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Gradual Gaian Rollout Gives Community Members Play-Dates for Casual MMO

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Oct. 22, 2008
Gaia Online, the world’s most active online community, today announced its development team is making final preparations for the zOMG! Open Beta and will begin rolling out game access to Gaia community members on October 27th. 8,500 lucky Golden Ticket holders will be the first entrants, scoring exclusive early playtime in the casual MMO before the first wave of Gaians flood the game’s gates. zOMG! was created in response to requests from the Gaia community, and their feedback has been the principal driving element in every step of the game’s development. Fervent members participated in focus groups and closed beta testing sessions, and even held a contest to choose the game’s name. Now, the community is getting an opportunity to explore the zOMG! Open Beta before anyone else.

“We know users are anxious to get in and play, and we’re firing on all cylinders to ensure our servers can meet the incredible demand,” said David Georgeson, Senior Producer of zOMG! at Gaia Online. “We’re squeezing Gaians in as quickly as possible, but are 100% dedicated to delivering on our vision of a beautiful, immersive and entertaining casual MMO for players of all persuasions.”

Gaia has utilized Golden Tickets throughout the game’s development to increase community involvement and select participants for the zOMG! Beta program. Enthusiastic Gaians took part in booth promotions at NY Comic Con and Anime Expo during the Closed Beta, and purchased zOMG! Rumble Boxes in the virtual goods marketplace for a shot at Golden Tickets for the upcoming Open Beta. These dedicated virtual world denizens are thirsty for a taste of the action, and clamoring for the prestigious prize of first in-game access.

“We received over 120,000 applications for the Closed Beta from our virtual world community, but obviously couldn’t let them all in,” said Craig Sherman, CEO of Gaia Online. “Members complete hundreds of thousands of micro-transactions per day in the marketplace, and we think the Golden Tickets are a great way to choose which loyal users win this very cool opportunity.”

As Gaians begin lining up at the entry gates of zOMG!, the development team is busy making sure zOMG! can accommodate the rush of eager avatars. Everyone can’t possibly fit through the door at once, so seniority will pay off big-time for Gaians when zOMG! begins rolling out its Open Beta next week. After Golden Ticket holders, virtual world community members with the longest active accounts (4+ years on Gaia) get the first spot in line. The complete rollout schedule will be announced shortly, and general public access will be established once the Gaia community is safely in-game. zOMG! will likely be out of Beta later this year and will continue to grow and evolve over time, as members offer feedback and continue to shape their world.

About zOMG!
Explore the epic adventure within the Gaia Online MMO,zOMG!. Discover interesting and beautiful worlds, engage in combat with monsters, interact and play with friends, and more in this casual online massively multiplayer game. Designed for the PC as a free to play game with no download requirements, the MMO is accessible and easy to navigate for everyone. More than a game, zOMG! incorporates elements of social networking and entertainment for community members. Featuring streaming music, a unique storyline and characters, and engaging gameplay, zOMG! is an open environment for people of all ages to play games, meet friends, and explore. Visit www.zomg.com for more information.

After all of our Pirates hard exploration and in game experiments, we are very proud to announce that Tales of Pirates (http://top.igg.com) has now ushered in the prosperous age of Industrial Development. From now on many skills and systems such as Manufacturing, Crafting, Analyzing and Cooking will be able to use the advantages given by this more modern era. It will make full use of items and also enable recycling. Today TOP will share the secrets of one of the handicrafts; Manufacture with our players to show how to take the best advantage of it.

If players use the manufacturing handicraft the right way, then they will be able to turn what seems like waste into some really useful items. Before production players must prepare the necessary items, including the blueprints for corresponding level, pet Fairy, tools and raw materials. Then they can start to make any of the items that they may need for Forging, Cooking or Analyzing, or any other useful supplementary PK items by themselves.

The necessities for Manufacture:

Fairy Manufacturing Skills: Can be learned from the Lifeskill Book of Manufacturing Pet Fairies.

