To celebrate the 120th anniversary of Banjo Paterson’s original poem, the complete series of the iconic Australian television production, The Man from Snowy River is available as a 14-disc DVD box set. Featuring over 48 hours of viewing entertainment, the series stars an incredible ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Olivia Newton-John and Guy Pearce.

For the first time on Blu-ray comes the profound story of courage and sacrifice that depicts the final twelve hours in the life of Jesus Christ. The Passion Of the Christ is directed by Academy Award® Winner Mel Gibson.

Experience the astounding retelling of The Passion of the Christ like never before with this Director’s Edition Blu-ray available in a limited digi-pak from April 2, 2010. Also available The Passion of the Christ two disc director’s edition on DVD, available from March 3, 2010

Available to rent and own on BLU-RAY for $49.95RRP and DVD for $39.95RRP from 7 April 2010.

Also available ON DEMAND and TO DOWNLOAD.

Based on a tattle-tale, The Informant! arrives on DVD and Blu-ray 7 April, 2010 from Warner Home Video. Matt Damon stars in this true story about an over-eager corporate executive turned FBI informant whose ever-changing account of the situation makes it almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of his active imagination.

The U.S. government decides to go after an agri-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president turned informant, Mark Whiteacre. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national  price-fixing conspiracy, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the ommon man and handed a promotion. However, before all that can happen, the FBI need evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire, imagining himself as a kind of de-facto secret agent. However, Whitacre’s ever-changing account frustrates the agents and threatens the case as it becomes almost impossible to determine the truth. From Academy Award® winning director, Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11, 12 and  13, Traffic, Erin Brockovich), The Informant! stars Academy Award® winner Matt Damon (Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13, The Bourne Identity, The Departed), Golden Globe™  inner Scott Bakula (TV’s Men of a Certain Age, Quantum Leap), Joel McHale(TV’s The Soup, TV’s Community) and Melanie Lynskey (Up in the Air, TV’s Two and a Half Men).

The Informant! will be available on DVD for $39.95RRP and on Blu-ray for $49.95RRP.

The Informant! will also be available to buy on 7 April 2010 as a Digital Download from digital movie retailers. It will also be available to rent ON DEMAND through internet movie retailers and a games console. On 21 April 2010 The Informant! will be available to rent on a pay per view and ON DEMAND basis through Digital Cable and Satellite TV.

SYNOPSIS

What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri- industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi- national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion. However, before all that can happen, the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent.

Unfortunately for the FBI, their lead witness hasn’t been quite so forthcoming about  helping himself to the corporate coffers. Whitacre’s ever-changing account frustrates the agents (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) and threatens the case against ADM as it becomes almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of Whitacre’s active imagination.

DVD
Special Features:
· Deleted Scenes – You don’t really need to narrate the tapes; Leaf blower at
night; Mark makes some odd requests of the FBI; Mark escorted out of ADM
offices
Approx Runtime:
104 mins
Rating:
M
BLU-RAY
Warner Home Video Blu-ray Discs offer resolution five times higher than standard definition DVDs, as well as extraordinarily vibrant contrast and colour and beautifully crisp sound. The new format also provides a higher level of interactivity, with instant access to extra features via a seamless menu-bar where viewers can enjoy features without leaving or interrupting the film.

Special Features:
3
· Audio Commentary with Director Steven Soderbergh and Screenwriter Scott Burns
· Deleted Scenes – You don’t really need to narrate the tapes; Leaf blower at night; Mark makes some odd requests of the FBI; Mark escorted out of ADM offices
Approx Runtime:
108 mins
Rating:
M

Official Olympic Winter Video Game Hits 6 Million Units Worldwide!  

Friday 19^th February 2010 – SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. are thrilled to announce that the Nintendo platform-exclusive game – Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games™ – has sold over 6 million units worldwide since its launch in October 2009 and is available for the Wii™ system and the Nintendo DS™ handheld system.

