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Koch Media, a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products, and history specialist Slitherine, a UK-based independent developer and publisher, announced today that they have concluded an exclusive distribution agreement, according to which Koch Media will handle exclusive initial sales for six titles from the Slitherine catalog in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (including French and Italian versions), Scandinavia, Spain, the Benelux countries, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Titles for PC, Nintendo DS^TM, Wii^TM, Xbox 360®, the video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, PLAYSTATION®3 and PSP^TM (PlayStation®Portable) include games from various Slitherine brands, such as HISTORY^TM and MILITARY HISTORY^TM, the Horrible Histories^TM and a game from Slitherine’s agreement with the BBC.

Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media, comments on this cooperation: “In Slitherine, we gained a valuable partner with reputed brands and licenses. We are happy that we get to distribute these attractive, entertaining games with historical contents exclusively in the designated countries.”

Marco Minoli, Marketing Director at Slitherine, said: “As a UK Developer we had already worked extensively with Koch over the years. Now that we have transitioned into publishing they were our distribution partner of choice and a natural fit. We are very pleased to be working with them on our 2009 line up.”

Details regarding individual titles will be released soon.

3D Gesture Recognition Technology Simplifies the Exergaming Experience for Senior Citizens

Softkinetic S.A., the leading 3D gesture recognition software provider, and the Dutch company SilverFit today announced the unique Silverfit game system, specifically targeted at adults ages 65 and up.

The Silverfit system and its games were developed in close collaboration with Dutch physiotherapists and were designed specifically to include a broad range of exercises that are recommended as physical therapy after a stroke or an accident, as well as games that provide general fitness benefits. The Silverfit systems are currently being installed in retirement communities and care centers across the Netherlands followed by expansion to the rest of Europe and North America.

Exercising is key to the health of seniors as it reduces the risk of contracting chronic diseases. A recent International Sports Science Association (ISSA) study pointed out the health benefits that exergaming can provide by immersing players in exercise as part of the overall game experience.

By using Silverfit the aging population can exercise with computer games that are specifically developed for them and that take into account any physical limitations. The Softkinetic 3D gesture recognition technology combined with a 3D depth-sensing camera make the experience intuitive. The first installation of Silverfit systems, at the Groenhuysen care center in the Netherlands, provided unexpected benefits; the system created a social atmosphere where seniors enjoyed encouraging each other to play the games and also offered friendly competition amongst users to achieve the highest scores.

Joris Wiersinga, co-founder of SilverFit explains, “Most fitness videogames are developed for the younger generation, typically on videogame consoles like the Wii, but for seniors these games are too busy or too aggressive. In our games the player can pick virtual pieces of a puzzle at their own pace simply by standing up from their chair or leaning to the sides. By using Softkinetic’s 3D gesture technology players do not need to hold anything or know anything about computers. They simply play the games by moving in front of the camera. We chose Softkinetic as a partner because they are the leading provider of software for gesture recognition. Their Software Development Kit offers a rich set of tools that our developers can utilize to create natural interfaces and the software platform supports all the 3D cameras on the market.”

Partnering with SilverFit extends Softkinetic’s presence in the field of games and fitness. In the past year Softkinetic has worked with iTech Fitness to bring an active gaming application to the market, EA Sports on a basketball advergame, and Sprint/Wireless Ronin on a football advergame.

“Gaming specifically for the aging population is a growing industry,” said Michel Tombroff, CEO, Softkinetic. “SilverFit is another exciting exergaming venture for us and we are proud to be involved in a project which can improve the lives of senior citizens.”

CARY, NC, December 16, 2008 — Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) and Epic Games, Inc. today announced that Autodesk has become a member of Epic Games’ Integrated Partners Program (IPP). This has allowed Autodesk to integrate its Autodesk HumanIK animation middleware with Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 (UE3). Kynapse artificial intelligence (AI) middleware was also previously integrated with UE3. Publishers and developers licensing this game engine now have access to a production-ready solution for dynamic in-game character animation, as well as 3D navigation and spatial reasoning.

“Epic constantly pushes the technology behind Unreal Engine 3, and working with renowned partners like Autodesk is critical to providing our licensees with best in class development tools,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. “Autodesk is a leader in 3D design software for games, and we are pleased to welcome them to the Integrated Partners Program.”

“Autodesk is working to help game designers create the most realistic characters possible,” said Michel Kripalani, director of business development, Games Technology Group at Autodesk. “Believable characters have life-like movement and can navigate their environments intelligently. Integrating HumanIK, along with Kynapse, into UE3 makes it much easier for publishers and developers to achieve this level of realism, which is demanded by gamers today.”

Optimized for next-generation platforms, Autodesk HumanIK middleware consists of a run-time, full-body inverse kinematics (IK) solver, as well as a run-time retargeting engine for characters of differing size, proportions and skeletal hierarchy. HumanIK allows animators and game designers to alter animations on the fly, letting characters interact dynamically and realistically with their environments. HumanIK has been licensed for several titles including Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, as well as Electronic Arts’ DEF JAM: ICON™, FIFA Soccer 07 and NBA STREET Homecourt.

