Skillz: A new breed of games magazine!

GE Magazines Ltd is proud to present Skillz; the great new multi-platform games title for pre-teen boys, launching 21 September 2005.

Edited by Joff Brown (formerly of PSW magazine), Skillz is a high-quality magazine for 8-14 year-olds and is the product of extensive research and development. Designed to become a must-have magazine, Skillz combines all the games info boys want with a huge portion of fun.

The launch is supported with a TV campaign, trade press activity, school sampling, retail promotions, POS plus cross-promotions and advertising within GE Magazines' children's portfolio.

Skillz is packed with cheats, tips and strategies for the most popular games across all consoles. As well as a pull-out cheats section, there will be 'master classes' for key games, plus interactive features and lots of entertaining tips and tricks to help readers get the most out of their games and hone their skills. Other features include stunning posters, games news and reviews, letters, competitions and giveaways. A bit like a cheeky, older brother, Skillz has all the smart answers and funny one-liners. With tons of stuff readers can impress their mates with, playground kudos is guaranteed.

Editor Joff Brown said, "Skillz is about giving kids exactly what they want from a games magazine. We've built it from the ground up to cater for the needs of today's young gamers. Skillz channels the enthusiasm and energy of a new generation of game fan, making it the coolest and most accessible specialist games mag on the shelves today."

Publisher, Siobhan Williamson said, "We've had great fun talking to dozens of young gamers about their idea of the perfect games mag. As a result, we're convinced that there's room for a new games title whose readers are crazy about games, but who also have wildly varying reading abilities. Whilst Skillz is authoritative and functional, it has a wicked sense of humour and will never talk down to boys. The support we've had from the games industry has been fantastic and is a real testament to the quality of this product. With so many amazing games and exciting new formats coming through, Skillz couldn't launch at a better time!"

Every issue comes with an extra special gift. Issue 1 has a brilliant mini radio, complete with batteries, earphones and a built-in torch. There's also a giant, pull-out Spiderman poster. For future issues there are demo disks, confectionery and other exciting goodies.

There is a dedicated website (www.skillzmag.co.uk) going live on 21 September. Content will include charts, top cheats, games and movie trailers and readers can fully interact with the magazine (showcasing their drawings, letters, comments etc.)

With a cover price of £2.99, Skillz will be on sale every 4 weeks (13 issues per year), available at WHSmiths, Tesco and all good newsagents. The magazine is distributed by COMAG.

Launch print order is 175,000 copies which includes 120,000 for UK trade.

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For further details please contact Siobhan Williamson, Publisher on 020 7468 5685

About GE Magazines Ltd:

GE Magazines Ltd publishes children's comics including Dora the Explorer, Angelina, Mr Bean and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. GE Magazines is the sister company of GE Fabbri which is best known for successful partworks such as Totally Tracy Beaker, CSI: DVD Collection, and Only Fools and Horses in the UK.