The 29 minute film was created and directed by John Hillcoat (the Australian director of The Proposition and The Road) and chronicles a slice-in-time of protagonist John Marston as he tracks down his former fellow outlaw and friend, Bill Williamson. Along the way, Marston encounters many of Red Dead Redemption’s eclectic cast of dreamers, misfits and liars.

Using the world of Red Dead Redemption as a virtual film studio and created entirely with in-game assets and technology, John Hillcoat re-imagines Marston’s pursuit of justice and salvation.

Sydney, AUSTRALIA. July 8th 2010 – Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Corus Entertainment Inc.’s Nelvana Enterprises announced today the fall release of Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM): Defenders of the Core for Nintendo DS(TM), Wii(TM), the PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system, and the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. This sequel to the 2009 hit Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM), once again based on the top-rated television series and Spin Master’s best-selling toy, blends fast and fluid fighting tactics with real time strategy elements to bring the monsters to life on a breathtaking scale.

“The ever-growing number of Bakugan fans told us they wanted more action and direct control over their brawlers,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing. “So we built Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM): Defenders of the Core around real time 3D action featuring customizable Bakugan that are over six stories in height, in wide open destructible environments. Never before have Bakugan brawls been this massive!”

In Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM): Defenders of the Core, players will create a new hero and lead the brawlers on an epic adventure to save Earth’s cities from Spectra and his Vexos minions. Players will discover a whole new aspect of Bakugan by being given complete control over their creatures when taking on their opponents as Bakugan transform from small balls into towering creatures. In the midst of intense battles, players will find themselves bravely exploring dangerous and dark areas to stop the evil spirits that are sucking the life force from the world. Players will unlock all-new levels and characters as they unearth hidden clues and defeat opponents in the quest to save the world from ultimate destruction.

Bakugan Battle Brawlers (TM): Defenders of the Core also features split-screen multiplayer action in three different game modes in the console versions, and linked multiplayer on Nintendo DS (TM). Coupled with real-time battle gameplay, this will be the first time that players can duke it out with their Bakugan in head-to-head duels, free for all, and strategic destruction battles.

“We are pleased with Activision’s efforts to evolve the franchise in videogames and push the limit of what fans expect from an interactive Bakugan experience,” said Colin Bohm, Vice President and Managing Director, Nelvana Enterprises. “Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM): Defenders of the Core feels like the TV show come to life on a scale I never imagined.”

Bakugan remains a blockbuster leading toy property, winning two of the biggest 2010 Toy of the Year Awards: Boy Toy of the Year and Property of the Year. Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM): Defenders of the Core is once again developed by veteran Japanese studio NOW PRODUCTION, Co., Ltd. The television series is a co-production from Nelvana Enterprises, Spin Master Ltd., Sega Toys Ltd., TMS Entertainment, Ltd., Japan Vistec Inc. and Sega Corporation, with animation by Japan Vistec Inc. and TMS Entertainment, Ltd.

For more information on Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM): Defenders of the Core, visit http://www.bakugan-videogame.com. The game is not yet rated.

The effects of climate change on the aquatic environment and its likely impact on fish and fisheries will be explored in a free lecture at Melbourne Museum on Monday 12 July.   

The Australian Society for Fish Biology (ASFB) is holding its 2010 Annual Conference and Symposium at Melbourne Museum from 12 to 14 July 2010. The theme of the symposium is ‘Climate change and the aquatic environment – the future for fish and fisheries’. Leading experts from around the world will present their latest research findings and provide insights into the potential impacts of climate change on aquatic ecosystems.  

Presented by ASFB and Museum Victoria, a free public lecture featuring four of Australia’s key fish and fisheries experts will allow further discussion on the symposium topic. This talk will provide the audience with credible scientific findings and predictions on our marine and freshwater environments, fish and fisheries.     

Topics that will be covered include the impacts of climate change on fish habitats, the effects of temperature on fish reproduction and the development of ecosystem models to investigate climate change impacts on fisheries.

Speakers:

Dr Mark Norman (Museum Victoria)

‘The fishes on our doorstep – Victoria’s rich fish fauna’

Dr Alistair Hobday (Climate Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO)

‘What’s happening, how do we know, how do we predict?’

Philip Munday (James Cook University, Townsville)

‘Fish in hot water’

Dr Éva Plagányi (Wealth from Oceans Flagship, CSIRO)

‘Fried fish and frazzled people – are we ready for climate change?’

