Warsaw, Poland – November 18, 2008 – Today GOG.com, the best place for digitally distributed, DRM-free PC classics, announced an agreement with Epic Games, Inc. that will bring several titles in the renowned studio’s Unreal series to GOG.com. Under the agreement, Unreal Gold (including the Return to Napali expansion pack), Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition, Unreal II: The Awakening Special Edition and Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor’s Choice Edition will soon be added to the GOG.com games catalogue, completely DRM-free, compatible with modern operating systems, packed with bonus materials and sold at unreal prices.
“Epic Games redefined the first-person shooter with the Unreal series, and we’re very happy to welcome them to the growing list of companies that share our vision of digital distribution,” said Adam Oldakowski, Managing Director of GOG.com. “We know that a lot of gamers have been waiting for new deals, and we’re sure that the Unreal games will satisfy their lust for alien blood and intense multiplayer action… DRM-free, of course.”
“Epic has partnered with GOG.com to make our time-honored Unreal series more accessible than ever before,” said Jay Wilbur, vice president of Epic Games. “GOG.com provides an affordable way to buy our back catalogue of games and get up and running with minimal effort.”
The Unreal games have already begun to appear in the GOG.com games catalogue with today’s release of Unreal Gold (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/unreal_gold) and Unreal Tournament: GotY Edition (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/unreal_tournament_goty). More titles, as well as announcements of additional publishers and new site features, will appear in the coming weeks.
LONDON, March 28 /PRNewswire/ — Backgammon Masters, the online game operator has applied for a Guinness Gamer World Record in the farthest backgammon dice toss. The purpose of the event is to announce and promote Backgammon Masters Backgammon Freeroll tournaments held every Tuesday and Friday at http://www.backgammonmasters.com. The plan is to toss 2 backgammon dice out of a helicopter 200-300 ft. up in the sky onto a 1 acre-sized gigantic backgammon board-shaped field in a HUGE backgammon tournament, and huge here refers to the size of the playing field and dice, checkers and the event itself.
In the tournament, 2 well-known world backgammon champions will play a full match on the huge acre-sized field. By communicating with walkie talkies, the champions will use a helicopter to toss the dice and a staff to move the checkers. The checkers to be used are 3 feet in diameter. The winner will get to keep the dice which are valued at 1,000 Euro. The backgammon dice are custom made out of a special inflatable material to withstand the impact of the fall.
Backgammon Masters has been advising with famous pilot expeditioner, Quentin Smith who has crossed desert and reached Arctic territories in extreme conditions and is an expert regarding the best locations, regulations and helicopter safety measures for such an event.
In addition, Backgammon Masters plans to invite the Guinness Book of World Records to the event. Special event tickets will be sold and all proceeds will go to charity.
Backgammon Masters also offers Poker and 21 Blackjack games in an All-in-One Game Lobby with Live Customer Support.
Learn more about BGM Blackjack and Poker by visiting:
CHICAGO, IL — (MARKET WIRE) — March 26, 2007 — Back by popular demand, the Virgin College Mega Tour (VCMT) is gearing up for its 4th consecutive college-campus concert series that brings the latest music to 18 different cities across the country. Virgin Megastores, a Virgin Entertainment Group subsidiary, and Integrate Marketing are proud to announce the return of the VCMT, presented by Stride® Gum and also sponsored by Major League Baseball Properties to college campuses this spring. Warner Bros. Records/Blacksmith Music recording artist, Talib Kweli will headline the 2007 Virgin College Mega Tour, beginning in April. Also joining the lineup is V2 Records rock band Sugarcult and former Something Corporate guitarist, William Tell (Universal Music).This year’s tour will kick off April 7th in Las Vegas. The 18-city tour will consist of the concerts as well as a “VCMT Daytime Village” on campuses which include, video game competitions from Stride®, the MLB Road Show interactive baseball experience — featuring autograph sessions with tour artists, The CMJ New Artist Stage, dodge ball tournaments, prizes and demonstrations of the latest in technology and games designed for the college audience.
Virgin Megastores are proud of the success the tour has brought in past years and is looking forward to bringing a different type of genre to the college scene this year.
