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The “New” Impulse Gamer

We’ve recently launched the “New” Impulse Gamer at www.impulsegamer.com which is bigger and better than before! This area is now part of our Legacy Area (old news and reviews) and if you’re looking for all the latest reviews, news, interviews & more, please visit www.impulsegamer.com.

Thanks – The Impulse Gamer Team

 

Visit the “NEW” Impulse Gamer – http://www.impulsegamer.com/

 

 

 
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PREORDER NOW TO RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE IN-GAME MISSION ‘THE BANK HEIST’

Sydney (26th September 2013) – Square Enix® and Eidos-Montréal™, the award winning studio behind the critically acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution®, today announced THE BANK HEIST™, the exclusive THIEF™ pre-order in-game mission.

Watch the new trailer for the Thief Bank Heist mission at: http://youtu.be/HQ3_78V5Vsw

THE BANK HEIST

As the Master Thief, infiltrate the City’s most secure location, Stonemarket First Bank, to steal a coveted family heirloom called the Star of Auldale. To this day, this heavily guarded and treacherous place remains impregnable, but that’s about to change…

  • A challenging mission that will put your thieving      skills to the test.
  • Outsmart      security measures found exclusively in this mission
  • Search      for the Bank’s unique loot and many other secrets
  • A true      homage to the Bank mission in Thief II: The Metal Age.

Please check with your preferred retailer for further details.

THE BANK HEIST will be available for THIEF pre-orders made ahead of release on the 27th February 2014 across Australia & New Zealand for Windows PC, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Related Links

Official Homepage: thiefgame.com

Official Facebook® Page: facebook.com/thief

Follow @Thief on Twitter®: twitter.com/thief

 
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LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII – “The Savior Arrives” Opening CGI Movie

Sydney 26th September – This epic CGI production by the legendary Visual Works studio of SQUARE ENIX, shows the opening introduction sequence to the forthcoming game LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII.

The world of Nova Chrysalia has only 13 days until total annihilation, with the citizens of four distinct regions each experiencing the end of the world in unique ways. In Yusnaan, the setting for this sequence, the inhabitants have a hedonist frame of mind: if the world is going to be destroyed soon then why not go out in style?

Against this background strides Lightning, a legendary warrior on a god-given mission to save the souls of mankind…

How will you spend your final days?

LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII is scheduled for release across Australia & New Zealand on February 13, 2014 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

 
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Batman: Arkham Origins Deathstroke Challenge Pack Gameplay Trailer

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today released an action-packed video for Batman™: Arkham Origins featuring gameplay from the playable Deathstroke challenge pack, including a sneak peak at the “100-to-1” gameplay mode.  The Deathstroke challenge pack, available to those who preorder the game for PlayStation®3 system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii U™ system or Windows PC, includes a fully playable Deathstroke character, two exclusive challenge maps and three unique Deathstroke character skins.

Watch the trailer for  Batman: Arkham Origins Deathstroke challenge pack here.

Developed by WB Games Montréal, Batman: Arkham Origins is based on DC Comics’ core Batman license and features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline set several years before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City.  Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals, the game showcases a young and unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, players will meet many important characters for the first time and forge key relationships.

 

Batman: Arkham Origins is the next installment in the blockbuster Batman: Arkham videogame franchise and will be available for the Xbox 360®, PS3™, the Wii U™ system, and Windows PC.  The game will release worldwide Oct. 25, 2013 along with Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate™ for Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system and PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system.

 
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Kogan shakes up the market with its 30″ Cinema Display IPS LED Monitor

Melbourne, Australia, 26 September 2013 – Online retailer Kogan.com has taken the wraps off a huge new Kogan 30″ Cinema Display WQXGA IPS LED Monitor featuring a resolution four times sharper than HD.

At just $699, it is a fraction of the price of comparable monitors and LED screens from the bigger brands, and is sure to be a hit with movie buffs, graphic designers, tech lovers and gamers.

Kogan designs, manufactures, and delivers this monitor, cutting out all the middlemen and keeping the cost as low as possible.

