ACTIVISION, INC., SPIDER-MAN MERCHANDISING LP AND BULLYING UK UNITE TO TURN FOES INTO FRIENDS
Activision, Spider-Man Merchandising LP Announces Support For Bullying UK As Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Hits Shops
London, U.K. - October 22, 2007 - Activision, Inc. and Spider-Man Merchandising LP today announced their support of Bullying UK ( www.bullying.co.uk), the UK's premier anti-bullying resource. To celebrate the recent release of Activision's Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, in which Spider-Man joins forces with his enemies for the first time in a video game, Bullying UK will run a national competition for children aged seven and older, where they can win copies of the game.
The campaign will run from the launch of Spider-Man: Friend or Foe through to the end of Anti Bullying Week, starting on 19th November, and will be promoted on the Bullying UK web site, as well as in the Bullying UK newsletter and on the MySpace profile, which currently has 12,000 friends.
Inspired by Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia Pictures Spider-Man movie trilogy, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe intertwines an original story that details a new chapter in the Spider-Man saga with a twist on key movie moments and villain boss battles.
The game challenges players to defeat and then join forces with notorious movie nemeses, including Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Venom and Sandman, as they embark on a worldwide quest to overcome an evil threat. Players can even team up in two-player co-operative mode where one gamer plays as Spider-Man and the other plays as a sidekick, to deliver team combos and work together to defeat villains.
"Bullying UK is proud to be working alongside Activision, a world-renowned entertainment publisher, to highlight Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and our campaign," commented John Carnell, Bullying UK. "Partnerships like this allow us to reach out to more young people and draw them into a world where bullying is unacceptable and with an iconic character like Spider-Man the message couldn't be clearer."
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Wii home video game system from Nintendo, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system, the Nintendo DS and Games for Windows PC. The game is rated "7+" (Everyone 7 and older) by the PEGI.
For more information on Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, please visit www.friendorfoegame.com.
About Marvel Entertainment, Inc.
With a library of over 5,000 characters, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused on utilizing its character franchises in licensing, entertainment, publishing and toys. Areas of emphasis include feature films, DVD/home video, consumer products, video games, action figures and role-playing toys, television and promotions. Rooted in the creative success of over sixty years of comic book publishing, Marvel's strategy is to leverage its character franchises in a growing array of opportunities around the world. More information about Marvel can be found at www.marvel.com.
About Spider-Man Merchandising, L.P.
Spider-Man Merchandising, L.P. is a 50/50 limited partnership comprised of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Sony Pictures Consumer Products, Inc. The partnership oversees all of the licensing and merchandising for the Columbia Pictures feature film "Spider-Man 3," as well as the Sony Pictures Television's animated series tentatively entitled "The Spectacular Spider-Man," all based on the Marvel characters.
About Activision:
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $1.5 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's World Wide Web site, which is located at www.activision.com.
About Bullying UK:
Bullying UK is the new name for the award-winning charity Bullying Online which was founded in 1999 by journalist Liz Carnell from Harrogate and her son John, as a direct result of their experience of dealing with school bullying, which included taking successful legal action against an education authority.
Liz has been researching and writing on school bullying issues for 14 years and identified the internet as the most cost effective medium for providing information and advice.