Australians are tired of getting the short end of the gaming stick. The lack of an R18+ rating on the OFLC means that games with mature or adult content can easily be refused classification and subsequently banned. They're not taking that lying down. In fact, gamers Down Under are planning to march and hold a rally demanding the implementation of an R18+ rating.

When was the last time you felt scared? Not just my-girl's-gonna-let-me-have-it scared, I'm talking soil-yourself-shamelessly scared. True enough, there might not be a video game out there that'll make you literally crap your pants, and it's far too impractical (and stupid) to find Leatherface to force your dinner down the backdoor. That said, let's just take a look at the things that come close.

Plants vs. Zombies, released for PC and Mac a couple of months ago, is a quirky little tower defense game from PopCap Games that has players using plants to defend their house against a zombie invasion. If that sounds right up your alley, then here's some good news.

Like the endless horde that countless movies portray them as, zombies have seen a resurgence in gaming, the most recent one being XomB (pronounced "zombie") from 3G Studios. Set in a re-imagined version of feudal Asia and drawing heavily from Asian mythology, XomB has the player fighting against a sweeping darkness that's forcibly corrupting the landscape and reanimating the dead.

Via the press wire, Capcom has confirmed the European release dates (or at least, some release windows) for seven of their upcoming games during the first half of this year. Some of these have already been confirmed before, some of them are just being pegged now. But if you wanted an updated Capcom calendar, then here's your ticket.

This is a category that's especially close to my heart, kudos to those who dared to risk all, who colored outside the lines and put the extra thinkin' effort into giving us something fresh.

Once again, a lot of our editors agreed on one very special title... Unreal Tournament III... just kidding!

Ok, first I hear that Tricia Helfer's lending her talents to Spider-man: Web of Shadows. And now I hear it's going to have - no, not just a Wolverine, but a symbiote-Wolverine! (Oooh boy, another "oh my god" moment! - that's sym-Wolvy in the thumb on the left) Check out the full article for a video interview that sheds light - and a whole bunch of darkness too - on the story of Web of Shadows.

Developer RHLS is announcing the release of Zombie NDS and Volume Shadow Demo 1.2.0 released, both for the Nintendo DS. The first homebrew's a treat for the guys who love a good tussle with the undead, while the latter is something other devs might want to check out. Details for both are available in the full article.


Download: Volume Shadow Demo 1.2.0

With E3 just a couple of days from now, Midway Games, Inc. has revealed the list of titles it will be presenting at the event. The company's lineup covers a wide range of genres across all major video game platforms.

Thanks to a mix of new properties and proven brands, Midway president and CEO David F. Zucker has commented that this is the company's "most diverse and strongest line up yet". Here's a list of titles Midway has lined up for E3 along with their expected shipping dates.

• Stranglehold (PC, PS3, Xbox 360; August)
• BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360; September)
• Unreal Tournament 3 (PC; Fall)
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat (DS, November)
• Cruis'n (Wii, November)
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (PS2, October)
• Game Party (Wii, November)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Imagination Invaders (DS, November)
• The Wheelman (PC, PS3, Xbox 360; Winter)
• TNA Impact! (PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360; Spring)
• The Bee Game (DS, GBA, November)
• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (PC, Available Now)
• Hour of Victory (PC, Fall)
  

In-game advertisements are not really new to gamers. Game developers can basically plaster a Coca-Cola logo on a zombie's chest and players wouldn't mind. (Though that doesn't make them less annoying.) Anyway, analyst Paul Verna from eMarketer sees a bright future for in-game advertising.

Developing games is not cheap at all, especially when the technology improves every other day in leaps and bounds. The solution for some developers is offering advertising spots to other companies that they will insert in-game. In a report called "Video Game Advertising: Getting to the Next Level", Verna says that in-game advertisements would help marketers (it's a whole new platform), fresh opportunities for tech companies, and a good source of revenue for game developers.

Verna gives the figures: "over the next five years video game advertising will grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 23%, reaching nearly $2 billion by 2011." The growth will be caused by the widening demographics of gamers - young and old, men and women, casual and hardcore. Online console titles and MMOs are the best sites for in-game ads as they have the bulk of the gamer population and they will be a great factor in the growth as well.

Currently, the cost of making "advergames" have reached US$ 164 million and is expected to reach US$ 344 million in 2011. Revenues from the in-game advertisements are estimated to reach a whopping US$ 969 million (in 2011) in the US alone. And those are very good numbers from a marketing point of view.

There's no turning back now.