The Kogan 30″ Cinema Display WQXGA (2560×1600) LED Monitor features IPS technology which provides viewers a super fast 7ms response time to enjoy sharp, clear images.

A large array of inputs including DisplayPort, HDMI, USB, VGA and DVI, gives users the freedom to connect their PC, Mac and other peripheral devices to the monitor.

The Kogan 30″ WQXGA (2560×1600) LED IPS Monitor also ships with a fully adjustable stand capable of 270 degree swivel, height adjustment of 150mm and a landscape/portrait locking system.

Key Features:

  • 30″ Cinema Display Panel
  • 7ms response time
  • 2560×1600 screen resolution – 4      times the resolution of HD
  • Wide Quad Extended Graphics      Array
  • DisplayPort
  • HDMI input
  • 2 USB Ports
  • Fully adjustable stand (swivel,      height, tilt & rotate)
  • Viewing Angle 178 degrees      (horizontal & vertical)

Available for $699 exclusively from Kogan.com: http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/30-wqxga-2560×1600-led-ips-monitor/

 
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GET READY FOR MORE GHOST CHAIN GOBBLING AND FRANTIC ACTION IN PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION DX+

Critically acclaimed PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+ is now available for download as a free title update for PlayStation®3 and Xbox360® and for the first time ever on Steam

 Sydney, Australia– September 26th 2013 – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S. today announced the release of PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+ for the first time ever on Steam. Additionally, as a gift to all fans that already purchased PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX, a free title update for Xbox 360® games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows® 8 is also available to match all the upgrades brought by this new enhanced version.

PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION DX+ upgrades one of 2010’s most celebrated downloadable titles with improved leaderboard functionality, a refined user-interface to compare high scores with friends and new in-game achievements and medals pushing the challenge one step further for the most addict fans.

Players will chomp through bright neon mazes at blistering speeds in this modern and frantic PAC-MAN experience.  Wake up the ghosts, form the longest train of pursuers and chomp as many as you can at blazing speed to beat the score. And never forget to manage you a way out using your skills or you will have to force an escape route with your bombs!

Lastly, 8 brand new DLC packs have been created for PC and console users, including original mazes with extreme challenges, skins that will delight all retro gamers and music tracks to boost players’ experience. Those DLCs can be purchased separately or in an “All You Can Eat Pack” and in an “All You Can Eat Edition”. The full list of available DLCs is below:

  • Mountain Course
  • Big Eater Course
  • Championship III and Highway II Courses
  • Dig Dug Skin
  • Rally-X Skin
  • Pac is Back Skin
  • Pac Steps BGM
  • Re-entrance BGM
  • All You Can Eat Add-On Pack (all DLCs included)

PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION DX+ is now available for download on Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 system, Steam and Windows® 8. Other exciting PAC-MAN titles, like PAC-MAN MUSEUM will also be coming to Europe and Australasia this winter via digital download on XBLA, PSN, Steam, and the Nintendo eShop. PAC-MAN and the Ghostly Adventures will be available on Xbox360®, PlayStation®3 system, Nintendo Wii U™, Nintendo 3DS™ and Steam.

For more information on PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION DX+, please visit: http://www.namcobandaigames.eu

 
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Ubsioft Announces South Park: The Stick of Truth Release Date, Unveils Grand Wizard Edition and New Trailer

About South Park: The Stick of Truth

Arm yourself with weapons of legend to defeat underpants gnomes, hippies and other forces of evil.  Discover the lost Stick of Truth and earn your place at the side of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny as their new friend. Succeed, and you shall be South Park’s saviour, cementing your social status in South Park Elementary. Fail, and you will forever be known… as a loser.

In addition, the South Park: The Stick of Truth Grand Wizard Edition, a must-have for any self-respecting South Park fan worth his weight in cheezy poofs, will also be available on the 12th of December and features a trove of mystical items from the deepest reaches of South Park to aid you in your quest to acquire the Stick of Truth and rid the realm of evil.