“We are excited to be bringing Talib, one of today’s best Hip Hop artists, on our tour this year, and as always we look for ways to support up and coming artists, we’re thrilled to have the ever energetic Sugarcult and the talented Tell on the roster,” explains Dee Mc Laughlin, senior director of marketing, Virgin Entertainment Group, North America.
Brooklyn bred rapper, Talib Kweli, will provide concert-goers with songs from “Ear Drum,” his first album released on Warner Bros. Records and his own label, Blacksmith Music. With his sixth album overall Talib hopes to educate the crowds, as well as entertain them.
“We need to challenge our audience but we also need to challenge ourselves to know that whatever our new experiences are, we can write about them, be creative and bring that to an audience without them feeling alienated,” Talib Kweli states.
Stride® Gum is proud to join as a first time presenting sponsor of the 2007 Virgin College Mega Tour.
“Stride is excited to be a presenting sponsor of the 2007 Tour,” says Lynne Vandeveer, marketing director for Stride®. “Stride is proud to be a sponsor of up and coming, talented artists like those in the VCMT, who are creatively pursuing their dreams. Stride wants to contribute in a meaningful way to pioneer young talent and the VCMT is one of the ways we think we can do that in a manner that will touch our consumers’ everyday lives.”
Exposure on campuses will include advance visits by Stride® branded vehicles promoting the Virgin College Mega Tour, while sampling their newest flavor Sweet Peppermint.
CMJ has increased their presence on the tour as a media partner and will be providing additional support for the tour through local college radio stations, print, online and on-campus marketing.
Returning to the tour for a third year is key sponsor Major League Baseball Properties, which will be promoting the MLB Authentic Collection music-marketing program “Access To The Show.” Now in its fifth year, “Access To The Show” is a multi-faceted, mobile entertainment experience designed to showcase the MLB Authentic Collection line of apparel, which features jerseys, headwear and outerwear identical to what is worn by Major League players in all 30 Clubs. This year’s apparel lines, which are available at retail, will include batting practice and game caps along with the redesigned and enhanced batting practice jersey. “Access To The Show” also includes the MLB Road Show, the traveling Major League Baseball experience that is designed to speak specifically to Mega Tour attendees. The MLB Road Show, housed in a transformed 53′ truck and newly designed “Access To The Show” concert themed decor, includes pitching and batting cages and kiosks featuring the latest MLB video game titles.
“Last year we brought the VCMT to over 81,000 students, we hope to exceed those numbers this year,” explains, Martin Berman, CEO, Integrate Marketing. “We are pushing the boundaries combining rap and rock, and with artists such as Talib Kweli and Sugarcult we expect to provide the greatest spectrum of music to date.”
For Booking Inquiries Contact: Jaime Kelsall APA 310-888-4249 For Corporate Sponsorship Inquiries Contact: Martin Berman: Integrate Marketing 312-222-1720 Katy Mollica: Virgin Entertainment Group 212-921-2147
ABOUT VIRGIN ENTERTAINMENT GROUPVirgin Entertainment Group is the world’s leading multi-channel music and entertainment retailer, providing customers with a range of superior entertainment experiences through a family of integrated Virgin-branded businesses. The “category killer” Virgin Megastores and Virgin Megastore Online at www.virginmega.com are integral parts of a strategy to provide entertainment customers with what they want, how they want it, and when they want it. For more information, or to check out the location of the nearest Virgin retail, go to www.virginmegamagazine.com
COLOGNE, GERMANY — (MARKET WIRE) — March 14, 2007 — The World Cyber Games (WCG) announced that the city of Cologne has been designated as WCG 2008 Grand Final host city for the world’s largest computer and video game festival. The announcement was made at Cologne’s Old Town Hall during an official signing ceremony attended by representatives of the City of Cologne and members of the World Cyber Games Committee (WCGC), including Mr. Fritz Schramma, Mayor of Cologne, and Mr. Hyoung-Seok Kim, CEO of International Cyber Marketing, global organizer of the World Cyber Games. At the ceremony, both men pledged close cooperation between Cologne and the World Cyber Games Committee as they outlined their expectations for World Cyber Games 2008.