With the Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony on February 12^th marking the start of the Games themselves, SEGA has big plans to support the title across the globe with increased marketing activity.  New television campaigns for the game are planned for North America (running from February 12 to 28^th) and other major European territories including France, Benelux, Austria and the Nordic countries.  As Olympic Winter Games fever hits, SEGA will also be participating in events celebrating the Games around the world in cities such as London, Washington DC and San Francisco.

“The original Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games™ was a huge success for SEGA” commented Mike Hayes, CEO for SEGA America and SEGA Europe.  “Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is one of the leading third party games for Wii and DS and we were confident the title would have longevity within retail.  The start of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games is a perfect time to ensure SEGA is at the forefront of the consumer’s mind when it comes to recreating that Olympic Winter Games feeling in living rooms everywhere.”

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is available on Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems exclusively.

For more information on any of the Olympic video games, please visit the official site at http://www.olympicvideogames.com/.

About SEGA Corporation:

SEGA®Corporation is a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home, encompassing consumer business, amusement machine sales and amusement center operations.  The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  SEGA® Corporation’s Web site is located at http://sega.jp.

About Nintendo:

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii^™, Nintendo DS^™ and Nintendo DSi^™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System^™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.3 billion video games and more than 558 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy^™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES^™, Nintendo 64^™ and Nintendo GameCube^™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario^™, Donkey Kong^™, Metroid^™, Zelda^™ and Pokémon^™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.Nintendo.com.

About ISM:

ISM is active in managing and developing entertainment software applications.  In addition to the exclusive rights ownership of the Olympic Games, ISM is one of the world’s leading providers of sports fantasy games, particularly specializing in the football/soccer sector.  Visit the company’s website at www.ismltd.com

TM IOC/VANOC/USOC 36USC220506. Copyright © 2009 International Olympic Committee (“IOC”). All rights reserved.  All rights reserved. SUPER MARIO characters (c) NINTENDO. Trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG characters (c) SEGA. SEGA, the SEGA logo and Sonic The Hedgehog are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation.

New Trailer

To view:          http://videos.uk.ubi.com/videos/uvozmh6b-assassins-creed-2-bonfire-of-vanities-dlc-trailer.htm

To Download:  http://aussiepress.ubi.com/  

What:              Assassin’s Creed™ II DLC 2 and 3 Details & Pricing Structure

When:             February 19, 2010

Price:               Bonfire of the Vanities: $6.95 / 320 Microsoft points
Bonfire of the Vanities + 3 Templar Secret Locations (Palazzo Medici + Santa Maria dei Frari + Arsenal Shipyard): $11.45 / 520 Microsoft points

Details:            Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities

A must for Assassin’s fans, Assassin’s Creed II Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities continues to expand the addictive AC2 universe. Work with Machiavelli to free the city of Florence from the grip of the mad monk Savonarola by targeting influential citizens under his control.  Battle, sneak and free-run your way through more than ten challenging new memories.  Discover a new district of Florence, and utilize Ezio’s brand new move: the spring-jump.

Palazzo Medici – Located in Florence, the player gets to explore the house of the Medici family. It is located in the San Marco district of Florence.

Santa Maria dei Frari – Located in Venice, in the San Polo district, the player gets to explore this renowned church built in the XIIIth century.

Arsenal Shipyard – Venice was known for its Arsenal, a shipyard that was settled in the eastern part of the city. The last Templars’ Lair is located there, and lets the player explore the Drydocks.

How:               Must own a disc copy of Assassin’s Creed II on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, have an Internet connection to download the additional content and a minimum of 1.0 GB of memory available for each DLC.

The most fun-filled racing game played by millions of PC players worldwide, reveals today a little bit more of its first home console edition with a first exclusive video!

This minute long video explodes with images and perfectly captures the spirit of this legendary car game, faithfully transcribed on Nintendo’s console: fun, spectacular and intense races, solo or multiplayers, online with drivers from all around the world, or even split screen with your friends! Of course, the famous track editor has not been forgotten and is included in the game!

