QUAKE LIVE ‘Premium’ and ‘Pro’ Packages Now Available

August 9, 2010 (Sydney, Australia) – id Software LLC, a ZeniMax Media company, today announced that ‘Premium’ and ‘Pro’ subscriptions are available for QUAKE LIVE™. QUAKE LIVE, a free-to-play first person shooter that can be played in a web browser, now offers players the ability to enhance their current free-to-play experience.

The Premium Subscription, which can be purchased for US$1.99 per month, billed annually, includes:

· Access to 20 QUAKE LIVE Premium only maps at launch with more to come. Premium maps are a combination of brand new maps and frequently requested community favourites from previous QUAKE games such as Aerowalk, Theater of Pain, Japanese Castles, and Realm of Steel Rats;

· An all new ‘Freeze Tag’ game mode;

· Exclusive premium level awards;

· Create your own clan and join up to five separate clans;

· Custom QUAKE LIVE profile wallpaper; and

· Match statistics stored for six months.

The Pro Subscription, which can be purchased for US$3.99 per month, billed annually, includes all of the premium subscription features as well as:

· The ability to start your own game server, specify a server location, determine the game mode and invite who you want to join you;

· With the Pro Subscription, you can invite three friends with Standard level memberships to play with you in any Premium level map;

· Exclusive pro awards;

· Create your own clan and join up to ten separate clans; and

· Match statistics stored for 12 months.

The QUAKE LIVE ‘Standard’ version is still free to play and includes friend lists, access to one clan, matchmaking, and stats tracking delivered through a web browser with over 40 arenas and five game modes.

To create a QUAKE LIVE account and for more information please visit: http://www.quakelive.com.

Melbourne Museum and Scienceworks are celebrating National Science Week from 14 – 22 August with a variety of science-tastic special events and activities! Come and meet inspiring scientists, hear about the strange sea creatures that call the Titanic home, take part in a chemistry workshop for kids – and much more! 

For further information visit museumvictoria.com.au/scienceweek 

MELBOURNE MUSEUM

Science on Show

Meet Museum Victoria’s experts and discover some of the weird and wonderful specimens in Museum Victoria’s science collections from unusual crystals to ancient fossils.  

Date: Saturday 14 August

Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm

Location: The Walk

Cost: Included with museum entry

Wild at Art

Art is used to illustrate the natural sciences including fish, dinosaurs, birds and mammals. Get creative and explore science through art activities. Try your hand at drawing your favourite or most obscure museum specimen.

Date: Saturday 14 August

Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm

Location: Science & Life and Mind & Body Galleries

Cost: Included with museum entry

The Art of Scientific Illustration

Art and science have long been associated with scientific observation and record keeping. Be inspired by the art of scientific illustration. Hear from illustrators Ryall Plant and Peter Trusler, and discover the upcoming MV travelling exhibition about science and art, Eyeline with John Kean.  

Date: Saturday 14 August

Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm

Location: Science and Life Gallery

Cost: Included with museum entry

Keeping Bugs Alive

Meet live bugs and get tips on how to care for insects and other spineless wonders. Bring in your own bugs and get advice from Museum Victoria’s experts on how to keep them successfully. Sessions run for 30 minutes.

Date: Saturday 14 August

Time: 11.00am, 12.00pm, 2.00pm and 3.00pm  

Location: Discovery Centre, Lower Ground 

Cost: Free 

‘Monsters’ of the Deep

Join Dr Mark Norman for an intriguing look at life at the depths of Titanic’s graveyard. The wreck of Titanic rests four kilometres beneath the ocean surface, where it is dark, cold and the pressure so severe, it could crush our lungs. Find out more about our beautiful and bizarre residents that lies within the deep sea. Dr Mark Norman is Head of Sciences at Museum Victoria and is an expert on octopuses, squid and cuttlefishes.

Date: Thursday 19 August

Time: 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Location: The Age Theatre

Cost: Free. Bookings essential, call 13 11 02

MELBOURNE PLANETARIUM

Discover the Night Sky – Backyard Astronomy

Discover a new mystery of the night sky and explore some of the most exciting highlights the sky has to offer. Learn about planets, comets, shooting stars, satellites and much more. The evening includes a planetarium experience, complimentary wine and cheese and stargazing through telescopes (weather permitting).