“Firstly I want to express my gratitude to the WCGC for their choice of Cologne as the 2008 host city of the World Cyber Games,” Mr. Schramma said. “The World Cyber Games is the world’s largest e-Sports event, and our city administration has worked hard to be chosen as the host city of WCG. We are excited by the opportunity to host participants from all around the world, and to show the hospitality of our city.”
The WCGC considers various factors to select each year’s host city, such as location, facilities, infrastructure and promotion plans. Cologne received the highest score with respect to support of local government, accessibility of the Grand Final venue and high network potential of broadcasters, gamers, information and mobile telecommunications. The city will offer the Cologne Messe as the venue for the Grand Final, a venue that is famous for holding large-scale events and conventions.
Cologne has hosted number of big events in recent years, including World Youth day 2005, the FIFA World Championship 2006 and Handball WM 2007. The City Government of Cologne intends to continue to make the city feel young by hosting youth-oriented festivals like the World Cyber Games. Additionally they expect that through hosting the World Cyber Games, they will strengthen their position as the number one media city in Germany.
Last year, WCG 2006 was held in Monza, Italy, where over 25,000 spectators watched more than 700 players, representing 70 countries, compete for prize money and medals. WCG received attention from many media outlets across Europe, Asia and America. The 2006 games were also broadcast live via satellite for the first time, attracting about 25 million people around the world, who watched in real-time. It was a landmark moment in international video game competitions and was evaluated as a very meaningful synergy of e-Sports and game competition culture.
“We greatly appreciate the efforts made by Mr. Schramma, Mayor of Cologne, to bring this event back to the European Continent next year. WCG 2008 is expecting to be even more successful because it will be the second time the Grand Final will take place in Europe,” said Mr. Kim, “Both Cologne and the WCGC are expecting that Cologne’s position as a strategic center of media in Germany will have a synergistic relationship with the exclusive broadcasting of WCG gaming competitions.”
Founded as the World Cyber Challenge in 2000, the first WCG was officially held in 2001 and continues today under the slogan, “Beyond the Game.” Over the years, it has grown to become the world’s largest computer and video games festival. Ultimately, WCG aims to be a total digital entertainment festival, not only for gamers, but for the general public as well.
Organizers expect up to 700 of the world’s best gamers will travel to Seattle, USA this October to participate in WCG 2007 Grand Final, the world’s most prestigious e-Sports competition. Thousands of spectators are also expected to enjoy the well-rounded festival designed to promote culture and social harmony among gamers.
Samsung Electronics is the worldwide sponsor for the World Cyber Games.
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an annual global game culture festival that was founded in 2000 to promote global harmony through e-sports. With the slogan “Beyond the Game,” the World Cyber Games has truly developed into a global game phenomenon with arguably the largest prize amount at stake. The World Cyber Games prides itself on leading the “Digital Entertainment Culture.” The WCG 2007 will be held in early October 2007 in Seattle, USA. More information at: www.worldcybergames.com.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (MARKET WIRE) — January 11, 2007 — The Game Summit Advisory Board and Reboot Communications Ltd. are proud to announce that Alexander Seropian has been confirmed as one of the headline speakers at this year’s inaugural event. Seropian was the initial founder and the President and CEO of Bungie Software Products Corporation, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2000. Bungie is the developer of Marathon, Myth, and Halo. Seropian later went on to create Wideload Games, developer of the Halo-engine-based game Stubbs the Zombie.Planning for the 1st Vancouver International Game Summit is moving forward at full speed, with a world class keynote speaker confirmed, new dates for the event in May 2007 and an exciting partnership with New Media BC.
Taking advantage of the calendar space left open by changes to the E3 Expo, the Advisory Board has also announced that the dates for the Vancouver Game Summit would move to May 3-4, 2007. Said Conference Board Chairman Howard Donaldson of Propaganda Games, a Buena Vista Games Studio in Vancouver, “May is a prime time for a Games Summit, and we are excited to be the first to take advantage of the opening created by E3’s decision to move to a later date.”
