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Text based games proving a cornerstone to successful communities

December 29th, 2008 (San Anslemo, CA) – Nvinium Games, Inc. announced today that its free to play text based browser game, Unforgivenwar, has received over 100,000 player registrations since the start of its Beta Testing Phase. It has become one of the fastest growing MMORPG communities on the web. As many as 2900 people are actively playing the game and interacting with each other daily. Nvinium Games, recently launched the Unforgivenwar game application to work on both the Facebook and MySpace Community Platforms.

The key to the success for Unforgivenwar lies not only in its depth of game play, but more importantly in the Community interaction with each other, as well as the real time support given by the Unforgivenwar Support Team.

“Unlike most text based games, our utilization of technology such as real time chat allows both members and guests to see activity in the community. This interaction makes the game much more exciting than simple static forums,” said Matt Abrams, CEO of Nvinium Games.

Text based games have seen a major increase in popularity over the past 12 months and have proven to be an important part of social networking communities. “Web based, community networking games are really the next major wave of the Web 2.0 Social System, and games such as
Unforgivenwar.com are proving that through continued rapid growth,” stated social network visionary Joe Abrams Chairman, Nvinium Games. Abrams is well known for Co-Founding Euniverse (Intermix), the predecessor company to Myspace, as well as the Co-Founder of The Software Toolworks which was one of the largest game publishers in the 90’s.

Unforgivenwar is now positioning itself to reach an even greater number of players as it enters its final phase of beta testing. Players can participate in the ongoing Beta Testing of Unforgivenwar by registering at the official site http://unforgivenwar.com.

‘Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone!’ These words from a famous Pink Floyd song are a good prelude to Driving Kids World – the MMO environment with a new approach to kids’ edutainment.

AlbyMedia, Ltd announces the release of a massively multiplayer online edutainment game for kids. This game offers a colorful interactive world, a lot of various activities and an opportunity to chat with friends online. Driving Kids MMO (www.DrivingKids.com) will be of significant benefit for preschool and early school kids, educating and entertaining them at the same time. What could be better for your child?

Driving Kids has been created to meet the demand for a safe and creative international virtual MMO game for kids. This game is the perfect solution for kids and parents: the registration is free, with unlimited free play time, Also the variety of available games and activities is perfect for even the most demanding parents: logic and problem solving games, memory and puzzle games, math and calculation games, creative games and games just for play. Kids can have fun playing on their own or enjoy multiplayer games together with their parents and friends. That is how little children should be educated: without strain, without coercion, but with fun and pleasure!

One of the most important features of the game is a moderated chat, which allows a kid to communicate with friends, but guarantees his/her security (in contrast to other MMO games). Parents can sit next to their kids joining lessons for both kids and parents, or leave them playing alone; the kids are safe either way.

Driving Kids is a browser game, so it does not need to be installed or uninstalled. A kid is requested to register his/her name and password and to send a request to a parent’s e-mail. In this e-mail, a parent is given all the necessary information about the game and its safety, as well as what information the kid has submitted. As soon as the parent gives her/his consent, the kid can start exploring this wonderful interactive world of Driving Kids to learn and have fun. (If a kid cannot read yet, it is not a problem – a friendly robot-guide Arnie provides audio help instruction.) The entire game environment is in English, so if it is not your child’s native language, it will still contribute to his/her vocabulary enrichment and improvement of communication skills.

The game is set in a city, and a player starts to explore it while riding a skateboard. The streets are abundant with games and interesting places that wait for somebody to discover. The vehicle can be upgraded, modified and recycled. It is also possible to buy a different vehicle – a scooter, a segway or a car. All the purchases need some in-game money – “Auro”, which can be earned and spent. So apart from developing kids’ calculation skills and creative thinking, Driving Kids teaches them the basics of economics. The kids also get the basics of ecological thinking: they are shown a full product cycle by example of a car – from the shop in the beginning to the junk yard in the end.

Of course, the parents and teachers will appreciate the game’s educating ability, but what about the kids? No doubt they will enjoy bright colors, friendly game environment, merry tunes (unique for each game). Also there are new exciting games appearing every month. What is remarkable about the games is they don’t dominate the kids with any form of limit or control. That is a characteristic feature of all products released by AlbyMedia.

Pricing and Availability

Driving kids can be played under any operating system that has Internet browser software. The registration at www.DrivingKids.com is free, and membership benefits are also available for a reasonable fee. The information about membership benefits will appear if you click on a gas can icon in the right upper corner.