Date: Thursday 19 August

Time: 7.00pm – 9.30pm

Location: Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks. Booking essential, call 9392 4819

Cost: $26.00 adults, $21 members, $89 season pass

SCIENCEWORKS

Inspiring Scientists

Marine biology? Nanotechnology? Find out about your favourite “ology” by chatting to inspiring scientists. Meet scientists from a range of research and career backgrounds and talk to an expert to find out what exciting opportunities a career in science has to offer.

Date: Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 August

Time: 11.00am – 4.00pm

Location: Arena

Cost: Included with museum entry

BASF Kids’ Lab

Experience the fascinating world of chemistry! Run by BASF chemists, the chemistry workshops introduce chemistry to children in a fun and exciting way through simple and interactive hands-on experiments. Workshops run for one hour.

Date: Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 August

Time: 11.00am, 1.00pm and 3.00pm

Location: Pumping Station

Cost: Included with museum entry. Booking essential, call 9392 4819

ANZAAS Kids Ask Scientists Questions

Ever had a question about science you couldn’t find the answer? This forum provides children with the opportunity to put questions directly to prominent Australian scientists. Designed to get children thinking about how things work, this forum encourages them to think about the ‘big’ questions. Forum runs for one hour.

Date: Sunday 22 August

Time: 2.00pm

Location: Auditorium

Cost: Free with museum entry

Australian Skeptics

The Australian Skeptics will be explaining the science behind the paranormal at Scienceworks. See magic illusions, try out a bed of nails and many more surprising demonstrations.

Date: Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 August

Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm

Location: Main exhibition gallery

Cost: Included with museum entry

This initiative is supported by the Australian Government as part of National Science Week.

DEF JAM RAPSTAR CONFIRMS DIDDY, PUBLIC ENEMY, NAS AND MORE IN GAME 

New Freestyle Beats From Danja and Nitti Beats Announced

SYDNEY – August 9^th, 2010 –Today, 4mm Games, Terminal Reality and Def Jam Interactive are excited to announce additional tracks available in Def Jam Rapstar, the first true interactive Hip Hop music game experience coming November 4^th to the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™.

The ultimate emcee experience for video game consoles, Def Jam Rapstar is the only music game that focuses exclusively on Hip Hop, you and your social networks. With more than 40 of the greatest Hip Hop songs available at release, from Public Enemy’s powerful “Fight the Power” to Nas’ “Hate Me Now”, Def Jam Rapstar allows YOU to be the star by rhyming, using your console camera, and uploading your video to the fully integrated Def Jam Rapstar community at www.defjamrapstar.com.

Def Jam Rapstar is also pleased to announce that Danja and Nitti Beats join the likes of DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Cool & Dre and DJ Khalil as producers providing exclusive instrumental beats for Def Jam Rapstar’s Freestyle Mode, which allows the aspiring emcee a chance to deliver their own original rhymes over never before heard tracks by some of today’s hottest producers. 

New Confirmed Tracks Include:

New Producers Confirmed Include:

Def Jam Rapstar is co-published by Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. and Autumn Games.

For more information of Def Jam Rapstar, including all tracks announced to date, please go to www.defjamrapstar.com.

To follow Def Jam Rapstar on Twitter please visit www.twitter.com/defjamrapstar.

Sonic Colours™ Release Date Confirmed and New Trailer Available Today!

Monday 9th August 2010 – SEGA® Europe Ltd., is excited to confirm that Sonic Colours™, a brand new high speed action adventure in which Sonic the Hedgehog races through incredible theme park inspired worlds, will hit stores across Australia on November 11th 2010 and New Zealand on November 12th 2010 for the home video game system Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ system.

In addition to this news, SEGA has today released their first gameplay trailer for Sonic Colours, showcasing the amazing new Drill and Laser Colour Power, as well as two vibrant theme park inspired worlds – Tropical Resort and Sweet Mountain.

Sonic Colours™ will be released for the home video game system Wii™ and the Nintendo DS™ system on November 11th 2010. For more information about the game please visit www.sega.com/soniccolours.

AUSTRALIA – August 9, 2010 – Today, Ubisoft® Australia announced details on the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood multiplayer beta, which will be exclusively available to PlayStation® 3.

Customers who pre-order Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood on PlayStation® 3 will receive exclusive access to the multiplayer beta. For a determined period, players will be able to experience Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood’s major innovation, the multiplayer mode, choosing their own character and fighting online to become the greatest of all the assassins.