Further enhancing the opportunity for the Vancouver International Game Summit to explode onto the scene is the finalization of a partnership between the Summit organizing company Reboot Communications Ltd., and New Media BC. Reboot Communications President Gregory Spievak says that his team has been working closely with New Media BC’s president Lynda Brown to finalize a multi-year partnership agreement that will see the two organizations working together to promote the Game Summit to an international audience.
Tapping into the fast growing pool of game creators residing on the West Coast of Canada and the U.S., the Summit will showcase Vancouver gaming talent including the new Masters in Digital Media Program and industry wide experts on the latest trends in game development and publishing. The event will not only be a learning and networking opportunity for the gaming community, but will focus on providing information and insight with the goal of industry growth in the coming years. It is expected to attract over 750 attendees, representing gaming companies and trade associations from around the world.
Full conference details are available at: www.rebootconference.com/games2007
MIAMI BEACH, FL — (MARKET WIRE) — December 13, 2006 — $250,000 USD worth of Virtual Guns, equipment and Skills go head to head in the MMOWC Final, a Heavyweight Virtual World title Bout in Miami.Two of the most highly Skilled and Well armed Avatars from the online culture commonly known as MMORPG or MMOU (Massive Multiplayer online Universes) will compete in Miami on Friday for the first MMOWC (Massive Multiplayer Online World Championship) title. The Battle Royale will be held inside Club NEVERDIE, the record breaking virtual Space resort built on an Asteroid inside Entropia Universe, the first Virtual Universe with a real Cash Economy.
The two MMOWC finalists known as Skalman (Sweden) and Neomaven (USA) will be in Miami at 4pm EST on Friday December the 15th at the Scorpico Multiplayer at Sunset Plaza to be filmed as they compete. The estimated combined value of these two uber avatars tradable skills and their Arsenal of Weapons, Armor and healing devices is north of $250,000 USD.
Hundreds of Gamers from all over the world including players World of Warcraft and Second Life residents registered for the first MMOWC heralding a new era in cyber sporting events. “These two finalists take the whole concept of Boys Toys to a new level,” says Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs owner of the Asteroid Space Resort. “There are now a couple of generations of Gamers who don’t think twice about spending $10,000 USD on a cool piece of Virtual Hardware. Kickass cyber guns, souped up healing kits and uber armor is much more seductive and useful to today’s generation than Luxury boats and cars. People who Spend 20-40hrs per week online playing games want luxuries that heighten their experience online and that affect their status in the eyes of their virtual peers, in that respect The MMOWC is Like the Formula One of Cyber Sporting events.”
2006 MMOWC official Sponsors include Addynamix, Icemat, Vivox, Entropia Forum And RealityPort.com
About MMOWC.com
MMOWC, LLc, a Florida-based corporation, exists solely to manage, market and handle corporate sponsorship for the Massive Multiplayer Online World Championships. Aspiring champions may sign up for the MMOWC at MMOWC.com and start their Entropia Universe Avatar directly at Club NEVERDIE via the free download at www.MMOWC.com.
About Entropia Universe
The highly Successful Entropia Universe, the first virtual universe with a real cash economy recently crossed the 500,000 colonist mark, growing steadily since 2003. Entropia Universe boasts not only the most valuable real estate among all the Virtual Worlds, but its projected GNP for 2006 will be in the region of $350 Million U.S., making it probably the richest virtual nation per capita. www.entropiauniverse.com
About AdDynamix
AdDynamix is a pioneer and innovator in interactive advertising, delivering custom targeted and measurable online Ad solutions for agencies, direct marketers and entertainment clients. The AdDynamix network consists of over 3000 content rich websites reaching 73 million unique users per month and 44% of Americans online. www.addynamix.com
About Icemat
The original Icemat was launched in 2000, targeted at one of the most demanding consumer groups in the world: gamers. Since then Icemat has expanded the portfolio and today offers a wide range of products. Everything is created by people who demand as much from the visual design as they do from the performance of the final product.