The Grand Wizard Edition will be available exclusively at EB Games stores and via the Uplay shop and includes:

  • South Park: The Stick of Truth Game

The full game on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

  • Grand Wizard Kidrobot® Cartman Figure

Pose the Grand Wizard Cartman and his stick of authority with this six-inch replica figure from Kidrobot®. The Grand Wizard Cartman figure is not available in stores and can only be found in the Grand Wizard Edition.

  • Kingdom of South Park Map

The entire town of South Park has been mapped for the first time in South Park history.

  • The Stick of Truth Ultimate Fellowship Pack

Unlock the ultimate fellowship with the one pack to rule them all!  Choose your class and pick your perk with four exclusive Stick of Truth costumes that come equipped with special abilities.  Suit up as the Necromancer Sorcerer to increase your fire damage, earn extra gold by equipping the Rogue Assassin outfit, deal extra weapon damage with the Ranger Elf costume, or raise your defence with the Holy Defender outfit.  The choice is yours, New Kid.  Seize the Kingdom of South Park!

 
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Some More Details on Grand Theft Auto Online

Dear All,

We are humbled and overwhelmed by the response to Grand Theft Auto V – literally overwhelmed in the case of some of our servers! We sincerely hope you’re enjoying your visit to Los Santos and we know many of you have plenty of questions about Grand Theft Auto Online. First, we thought it would be useful to provide some details of the roll out of GTA Online, and how we hope you will be involved in making the game everything it can be.

  • Grand Theft Auto Online is going to be something brand new for us: a fully realized and living world for multiple players that will continue to grow and take shape over time.
  • The ultimate shape of GTA Online will be determined as much by you, the player, as by the work we put in. What you like and don’t like, what you play and what you want will determine how the game develops and what it turns into.
  • Everything we do will be informed by feedback from you all – from the types of missions that roll out to all kinds of future content.
  • We are planning for a constant stream of new content, tweaks and updates in the weeks and months ahead.
  • The first couple of weeks we expect to be heavily focused on tuning the experience as it goes from internal testing to the reality of being played by tons of people in the real world so that all the usual teething problems for an online game are overcome. We hope it will all run incredibly smoothly, but please bear with us if it doesn’t, and help us fix any and all problems!
  • After that, we will begin releasing content updates and giving you the opportunity to make your own content.

GTA Community Feedback Needed from Day One This is vital for the ongoing success of the game. The first few months of Grand Theft Auto Online will be critical as everyone enters this dynamic new world for the first time. Plenty of issues are bound to occur. Remember this interesting character?
One thing we are already aware of, and are trying to alleviate as fast as we can, is the unanticipated additional pressure on the servers due to a significantly higher number of players than we were anticipating at this point – we are working around the clock to buy and add more servers, but this increased scale is only going to make the first few days even more temperamental than such things usually are. This is part of the problem some of you have been experiencing with the iFruit App and some Social Club services – we apologize in advance for this and thank you for your patience in this area.
More than ever, we need your help to report your experiences, findings, likes, loves, dislikes and hates – and we will be looking at your feedback constantly to tune the game into its optimal shape and help guide how Grand Theft Auto Online will grow and evolve past this initial period. We will be checking out how people are playing and what they are not playing or not enjoying, while also monitoring feedback via two other new Rockstar channels:

  • GTAOnline@rockstargames.com: This email address will be active from launch day as a place to send your input and feedback direct to us relating to the game.
  • GTA Online Forums at Social Club: At some point this fall after the initial release of GTA Online, we are planning to launch Social Club Forums where players can chat with one another about their online experiences as well as access a GTA Online Suggestion board to post about any suggested features, tweaks and changes you want to see.

Here’s a rough overview of what you can expect on day one as well as initial details about how the GTA Online world will evolve from there.
The Launch of Grand Theft Auto Online: From launch, up to 16 players can enter the world together to partake in everything from:

  • Open-World Crime and Chaos: Go on your own or round up your friends to explore the open world together – catch a movie, go mountain biking, hit the shooting range and much more. Want to test the law? Knock over a convenience store, take down a gang or rob an armored truck for easy cash and Reputation.