New Partnership Provides Unified Login Access and a Unified Monetary System for Players of Wicked Interactive and G4BOX Games

Toronto, CANADA-December 19, 2008-Wicked Interactive
(www.wickedinteractiveltd.com),and G4BOX (www.g4box.com), both North American MMO Publishers, announced today that Wicked Interactive’s SUBA Games platform (www.subagames.com), will now host G4BOX MMORPG, Metin2, and its upcoming online FPS, Cross Fire.

The new partnership will result in numerous benefits for both SUBA Games and G4BOX players. A new unified login system will allow Cross Fire and Metin2 players to access all SUBA Games properties, including ACE Online, Priston Tale, and the upcoming Priston Tale 2: The Second Enigma, with their current G4BOX logins. Likewise, SUBA Games players will gain access to Metin2, and the exclusive closed beta of Cross Fire. Additionally, G4BOX games and SUBA Games properties now share a unified currency and community space. While the games have merged onto one platform, G4BOX and Wicked Interactive remain separate corporate entities.

“We are excited to welcome these two G4BOX properties into the SUBA Games library of titles,” said Stanley Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Wicked Interactive. “The SUBA Games platform maintains an impressive lineup of MMORPGs to which we feel Metin2 and Cross Fire are worthy additions,” added Howard He, Chief Executive Officer of G4BOX.

To coincide with its entry into the SUBA Games platform, the Metin2 website (now located at http://metin2.subagames.com) will be re-designed and re-launched to better serve the ever-growing Metin2 community. Current Metin2 users should be able to continue playing during the platform switch and site re-launch, though they may experience some minimal downtime. Both the Metin2 and Cross Fire websites and forums will be down on Friday December 19, 2008 from 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM EST while the games are moved to the SUBA Games portal. The SUBA Games portal itself will experience similar downtime.

G4BOX’s Cross Fire (now located at http://crossfire.subagames.com) will continue its closed beta test throughout the holiday season with an open beta launch expected on SUBA Games in early 2009. SUBA Games players will gain access to the closed beta test following its move to the SUBA Games platform.

SUBA Games properties, ACE Online (http://ace.subagames.com) and Priston Tale (http://pt1.subagames.com), will continue their respective holiday events and festivities into the New Year and should not experience downtime during the migration of G4BOX games to the SUBA Games platform.

For more information about the above products or SUBA Games visit www.subagames.com.

AUSTIN, Texas – December 2, 2008 - Challenge Online GamesTM, Inc. (Challenge Games), announces the launch of the new Baseball Boss Spire Legends series with celebrated players from historic Yankee and Mets teams. The 2008 MLB season was the last where games could be played in the old Yankee and Shea stadiums. Baseball Boss introduces the Spire Legends Card Series to commemorate these historic stadiums.

Baseball Boss is the first free online game to bring together the nostalgia of baseball card collecting with the excitement of fantasy sports. Additionally, Baseball Boss holds a licensing agreement with MLB, so the game’s virtual baseball cards include real MLB players, real MLB teams, statistics and photos.

“We’re excited to introduce a new series of Spire cards for Baseball Boss players,” says Baseball Boss Game Lead and Challenge Games Head of Marketing Jeff Petry. “We’re also excited about these sets because we built these rosters based on advice from notable Yankee and Mets bloggers.”

Game developers at Baseball Boss worked with some of the most prominent Yankee and Mets sports bloggers to select the greatest players from sports history. Famous bloggers weighed in on which players should join the all time Yankee and Mets teams. Baseball Boss developers then ranked and tiered each player based on each player’s best 3-year record. The results are the Spire Legends Yankee mini-set and the Spire Legends Mets mini-set.

The Spire Legends Yankee Team: Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Lou Gehrig, Don Mattingly, Tony Lazzeri, Joe Gordon, Alex Rodriguez, Graig Nettles, Derek Jeter, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Bernie Williams, Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth, Charlie Keller, Spud Chandler, Lefty Gomez, Allie Reynolds, Ron Guidry, Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera, Rich Gossage, Sparky Lyle, Dave Righetti, Joe Page.

The Spire Legends Mets Team: Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, Edgardo Alfonzo, David Wright, Howard Johnson, Jose Reyes, Dave Magadan, Kevin Elster, Carlos Beltra, Darryl Strawberry, Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones, Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, Al Leiter, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Koosman, Armando Benitez, Tug McGraw, Jesse Orosco, Randy Myers, Roger McDowell, John Franco.