Our staff is distributed throughout the world, working from offices in Europe, North America and Asia. The Icemat headquarters are located in Europe (Copenhagen, Denmark), and host the primary office facilities for the company. The headquarters handle all planning, production and partner coordination. For logistical reasons we also have sales offices in Asia (Taipei, Taiwan) and USA (Los Angeles, California). From Taipei we can reach the entire Asian market, as well as New Zealand and Australia. From Los Angeles we can reach North America, Canada and South America. www.icemat.com
About Vivox
Vivox strengthens online games and communities with an integrated and customized IP communication service. Vivox brings the intelligence and richness of physical world communication to the web, creating more powerful and natural connections. Vivox’s innovative communications solution, Precision Studio™, is delivered via an enterprise quality managed service and provides the best of IP technology, Instant Messaging (IM), VoIP, video and presence, with a cutting-edge rules engine. This simple-to-integrate and customizable solution helps online communities enhance offerings and generate revenue opportunities. www.vivox.com
About Entropia Forum
Entropia Forum is the leading player-owned forum serving the Entropia Universe community with over 7 million page views per month. www.entropiaforum.com
About Club NEVERDIE
Club NEVERDIE, situated within the Entropia Universe, is the most successful privately owned event venue in any virtual world. NEVERDIE is a registered trademark of Jon Jacobs. Club NEVERDIE was established on Dec. 19, 2005 and can be visited via spaceship from the planet Calypso or new accounts can be spawned directly at the resort by downloading the Entropia Universe client from www.RealityPort.com and also www.NEVERDIE.com
2K and Firefly Studios are excited to announce the first developer vs. fans matchup in Stronghold Legends, taking place on Friday, November 24 at 6pm GMT / 10am PST. Select fans will get an opportunity to take on Firefly’s David Robertson and Niall Benzie. Visit http://www.strongholdlegendswar.com for more details, including how to get a shot at beating the developers at their own game!
MIAMI BEACH, FL — (MARKET WIRE) — November 14, 2006 — MMOWC.com, LLc announced today the launch of the MMOWC, an eight round annual World Championship Sporting event open to gamers from all Virtual Worlds and MMORPGs.The inaugural World Championship Event is presented by AdDynamix, one of the pioneering companies and innovators in interactive advertising. AdDynamix are handling the event promotion and online branding of the MMOWC. Their network accounts for 4 billion impressions per month, reaching 73 million unique users per month including 44% of Americans online.
The MMO World Championship event is designed to discover and celebrate the greatest online gamers and to establish certain facets of online gaming as a new global sport. In Europe and America, it is estimated that there are already 10 million people playing Massive Multiplayer Online games. In Asia there are estimated to be hundreds of millions of online gamers, proving that online gaming is in fact already more popular than soccer, basketball, football or any other real world sport for personal recreation.
At present this enormous worldwide gaming community is broken up across a small number of leading Virtual Worlds and MMORPGs. The MMOWC is a skill-based hunting event that will enable participants from all online games to come together briefly to compete in a sporting fashion that the heroes of this new global culture may be born and celebrated.
The AdDynamix MMOWC will take place at Club NEVERDIE, the #1 privately owned venue for Virtual Entertainment and Live Events. Club NEVERDIE utilizes Entropia Universes’ fully automated Event System and features 20 hunting and mining bio domes populated with 23 different mob types, providing the absolute best and most controlled environment for player-run hunting events in any MMORPG or Virtual Universe.
All domes will be voice enabled during the events, enabling participants in the MMOWC to use the cutting edge voice chat technology and service provided by partner sponsor Vivox. This high-quality and massively scalable voice solution adds an extra degree of immersion to the virtual experience in Club NEVERDIE.
Event updates and news coverage will be handled by Entropia Forum, the leading Entropia Universe player owned forum with over 7 million page hits per month.
Entropia Universe client software is free to download. There are no monthly subscription fees and no credit card is required to establish an account thereby making it the absolutely ideal host universe for a Global Event that invites participants from all Virtual Worlds, Metaverses, MMOUs and MMORPGS to compete.
