NAMCO’S "SOULCALIBUR(R) III" WINS A GAMESPOT E3 2005 EDITORS’ CHOICE AWARD
Next Installment in Celebrated Fighting Franchise Wins Top Honors In Best Fighting Game Category
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (June 7, 2005) - Leading games publisher and developer Namco Hometek Inc. today announced it received a GameSpot E3 2005 Editors' Choice Award in the Best Fighting Game category for "SOULCALIBUR® III." GameSpot, a leading online source for trusted gaming information, presented more than 25 category awards to the most impressive and anticipated games out of the 1,000-plus games that were on display at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.
"SOULCALIBUR III" is the latest installment in Namco's celebrated weapons-based fighting franchise, which is scheduled for release exclusively on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system in 2005. Featuring three all-new characters, a groundbreaking character customization system and original gameplay modes, "SOULCALIBUR III" continues the storyline of legendary fighters in pursuit of the all-powerful Soul Edge.
"It is a great achievement and honor for 'SOULCALIBUR III' to receive the GameSpot E3 2005 Editors' Choice Award for Best Fighting Game," said Nobuhiro Kasahara, president and chief executive officer of Namco Hometek Inc. "Being recognized as the premier fighting game at E3 by GameSpot reinforces the franchise's landmark achievements and Namco's commitment to delivering one of the 'must-have' games for 2005."
More than 5.5 million gamers visited GameSpot.com during the week of E3, accessing more than 100 million page views, while consuming the GameSpot content which included more than 1,000 movies, 12,000 screenshots, and 1,200 plus reports posted by GameSpot editors. GameSpot also served an average of 4 million on-demand video streams a day during the show covering 1,000 different products-98 percent of all games shown at E3. On Tuesday, May 17 alone, there were almost 6 million streams downloaded, which if watched consecutively, would take more than 12 years to view.
About Namco Hometek Inc.
Namco Hometek Inc. is the U.S. consumer division of Namco Limited, a Tokyo-based world leader in the high-tech entertainment industry. Based in Santa Clara, CA, Namco Hometek Inc. is an award-winning video games publisher for next generation game consoles. Namco has created some of the industry's greatest video game franchises: "SOULCALIBUR®," "Tekken®," "Dead to Rights®," "Pac-Man WorldTM," "Ridge Racer®," "Time Crisis®" and "ACECOMBATTM." For more information about Namco and its products log onto www.namco.com.
"SOULCALIBUR®," "TEKKEN®," "PAC-MAN WORLDTM," "Ridge Racer®," "Time Crisis®" and "ACECOMBATTM" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Namco Limited in the United States and/or other countries.
"Dead to RightsTM" is a trademark or registered trademark of Namco Hometek Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. "SOULCALIBUR®III" & (C)1995 1998 2002 2003 2005 NAMCO LTD., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Media Contacts:
Kit Ellis
Kohnke Communications
(415) 777-4000
Kristin Calcagno
Namco Hometek Inc.
(408) 235-2132