Online Gaming Updates

Cloud 9 Games To Start Shipping Christian Karaoke Game

Austin, TX. Cloud 9 Games, Inc., a Christian game developer, announced today that Heavenly Harmony, a Christian karaoke and vocal performance game, will start shipping for worldwide August 8th for Windows PC's. Using the hand-held mic (included), players can sing to mixture of hymns, praise and worship, plus contemporary Christian tunes as the amazing pitch-recognition technology displays their pitch accuracy in real-time, helping them stay on pitch and on time. Players unlock clothing options for their characters and move on to bigger and better performance venues as their singing skills improve. 

Judge Tosses Calif. Video Game Law; Schwarzenegger to Appeal

San Francisco - After a federal judge on Monday ruled that a California state law banning the sale of violent video games to minors was unconstitutional, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he will appeal the ruling, Reuters reported.

After previously issuing a temporary injunction against the law, Judge Ronald Whyte issued a permanent order on Monday, citing similar rulings in other states.

“The evidence does not establish that video games, because of their interactive nature or otherwise, are any more harmful than violent television, movies, Internet sites or other speech-related exposures," Judge Whyte wrote in his decision.

"Although some reputable professional individuals and organizations have expressed particular concern about the interactive nature of video games, there is no generally accepted study that supports that concern." The video game industry praised the ruling.

"The ESA is pleased with today's permanent injunction ruling as it cements nationwide judicial consensus that our self-regulatory efforts work and attempts to regulate computer and video games are unconstitutional," said Dan Hewitt, director of media relations for the Entertainment Software Association.  

Gov. Schwarzenegger will appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Midway Hits The Track With Cocoto Kart Racer^TM
London – XXX, 2007 - Midway Games Ltd., a subsidiary of Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), has signed the European publishing rights to the fast and fun-packed Cocoto Kart Racer™ from Paris-based developer and publisher, Neko Entertainment, on Nintendo™ DS™.

http://www.gamespress.com/release.asp?c=t%0C%CBo%BD%01%B6j6%C3b%A0%D3

Casual Connect Seattle Records Highest Number of Attendees, Prominent Keynote Speakers, and Major News Announcements

SEATTLE – July 27, 2007 – The Casual Games Association today announced a successful close of the Casual Connect Seattle 2007 conference. The event, which took place between July 17th and 19th at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA, is the largest casual gaming conference in the world.

“With more than 200 million players worldwide, 60 million downloads each month, and a market size that is expected to be $1.5 billion in 2008, casual gaming is big business,” said Jessica Tams, managing director of the Casual Games Association. “Indeed, a major theme from everyone at the conference was that the future of gaming is casual games. The rapid resurgence and interest for casual games presents members of the Casual Games Association with a wide range of business opportunities. We look forward to continuing our momentum with an even better event next year.”

By all measures the event was deemed a major success by sponsors, publishers, distributors, speakers, casual games developers, retailers, investors, and the media. Over 60 exhibitors participated at the event, which featured more than 40 new exhibitors, and conference attendance increased by over 60 percent from 800 in 2006 to over 1300 this year.

Supporting the growing influence and importance of Casual Connect were the compelling keynote speakers and major announcements made at the conference. Of note were:

• MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group announced its commitment to invest $100 million over the next two years in development, distribution and creation of casual gaming titles, sites and platforms.
• King.com, the world's largest skill games site, and digital entertainment services provider RealNetworks®, Inc. announced an exclusive, multi-year partnership that will integrate gaming content across the companies' gaming portals.
• RealNetworks®, Inc. announced an agreement with Mattel, Inc. to develop, publish and distribute Scrabble®, UNO® and several Mattel game titles for downloadable PC and online play throughout the world (excluding the U.S. and Canada for Scrabble).
• PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, announced that it acquired SpinTop Games, a consumer online destination and developer of casual games and Retro64, a developer of casual games.
• Microsoft introduced GoPets on Windows Live Messenger. Microsoft Casual Games and GoPets bring people, pets and games together in a global social networking experience.
• Lifetime Television, the most popular women's television network, and RealNetworks, Inc., announced a new partnership to create Lifetime Presents, a series of downloadable casual games specifically targeting the predominantly female audience of both Lifetime Television and RealArcade®.
• Oberon Media, the world’s leading multi-platform casual-games company, cemented its bid to become the first company to deliver global, integrated casual-games solutions across the interactive TV, online and mobile platforms, with the announcement of its intention to acquire PixelPlay, the world’s leading creator and distributor of games and entertainment in the interactive TV market.

Notable speeches and keynotes by:

• Marc Whitten, General Manager, Microsoft Casual Games
• Steve Youngwood, Executive Vice President, MTV Networks
• Nolan Bushnell, CEO and founder of uWink, Inc, as well as founder of Atari Corp and Chuck E. Cheese.
• John Vechey, co-Founder and Director, PopCap Games.
• Ed Zobrist, President, Sierra Online/Vivendi

Drift City Races to the Starting Line at ijji.com.  

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. – August 2, 2007 – NHN USA’s ijji.com, the US subsidiary of NHN (KOSDAQ:035420), the largest Korean internet company with leading game sites in Asia, announced that Drift City™ will be coming to ijji.com. A unique driving game that incorporates role-playing game elements into a racing game environment, Drift City allows users to customize their cars with performance-enhancing components, as well as cosmetic modifications that will seat each ride apart on the streets.

The storyline for Drift City takes place in the near future, where the world’s infrastructure has been hampered due to global shortages of oil. The focus of the world has turned to the remote archipelago in the Pacific at Mittron Island where an amazing natural resource, aptly named Mittron has been discovered. Due to an influx of vehicles called HUVs that have invaded the island to terrorize and disrupt the city and economy, the governing body of the island, the OMD has called in elite drivers from around to world to restore order.

http://www.gamespress.com/release.asp?c=t%0C%CBo%BD%01%B6j6%C3b%AD%DE

José María Aranda | Sierra Online | PH: 310.431.4736 | FX: 310.431.2736