KARAOKE REVOLUTION® PRESENTS: AMERICAN IDOL® ENCORE NOW AVAILABLE
Latest Installment in Popular Singing Game Series in America Ships to Retailers
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - February 5, 2008 - Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced Karaoke Revolution® Presents: American Idol® Encore is now available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Nintendo Wii, and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Together with FremantleMedia Enterprises and 19 Entertainment, licensors of the top-rated television show "American Idol," Konami has developed a game that lets players sing and perform through a full season of competition of "American Idol". Featuring 40 all-new, smash-hit songs and several unique modes of play, Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore delivers an immersive "American Idol" game experience as players sing their way to fame.
"'American Idol' is arguably one of the most successful shows on TV," says Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment. "By bringing the game to a variety of platforms, Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore, provides gamers the one-of-a-kind experience of being singing stars in their own living room."
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore allows players to play the part of an "American Idol" contestant as they audition, earn an invitation to Hollywood, perform on center stage and receive verbal feedback on their performance from the judges. Just like the TV show, the evaluation by the
game's judges - Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and the always entertaining Simon Cowell -- will affect whether or not they move on to the next round of competition.
Players will be able to personalize their own contestant with clothing, hair styles and accessories in the Character Customization mode, creating a specialized look that is sure to catch the attention of the judges and the crowd. Players can also create a 3D model of their own heads with the EyeToy USB Camera (for PlayStation®2), PLAYSTATION® Eye and Xbox LIVE Vision to bring them directly into the actual competition. Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers can also select and download from a catalog of over 140 songs via Xbox LIVE®.
"Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore absolutely rocks and we're sure it's going to entertain all those Idol fans out there looking to personalize their own 'American Idol' experience," added David Luner, Senior Vice President of Interactive & Consumer Products, FremantleMedia Enterprises in North America.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB and sells bundled with a microphone for a suggested retail price of $49.99 (PS2 version), $59.99 (Wii version) or $69.99 (Xbox 360 and PS3 versions). For more information on the game, please visit: www.konami.com.
About Konami
Konami is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties. Konami's titles include the
popular franchises Metal Gear Solid®, Silent Hill®, DanceDanceRevolution® and Castlevania®, among other top sellers. The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. KONAMI CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany. KONAMI CORPORATION is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. Details of the products published by Konami can be found at www.konami.com.
About American Idol:
AMERICAN IDOL is created and executive-produced by Simon Fuller, founder of 19 Entertainment, Ltd.; and executive-produced by Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.; Nigel Lythgoe, President, 19 Television; and Ken Warwick, Executive Producer, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.
About FremantleMedia Enterprises & FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia Enterprises is the content exploitation arm of FremantleMedia, offering a one-stop-shop for all Licensing,
Distribution and Home Entertainment. It is a division of FremantleMedia, one of the largest international creators and producers of entertainment brands in the world with leading prime time drama, serial drama, entertainment and factual entertainment programming in over 40 countries worldwide. FremantleMedia is a subsidiary of RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company, which is 90% owned by Bertelsmann AG, an integrated media and entertainment company that commands leading positions in the world's media markets. For further information, visit http://www.fremantlemedia.com.
About FremantleMedia North America
FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) is the U.S. production division of global media giant FremantleMedia. Based in Burbank, California, FMNA produces entertaining and innovative television programs for network, cable and syndicated platforms, including the Emmy-nominated musical/reality phenomenon "American Idol" (FOX), "The Next Great American Band" (FOX), "America's Got Talent" (NBC), "American Inventor" (ABC), "Thank God You're Here" (NBC), "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency" (Oxygen), "Property Ladder" (TLC), "Family Feud" (syndicated), "Temptation" (syndicated), "Million Dollar Password" (CBS), and the longestrunning game show in television history, "The Price Is Right" (CBS).
About 19 Entertainment:
19 Entertainment, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CKX, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE), was founded by Simon Fuller 22 years ago and acquired by CKX in March 2005. The company is recognized as a leading creator, provider and promoter of globally successful,
music-based entertainment, or "Entertainment Brands."
Simon Fuller, who serves as Chief Executive Officer of 19 Entertainment, is the creator of AMERICAN IDOL in the United States, "Pop Idol" in the UK, as well as versions of the IDOL format in more than 30 countries around the world. Fuller is also the co-creator of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, which aired in the U.S. on FOX during summer 2005 and was the top-rated television show in its time slot.
Fuller has made music history in the UK and the U.S.A., producing a stream of No. 1 hits and managing multi-platinum-selling acts. Fuller recently became the world's most successful manager - breaking a record set by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein in the 1960s - when three of his artists occupied the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 positions on the U.S. single chart as well as the No. 1 position on the album chart.
19 Entertainment has been involved in the creation of 109 No. 1 singles and 87 No. 1 albums in the UK alone, with an impressive
tally of 296 Top-40 albums and 465 Top-40 singles.
About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® game console the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) entertainment system and its online and network services the PLAYSTATION®Network and PLAYSTATION®Store
Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of
products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PlayStation game console, the PlayStation 2 system and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier XboxLive online gaming service, and unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around you. The system will launch this holiday season in Europe, Japan and North America, to be followed by availability in Australia, Colombia, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan in 2006. More information can be found online athttp://www.xbox.com/xbox360.
About Nintendo
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.4 billion video games and more than 420 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about
Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com
"PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
EyeToy is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Requires PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system (sold
separately).
KONAMI is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION.
Konami Announces Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore
Media Contacts:
Konami Digital Entertainment Bender/Helper Impact
Michael Shelling Marisa Gross
310-220-8357 212-689-6360
Sm23053@konami.com Marisa_Gross@bhimpact.com