The Grand finalists will be flown to South Beach, Miami to be filmed for the final event. In addition to thousands of dollars in real cash prizes. MMOWC.com is offering free Hunting Kits to the first one thousand competitors arriving at Club NEVERDIE from other Virtual Worlds and MMORPGs. Free rifles, ammo and first round event tickets will be given out in the Club NEVERDIE Control Room prior to first round events. Mid level armor sets and weapons will be among the prizes for the early rounds enabling new avatars to compete against more experienced Entropia veterans.
Champion Gamer and MMOWC Spokesman Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs says, “It is possible the World Championship title could be won by someone who has never participated in Entropia Universe before. This event is really a call to all online gamers to take a moment away from their existing games or worlds and take advantage of this free platform to participate in the first truly global MMO community event. Really this kind of an event was never possible in the past. Only now is the technology and platform available for a legitimate World Championship. It’s time we discovered who the heroes really are.”
A Mega Championship Stadium is also under construction at Club NEVERDIE which will host key heats and all Event Finals. The Mega Championship Stadium will be one of The Great Wonders of Virtual Reality and the most magnificent sporting venue in any online universe and is designed to host a multitude of event types and support live broadcasting and major corporate sponsorship.
MMOWC, LLc will be packaging the 2006 World Championship for television and is currently in discussion with various TV networks and cable channels for licensing worldwide
LOS ANGELES, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — October 30, 2006 — Known to the world as one of the most dangerous women in sports, The Black Widow Jeanette Lee is back for another 8-ball pool tournament exclusively on King.com. Players can make this Halloween a memorable one as they challenge Lee in her signature game, “Black Widow Billiards,” and try to escape her deadly web for a $200 prize.
“Black Widow Billiards” launched in early October to the delight of fans everywhere. The Black Widow’s return to King.com is the first in a series of live competitions where players can go head-to-head with the pool icon and test their strategy and precision skills.
Where to Battle the Venom
The “Black Widow Billiards” tournament can be accessed via Yahoo! Games (http://games.yahoo.com) or www.King.com on Tuesday, October 31 from 2-3:30pm EST. Skilled players who defeat The Black Widow will win a Halloween treat: $200 and an autographed certificate.
Editor’s note: Jeanette Lee photos and “Black Widow Billiards” graphics are available by emailing boehningm@ruderfinn.com or calling 310-882-4008.
About King.com
Launched in 2004, King.com is the world’s largest skill-gaming site, boasting more than 40 different games and more than 1.3 million games played every day. King.com’s tournament-style games, unique content, and promotions allow players of all skill levels to compete for entertainment and possible monetary gain. King.com has licensed television properties including “Big Brother” (UK), “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” (Germany), and “Deal or No Deal” (US, UK and Germany).
TORONTO — (MARKET WIRE) — October 11, 2006 — Gaming software developer Taj Systems, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: TJSS) will be kicking off the road to the World Series of TeenPatti (WSOT) with its first free qualifying tournament taking place in the greater Toronto area. The event will be held on Friday, October 27, 2006 at the Grand Taj Banquet Hall in Mississauga, Ontario. The top finisher of this event will be awarded a valuable seat to play in the first World Series of TeenPatti (Three-card) Main Event in May of 2007.The World Series of TeenPatti, created and managed by Taj Systems, is expected to be the single largest Three-card Poker tournament ever with an opening purse of at least one million dollars. The format is similar to the enormously popular World Series of Poker as each player will begin with an equal number of chips, and blinds or minimum antes will increase after each level. The ultimate object of the tournament is to outlast all other players and accumulate all the chips in the tournament. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 10% of all players participating in the tournament. Buy-In for the Main Event has been set at $1,250.
The first regional qualifying tournament in Canada is free for participants and expected to host over 300 players, as most have already reserved their seats. Interested players are encouraged to register early as seating is limited. More information about the tourney may be found at www.teenpatti.com.
The event is also supported by Toronto’s Weekly Voice newspaper, a TeenPatti.com marketing alliance partner, and highly influential organization speaking to the largest South Asian population in North America several times a week through its many assets, including two weekly newspapers, a radio station, and website.
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The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not of historical facts, are forward-looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the Company is detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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