iFone Brings Hasbro’s Classic GAME OF LIFE to Mobile
Manchester, 19 December 2005 - iFone, the leading wireless entertainment publisher, and Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), a leading global publisher of video games, today announced the launch of Hasbro's classic board game THE GAME OF LIFE as a mobile game. THE GAME OF LIFE, under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), is the latest in the series of Hasbro toys and games offered by iFone through its agreement with Atari. Some of those toys and games include CLUEDO, BATTLESHIP, MONOPOLY and MICRO MACHINES.
The aim of the game is to make the right choices in life and earn money to retire with the biggest fortune. Along the way, the game mirrors the ups and downs of life as players grow up, face adulthood, settle down, and raise a family before retiring. The mobile game re-creates all the key parts of the iconic board game, including the toy cars in which players travel through life, as well as the pink and blue people that represent the players and the famous wheel of fortune that takes you around the board in your journey through life.
The mobile game has a real-life competition element, where successful players can enter into a prize draw to win a copy of the board game by registering their winning code on to the iFone website at www.ifone.com. THE GAME OF LIFE board games will be offered as prizes until 29 December 2005. After this date two Motorola Razr handsets will be available to win.
THE GAME OF LIFE has a long and illustrious history. The original incarnation of the game was created in 1860, when Milton Bradley, founder of MB Games, created his first-ever game 'The Checkered Game of Life'. To celebrate 100 years of MB Games, the game was re-introduced as THE GAME OF LIFE in 1960, and quickly became a fixture in homes throughout the world. The board game is now available in more than 20 languages.
Phil Gaskell, Design Manager at iFone, said "THE GAME OF LIFE is a classic piece of board-gaming history - it combines fun and exciting game play with a universal subject matter. The mobile conversion has simple rules and great game play so literally anyone can enjoy the game."
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About iFone Ltd
iFone is a global leader in wireless entertainment, specialising in the development, production and publishing of wireless entertainment content for current and future mobile devises.
iFone operates a global distribution network live in 50 countries and has strategic partnerships with over 100 network operators. With an exceptional track record in the deployment of mass-market brands in the wireless space, iFone develops entertainment content for a wide range of handsets in all major languages.
Complemented by a world-class account management, publishing and brand acquisition team, iFone combines a huge wealth of experience and technical knowledge from across the industry.
For more information please visit www.ifone.com
About Atari
New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining franchises such as DRIVERTM, The MatrixTM (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo), StuntmanTM and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children's franchises such as Nickelodeon's Blue's CluesTM and Dora the ExplorerTM, and Dragon Ball Z®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.
The Hasbro Properties Group (HPG), the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc., (NYSE:HAS), translates one of the industry's richest portfolios of brands into a world of fun and excitement for children and adults globally. Through a host of publishing, lifestyle and entertainment platforms, HPG is able to surround fans worldwide with consumer products that expand Hasbro's core brands, such as TRANSFORMERS, DUEL MASTERS, MY LITTLE PONY, MONOPOLY and CANDY LAND, beyond the toy and game aisle, creating rich lifestyle experiences.
For further information, please contact:
Emma Brown
iFone
+ 44 (0)161 827 8194
e.brown@ifone.com
Martin Smith
Sonus PR for iFone
+ 44 (0)20 7851 4890
ifone@sonuspr.com