Two Seattle-area companies team up to bring Real's top selling casual games
to retail shelves across the country
SEATTLE, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- From Casual Connect Seattle,
Topics Entertainment, the largest privately owned multimedia publishing
company in the U.S., and digital entertainment services company
RealNetworks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), today announced an agreement naming
Topics the exclusive distributor of packaged new release RealArcade(R)
games to retail stores throughout North America.
RealArcade has a massive library of top-selling titles and key casual
game brands spanning the online, portable and mobile phone games markets.
Previously, packaged RealArcade games were published by various companies
and sold without branding. This new partnership between Real and Topics
Entertainment will extend the popular RealArcade brand to retail.
"Working with Topics Entertainment will bring the RealArcade name to an
expanded audience and our games will be immediately recognized by those who
are already fans of our brand," said Matt Turetzky, vice president of
content and non-PC platforms for the Games Division of RealNetworks.
As a leader in publishing, development and distribution of casual games
-- the fastest growing category of PC games -- Real chose Topics
Entertainment for its publishing experience and ability to deliver products
with distinctive packaging that announce the RealArcade presence.
"We couldn't be happier about this partnership," said Topics
Entertainment president Greg James. "It's the perfect opportunity to
leverage RealArcade's dominant position in casual games at retail outlets
and to continue expanding the game division of our company."
Among the most popular genres of casual games are time management,
hidden object and classic board and card games. Included in the first round
of releases to retail stores are the following four titles:
-- "UNO(R) Undercover(TM)," a new twist on Mattel's classic card game
that includes an original storyline featuring Felicia Blue, a retired spy
who achieved childhood fame as an UNO(R) prodigy. Casual gamers will help
Felicia sleuth her way through a uniquely themed world of UNO(R),
consisting of international spies and smugglers.
-- "Sally's Salon," a time-management game set in a beauty shop, where
players help Sally spread her salon savvy from her hometown shopping mall
to the glittering lights of Hollywood as she beautifies everyone from
little old ladies to punk rockers in ten unique salon locations.
-- "Cate West: The Vanishing Files," a mysterious hidden object game
tasking players with solving a series of unexplained cases. Cate, a
celebrated novelist and insightful visionary, needs help connecting the
crimes, finding clues, compiling evidence and naming the culprit in more
than 75 levels of picture puzzle fun.
-- "Little Shop of Treasures," another hidden object game and the first
of an original series developed by Real's GameHouse Studios, takes place in
the charming town of Huntington. Players help shop owners find more than
1,200 unique and cleverly hidden items for their customers, aiming to earn
enough cash to open a shop of their own.
More titles will follow the initial release and games will retail for
$19.99 at major video game retailers nationwide. PC and Mac versions of
these and other casual games in Real's extensive catalog can be trialed and
purchased at http://www.realarcade.com and http://www.gamehouse.com.
RNWK - G
About TOPICS Entertainment
Founded in 1990, TOPICS Entertainment is the largest, privately owned
multimedia publishing company in the United States. TOPICS offers more than
300 consumer language-learning, education and entertainment multimedia
products. An active supporter of the environment and education, TOPICS
donates five percent of pre-tax profits to a variety of conservation and
environmental education organizations. http://www.topics-ent.com.
About RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. delivers digital entertainment services to consumers
via PC, portable music player, home entertainment system or mobile phone.
Real created the streaming media category in 1995 and has continued to lead
the market with pioneering products and services, including: RealPlayer(R),
the first mainstream media player to enable one-click downloading and
recording of Internet video; the award-winning Rhapsody(R) digital music
service, which delivers more than 1 billion songs per year; RealArcade(R),
one of the largest casual games destinations on the Web; and a variety of
mobile entertainment services, such as ringback tones, offered to consumers
through leading wireless carriers around the world. RealNetworks' corporate
information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com/company.
RealNetworks, GameHouse, RealArcade, Rhapsody and RealPlayer are
registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. or its wholly owned subsidiary.
All other trademarks and names of products mentioned herein are the
property of their respective owners.
SOURCE RealNetworks, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.realnetworks.com
CONTACT:
Max Cowsert of TOPICS Entertainment,
+1-425-656-3621, mcowsert@topics-ent.com; or Tiffany Dunning of
RealNetworks, +1-206-892-6733, tdunning@real.com; or Bailey Locke
of SHIFT Communications, +1-415-591-8457, blocke@shiftcomm.com
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