The Age Theatre

Melbourne Museum, Nicholson Street Carlton

Monday 12 July 6 – 7.30pm

No booking is required

Free entry

Sydney, AUSTRALIA. 7th July 2010 – Winter is upon us and the best way to escape from the chilly weather, storms, rain and morning frost is to stay indoors and practice those guitar solos, drum fills and vocal ranges in the 12 new additions to the Guitar Hero® music library. Compatible with both Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® 5 and Band Hero®, as well as forward compatible with Guitar Hero®: Warriors of Rock when it’s released this spring, these latest additions to the music library will feature tracks from GRAMMY® Hall of Fame Award winners Queen, heavy metal rockers Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed, and the Guitar Hero debut of hard rock band, Shinedown.

To kick things off, world-renowned British rock band, Queen, returns to Guitar Hero with an all-new three song track pack that will satisfy both Queen and Guitar Hero fans alike. Available for download beginning today, the Queen 2 Track Pack will feature three of their biggest hits, including “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Killer Queen” and “Somebody To Love.”

Before American rock band Avenged Sevenfold rips it up in the on-disc set list for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock when it hits stores this September, they’ll first bring three killer tracks to the Guitar Hero music library on July 13. The Avenged Sevenfold Track Pack will allow fans to shred along with three hit singles, “Afterlife,” “Almost Easy” and “Scream,” from their self-titled, fourth studio album..

Gamers looking to experience the hard rock, musical stylings of Disturbed should grab their axes, drumsticks and microphones and get ready for the Disturbed Track Pack on July 20, which features “Down With The Sickness,” the second single off their debut album, The Sickness, joins “Stricken,” the lead single off the bands third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists, and “Indestructible” the fourth single off their fourth studio album similarly titled, Indestructible.

Continuing to provide compelling ways for gamers to experience and interact with premier music like never before, the Guitar Hero music library is proud to announce Shinedown’s debut Guitar Hero appearance. Starting July 27, fans can enjoy the Shinedown Track Pack, which features “Devour,” “Second Chance” and “Sound of Madness,” three of the biggest hits off their certified Platinum album, The Sound of Madness.

The Queen 2, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed and Shinedown track packs will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation®Store for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for $9.25 and for Wii™ for 550 Wii Points™. All songs in each track pack will also be released as downloadable singles for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 160 Microsoft Points, PlayStation 3 system for $3.45 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. In addition to the in-game music store and Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, Xbox 360 owners can expand their Guitar Hero music library using the Guitar Hero VIP Pass Music Store, available exclusively on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network.

For more information about Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and their entire line-up of downloadable songs and disc imports, please visit www.guitarhero.com.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Penguin celebrates 75 years with 75 new Popular Penguins and a social advergame

To celebrate Penguin’s 75th birthday, Penguin Books Australia has just published 75 new books in its bestselling Popular Penguins series. To mark the occasion they’ve also released an online social advergame Penguin Party.

Developed by advergame specialist, 3RD sense, Penguin Party tests a player’s knowledge of the Popular Penguins books, giving Australian players the chance to win 75 Popular Penguins in the process and a hand-crafted Mark Tuckey recycled hardwood bookshelf.

Penguin Party kicks off with a ballroom filled with characters and scenes from 75 Popular Penguins. The aim of the game is to match each of the 75 book titles with its representative party image. The player can view a description of the book, get hints, create a book wishlist, save their progress in the game and share Penguin Party with their friends on Facebook.

Players are rewarded for sharing the game with an extra ‘hint’ about one of the book titles and players who login using Facebook Connect can save their progress in the game. This encourages players to keep returning to the game until they match all 75 book titles.

Penguin Australia Marketing & Publicity Director Dan Ruffino said, “We’ve been watching the gaming space closely and wondering how readers might embrace books in this arena. We’re really delighted to be launching our first social advergame with the Popular Penguins series, particularly as part of Penguin’s 75th birthday celebrations.”

Colin Cardwell, CEO of 3RD sense said, “In Penguin Party we’ve incorporated all the features that make an advergame such a strong marketing tool. The game genre is tailored to appeal to the target audience, the design is fun and carefully integrates the brand and the game play is challenging and sticky, ensuring players will return to play multiple times. The usual long interaction times we see with an advergame will be further extended with the Facebook integration that makes it easy for players to both share and save the game.”

