The Australian PlayStation 3 Starter Pack that contains Motorstorm and Resistance: Fall of Man will expire officially on August 31st.

The Starter Pack will include the current 60 GB PLAYSTATION?3 console, two wireless SIXAXIS? controllers, and a copy of Resistance: Fall Of Man? and MotorStorm?, both million sellers globally and the number one and two top selling PS3 games to date in Australia. The PLAYSTATION?3 Starter Pack will have a recommended retail price of AU$999.95 and NZ$1199.95.

Microsoft seems to be trying to play catch-up with the wrong gaming company. Instead of chasing the Nintendo Wii as it storms through the gaming industry, Microsoft is introducing features that bring it closer in line with the PS3. The PS3 has Blu-ray; Xbox 360 gets a HD DVD drive. PS3 has HDMI, and now so does the Xbox 360 Elite. Both systems now have price tags approaching half a grand. Standing in the middle between Nintendo and Sony\'s price tags, Microsoft would be better served introducing a cheaper SKU to compete as a high-end competitor to the Wii, not a low end competitor to the PS3. Yet both Sony and Microsoft seem to be pursuing features that are driven less by consumer demand and more by their own competition for the beefiest console. There\'s a reason that we don\'t need the Xbox 360 Elite; it\'s called the PS3, and not many people are buying that as it is. Why use that as the model for your feature list?

The story behind the first Eragon book, movie, and video game is an interesting one, starting with a home-schooled student that published his book at 19 years old. Now, with a movie that is being universally trashed by reviewers, the Eragon video game has come forward to redeem the franchise from embarrassment. Sadly, its repetitive gameplay and incoherent storytelling don\'t do Eragon much justice, portraying the world as nothing but an endless stream of bad guys with frustrating gameplay. The movie and book have been accused of being derivative of classics like Star Wars; the video game doesn\'t present a coherent enough story to be accused of being derivative of anything.

Get your combat boots, helmet and double rations of vodka ready. No, it\'s not another night out on the town with the GF! staff, it\'s Rush for Berlin, the latest WWII strategy game. Stop groaning, it actually isn\'t that bad. Especially after a couple double rations of vodka. Check in with GF!\'s shell-shocked and stodgy wargamer, Sean, for more irreverence and colorful insights than you can shake a potato masher at.

It was quite a day at the Nintendo booth at E3 today. With 27 titles, along with the Wii itself to be seen inside the fortress of a booth Nintendo had built, demand was high and lines were long. How long, you ask? Try a line of people with enough manpower that, if they wanted to, could have marched across the hall and held most of the Sony booth hostage. And while this mass of humanity deterred most of the GamesFirst! crew until tomorrow, our man Chris decided to brave the storm. Not only did he manage to come back alive, he even brought back an amusing story and some impressions of Mario\'s latest adventure.

Can't wait for the next Power Rangers' GBA title? Not likely, and to tell you the truth we have trouble telling them apart anyway. On the upside, if you're five you probably won't hate it. Our GBA expert delivers a lightning fast, ninja-like spinning backfist to the Power Rangers right here.

Capcom's Chaos Legion storms its way into the gaming scene. Leading a legion of troops against 30+ enemies on screen at once, a little Devil May Cry, a little Dynasty Warriors, loads of hack and slash, and ultimately boring as hell. Eric tells us why right here.

Capcom\'s Chaos Legion storms its way into the gaming scene. Leading a legion of troops against 30+ enemies on screen at once, a little Devil May Cry, a little Dynasty Warriors, loads of hack and slash, and ultimately boring as hell. Eric tells us why right here.

Capcom\'s Chaos Legion storms its way into the gaming scene. Leading a legion of troops against 30+ enemies on screen at once, a little Devil May Cry, a little Dynasty Warriors, loads of hack and slash, and ultimately boring as hell. Eric tells us why right here.

The Serious Sam Franchise has been one of the most popular and most traditional shooters on the PC. Coming out of nowhere (Croatia) and taking the gaming world by storm, both Serious Sam and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter have done very well with the GamesFirst! reviewers. Now, Gotham Games and Croteam have put together an Xbox version of Serious Sam, combining both of the PC games and all jazzed up for better graphics and intense four player action. Don't miss our interview with David Nottingham, Producer for Gotham Games.

The Serious Sam Franchise has been one of the most popular and most traditional shooters on the PC. Coming out of nowhere (Croatia) and taking the gaming world by storm, both Serious Sam and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter have done very well with the GamesFirst! reviewers. Now, Gotham Games and Croteam have put together an Xbox version of Serious Sam, combining both of the PC games and all jazzed up for better graphics and intense four player action. Don't miss our interview with Davor Tomicic, Game and Level Designer for Croteam.

Infogrames and Atari bring us a title that gives Wave Race: Blue Storm a real run for its money. Splashdown features stunning visuals, lots of well-designed courses, and plenty of gameplay to keep you running those waves well into the next year. Fans of racers and watersports, click!

Our man, Jake, checked out Sled Storm. Published in EA\'s Big line, this isn\'t really a sequel, but more of an upgrade to the original Sled Storm, released for PSone. The graphics are great, and there are some cool elements (racing for pink slips anyone?), but overall it needs some work. Click here for the scoop.

The Lord of the Rings franchise has been fractured -- games are coming out from both Sierra and EA. EA has the movie license, and that will make all the difference. So far The Two Towers looks amazing, what with the hordes of orcs to cut down and the incredible interplay of film footage and game graphics. Click here to be amazed.

While there were many points of interest at E3 this year, the most consistently really crowded booth was Nintendo's, where gamers flocked, nay swarmed, to see the GameCube. For those skeptics out there who think the general mediocrity of the N64 experience has soured gamers, witness the intense interest shown for the new system. Let's face it, the N64 has suffered from a general lack of titles, and some companies have released really terrible games for it, further causing pain to gamers who have been forced to pursue the "any port in a storm" strategy (Big Mountain 2000 comes to mind, er, flashes painfully across my memory). However, there have been some very good titles, and it's no mistake that the best titles on the system have been made by Nintendo and it's 2nd party developer, Rare. Nintendo is, in many ways, the Disney of the gaming world “ they have created and continue to create incredibly popular and lasting characters, who appear in all sorts of games and have firmly lodged themselves in the hearts of mainstream USA (as well as mainstream everywhere else).