With limited places, the beta is coming September 2010.

Three editions of Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood are available to pre-order (collector edition images attached):

1. Standard Edition – RRP $109.95 (PS3, 360), $89.95 (PC)

2. Auditore Edition – RRP $119.95 (PS3, 360, PC), $99.95 (PC)

3. Limited Codex Edition – RRP $149.95 (PS3, 360), $129.95 (PC) **EB Games Exclusive**

Please visit http://assassinscreed.uk.ubi.com/brotherhood/ for more information on Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood and the pre-order offers.

Go closer to the world of FORMULA ONE than ever before with the final F1 2010 developer diary, available now at www.formula1-game.com and http://www.facebook.com/formula1game. 

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Monday 2^nd August – Revealing how players will become immersed in the world’s most glamorous sport, the final F1 2010  developer diary, released today by Codemasters© showcases how the team’s mantra of ‘be the driver, live the life’ has been transformed into an innovative career mode that takes players closer to the sport than ever before. The video is now available to view at www.formula1-game.com and www.facebook.com/formula1game.

As any F1 fan knows, there is more to being a FORMULA ONE driver than being the fastest person on the track. To reflect this everything in F1 2010 is experienced from the driver’s perspective, from the paddock to post-race press conference and the team garage. Players will become immersed in the building excitement and drama of a race weekend as they interact with rival drivers, team members, fans and the press which all affect the way the gamer’s career plays out. Drivers can use the media to spur the team on or to criticise the lack of car development and even to pressure rivals in the hope they fold during the Championship run-in.

To deliver the authentic feel of a GRAND PRIX™ event, F1 2010 recreates the hustle and bustle of the garage and paddock, complete with motion captured pit crew, race engineers and pit girls. As a race weekend unfolds, the amount of attention the player receives intensifies according to their performance on the circuit. Expectations vary from team to team, and the driver is always under scrutiny from their teammates and the media as in real life.

In the video, former FORMULA ONE driver Anthony Davidson, Technical Consultant on F1 2010, explains the unique pressures that FORMULA ONE drivers must perform under, depending on team goals and the intense rivalries that develop on the circuit, as reflected in the game. “The expectations for the driver playing the game are the same as in real life given your machinery,” said Davidson. “At the end of the day, the teammate that you have is the only direct competition you’ll have through the whole season. There’s a strange balance of having to work together but also this desperate competition. Where it gets a little bit personal is events like qualifying and the race where you’re just out there to beat him, no matter what.”

FORMULA ONE fans can view the new developer diary at www.formula1-game.com and http://www.facebook.com/formula1game.  F1 2010 is coming this September for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC Games For Windows®.

ABOUT F1 2010

F1 2010 is the official game of the 2010 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP and will include all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from this thrilling season. F1 2010 will challenge players to take on the best drivers on the planet in a range of game modes, from quick-fire races to full Grand Prix weekends and a career mode that can span either three, five or seven years.

In production at Codemasters Studios Birmingham, F1 2010 is being developed on the EGO™ Game Technology Platform, an evolution of the engine that powered the critically acclaimed, million-plus selling Colin McRae™: DiRT 2 and Race Driver: GRID™. The award-winning, under-the hood tech has been tuned to recreate the unique aerodynamics and handling of 200MPH+ FORMULA ONE cars for players to feel the thrill of competing at the pinnacle of motorsport.

TrackMania for Wii reveals more of itself through a new series of screenshots, perfectly capturing TrackMania’s spirit: fun races on numerous spectacular tracks, alone or with friends and an incredible editor to create your own tracks!

Using your Wiimote and your Nunchuk, your gamepad or your Wii Wheel, drive at incredible speeds on spectacular tracks full of ramps, loops, turbo boosts, and other crazy track-blocks.

Race on more than 200 tracks divided into six environments (for as many types of gameplay), and numerous game modes: race, platform, and even puzzle!

TrackMania Wii also offers the incredible, essential and beloved track editor that gives the chance to create an infinite number of personal tracks! Then share your craziest creations with your friends, thanks to the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection!

Multiplayer modes are included: Hotseat mode, 4 players split-screen and especially online play using Nintendo Wi-Fi connection! Compete against your friends and join online players from all around the world!