Autodesk Kynapse is a world leading AI solution for game development and real-time simulations. Designed to give nonplayer characters (NPCs) spatial awareness so that they can realistically navigate digital environments, this high-performance engine supports dynamic 3D pathfinding, 3D topology analysis, and team coordination. Additional advanced pathfinding capabilities include dynamic environment evaluation and support for large-crowd pathfinding in complex terrains. Kynapse has been adopted for more than 70 AAA titles.

Epic Games’ Integrated Partners Program establishes a formal business relationship with exceptional companies making cross-platform technologies which integrate with, and are complementary to, UE3. Under the IPP, Epic provides continuous UE3 source code access and full technical support to IPP members. Companies who join the IPP agree to provide a high level of technical support for UE3 licensees through Epic’s established support channels, keep their implementations up-to-date with the latest engine versions and collaborate with Epic on potential promotional and co-marketing efforts.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - December 16, 2008
MysticGD, a leader in real-time character animation middleware, today announced the release of its latest version of EMotion FX, the real-time character animation and model export system.

What’s new in this release:

* Realtime Motion Mirroring: This feature allows you to mirror the motion, playing the animation data of the left-handed side of the character on the right-handed side and the other way around. Only one motion is stored in memory. This feature can especially be very useful for sport games.
* Footplant IK Solver: A new inverse kinematics solver has been added, making it easier to plant feet on uneven terrain.
* Jiggle Controller: This new controller allows simple physics to be applied on bones. This is very useful to simulate things like hair, small pieces of cloth, breasts, and other fatty tissue. This controller uses its own internal physics, so no external physics system is required.
* 64-bit support: We now officially support the x64 platform. New libraries are included as well as 64-bit plugins for 3D Studio Max and Maya.
* DLL support: EMotion FX and MCore can now be used as a DLL on both x86 and x64 platforms. Note that this is not available in the evaluation version.
* iPhone support: we now also officially support the iPhone platform.
* Performance improvements: Major performance improvements for the Wii platform, and the performance of the PC build has also been improved.
* FBX motion loading support inside EMotion Studio: This can be used to directly test mocap data without having to export motions first.
* Exporter improvements: Several improvements and fixes have been made to the exporters.
* FX Material improvements: Boolean and vector parameters are now also being supported, as well as the active technique name.
* Updated console builds: All supporting the latest SDK’s and compilers.
Wii Example: We added an example that shows how to render on the Wii, using GPU skinning where possible.
* Distributable Exporters: You can now license special exporters that you can then ship with your game, allowing your end-users to create their own content.
* To see more about EMotion FX, please visit the product website.
* Movies demonstrating some of the most important features are available online.

You can find EMotion FX at http://www.emotionfx.com.

About MysticGD
Founded in Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 1999, MysticGD is a leader in real-time character animation products used by leading game developers such as EA, Ubisoft, Sony Online, Tilted Mill, Webzen, SimBin, Nexon Corporation, IMC Games, Piranha Bytes, EGN Co. and DragonFly GF Co.

For more information visit http://www.mysticgd.com.

Recognized as a Best Tool winner in Epic’s $1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest, nFringe includes the first UnrealScript source-level debugger to successfully tie into the familiar Visual Studio experience. It includes support for breakpoints, stepping, locals, user watches, the Immediate window, and the Quick Watch window. It is available from Pixel Mine under a dual end-user license for commercial users and for non-commercial academic or modding purposes.

Sam Harwell, lead programmer on nFringe, said, “A core requirement in the development of nFringe was seamless integration. nFringe ties into existing Visual Studio commands, menu options, and keyboard shortcuts so developers can focus on developing great UE3 titles.” To that end, nFringe works with little or no modifications to most of Epic Games’ code drops in the last 18 months.

“We are excited to join the Unreal Engine partners program,” remarked David Reese, president of Pixel Mine. “This program will give us the opportunity to realize powerful new features in nFringe that would otherwise be impossible.”

“Unreal Engine 3’s successful adoption by the industry has been driven by our award-winning development tools and content pipeline,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. “Pixel Mine licensed our engine and developed a great set of internal tools to help their programmers leverage the power of UnrealScript. Integrated debuggers can have a major impact on iteration times, and we’re glad to see nFringe packaged for use by other game teams.”