The Penguin Party launches today and the competition runs until Monday 16 August 2010.

LINKS

Images/game screenshots are available here: http://3rdsense.com/admin/news/edit/60/

The game is available here: http://penguinparty.popularpenguins.com.au/

CONTACT

To arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes

Nintendo announces that Wii Fit™ and Wii Fit™ Plus have sold through more than one million* units in Australia!  

MELBOURNE – Monday 5 July, 2010 – The Game Developers’ Association of Australia’s announced the introduction of a new Committee at its recent Annual General Meeting, held last Friday afternoon. Headed by new President, Anthony Lawrence, Studio General Manager of 2K Marin-Canberra, the new GDAA Committee is truly representative of the Australian game development industry and brings together members from across the sector – from the smaller start up studios to larger core development studios alike – to work towards the common goal of driving the future of the industry in Australia.

“I am very proud and pleased to take on the role as President of the Game Developers’ Association of Australia and will relish the challenges ahead. The entire board is fully committed to encouraging the growth and development of the Australian games development industry and we look forward to what we all feel are exciting times ahead,” commented Anthony Lawrence, President, Game Developers’ Association of Australia

The new GDAA Committee will discuss the needs of the Australian industry across every sector and will collectively determine those initiatives aimed at supporting and encouraging the growth of Australian game development industry.

Amongst its core goals for the future, the new GDAA Committee lists a strong focus on engaging with the education industry and a drive to engage with government in order to increase awareness of the games industry and reinforce the importance of the creative industries to the future of the Australian economy.

“I am thrilled to have the support of a new committee that aligns in structure so well with our industry and is a truly national representation of the game development market. We share a common vision and mutual goals and I believe that together we can help elevate the game development industry in Australia to a new level, on many fronts” commented Antony Reed, CEO of the GDAA.

“What’s more the excellent relationships that the GDAA now has with high level government representatives will be sure to assist us in positioning our industry for success,” Mr Reed added.

New GDAA President, Anthony Lawrence will be supported by Vice Presidents Shainiel Deo of Halfbrick Studios and Ross Symons of Big Ant Studios.

Other Committee members include Amelia King, former Manager of the Digital Media program at Film Victoria, John Passfield, Creative Director of 3 Blokes Studios, Kevin Chan from THQ BlueTongue, Martin Wilkes from FMOD, Neil Boyd from AIE and Paul Callaghan from Freeplay

World Renowned DJ Paul Oakenfold to Debut New Song via TDU2 Game  

Grammy-winning Producer Steve Thompson Signs on as Music Director

For In-game Soundtrack Featuring Some of the World’s Top

Dance, Alternative and Indie Rock Artists  

SYDNEY, Australia, July 5^th, 2010 – Atari, one of the world’s most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, and much-acclaimed developer Eden Games in partnership with NAMCO BANDAI Partners Australia New Zealand unveiled today a red hot roster of artists that will deliver the in-game soundtrack for its eagerly awaited Test Drive® Unlimited 2.   The game’s soundtrack will feature music from some of the world’s hottest dance, alternative and indie rock acts, led by world famous DJ Paul Oakenfold – who will debut a new track from his forthcoming album via the game – along with Deadmau5, Paul van Dyk, Ellie Goulding, Metric and Danko Jones. Additionally, Atari has also retained Grammy-winning writer, producer, arranger, mixer and remixer Steve Thompson – who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Guns n’ Roses, Wu Tang Clan and Metallica — as the game’s music consultant.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 will feature thousands of miles of on and off-road driving in Ibiza, the world’s most notorious party destination as well as additional roadways on the tropical paradise of Oahu. Ibiza made its mark as a legendary, chic party destination where people from all over the globe unite to hear incredible music and sway their bodies to the electro-dance beats. Atari is bringing this vibe to consoles this Spring, providing a truly authentic and holistic experience as players will be able to cruise these exotic locales in the world’s sexiest cars, while listening to the world’s most incredible beats.  There will be an Ibiza-specific radio station, where players can immerse themselves in the club-ready sounds of the famous party island.  There will also be other radio stations for those who prefer rock, alternative and hip hop as their soundtrack to driving.

