600 Original, Exclusive Titles Join the Nick Kids and Family Group's Games
Library
NEW YORK, March 18 -- With more than 80% of its audience
gaming online, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group continues to provide its
demos with premium gaming experiences across its entire digital portfolio.
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's digital sites, which reach 20 million game
players monthly (according to comScore Media Metrix, January 2008, US only),
are adding 1,600 new games to an existing library of 5,000 games, along with
new tools for users to build their own games and several demographic-focused
gaming sites. The game expansion plans will roll out across all of the
Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group's digital sites, which include:
Nickjr.com (http://www.nickjr.com); Nick.com (http://www.nick.com);
Nicktropolis.com (http://www.nicktropolis.com); NickArcade.com
(http://www.nickarcade.com); TurboNick.com (http://www.turbonick.com);
Neopets.com (http://www.neopets.com); AddictingGames.com
(http://www.addictinggames.com); The-N.com (http://www.the-n.com); and
Shockwave.com (http://www.shockwave.com). Today's announcement further
advances Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's recent $100 million investment in
the casual gaming space across all of its various brands.
"Our portfolio of digital brands is delivering fun and innovative gaming
experiences for all of our audiences," said Cyma Zarghami, President,
Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "Because our gaming sites complement
and serve the same breadth of audiences as each of our linear channels, we are
now offering game experiences that range from educational content, virtual
worlds to casual games that are both property driven and totally original."
1,600 New Games
Currently, across its entire portfolio of digital sites, Nickelodeon/MTVN
Kids and Family Group has more than 5,000 games and will add another 1,600 in
2008. Of these new additions, approximately 600 will be exclusive, original
games to the sites, and 1,000 will come from outside publishers to expand the
variety of offerings. Highlights of the exclusive, original games are:
-- Nick.com, TurboNick, Nicktropolis and NickJr.com: Nick.com, Nickjr.com
TurboNick and Nicktropolis will launch more than 185 games in 2008,
with a focus on multiplayer, cooperative games such as 3D Nicktoons
SlimeBall on Nicktropolis. Other titles include an Avatar multiplayer
global game in the fall, where players assume a character's
personality, such as Aang or Zuko, and battle each other in real time
in various challenges to unlock new Avatar content.
-- Nick.com will completely redesign its gaming experience by launching
a brand new games landing page at http://www.nickgames.com. It will
also add a multiplayer focus to its New Game of the Week franchise,
which launches 52 new, original games each week of the year.
-- Nicktropolis will introduce more than 20 single and multiplayer
games in 2008, the first title being 3D Slimeball. And TurboNick,
Nickelodeon's interactive, broadband video player will launch more
than 30 new, original games.
-- Nickjr.com will launch 35 original games for preschoolers in 2008,
including titles such as: Spin Art, giving kids tools to create
their unique pieces of art; Diego's Snowboard Rescue (launching mid-
March) featuring Diego hitting the slopes to rescue a variety of
Antarctic wildlife; and The Wonder Pets Storybook (launching end of
March) for parents and preschoolers to play together to help the
Wonder Pets save a baby triceratops.
-- AddictingGames, the largest source of the best free online games on the
web with more than 3,000 games, will introduce 75 exclusive self-
published and licensed games, along with 600+ new titles from game
developers around the world, in 2008. More than 25 of the exclusive
games will be self-published, and 50 under exclusive license.
-- AddictingGames will also expand its News and Celebrity Game Series,
which are new games focused on happenings in the news or around the
latest celebrity craze, launched close to real time. Examples of
titles include Paris Oh Paris where players feed and fatten up Paris
Hilton.
-- Neopets, the number-one most engaging youth entertainment site on the
web, will expand into multiplayer games which include a new retail
convergent element with Key Quest, along with global gaming tournaments
with the return of Daily Dare and Altador Cup. The site will launch
approximately 25 new content games that are exclusive to the site.
Neopets' Key Quest is a new multiplayer gaming and collecting
experience tied to Neopets retail product.
-- The-N.com, the number-one site for teen girls 12 to 17, will launch up
to 10 exclusive games in 2008, featuring titles like Avatar University
(launching in August), a sequel to The-N.com's first blockbuster game,
Avatar High. This sim-style game lets the player control a virtual
college full of students that party, study, hook up, and break up, even
when the player logs off and leaves them alone. Other titles include:
the multiplayer game Slasher! (launching in May) and The Hook Up 2
(launching in December). On The-N.com, gaming is the biggest single
activity and accounts for more than one-third of the site's traffic.