Epic Games’ Integrated Partners Program (IPP) establishes a formal business relationship with exceptional companies making cross-platform technologies which integrate with, and are complementary to, UE3. Under the IPP, Epic provides continuous UE3 source code access and full technical support to IPP members. Companies who join the IPP agree to provide a high level of technical support for UE3 licensees through Epic’s established support channels, keep their implementations up-to-date with the latest engine versions and collaborate with Epic on potential promotional and co-marketing efforts.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Dec. 11, 2008 - Big Stage Entertainment, Inc., a media technology company that lets consumers project themselves photo-realistically into the digital realm, is partnering with videogame social networking company GGL Global Gaming (GGL) to promote free game content on BigStage.com. The first promotion rollout with a major video game publisher is scheduled for early 2009. Members of the BigStage.com and GGL communities will soon be able to insert their 3-D @ctor, a realistically animated digital clone quickly created for free from a few photos, into game cinematics, still images and animatics. Users can then share this content with friends and post to GGL community pages and other social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace.

“GGL members love great video games as well as new technology that enhances their gaming experience,” said Ted Owen, Owner/Chairman of GGL. “The @ctor creation technology offered on BigStage.com is a great benefit to our members who are constantly seeking creative new ways to express themselves and their love of videogames to the community. Unlike anything gamers have seen before, putting your own realistically animated face onto videogame characters is an innovation that players will be eager to embrace.”

With 26 million unique visitors per month, the GGL Network serves as a hub for videogame fans worldwide. The vast network of GGL gamers visit the site to find news, information and communities, in addition to competing in online gaming competitions and tournaments.

“The popularity of GGL demonstrates how playing videogames online with a community of friends has transformed gaming into a highly social activity,” said Phil Ressler, Big Stage Entertainment CEO. “With the promotional experiences offered on BigStage.com through this partnership, gamers will be able to take their affinity for games one giant step forward by turning themselves into the characters they love to play, with the ability to share these unique experiences with friends, whether they are on MySpace, Facebook or GGL. Until BigStage.com, seeing yourself appear in 3-D animation alongside your favorite game characters would have required the help of an army of developers. BigStage.com is breaking down that barrier for gamers.”

About Big Stage Entertainment, Inc.
Big Stage Entertainment, Inc. is a media technology company that enables the projection of self into the digital realm. With Big Stage Entertainment products and services, accessible at BigStage.com, consumers can create a fully photorealistic, 3-D, animated @ctor to represent themselves in online communities and insert themselves in digital media, including video clips, flip movies and still images. Big Stage @ctors can also participate in games and entertainment on the Web and mobile handsets. At BigStage.com, anyone can generate a free, animated 3-D @ctor by uploading digital photos of their face for instant placement throughout the digital landscape. It’s The Digital You™.

Using Big Stage Entertainment’s BackStage product, business clients and partners can create interactive experiences under their own brands that allow consumers to create @ctors and engage with those brands through personalization of creative content and messaging via video games, mobile devices and on-location kiosks. Big Stage Entertainment’s B2B solutions are the premier vehicles for powering personalized, participative media. Headquartered in South Pasadena, CA, Big Stage Entertainment investors include Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures and Tech Coast Angels. For more information, please visit www.bigstage.com.

Redwood City, CA, December 10 – Trion World Network (Trion), the publisher and developer of connected games and entertainment, today announced the appointment of two gaming industry veterans to executive leadership positions. Malcolm Dunne will serve as the Senior Vice President of Finance and Dorothy Ferguson will serve as Vice President of Sales. Both Dunne and Ferguson bring many years of experience from their respective fields to Trion, where they will immediately contribute to the company’s growth as members of the executive team.

Malcolm Dunne joins Trion as the Senior Vice President of Finance. A chartered accountant with over ten years of industry experience, Dunne has worked in some of the industry’s biggest publishers across three continents, including Electronic Arts and Capcom. At Capcom, Dunne served as European Finance Director and also as Director of Capcom Germany. Dunne joined Eidos in 2004 as a Group Financial Controller before becoming Chief Financial Officer for Eidos’ United States publishing operations. Most recently, Dunne was named the Interim Group CFO for Eidos’ parent company, SCiEntertainment Group, where he assisted the company in raising GBP 60 million to recapitalize the business.

Dorothy Ferguson brings her expertise to Trion as the newly appointed Vice President of Sales. A seasoned executive with more than two decades of experience in interactive entertainment, both in consumer products and e-business, Ferguson has worked with a variety of gaming companies including Maxis, NCsoft, and LucasArts where she served as the Senior Director of Global Sales. Ferguson recently served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at NCsoft where she oversaw the company’s retail/distribution channel organization in North America, and worked to bring a number of prominent titles to market including City of Heroes, Lineage II, Guild Wars and City of Villains. In 2007 Ferguson was named one of the Top 100 Women in Gaming by Women In Games International. At Trion, Ferguson will oversee Trion’s worldwide sales strategy and work to expand new business opportunities.

“Dunne and Ferguson are both experts in their respective fields with years of outstanding experience,” said Lars Buttler, founder and CEO of Trion World Network. “These new executive hires represent Trion’s continued growth and dedication to attracting the best talent in the industry at all levels.”

3D Gesture Recognition Provider Honored at Prestigious Summit

Collaborative Tool Significantly Aids Game Development