The Yankees and Mets bloggers who helped select these teams: Bronx Banter -http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/, Was Watching -http://waswatching.com/, Respect Jeter’s Gangster -http://respectjetersgangster.blogspot.com, Yanksblog - http://www.yanksblog.com/, SF -http://yanksfansoxfan.typepad.com/ysfs/, Pinstripes, PA - http://pinstripespa.blogspot.com/, Always Amazin’ - http://blog.nj.com/mets/, Mets Prospect Hub -http://metsprospecthub.blogspot.com/index.html, Faith & Fear in Flushing -http://faithandfear.blogharbor.com/, Mets Merized Online - http://metsmerizedonline.com/

Baseball Boss can be played for free atwww.baseballboss.com. Baseball Boss allows gamers to collect and trade virtual baseball cards and assemble them into fantasy teams that can then be used to challenge other player-created or historical teams to games. Winners earn points, which can be used to purchase additional packs of player cards.

Engine Helps gamerDNA.com Visitors Discover New Games to Play, Extend Their Game Experiences, and Better Enjoy Games

CAMBRIDGE, MA – December 15, 2008 – GamerDNA.com, an online community and social platform for video game identity and discovery, today announced the launch of the gamerDNA Discovery Engine. Powered by passionate feedback from gamerDNA members, the new Discovery Engine allows gamers to identify new video games to play based on their individual interests and preferences.

“The process of discovering games – and expressing what you like about them – is fun,” said Jon Radoff, CEO of gamerDNA, Inc. “Our goal is to improve the experience of how people learn about new games. To do this, we’ve tossed out the one-size-fits-all mentality and, instead, have made game discovery an individualized experience by listening to what people are saying about games and why they are playing them.”

The new gamerDNA Discovery Engine allows gamers to identify traits and preferences that they like about a particular game and receive individualized game recommendations based on those qualities. Members engage with a proprietary trait-based system inside the gamerDNA Discovery Engine to denote what specific aspects of a game they find enjoyable. Members can select from a list of traits or recommend their own trait, such as “Social,” “Competitive,” or “Humorous,” in five categories including Setting, Tone, Hero Archetype, Enemy Archetype, and Game Features. After entering these traits, the gamerDNA Discovery Engine references similar traits selected by others in the community and the popularity of those traits, to recommend games for the individual.

GamerDNA.com is a game community that allows people to build and express their unique gaming identity while discovering new games, extending their game experiences, and better enjoying games from wherever they choose to play. Members develop a unique gamer identity – their “gamerDNA” – that records gameplay history from the places they play (such as Xbox® Live or Xfire) and allows them to share these experiences via popular social media sites and applications like Twitter. In addition, as the largest proprietary database of gameplay patterns in the world, gamerDNA applies the collective intelligence of the gamerDNA community to help members discover new games and to help game developers design better games.

For more information or to sign up for a free account (no software download required), visitwww.gamerdna.com.

New Multiplayer Global Game is Nick’s First Step in Activating Kids to Address Environmental Issues

NEW YORK, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ –Nickelodeon is helping kids get their game on in the name of the environment, beginning Dec. 14 with the launch of “The Big Green Help Global Challenge” (www.nick.com/biggreenhelp) — the first multiplayer kids’ online game with a goal of igniting real-world action for environmental change. Kids will be asked to virtually pledge volunteer hours in the “Global Challenge” that they can translate into actionable steps in their homes, communities and schools. The game is this year’s cornerstone of Nickelodeon’s on-going global pro-social initiative, The Big Green Help, which aims to make energy-saving and earth-friendly activities a part of kids’ everyday lives.

“With about three quarters of the U.S. kid population actively gaming online, we think our ‘Global Challenge’ game is a great way to connect them to the pro-social issues they care about, like the environment,” said Marva Smalls, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group. “Our legacy of empowering kids has shown that they can lead the way in addressing positive change, and we hope this game can be the beginning of a kid-led environmental movement.”

In the downloadable “Global Challenge” game, kids have to “green” the last three pollution-free cities on the planet. To play, kids can choose from four Nicktoon characters — SpongeBob SquarePants; Back at the Barnyard’s Otis; The Fairly OddParent’sTimmy Turner; and Avatar’s Aang — and partner with up to three other players in a face-off against CO2-spewing monsters. As kids defeat monsters like the Carbon Creeper, Waste Whirlwind or Guzzlor and move through nine game levels, they will get tips about how to lower their carbon footprint. At the end of the game, kids will be directed to www.nick.com/biggreenhelp where an online meter will measure their individual commitments and the impact of their collective pledges.

