The Game of Kings Just Got Even More Powerful!
For Immediate Release Q1 2005
Are you skilled enough to match the masters or checkmate the chess champions? Find out as Focus Multimedia brings the world's best-selling chess software brand to a PC near you for the legendary recommended retail price of just £9.99 including VAT.
Featuring challenging gameplay and 2 CDs worth of unrivalled personal instruction and chess resource material to elevate your game, Chessmaster 9000 is a teacher, mentor and ultimate opponent that provides countless hours of interactive competition and fun.
Chessmaster 9000 has built on the strong foundations of its predecessors by adding many more tools and activities to help chess players perfect their game. You can choose from 800 classic games and 50 opponents, but beware...Chessmaster 9000 has defeated the US Chess Champion, Larry Christiansen, so it may be wise to take one of the innovative tutorials from celebrated chess coach Bruce Pandolfini before you start to play!
New features include:
The Teacher - for beginners and advanced players:
- Learn the best opening moves and winning strategies
- Improve your game with the NEW 'Blunder Alert' feature to warn you of a 'bad' move
- Receive hints, tips and easy-to-understand audio advice
The Mentor - master the game of kings:
- NEW 'Psychology of Competition' course by International Master, Josh Waitzkin
- NEW 'Mentor Lines' window that allows you to choose the depth of advice you require
- NEW 'Endgame Quiz' from five times chess champ, Larry Evans
The Ultimate Opponent - more powerful than ever:
- Customise your own opponent
- Challenge the Chessmaster and play at Grandmaster level
- Compete with over 50 opponents from beginner to Grandmaster-level
- Choose from NEW 3D chess sets and boards as well as special sets that are just for fun!
Play Online - at www.ubi.com:
- Play either rated or unrated games
- Chat with other players and challenge them to a game
- Analyse your on-line games and keep a variety of statistics
- Free matchmaking service
Craig Johnson, managing director of Focus Multimedia commented: "We are delighted to be licensing the world's most popular and highly respected PC chess software. Chessmaster 9000 is a highly polished and entertaining game for players of all skill levels, and is sure to build on the success generated by Chessmaster 8000. The publishing of such a market-leading title reinforces Focus Multimedia's position as a major player in the value games sector."
Charlie Barrett, head of strategic sales and licensing at Ubisoft added: "We are pleased to be continuing our strong partnership with Focus Multimedia by adding Chessmaster 9000 to their portfolio. The game has already achieved much success as a full price product and we're confident that Focus will continue to extend that success in the value games sector."
Chessmaster 9000, along with the other games titles from Focus Multimedia will be available from all major software retailers and www.fmselect.co.uk at the RRP of just £9.99 (inc VAT).
About Focus Multimedia
Focus Multimedia is the leading PC CD-ROM budget software publisher by value in UK retail (Source: Chart Track), specialising in high quality, affordable PC CD-ROMs aimed at both children and adults. The Focus Essential range consists of over 200 titles priced at £9.99 each in 9 different categories - including Games, Lifestyle, Creativity, Knowledge and Travel. Focus Multimedia has distribution channels into major retail outlets such as PC World, WHSmith, Staples, Game, via the Internet through www.amazon.co.uk as well as non-traditional chains.
About UbisoftTM
Ubisoft is an international producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products. A leading company in the multimedia industry, Ubisoft's strong and diversified line-up has grown considerably, as has Ubisoft itself. As well as steadfastly continuing to partner with several high-profile companies, Ubisoft has also confirmed its presence on the global market by developing its own exceptional properties. Founded in 1986 in France, Ubisoft is now present on every continent, both through offices in 22 different countries including the United States, Brazil, Morocco, Germany and China and through sales of products in over 50 countries. The group is dedicated to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers around the world. Ubisoft generated a turnover of 453 million euros for the 2002/2003 fiscal year, up 23% over the previous fiscal year. To learn more, visit www.ubi.com
For further information please contact:
Grant Hughes - PR & Marketing Manager g.hughes@focusmm.co.uk
Emma Warburton - PR & Marketing Executive e.warburton@focusmm.co.uk
Lucy Carter - PR & Marketing Executive l.carter@focusmm.co.uk
Kate Vigar - PR & Marketing Executive k.vigar@focusmm.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1889 570156 Fax: +44 (0) 1889 583571