Ad Agencies, Game Developers And Publishers Gather April 12, 2006 For Advertising In Games Forum

New York, New York - March 7, 2006 - The Game Initiative, the leading producer of conferences and events for professionals in the computer and video game industry, today announced the second annual Advertising in Games Forum taking place April 12, 2006, in New York City. The Advertising in Games Forum brings together advertising agencies, leading brands, game companies and technology companies to explore the opportunities and pitfalls of advertising in video games. Forum attendees walk away with valuable insights they can put to use immediately to effectively integrate in-game advertising into their campaign strategies. Registration information and conference details are available on to http://www.AdvertisingInGames.com

The number of advertisers' spending money to place products and commercial messages in video games is booming. Ad spending on brand placement in games will balloon from $75 million last year to as much as $1 billion by 2010, according to Nielsen Entertainment forecasts. Attendees will learn about the current trends and numbers, the ROI of advergaming and best practices for in-game advertising campaign integration. The conference program is built around industry leaders discussing product case studies, detailing the impact of the latest technology advancements, discussing what works and why.

Confirmed Speakers include:

Brandon Berger, Senior Strategist, Digital Innovation, OgilvyInteractive

Mario Baumann, Director of Cross Marketing and Sales, JoWooD Productions Software AG

Douglas Booms, Senior Director, Business Development, Double Fusion

Bill Clifford, Creative Director, Wild Tangent

Greg Costikyan, CEO, Manifesto Games

Michael Dowling, General Manager, Nielsen Interactive Entertainment

Jonathan Epstein, Agent, Games and Interactive Group, United Talent Agency

Mike Goodman, Senior Analyst, Yankee Group

Alex Kakoyiannis, Managing Partner, Navigame

Garry Kitchen, CEO and President, Skyworks Technologies

Shawn McMichael, Director of Advertising Sales, Microsoft Casual Games

Michael Pachter, Managing Director, Research, Wedbush Morgan Securities

Julie Thomas, Director, Promotions & In-Game Marketing, Vivendi Universal Games

"Advertising in games is becoming big business, driving new advances in video game technology enabling marketers to deliver targeted advertising to gamer demographics," said Christopher V. Sherman, Executive Director of The Game Initiative. "The Advertising In Games Forum is the only event focused on bringing together advertising agencies, leading brands, technology providers and game companies to learn about and discuss the implications of these advances."

Sessions include:

Trends and Numbers - The Game Industry in 2006 A Year In Transition

The ROI of Advergaming

Product case studies - a view from the trenches - Advergaming

Product case studies - a view from the trenches - In-Game Advertising

In-Game Ads: Every Medium is Yours - But What Works?

Campaign Integration and Reaching the Gamer Audience (or there is more than one way to skin a cat).

The Advertising in Games Forum takes place at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Online registration is open and attendees can save $200 by taking advantage of the early bird registration - only $195 - until March 31, 2006. Registration information and conference details are available on to http://www.AdvertisingInGames.com

The Advertising In Games Forum is sponsored by Microsoft Casual Games, Business Wire, Gameindustry.biz, Moby Games and GameDev.net.

The average time spent consuming advertising with a video title is 110 hours versus 20 hours for football, according to The Wall Street Transcript. Also, video games retail for between $40 and $60 and video games are played for an average of six months.

About the Game Initiative

The Advertising in Games Forum is produced by The Game Initiative, the leading producer of conferences and events for game industry professionals. Now entering its 4th year, the Game Initiative produced 11 game focused conferences and events in 2005, attracting almost 4,000 game industry professionals from around the world as speakers, attendees, sponsors and exhibitors. The Game Initiative supports the growth of the industry through events, public awareness and programs that serve the needs of the companies and people involved in producing interactive entertainment software and hardware for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet. Game Initiative events include the Austin Game Conference, Mobile Game Conference, Game Audio Conference, Game Writers Conference, Casual Games Conference, Game Marketing Conference, Advertising In Games Forum, Game Technology Association Meetings and the How to Break into the Game Industry national conference series. More information about The Game Initiative can be found at http://www.GameConferences.com

Contact:

Tim Williams

Game Marketing Conference

512.289.8687

tw@gameconference.com