Casino Royale, GT HD to come free with Aussie PS3s

Keen Aussie PlayStation 3 purchasers will be receiving the same movie freebie as their UK counterparts come March, with confirmation today that the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale will be given free to the first 20,000 Australians who register on the PlayStation network.

The announcement was made today at Sony Computer Entertainment Australia's (SCEA) official media launch for the PS3 held in The Sydney Theatre, Sydney, which was attended by more than 350 journalists and game industry professionals. Casino Royale has earned more than US$560 million at the box office worldwide and will debut on a 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray Disc encoded in MPEG-4 AVC.

SCEA also confirmed that Gran Turismo HD Concept would be a free download for Australians from the PlayStation Network. The game will feature one full track and 10 playable cars.

Only the 60GB version of the PS3 will be made available in Australia when the console launches on 23 March. The console itself will cost A$999.95 ($791). SCEA also used today's event to unveil pricing for PS3 accessories. Additional Sixaxis wireless controllers will retail for A$79.95 ($63), the Blu-ray disc remote control will cost A$49.95 ($39), a PS3 component cable will cost A$39.95 ($31), and a PS3 S Video cable will set gamers back A$29.95 ($23). First-party PS3 games such as Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Genji: Days of the Blade, Formula One Championship Edition, and Ridge Racer 7 will retail for A$99.95 ($79).