-- Shockwave, the original casual gaming destination for women 35+, will
introduce more than 115 exclusive, self published, downloadable and
licensed online games in 2008, in addition to more than 300 other non-
exclusive titles. Twelve of those exclusive properties will be self-
published, along with 50 exclusive licensed games; four self-published
downloadable games; and 50 flash lite games -- both self-published and
licensed -- across its minis and Qwikies platforms. The site will also
focus on co-play, with new games rolling out later in the year
involving adults playing with their kids.
Nickelodeon's mobile web service (wap.nick.com) will also continue to
build a robust library of games, with 20 new games scheduled to launch in
2008. The company will also will launch approximately 10 to 12 downloadable
game titles this year, following recent launches such as the SpongeBob
SquarePants UnderPants Slam game for Xbox Live Arcade.
"We want to be the bookmark sites for each of our target demographics and
we know that for our audiences, casual games are what they crave online," said
Steve Youngwood, Executive Vice President of Digital Media, Nickelodeon/MTVN
Kids and Family Group. "Not only do we want to entertain our audiences with a
robust gaming portfolio and demo-focused gaming sites, but also tap into their
creativity through game development tools to enhance the gaming community and
help them entertain each other."
Game Development Tools
Several of the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group sites will introduce
tools for users to build original games and game levels. These include:
-- Nickgamestudio.com is a completely new vertical launch for the
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group. Launching in third quarter,
Nickgamestudio.com will provide users with various tools to build new
Nick-branded or original games and levels within existing games.
-- AddictingGames Toolkits and Shockwave Gamebuilder: AddictingGames
Toolkits and Shockwave Gamebuilder lets users create and upload their
own versions of games and game levels using simple drag and drop
editing tools, and a selection of art assets. AddictingGames has
already seen huge success with the first of these games, Pencil Racer,
launched in February.
-- The-N.com Role Player: The-N.com users have spent years creating their
own role-playing games on the site's message boards. Groups of friends
craft rich, collaborative stories, some of which have gone on for
years. Role Player, launching in June, gives users new tools to create
games, expanding and enriching these stories outside of the confines of
the message boards. Users can invent their own worlds and characters,
audition players, and customize different versions of their avatars to
fit each game they're playing.
Gaming Sites
In addition to expanding its game development, Nickelodeon Kids and Family
Group will launch several new demographic-focused game sites and services in
2008, some of which will be subscription-based and some free to play.
-- N-Games.com: In June, The-N.com will launch the first major gaming site
to focus solely on teen girls, N-Games.com. With an emphasis on social
gaming and collaborative creativity tool, N-Games.com endeavors to
address the underserved demographic of teen girls with games like
Slasher, Avatar Mall and others.
-- myNOGGIN.com: Existing services such as the recently launched
http://www.myNOGGIN.com, a personalized, premium subscription-based
service for preschoolers and their parents featuring curriculum-based
learning through game play, will expand. myNOGGIN will also have a
presence at retail with a gift card offering for a subscription to the
service.
As virtual worlds become one of the fastest growing segments in terms of
online casual gaming, the company will continue to focus in this area with
three new virtual worlds currently in development, and by growing its existing
virtual worlds Neopets and Nicktropolis.
In addition, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's digital sites will
continue to build community features around its gaming content to deepen the
user experience. By adding game rankings, comments, profiles and user rewards,
the company aims to bring its users' voice to its sites. AddictingGames, for
example, will launch user profiles in second quarter, which will feature
social networking functionality.
MTV Networks has an expansive footprint in gaming through a diverse
portfolio of online casual gaming, console-based and handheld games. MTV
Networks continues to build a multi-dimensional games media network with
acquired properties Xfire and GameTrailers.com, and content on branded sites
including MTV.com and SpikeTV.com. The company also has a strong foothold in
console-based and handheld gaming with MTV Games and Harmonix, which provides
music fans with a deeper interactive experience through its popular music and
rhythm titles.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for
kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in
everything it does. The company includes television programming and production
in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online,
recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television
network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-
one-rated basic cable network for more than 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon
and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc.
(NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).
SOURCE Nickelodeon
CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326 joanna.roses@nick.com or Nakiah
Cherry Chinchilla, +1-212-846-6492 nakiah.cherry@nick.com both of
Nickelodeon
Web site: http://www.nick.com
http://www.nickjr.com
http://www.nicktropolis.com
http://www.nickarcade.com
http://www.turbonick.com
http://www.neopets.com
http://www.addictinggames.com
http://www.the-n.com
http://www.myNOGGIN.com
http://www.shockwave.com
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