Using your Wiimote and your Nunchuk, your gamepad or your Wii Wheel, drive racing cars 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!

¸         4 Multiplayer modes: 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!

Impeccable production and rich content provide TrackMania Wii with everything it needs to become the most fun-filled and complete racing game on Nintendo Wii.

Watch the video

– Latest Instalment in the Hit Series Based on the Global Smash Anime Brings New Features and Multiplayer Action to PAL territories  in Winter 2010 –

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA– 19 February 2010 – Goku’s adventures have only just begun, with the news that NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe is bringing the next chapter in the Dragon Ball saga to fans across PAL territories in winter 2010, exclusively for Nintendo DS™. Continuing Goku’s adventures from the first game for DS, Dragon Ball: Origins 2 throws in so many new features and cunning touches that Goku will barely be able to contain his Ki energy.

The story in Dragon Ball: Origins 2 takes players through the Red Ribbon saga from Goku’s first meeting with the Red Ribbon Army to the resurrection of Upa’s father, with no shortage of colourful encounters and Ki energy-charged clashes along the way, all carried out with the trademark Dragon Ball flourish of wit and charm.

Alongside impressive new graphics vividly reproducing the vast vistas of the Dragon Ball universe, Dragon Ball: Origins 2 introduces some big gameplay changes to the controls, camera and playable characters, even letting fans team up for multiplayer action.  The enhanced control system is even more accessible, letting players choose between stylus and control pad to find their ideal playing style, while the new situation-based camera system adapts with the gameplay to bring players as close as possible to the experience of a full-scale 3D action game. 

Taking the game beyond the single player experience of the first title, Dragon Ball: Origins 2 lets up to two players with the game play together via ad-hoc play to defeat a series of increasingly formidable bosses across special stages, all of which can also be tackled in single player mode. Players can even use their saved character data from the single player Adventure mode while battling alongside friends in co-op mode.

Throughout the game in both adventure and co-op modes, players will be given opportunities to play as one of the popular heroes other than Goku from the series bringing a fun new dimension to the adventures.

With Dragon Ball-busting side-on boss battling and heart-stopping aerial fights shown on the upper screen, the game comes even closer to reproducing the signature intense aerial assaults of the Dragon Ball anime.  If you want authentic Dragon Ball fun, action and adventure, coupled with a full serving of dazzling gameplay improvements and multiplayer co-op, then look no further.  Can I hear a ‘Kamehameha”?

Developed by Game Republic, Dragon Ball: Origins 2 is scheduled for launch across PAL territories in winter 2010. For more information about NAMCO BANDAI Partners and its entire line up, please visit www.namcobandaipartners.com.au .

February 19^th, 2010 – The hotly anticipated PS3 and PSP minis title Rocket Racing – rated E for EVERYONE, scheduled for release on February 18^th, has been unexpectedly delayed. Halfbrick regrets these unfortunate circumstances, however due to Rocket Racing having a current rating of 9500 on the Kevin Bacon Awesomeness Meter (also known as K-BAM), the PlayStation servers were not equipped to take on such a powerful game at this time.

Rocket Racing Team leader Luke Muscat mentioned that the level of awesome was a risk, but one that was necessary for the quality of the game.

“Regular levels of awesome just weren’t cutting it. I have been having sporadic doses of awesome multiple times a day for years now, and frankly I am desensitized. As a result, I decided to tread a thin line somewhere near the very edge of maximum awesome, and death by awesome overdose.”

The wise words of a video game genius, or demented ramblings of a crack addict? You decide!

Rocket Racing Team is working with Sony to ensure that appropriate calculated adjustments, using new Funkatron Mac Daddy Equations, will ensure Rocket Racing will be released on PS3 and PSP minis on March 11^th in Europe and the US. With Challenge, Grand Prix and multiplayer Party modes in one mini for $4.99, the awesomeness compression technique will truly be a marvel of modern technology. Viva life!