  • Jobs: Los Santos and Blaine County are ripe with opportunity for the ambitious and criminal minded. Take on Missions and an array of other Jobs as a lone wolf, team up with your Crew or join fellow mercenaries and degenerates to pull off a wide range of robberies and illicit activities together.

  • Races: Everything from classic street competition and off-road tracks to boat racing on the open ocean, or take to the skies in aerial events. Jump into the madness of a GTA Race, or try out a brand new race type, Rally, where driver and co-pilot work together to navigate treacherous courses at high speeds.

  • Sports: Join your friends / any random stranger for a game of tennis, a round of golf or go base jumping and more, all for cash and Reputation.
  • Customization: Create your character using the Character Creator – then earn some cash and spend it getting dressed for success. You can also collect and customize cars for your garage and personalize your full weapons cache.
  • Reputation and Cash Flow: Reputation is earned from all your online exploits in everything you do in GTA Online – and will help you rank up, providing access to new features, weapons and criminal contacts. Spend cash you’ve gained on cars, clothes, guns, properties and much more. You can either quickly accumulate cash through profitable activities like knocking over armored cars, winning street races, doing stick-ups or a host of other cash-making endeavors – or if you’re the completely instant gratification type, you can choose to buy denominations of GTA$. You will have the option to purchase GTA$ through the in-game Store. The game and its economy have been designed and balanced for the vast majority of players who will not buy extra cash. There is no in-game paywall and nothing that should disrupt the balance of the game. You don’t have to spend real money to attain the cars, guns, clothes, flash and style of a high-roller in Los Santos, but can if you wish to get them a little quicker. The economy is balanced differently from the single player economy, and cash earned in one cannot be taken over to the other. Most players will earn cash much faster Online than in Story Mode.
  • Growing Pains: There will be the typical growing pains for an online game, including but not limited to crashes, glitches, crazy bugs, gameplay modes and mechanics that need re-balancing and other surprises! Even in GTAV Story Mode, some of you may have seen a few odd and even amusing little glitches out there last week. This sort of thing is inevitable in a massive open-world game and there’ll surely be lots more unexpected oddities like this in the Online world next week – rest assured we’ll be monitoring and actively doing all we can to smooth such things out as they happen, but we need your help to find them, as well as your feedback to help fine tune all of the game’s systems so everything is perfectly balanced.

Currently Planned GTA Online Content Updates: Here is a quick overview of a few initial things we’re working on for the first few weeks of Grand Theft Auto Online, alongside an aggressive period of tuning and finessing the game. We will give you dates for all of this content as soon as we have them – bear in mind that the order of things may well change, and we will probably add some extra stuff as well!

  • The Content Creator: The Content Creator will launch with tools to tailor and publish your own Deathmatches & Races.
  • The Beach Bum Pack: Featuring 4 new amazing beach fun vehicles, over 300 new items of incredible down tempo leisure wear and 2 new but not remotely relaxing weapons.
  • Capture the Flag: GTA Online’s take on the classic CTF mode including the ability to make your own using The Content Creator.
  • Heists: This update will introduce full-on cooperative Heist missions that will require careful planning, teamwork and sharp execution – along with the Heist Planning Board for your apartment.

Just to be clear, all of these updates will be free. We’ll have more info on this and much more additional content as our plans develop through the launch period, and as we get feedback from you. Please stay tuned for further info and updates. And remember – we need your help to make this experience all it can be.

Thank you everyone, Rockstar Games

 
formats

THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION AVAILABLE FROM NOVEMBER 13

BLU-RAY™ DEBUT NOVEMBER 13  FROM WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT 

All Three Films, New Special Features, and Memorabilia 

Christopher Nolan’s reimagining of the Batman franchise beginning with 2005’s Batman Begins enjoyed phenomenal critical and box-office success.  Now on November 13, Nolan’s three Batman films – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises – will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition. The six-disc set will feature all three films with their existing extra content, two new featurettes and exclusive new collectible memorabilia. This must-own collection for fans of DC Comics’ Caped Crusader is available in premium packaging and will sell for $139.95 RRP. 