“Music and driving go hand in hand and we worked hard to include some of the most noteworthy alternative, dance and indie music artists into this highly anticipated title,” said Vince Farquharson, Executive Producer at Atari. “Together with Steve Thompson, we have selected artists and tracks that are endemic to the Ibiza lifestyle – as well as the lifestyles of all our gamers – and will further make the Test Drive Unlimited 2 experience one that players will want to immerse themselves in on a regular basis.”

Through Test Drive Unlimited 2, Electronic music’s most esteemed DJ, Paul Oakenfold, will debut a brand new song, which will be available via the in-game radio stations and in-game cut-scenes. Test Drive Unlimited 2 will also feature cutting edge tracks from electronic/dance acts Deadmau5 (Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff), Ellie Goulding (Under The Sheets), and Paul van Dyk (For An Angel); alternative music artists Phoenix (1901), Metric (Gold, Guns, Girls), Passion Pit (Little Secrets), The Temper Trap (Fader), and Neon Indian (Ephemeral Artery); and indie rock Dum Dum Girls (Bhang, Bhang – I’m A Burnout), Danko Jones (Code of the Road), Murder City Devils (Hey Sailor), and  Surfer Blood (Floating Vibes).

Test Drive Unlimited 2 expands on the traditional racing experience providing gamers with M.O.O.R.®: Massively Open Online Racing — immersing drivers in a persistent online environment and revolutionizing multiplayer racing communities as players compete, team up, and share their achievements and creations online. With a blend of the open world experience and realistic vehicles and performance dynamics, Test Drive Unlimited 2 puts the world’s most desirable vehicles in the player’s hands.  These ultra-limited edition masterpieces are flawlessly replicated with Eden’s finely tuned driving technology.  Players define their online persona through the customization of their vehicles, and the acquisition of property, clothing and all the accoutrements of a luxurious car-based lifestyle. 

The challenge comes to life with the most expansive and comprehensive multiplayer offering on the console and the ultimate refinement of the core Test Drive driving experience.  All-new race types, vehicle classes, environmental challenges, locations and much more push this epic franchise to new levels of performance and luxury. Test Drive Unlimited 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC will be available on shelves September 24^th, 2010. 

For more information on Test Drive Unlimited 2 please visit www.testdriveunlimited2.com or log on to www.atari.com.

July 5th, 2010 – Today marks a great day for both the App Store and the Australian games development industry, and Halfbrick has never been prouder to be a part of both! After just 74 days on sale, Fruit Ninja has stormed past the one million copies sold mark, solidifying its position as one of the highest rated, biggest selling and most popular iPhone games of all time.

Fruit Ninja began as a simple gameplay concept from lead designer Luke Muscat. During a round of game pitches that Halfbrick conducts on a regular basis, Luke brought forth Fruit Ninja. On October 15th 2009, the company knew that it was something special, something that could be a huge iPhone hit with the correct execution.

Thankfully, the fruit enthusiasts were correct! Commencing development in early 2010, Fruit Ninja was a smooth ride, with all the elements of visceral and juicy combat falling into place perfectly. With continuous playtesting ensuring the gameplay remained tight and satisfying, Fruit Ninja was released on the App Store in its original form on April 21st, 2010 for US$0.99. In two days it shot to the top ten paid apps in Australia, and the success began to spread around the world. It has reached the #1 top paid app of any kind in seven countries, and has been in the top ten USA paid apps for 60 out of the 74 days since release, where it happily resides to this day.

The continued support of Fruit Ninja has been modeled on regular free updates. Five updates have been released so far to add additional content and features based on feedback from the fans and written reviews around the world. The team isn’t stopping at the one million mark – there will be more updates to ensure Fruit Ninja remains a modern, fresh and extremely fun iPhone game!

Halfbrick consists of families, friends and fun. With almost 40 employees, the top priority is to ensure that everyone can pay their bills, feed their families and continue making great games in a awesome environment. There are no secrets, just a group of talented individuals who want to provide top quality games for a worldwide audience!

So what’s next? Fruit Ninja HD is being submitted to the iPad app store today for release the week of July 11th, and will expand on the current Fruit Ninja gameplay with amazing HD graphics and two new multiplayer split screen modes. It’s the next step to the Fruit Ninja legacy, and as per usual we are committed to ensuring it receives the same attention with updates and new content as the current iPhone version.

Everyone at Halfbrick would like to sincerely thank Apple, the countless gaming websites for their coverage, the fans who wrote to us with words of support and of course every person who purchased the game!

www.fruitninja.com