Blueprint: Except for the analyzing skill, all of the handicraft sneed a Blueprint which can be obtained through monster drops. It records the attributes of the handicraft, relevant information and requirements. There are 3 types in total; Manufacturing Blueprint, Crafting Blueprint and Cooking Blueprint.

Raw Materials: Can be used for each of the handicraft, including wood, stones, food, vegetables, furs, goods, and local specialties. Each material has 10 different ranks, except for goods and local specialties.

Tool: The Black Hole Crystal is the very best tool for Manufacturing.
Manufacturing Flow:

1. Go find the Substance Generator at Shaitan City (877, 3645).

2. Click to open the manufacture page, and then drag the Blueprint (in the first slot), pet Fairy, Raw Materials and Black Hole Crystal into their corresponding positions.

3. Click Start, and then the progress bar below will begin to move.

4. Click Finish when the progress bar is complete, after this you will see the full effect of item manufactured.

For more details about the Lifeskills in Tales of Pirates, please visit our official website: http://top.igg.com .

“Power-Saw To The People”

October 21, 2008 – New York, NY – Marc Ecko Entertainment and Showtime Networks today announced that the upcoming “DEXTER” videogame for iPhone will be “investigative” in style and developed by Icarus Studios.

DEXTER is the story of Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood spatter expert for the Miami Dade Police Department who is secretly a serial killer who hunts down people who have escaped justice. The iPhone videogame based on DEXTER is a mystery game emphasizing investigation and problem solving – the player will analyze crime scenes, uncover evidence, and choose which brand of justice best suits the situation: the courts or the “Dark Passenger”. The effectiveness of every choice and interaction revolves around the Code of Harry: only kill the guilty, maintain the Mask, and, above all, don’t get caught! The game is now in development with Icarus Studios, a company that is leading the way in massively multiplayer online games, virtual worlds, and mobile entertainment experiences.

“I am so excited to have Icarus Studios on board to develop the DEXTER iPhone game,” said Marc Fernandez, Vice President of Marc Ecko Entertainment. “From the second we began this project we wanted to throw everything we had at it, that’s exactly why we wanted Icarus Studios as a partner – a 100 person plus developer focusing their technology on making the DEXTER game the best it can possibly be.”

“DEXTER is a fresh and cutting edge series with elements that are perfect for a handheld videogame, so we are thrilled by this opportunity,” said James Hettinger, CEO of Icarus Studios. “We are also extremely pleased to be working with Marc Ecko Entertainment and Showtime on this project. They are masters of entertainment and brands, so we could not be in better hands.”

For more information on the Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning hit television show DEXTER, go to www.sho.com.

Elijah Wood, Gary Oldman, Christina Ricci, Blair Underwood, Wayne Brady and Mark Hamill Provide Voice-Over Performances

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct 22, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the third and final chapter of the popular The Legend of Spyro(TM) video game trilogy, The Legend of Spyro(TM) Dawn of the Dragon, is currently available at North American retailers. The game features legendary leading men, Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Gary Oldman (Sirius Black from the Harry Potter films), who will reprise their roles as Spyro and his mentor Ignitus, as well as Hollywood talents Christina Ricci, Blair Underwood, Mark Hamill and Wayne Brady.

“This year is Spyro’s 10th anniversary and players are definitely going to see noticeable advances in The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon on the next-gen machines,” said David Pokress, vice president, global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc. “This latest chapter in the Spyro franchise introduces fun new faces and entertaining game elements like flying at any time and drop-in/drop-out co-op, with both Spyro and Cynder.”
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is rated E10+ (Everyone Age 10 and up) for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, Wii(TM) home video game system, PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system and is rated E (Everyone) for Nintendo DS(TM).

Developed by Etranges Libellules (Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 System, Wii, PlayStation 2 System) and Tantalus (Nintendo DS), The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon introduces two never before seen elements into the Spyro universe: Spyro can now fly at any time and gamers can play together with the new cooperative feature. The co-op feature allows players to have the option of completing the game as either Spyro or Cynder, giving them more freedom to explore Spyro’s world in completely new ways.

For more information on The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, please visit www.spyrothedragon.com.