About the Ultimate Collector’s Edition (UCE):

*Disc 1 – Batman Begins Feature and Special Features

*Disc 2 – The Dark Knight Feature

*Disc 3 – The Dark Knight Special Features

*Disc 4 – The Dark Knight Rises Feature

*Disc 5 – The Dark Knight Rises Special Features

*Disc 6 – Bonus Disc of New Special Features (details follow) 

NEW Special Features:

  • The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark      Knight Trilogy – The inside perspective      on the fascinating story behind the creation of one of the most celebrated      franchises and how it changed the scope of movie making….forever.  Full of never-before-seen footage, rare moments,      and exclusive interviews with  Guillermo Del Toro, Damon Lindelof,      Michael Mann, Richard Roeper, Zack Snyder and others.
  • Christopher Nolan &      Richard Donner: A Conversation – For the first time, Directors Christopher Nolan (The      Dark Knight Trilogy) and Richard Donner (Superman) sit down to      discuss the trials and triumphs involved in bringing the two most iconic      superheroes of all time to the big screen, and how Superman      influenced Nolan when developing Batman Begins.
  • IMAX® Sequences: The Dark      Knight; The Dark Knight Rises – See your      favourite scenes as they were intended      in the original IMAX©      aspect ratio 

Exclusive NEW Memorabilia:

  • Premium Mattel Hot Wheels Vehicles: The Tumbler, The      Bat-pod and The Bat
  • Newly commissioned collectible art cards by Mondo      featuring Scarecrow, Joker, Bane, Harvey Dent, and Ra’s al Ghul
  • 48-page hardcover book featuring production stills      and behind the scenes images from all three movies 

About The Films

Batman Begins (2005)

Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight’s emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents’ murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city. 

The Dark Knight (2008)

The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman sets out to destroy organised crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker (Heath Ledger), who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Oldman, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. 

Dark Knight Rises (2012)

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act.

But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane. Christian Bale stars, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Morgan Freeman. 

Rating:

TBC 

Approx Runtime: 

Batman Begins- 140 mins

The Dark Knight- 153 mins

The Dark Knight Rises- 164 mins

 
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Nintendo Australia to showcase upcoming games for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS at EB Expo 2013

26th September 2013 – A packed line-up of games awaits attendees of this year’s EB Games Expo 2013  in Sydney from October 4 – 6 at the Sydney Showground. With some of the biggest upcoming titles and something for everyone to enjoy, Nintendo’s booth at the expo is your destination for fun right throughout the weekend.

With an exciting array of up-coming titles on the booth, get your hands on titles for the Nintendo 3DS family such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Sonic Lost World, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy and for the first time ever in Australia – Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, the new evolution of Pokémon coming to the Nintendo 3DS family of consoles on 12th October.  Also on show for the first time will be Nintendo 2DS, the brand new member of the Nintendo 3DS family also launching 12th October!

Playable on Wii U will be a variety of highly anticipated software including titles from some of Nintendo’s famous franchises such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World. For the first time in Australia, fans will also have the chance to get hands-on with Wii Party U and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

The Nintendo booth will be the perfect place to enjoy all the StreetPass and multiplayer functionality of Nintendo 3DS, so make sure to bring your console for some multiplayer fun and enjoy all your favourite Nintendo 3DS titles like Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Mario Kart 7 with other Nintendo fans.

Pokémon fans who bring their copy of Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon Black 2, or Pokémon White 2 will have the opportunity to get their hands on a Shiny version of the Legendary Pokémon, Giratina in the last of three legendary character distribution events in celebration of the launch of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y.

Click here for further details.
Additional Links:
Nintendo Australia Website: http://www.nintendo.com.au
Nintendo Australia Youtube: http://www.youtube.com.au/NintendoAU
Nintendo Australia Image Library: http://images.nintendo.com.au

 
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