Piranha Bytes’ fantasy RPG Risen has been banned in the land of gold and green. The Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) deemed the adventure to be too explicit for Australia’s MA 15+ rating for videogames, thanks largely to the inclusion of sexual activities and drug use in conjunction with ‘quests’ that are able to be triggered in-game.

Head inside for the latest and greatest in the Australian way of life.

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Today Microsoft released a pretty big update to the Xbox Live dashboard adding a whole slew of new features and improvements.

The biggest addition has to be the new ‘Games on Demand’ service. Here gamers can buy and download full retail games including Mass Effect and Assassins Creed. Be warned about the pricing structure though, you may be getting ripped off. Read more… »

There were plenty of favorable opinions when Microsoft announced its Games on Demand service for Xbox Live a few months ago, but now those days of contentment, and even praise, from the consumers seem far gone.

The reason? In countries outside of the United States, customers are being charged far higher prices than Americans for the exact same game.

Kotaku Australia did a bit of snooping around to find out why. Hit the jump to see what they found.

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If you’ve missed any of these three games, you must have been living under a rock, or been one of the unfortunate ones to get the red ring. Luckily Capcom hopes to help you get caught up to speed with this triple pack that will have you gaming for hours to come.

Hit the jump to grab more details.

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As I’m sure you’ve all heard, long time publisher Midway has gone the way of the dodo, selling off select intellectual properties and development teams to Warner Bros. Interactive. Many gamers are wondering what will happen to Midway’s poster child Mortal Kombat.

According to Warner Bros. they have some big plans for the controversial fighting game. Apparently the company wants to make the next MK “the ‘gold standard’ for network play.” Read more… »

For many gamers, the Hardened Edition of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is essentialy due to Call of Duty Classic being included alongside the tin and art book. People who do not purchase this edition will have to shell out the Microsoft points to buy it separately. Until recently, there was narry a clue to what the cost might be.

UK retailer, Play.com, has posted a detailed listing for the Hardened Edition of Modern Warfare 2. In this listing it specifically says that there is equivalent DLC value 1200 MS points (£9.99). This is the first indication seen regarding the price for Call of Duty Classic.

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Is your New Xbox Experience getting a little less new? Well have no fear, the summer update is due out on Tuesday! We detailed the updates a few weeks ago and they are about to arrive. The Avatar Marketplace, Netflix parties, and so much more will be available to you after you update your Xbox 360 when the release hits the servers sometime after midnight on the west coast.

Due to the update, Xbox Live will be down tomorrow for a mandatory time of maintenance while the summer update is applied.

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Today developer Tripwire Interactive revealed some new details pertaining to its tactical WWII shooter Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.

For those of you who don’t know, the Red Orchestra franchise started after a group of modders won the Make Something Unreal contest. The mod focused on tactical combat between Soviet and German forces. The mod team used their winnings to help start Tripwire Interactive. From there, the team continued to refine and improve upon the Red Orchestra mod, eventually releasing a full on retail copy dubbed Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. Read more… »

Unlike most of the others titles in the Final Fantasy series, we have known about XIII for an incredibly large amount of time. Japanese game developers always keep tight lipped about their important projects, only releasing a bit more information once or twice a year. As we near the Japanese release for the game, things are changing as the minds of the people are swept up by Final Fantasy XIII.

At a Tokyo Q & A session Square Enix president, Yoichi Wada, said that the release date for Final Fantasy XIII will be announced in “a few weeks”. Although no specific indication was given by Wada in this direction, the announcement could happen at the Tokyo Game Show near the end of September.

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It only seems like yesterday that Telltale Games released their first piece of episodic content for Wallace and Gromit, Fright of the Bumblebees, but the time has come for the finale to be released, and The Bogey Man marks the last of four titles.

Will this series go out with a bang, or a whimper? Read more… »

No doubt one of the most anticipated first person shooters of this year has to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the first title in the modern-era Call of Duty offshoot was by many considered Game of the Year and a later release “Game of the Year Edition” for all right and reason verified that. Modern Warfare featured a campaign that was jaw-dropping and epic, and it’s multiplayer was so addicting that it pushed the Halo 3 juggernaut out of the number 1 spot on Xbox Live’s activity charts.

Nobody can deny the success of the first game, however it had its flaws just like any other title and there are a lot of things still left unchecked that Modern Warfare 2 can modify. This is where I come in and explain what should be changed to avoid similar flaws. More after the jump. Read more… »

With a significant amount of highly anticipated games being released in the coming months, you could be forgiven for overlooking a few great titles. Rocking back and forth in your recliner, eagerly awaiting Modern Warfare 2 or Assassin’s Creed 2 is exhausting business. However, there is another end of year release that most hardcore gamers won’t want to miss.

Tekken 6 may have been out since November 2007 at your local Japanese arcade, but console gamers have yet to enjoy the fighting pleasure in their homes. Namco Bandai have been kind enough to give us a few little treats in the way of three gameplay videos and a gallery of screenshots.

Hit the jump to check them out.

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