Rocket Racing trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvlusxXNQbk\

About Halfbrick

Halfbrick is a professional game development studio based in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 2001, it has developed popular titles for the Game Boy Advance, PSP, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, with expansion into XBLA, PS3 and iPhone development. For further information, please visit www.halfbrick.com and follow on Twitter, Youtube and Facebook!

Shattered Horizon’s Free “Moonrise” Content Pack Out Now

New trailer shows off new levels in Futuremark Games Studio’s zero gravity shooter

HELSINKI, FINLAND – February 16, 2010 – Futuremark® Games Studio today released Moonrise, the first content pack for Shattered Horizon™, their PC exclusive multiplayer first-person shooter. Moonrise adds four new levels to Shattered Horizon and is free for all players. The studio has created a new trailer showing the locations in the Moonrise pack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElJ9Ws1li-g&fmt=22
 
“Shattered Horizon’s space setting allows us to create stunning environments unlike anything you will find in other FPS games,” said Jaakko Haapasalo, producer at Futuremark Games Studio. “The free Moonrise pack doubles the number of levels in the game with each one offering a different zero gravity combat experience.”

In Shattered Horizon, a catastrophic explosion on the Moon has filled near-Earth space with billions of tons of rocky debris. Teams of players fight in zero gravity to control the limited supplies that mean the difference between survival and death in the cold of space. The Moonrise content pack includes four new levels set around the shattered Moon, taking the fight deeper into space and showing a new side to the conflict. The levels, listed in the order they appear in the trailer, are as follows:

DEADEYE
Screenshot: http://www.shatteredhorizon.com/media/screenshots/shattered_horizon_ss_23.jpg
The M-75 COMSAT microwave communication dish kept transmitting throughout the massive destruction on the Moon, its systems failing only after backup battery power was depleted. The logs contain classified information of MMC operations that must not fall in ISA’s hands.

TEN STAR
Screenshot: http://www.shatteredhorizon.com/media/screenshots/shattered_horizon_ss_21.jpg
Built in 2041, the Ten Star Hotel was a symbol of the wealth amassed by the oligarchs of the Moon mining business. A layer of golden radiation shielding covers what used to be the tower’s upper structure. The opportunistic crew of an ISA scouting mission decide to collect some souvenirs – only to run into MMC scavengers already looting the ruins.

SEARCHLIGHT
Screenshot: http://www.shatteredhorizon.com/media/screenshots/shattered_horizon_ss_19.jpg
MINOTAUR, an MMC orbital recovery vehicle survived the Moon catastrophe unscathed. Too valuable to risk in combat, it performs salvage and recovery missions behind the front lines. The ISA sets up operation Theseus to lure the ship into an obstructed space and knock it out.

SLINGSHOT
Screenshot: http://www.shatteredhorizon.com/media/screenshots/shattered_horizon_ss_24.jpg
Mass driver transportation was the key to commercial logistics between the Moon and Earth. As the conflict in space escalates, these massive electromagnetic guns are now a threat looming in the orbit. If the ISA can secure all the intact mass drivers near the Moon, the balance of power will shift dramatically.

Players and game hosting companies can get the new dedicated server files that include settings for the Moonrise levels from the Shattered Horizon website or from Steam.

About Shattered Horizon
Shattered Horizon is the innovative first game from Futuremark Games Studio that immerses you in the cold reality of zero gravity combat in space.
– Multiplayer first-person shooter set in near-Earth space 40 years from now.
– Experience intense zero gravity combat and complete freedom of movement. Use your rocket pack to fly freely through space then land on any surface.
– Join your friends in action-packed 32 player battles fighting across eight space based levels from hollowed-out asteroids to the ruined remains of the International Space Station.

Shattered Horizon requires DirectX 10, a DirectX 10 compatible video card, and Windows Vista or Windows 7. There is no support for Windows XP or DirectX 9. Suggested retail price: €19.95 / $19.95 / £14.95

Shattered Horizon is available now from Steam and the official website: http://www.shatteredhorizon.com/buynow/