The multiplayer online green game will be available in more than 15 Nickelodeon markets, including: UK; Brazil; Germany; Italy; Denmark; Sweden; Portugal; Spain; Australia; New Zealand; Philippines; Indonesia; Mexico; and Argentina, with additional countries to follow. Nickelodeon Kids and Family digital sites — including: AddictingGames; Neopets; Shockwave; and The-N.com — as well as several Big Green Help campaign partners, will also introduce new green-themed mini games in support of the “Global Challenge.”

Next in January 2009, Nickelodeon in the U.S. will provide kids with local resources and events to translate their virtually volunteered hours into real-world action — in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Girl Scouts USA; The LeBron James Family Foundation; National Wildlife Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council; National 4-H Council; and NFL. This same kind of activism will be encouraged in local markets globally. Kids can track their pledges and fulfillment through a downloadable widget pledge tracker. Nick’s campaign partners have lent their expertise to help develop various components of the “Global Challenge” including: tips; the pledge tracker; and the equation to measure the implications of kids’ pledges.

The Big Green Help is a multiplatform campaign that provides information and tools to help explain climate change to kids, and taps into Nickelodeon’s history of addressing important issues. Its Plan It for the Planet special in 1993 discussed the environment and how kids can affect positive change; The Big Help created a generation of 40 million kid volunteers; and its Let’s Just Play encouraged millions of kids to adopt healthier lifestyles. For more information on The Big Green Help, visit www.thebiggreenhelppress.com.

Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (December 4, 2008)– SEGA Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. today launched PlaySEGA™, a completely new SEGA experience for all types of gaming and social networking fans. PlaySEGA is based atwww.PlaySEGA.com and is a mini web game portal with a selection of arcade, word, card, puzzle, quiz, Sonic and sports titles, which are available now and completely FREE to all PC and Mac users.

PlaySEGA has an impressive assortment of titles available on the site including Brain Assist™, which was originally released for the Nintendo DS™, and the successful mobile title, Sonic at the Olympic Games™. Brand new SEGA games that have been created exclusively for PlaySEGA are also available such as Ice Shuffle, Hollywood Adventure Quiz and Aquatic Word Burst. In addition, a selection of all-new Guest Games will soon be unveiled, all entirely FREE to each PlaySEGA user.

Every game has a unique integrated system to calculate players’ highest scores, giving player’s the ability to view leader board achievements, and PlaySEGA Rings earned during each gaming session. PlaySEGA Rings are the site’s currency; the more games you play and the longer you play, the more PlaySEGA Rings you win – it’s as simple as that!

Users can use Rings to customise their site and create an Escape Area, which is essentially their very own profile page. A wide range of Escape Areas are available to purchase and can be anything from a New York apartment, Swiss chalet or Caribbean villa, to a haunted house! Consumers can also purchase luxury items using their PlaySEGA Rings and decorate their Escape Areas with items including; furniture, TVs, lights, flooring and much more. Customers can invite friends to visit their decorated Escape Areas, as well as view their favourite PlaySEGA games, highest scores, and achievements earned.

SEGA is also proud to announce a PlaySEGA VIP (Very Important Player) area of the site. This new area is coming soon and for a small charge users will be able to access and play dozens more web games, including newly acquired titles specifically created for PlaySEGA, along with fan favorites from the respected SEGA Mega Drive™ years. These titles include the genuine SEGA classics we all know and love: Columns™, Puyo Pop™, Chu Chu Rocket™, Sonic The Hedgehog™ and Super Monkey Ball Tip n’ Tilt™ among others.

“What started off as a small project within the SEGA Network Group has now caught the imagination of the entire company,” explains Nick Pili, Network Business Director, SEGA of Europe. “I have suggestions for new games filling up my in-box, from the CEO, to staff I’ve never even met over in our Japanese, European and US offices.”

“SEGA fans and new gamers alike can now come together in one place and enjoy some of our most exciting vintage and new titles,” continues Pili. “There was a story out there recently that we have a locked vault full of retro SEGA classics in Japan. Well, it’s true – and we’ve been given full access to a lot of the properties in it.”

