets and Zero

“Our brand valuations are a powerful measure of an organization’s ability to create real and lasting value for shareholders.” said Eileen Campbell, CEO of brand research company Millward Brown. “By nurturing its brand and constantly innovating, Apple is able to command a high price premium and weather economic turbulence, providing a global business success story that other brands can learn from.”

“Business leaders can embrace brand management as a critical competency for building long-term financial value,” she added. “Compared with an overall improvement of 13 percent in the world’s equity markets during 2010, the best brands grew their value 30 percent faster.

Other key findings highlighted in this year’s research report include:

• One in five brands is from the BRICs: This year, 19 brands come from emerging markets compared to two in 2006 and 13 in 2010. The growing presence of brands from BRICs in this global ranking highlights the expanding purchasing power of people in these countries. While many of these brands are buoyed by the size of their local customer base, many more now have international ambition including Petrobras in Brazil (No. 61 in the ranking with a brand value of $13.4 billion); ICICI Bank in India (No. 53 and worth $14.9 billion) and China’s largest search engine Baidu. Now listed on the NASDAQ index, Baidu has a brand value of $22.5 billion and moves up 46 places in the ranking to number 29. Despite these successes, consumers in the BRIC regions continue to favor Western brands.  Louis Vuitton, for example, (for which Brazil is its second-largest market) benefited from the new energy and confidence in the BRICs region. Its 23 percent growth in brand value to $24.3 billion has helped this luxury retailer achieve 26^th place in the ranking, a three-spot increase from 2010.

• Heritage brands stay relevant in a technology age: Coca-Cola (No. 6), GE (No. 10), IBM (No. 3) and McDonald’s (No. 4), stand out in this study of global brand strength as brands that have survived for more than 50 years.  Leadership, strategy and tactics aside, what all of these companies have in common is their use of brand to remain relevant to consumers and drive global business success.

• Technology and telecom brands dominate the ranking: Technology brands, which make up one-third of the Top 100 brands, continue to demonstrate their relevance in our daily lives. While Apple leads the ranking, it is followed in second place by Google, with a brand value of $111.5 billion, and IBM in third place with a brand value of $100.9 billion. Facebook makes its debut in the Top 100 ranking this year at No. 35 with the highest increase in brand value, 246 percent, making the brand worth $19.1 billion. Online retailer Amazon also edged past Walmart to become the No. 1 retail brand and 14^th overall, with a 37 percent rise in brand value to $37.6 billion.

• Fast food, luxury and technology brands led brand value appreciation: Each of the13 market sectors covered in this study grew in value over the last year. Fast food led the sector growth (22 percent) followed by luxury (19 percent) and technology (18 percent). The oil and gas sector experienced the slowest rate of growth (1 percent).

• Tech and convergence create brand interdependencies: Brands are ever more dependent on their use of technology to win consumers’ hearts and minds. The brand values of Burberry, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Coca-Cola all benefited from their use of technology for example by harnessing social media and apps. At the same time, the dependencies demonstrated in the physical world between applications, devices and operating platforms are creating similar branded interdependencies. Brands that are aware of the risks can leverage these associations to drive value and growth. 

• Toyota reclaims position as most valuable car brand demonstrating the power of strong brands to recover from the most fundamental challenges to product efficacy and reputation. Toyota’s brand, which is rated by consumers as “great value,” rose 11 percent to $24.1 billion.

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study is the only valuation in the world that takes into account what people think about the brands they buy alongside rigorous analysis of financial data, market valuations, analyst reports and risk profiles. The research report, which is available online, includes a ranking and analysis of the Top 10 most valuable brands for key regions of the world and 13 market sectors. Download the complete BrandZ ranking, including regional and category breakdowns.  The rankings and a great deal more are also available as a free application for the iPhone, iPad, Nokia, BlackBerry and Android  from www.brandz.com/mobile

May 9 2011, Sydney Australia…  

Crowd funded Australian horror thriller “The Tunnel” (www.thetunnelmovie.net), is heading to Cannes to be amongst the red carpet and the cream of world cinema.  

There is nothing stopping co-producers/writers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey with the film now opening for sales at the Cannes Marché du Film held during the Cannes International Film Festival (11 – 22 May 2011).

The film market perfectly coincides with the online bit torrent launch on May 19 giving an opportunity for interested international distributors and sales agents to have a sneak preview and become involved with what is becoming one of the hottest Australian films of 2011.

Those who still doubt there is a market for official torrent released films can look at the Australian deals alone with Transmission Films already onboard for DVD sales and the film having its world TV premiere on Showtime Premiere, May 18 at 10.35pm.

About The Tunnel:

“The Tunnel” has attracted worldwide attention for its unconventional crowd-funding and release model.  Producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey raised the film’s budget of $135,000 by selling each frame for $1 and opting to release the film via controversial internet piracy networks.

Following a news film crew’s journey into the city’s mysterious tunnels hunting for a story, “The Tunnel” sees the story turn on this investigative team made up of news producer, Peter Ferguson (Andy Rodoreda), TV journalist, Natasha Warner (Bel Delia) TV crew cameraman, Steve Miller (Steve Davis) and sound recordist, Jim ‘Tangles’ Williams (Luke Arnold). The film also stars Goran Kleut, Ben Maclaine and James Caitlin.