Console Digest

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‘Skate It’ Delivers Popular Flickit Controls and Introduces Support for Wii Balance Board to Deliver Unique Skateboarding Experience

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced Skate It, a new game in the award-winning Skate franchise that taps into the heart and soul of being on a skateboard. Designed exclusively for the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems, Skate It has Nintendo players riding with the skate pros, owning the best spots in San Vanelona and pulling off the sickest tricks using the popular FlickIt controls. Loaded with all-new gameplay features, Skate It breaks new ground by introducing innovative support for the Wii Balance board which gives players a fresh way to create their own signature skateboarding style.

“We knew it would be an exciting challenge to bring the soul and feel of skateboarding to the Wii and Nintendo DS,” said Scott Blackwood, Executive Producer - Skate franchise. “With fresh new designs and gameplay components built from scratch, we’ve been able to, once again, capture the true experience of skateboarding in a completely innovative way.”

Skate It unleashes the FlickIt revolution on to the Nintendo platforms, letting gamers use the Wii remote or the Nintendo DS stylus to string together their best tricks for the ultimate skate line. The Wii remote becomes a skateboard and reacts to gestures that mirror actual skate flips and moves. Players can also deepen this experience by planting their feet on the Wii Balance board. Skate It brings the hit Skate franchise to a new level of creative ingenuity and gameplay excellence.

Skate It will ship in 2008. The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Separately, Skate 2 is also currently in development for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system.

Tamagotchi Town Opens for Business in October 2008 with All New Features and Lots More Fun

Atari today announced the forthcoming launch of NAMCO BANDAI Games’ Tamagotchi Connexion: Corner Shop 3 for the Nintendo DS™. Available in Europe from October 2008, Tamagotchi Connexion: Corner Shop 3 will feature the most well-stocked store lineup to date, with 13 brand new shops to run and expand, a park to design and visit, and the ability to trade journals with your friends via Wi-Fi.

Business in Tamagotchi Town is booming, and over a dozen new shops have moved in. Help manage these brand new shops and keep customers coming back for more. When the work day is done, relax in your very own park that you’ve created. You can write in your journal to record the day’s events, and share items and journals with your friends over Wi-Fi.

Tamagotchi Connexion: Corner Shop 3 introduces players to the responsibilities of running a successful businesses in a fun and creative way. Key game features include:

• All New Stores: Find over a dozen brand new stores to run! Bake fresh bread at the Bakery, plan a party at the Event Coordinator shop, or scoop ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlor. Combine and upgrade stores to keep happy customers coming back for more.

• Create Your Own Park: Create a relaxing and fun park to hang out with friends and chat with other Tamagotchis. Decorate your park with fountains, gardens and other items to be discovered. Come back often to see how your park has changed.

• More Characters: The popular Violetchi joins in on the fun with Mametchi, Kuchipatchi and Memetchi to team up with players and help them run the best business they can.

• Connect With Friends: Share items and swap journals with friends via a wireless connection.

Tamagotchi Connexion: Corner Shop 3 is scheduled for European launch in October 2008.

Critically acclaimed baseball franchise gets ready for another season of great family fun

2K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), and Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced the next iteration of the wildly popular baseball franchise, MLB® Power Pros 2008, scheduled to be available for Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system this July, as well as Nintendo DS™ later this fall. As the highest-rated and top-selling baseball title in Japan, MLB Power Pros was available in North America for the first time last year. Its comedic visual appeal of miniature Major League Baseball player models has attracted a dedicated following through its easy-to-use controls and addictively fun gameplay experience.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Konami again, and with the Baseball™ season now in full swing, we’re proud to offer our fans a refreshingly smart and exciting baseball game that is easily accessible for all ages,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Baseball enthusiasts will appreciate the variety of newly added features, intuitive game modes and improved overall feel, and we look forward to hitting one out of the park this season with MLB Power Pros 2008.”

With over ten different exciting game modes including the traditional Practice, Exhibition, League and Home Run Challenge modes, MLB Power Pros 2008 will bring fans closer to the action than ever before. Gamers also get the opportunity to act as general manager and control the destiny of their own franchise in Season mode, or engage in entertaining role-playing story modes such as Success and MLB® Life modes. As general manager, gamers can trade, sign free agents, coordinate practice schedules, purchase new equipment, call up and send down players from the Minor Leagues™, along with other management options to bring in fans, win playoff games and eventually, earn the title of World Series™ champion.

In Success mode, fans can participate in a story-based career of rising players in the Double-A Minor League system trying to improve their baseball skills and make an impression on baseball scouts while also having to balance various situations in their personal lives. Through a variety of amusing training and game challenges, players who complete Success mode will also be able to take their created player files into MLB Life as well, or also play as either an existing Major League Baseball® player in Dream Mode, or start as a rookie in Major League Career mode. As a new feature in MLB Power Pros 2008, MLB Life is another story-based mode that will allow fans the possibility to simulate the exciting life and experience of being a Major League Baseball player over the course of a 20-year career. While continuing to play in games through the regular baseball season, players will also participate in a number of realistic situations such as signing contracts, purchasing houses and cars, making charitable donations, building up relationships with friends and teammates, picking up hobbies and much more.

With easy, pick-up-and-play hitting and pitching controls, along with intuitive Wii functionality, other new features in MLB Power Pros 2008 include support of 40-man rosters, change of ball speed, adjustment of defensive shifts, along with a real-time bullpen check functionality for substituting pitchers. MLB Power Pros 2008 will also support the option for players to import their Wii-based characters, Miis™, from their Wii or Wii Remote™ to become part of the exciting action!

MLB Power Pros 2008, developed by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., is not yet rated by the ESRB, and will be available for Wii and the PlayStation 2 system this July, as well as Nintendo DS later this fall. For more information, please visit www.2ksports.com.