PlaySEGA launches today and is an evolving site that will continue to keep user’s interests piqued by the many new games, social network and community elements available in the near future. To sign up and enjoy everything PlaySEGA has to offer, go towww.PlaySEGA.com .

About SEGA® Europe:
SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA Europe’s web site is located at www.sega-europe.com.

About SEGA of America
SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America’s Web site is located at www.sega.com/us

Sega has just opened PlaySega http://www.playsega.com/. It’s still “beta” but the casual games portal from Sega is taking on users. It’s free to join and you can create your own avatar (all the rage these days I guess). Go give it a try, some fun Sega-themed casual games.

GamingAngels.com shares their top holiday gift ideas for the 2008 gift-giving season

Los Angeles, CA (Games Press) November 27, 2008 – Beginning November 18, 2008, GamingAngels.com will be posting their Holiday Gift Guides in the days leading up to Black Friday in order to assist parents in finding great gift ideas for the entire family.

This holiday season there are many choices out there for parents to consider. GamingAngels.com has compiled guides to make the choices easier. All our guides have choices for different age groups as well as an explanation of why we recommend the item.

As part of our initiative, we are staggering the releases of our Gift Guide as follows:

Tuesday Nov. 18: XBOX 360 Guide
Thursday Nov. 20: Gadget Guide
Saturday Nov. 22: Nintendo Wii Guide
Monday Nov. 24: Reader’s Guide
Tuesday Nov. 25: PS3 Guide
Wednesday Nov. 26: Nintendo DS Guide
Thursday Nov. 27: Comics Guide
Friday Nov. 28: Gaming Charities Guide

Along with our Gift Guides are printable shopping checklists, available both in colour and black and white formats. These checklists will make gift buying much smoother for sharing with other family members and friends.

GamingAngels.com has a strong writing team, with interests in everything from games to comics, just waiting to assist our visitors with their shopping needs. We welcome anyone with further questions to contact us via email or through our forums.

Jessica Rovello, president and co-founder, recognized as leading entrepreneur and Arkadium games receive top honors

NEW YORK – November 17 – Arkadium, a leading game solutions developer for the advergaming and casual game markets, announced today that the company’s president and co-founder, Jessica Rovello, was honored on Friday with a Stevie Award for Best Entrepreneur. In addition, Jessica was also named to the 2008 Media Industry Newsletter (MIN) Digital Hot List this month for her outstanding media accomplishments. Other Arkadium accolades this month included a Creativity Annual Award for their National Geographic Channel Fight Science game, and a Davey Award (Gold Winner) for marketing excellence for The Pini Society: The Remarkable Truth, a downloadable game recently released.

Hailed as the world’s premier business awards, the 2008 Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women executives, entrepreneurs and the companies they run worldwide. This year, Arkadium’s president and co-founder, Jessica Rovello, was selected Best Entrepreneur in the Media Service Companies category. More than 1,200 entries were submitted for consideration. Details about The Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of winners are available at www.stevieawards.com/women.

The Davey Awards, an international award focused exclusively on honoring outstanding creative work from the best small firms worldwide, honors the best small firms, agencies and companies worldwide. Arkadium’s first downloadable game, The Pini Society: The Remarkable Truth, was selected as a Gold Winner for its integrated marketing campaign that was created for the game’s launch. Details about The Davey Awards and the list of winners is available at http://www.daveyawards.com/winners/.

Earlier this month, MIN named Ms. Rovello, to its “Digital Hot List.” This year’s list included 12 digital stars in the magazine brands and content providers space. MIN honored the winners on November 10, 2008 during an awards ceremony at the Grand Hyatt in NYC. More information on MIN’s “Digital Hot List” can be found at http://www.minonline.com/awards/digitalhotlist2008/.

Established in 1970, The Creativity Annual Awards is one of the longest running international advertising and graphic design competitions in the world. Arkadium’s game, National Geographic Channel Fight Science was selected as a winner in the Web Games and Entertainment Category. This year, judges from some of the United States’ most prestigious design firms evaluated a record 2,800 entries from over 44 countries and 45 U.S. states. More information is available at http://www.creativityawards.com/.

About Arkadium
Arkadium is the premier game solutions developer for the advergaming and casual game markets. The company’s growing archive of over 200 Flash-based and custom game solutions currently reaches millions of people through some of the most popular online destinations and corporate branded Web sites on the Internet. For more information visit http://www.arkadium.com.