Just a friendly reminder! We also have our Top Spin contest, which we will extend over the weekend ’cause of the three-day-weekend and wrap up early next week. Above is baconfrenzy’s entry; Ben writes, “The attached file is muh entry, no laughs… well, maybe a chuckle”. Here’s what’s going on: Wimbledon is wrapping up, and the US Open is still a few months away, but Top Spin 3 and Kotaku are bringing you the Kotaku Open. We’re going to make this simple for you. Don’t bother practicing your twist serve or calling up your doubles partner. All you need to do is get yourself in some tennis attire! We don’t particularly care how you do it either: Steal your dad’s tennis shorts from ’72, Photoshop your head onto Federer’s body, or maybe, just maybe you’re a tennis superstar with a closet full of visors and wristbands. Send in your pictures to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom, readers will vote for their favourite, and the winner gets a free copy of Top Spin 3 (platform of your choice!), courtesy of 2K Sports. Match point!
Top Spin [Official Site]
By Kotaku Time, it’s officially July 4th. So, happy July 4th! And to celebrate, we’re giving away a copy of Civilization Revolution in a very, very easy contest. Use each of the letters that appear in the title Civilization Revolution to spell out countries names. So, for example, “Canada”, “Ireland”, “Vietnam”… None of the countries can repeat — well, save for “OMAN.” So put that in an email and and send it to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. The two hundredth and thirty-second email we get, wins a copy of the game. Winner will be announced over the weekend. Good luck!
Civilization Revolution [Official Site]
Do you have mad Wii Sports skills? A Wii remote bowling arm that rivals those of real world professionals? Does the idea of winning things excite you?
If you said “yes” or nodded your head with restrained enthusiasm at any of these questions, you should check out the Wii Championships in Melbourne’s Federation Square. Activities will run between 10AM and 5PM on July 5 & 6, with daily champions receiving a Wii and five games. 500 Wii backpacks are also available for keen entrants.
As an aside, the ACMI’s Game On exhibition ends on July 13, so if you do head down, be sure to check this out while you have the chance.
Full release after the jump.
Have a QR-enabled phone and a burning desire to win a PS3? Then head over to our sister site, Gizmodo AU, and check out its exclusive PS3 competition! Things wrap up on July 4 (this Friday), so there’s really no time to dilly-dally!
If you’re wondering if your phone is QR-enabled, here’s the info you need (taken from the Giz AU post):
… Either a NextG handset from Telstra (you’ll probably have to download the software to make it work), or certain Nokia phones (with additional software).
If this sounds like you, hit the link below.
Sony’s First QR Code Is A Giz AU Competition To Win 10 PlayStation 3s! [Gizmodo AU]
Mongol – The Story Continues: Our utterly bizarre story about a ballroom-dancing Mongol just keeps going and going! If you’d like to win a double pass to see the movie of the same name (Mongol, if you’re having trouble), head on over to the original post and help us fight the Tangut scourge!
So. Here’s the deal. I’ve heard that Mongol is really quite good, if you’re into the whole nomadic-tribe-of-brutal-warriors genre. Distributor Hopscotch reckons it’s a neat film too. As such, it has provided Kotaku AU 50 free passes to give away.
Here’s a description of the film from the official website:
Award-winning filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (PRISONER OF THE MOUNTAINS) illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan in his stunning historical epic, MONGOL. Based on leading scholarly accounts and written by Bodrov and Arif Aliyev, MONGOL delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162.
As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader.
MONGOL shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested: his relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor.
Got it? Excellent. Now for the competition details!
I’m starting to think running competitions is a bad idea. Not because giving stuff away is bad, but choosing just a few winners out of many, many entries makes me cry. Inside.
Our Battle of the Bands comp for $350 worth of awesome T-shirts and tour bag, which ended on Friday, was by far the most popular comp we’ve run on Kotaku Australia. It was also the hardest to judge, as there was only one prize pack to give away.
But choose we did.
So, congratulations to Benjamin, who sent in his suggestion of “GoldenActz” – in picture form. I think you’ll agree it’s rather clever… nothing like mixing music with a classic arcade title. Benjamin signed his entry with the rather heart-warming words “i might be drunk right now”. Oh, you’re a regular charmer Ben!
We’ll be in contact soon for your mailing address. Thanks to everyone who entered, we received some very creative stuff. Also massive props to THQ for providing the goods.
Battle Of The Bands Shirt Comp Ends Tomorrow: That’s right folks, you have until the end of Friday to win $350 worth of sweet-as T-shirts. I say sweet-as, because I’ve licked them. In my mind. How can you win this mind saliva-coated apparel? Just hit up the competition post! Thanks again to THQ for supplying the goods.
THQ’s musical Wii title Battle of the Bands hit Australian shelves yesterday. The publisher has decided that, in order to celebrate the release, it has to give stuff away. I don’t know about you, but this is completely cool by me.
So, what’s on offer? A BotB prize pack containing nine limited edition T-shirts and a Battle of the Bands tour bag. For me, that’s an entire year’s wardrobe. And yes, I am implying that I don’t wear pants.
To be in with a chance, all you have to do is answer the following question in fewer than 25 words, and email it tipsATkotakuDOTcomDOTau with the subject line BOTB comp:
If you were going to start a band, what would its name be and why?
There are a few conditions: 1) Comp is open to AU/NZ residents only. 2) The competitions ends next Friday (30/5/08), with winners announced on the following Monday (2/6/08). 3) You may enter as many times as you want. 4) Steve and the Asstones is already taken.
There’s only one pack to give away, so make sure your entry is clever. Like super clever. I want my brain to explode, reassemble itself, and explode again from the sheer wittiness.
Thanks to THQ for putting this together. If you’d like to see what the shirts look like when modelled by a couple of random dudes, hit the jump.
Another press release has arrived from Auran regarding the newly established “Fury League”. Yes, the same Fury League we covered four days ago, where Fury players can share in a $25,000 prize pool by competing in various ladders.
If you were wondering how the $25,000 is to be divided, don’t worry, I was curious too. According to lead designer Cameron McNeil, players in the top bracket can earn $250 a week, while those at the arse-end can collect $8 per week. There are ten brackets all up.
Auran CEO Tony Hilliam says the Fury League is to be “more like a sport than a traditional computer game.” To me, it sounds like the developer is, in an indirect way, bribing people to play. Cash for victory is a good incentive, but shouldn’t gamers want to play because it’s fun? If it’s an extreme measure to bolster the player base, fair enough, but is the model sustainable? Where’s the cash coming from?
Not that any of this will matter if the ladders can’t get off the ground. I noticed this clause in the release:
A minimum of 2,000 players completing at least 10 games each prior to the commencement of the first Ladder period is required to justify the prize pool. Insufficient entries will result in either postponement or cancellation of the Ladders.
Is Fury currently running with less than 2,000 players? Not the most encouraging numbers.
All the info after the jump.