One Piece™: Grand Battle™ Comes Exclusively To Virgin Megastores

Launching on the 7 October 2005, the Playstation 2 game, One Piece^TM: Grand Battle^TM, will be available exclusively at Virgin Megastores, at a release price of £29.99.

Based on a very popular Japanese Anime series, One Piece, One Piece^TM: Grand Battle^TM is a game where players will get the chance to be Monkey D. Luffy as he sets out to sea in a rowboat, in search of "One Piece" - the greatest treasure in the world.

One Piece games have had phenomenal success in Japan, often topping best sellers charts. With the One Piece cartoon series currently being shown in the UK on Satelite channel Toonami (dubbed in English), experts at Virgin Megastores are anticipating that One Piece^TM: Grand Battle^TM could achieve the same popularity and high status that games such as Dragonball Z have in the UK market.

Commenting on the new release, James Cooke, Head of Games for Virgin Retail said: "Virgin Megastores are committed to bringing an exciting games proposition to UK consumers, and our exclusive deal on One Piece^TM: Grand Battle^TM PS2 is just one part of how we shape our offer to stimulate customer interest and keep our shoppers at the forefront of new and emerging trends in gaming".

Virgin Megastores will be the only UK retailer stocking One Piece^TM: Grand Battle^TM after securing a deal with games publisher Atari.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:

Liz Hunt or Maria Murtagh

At Borkowski PR

020 7404 3000

liz@borkowski.co.uk

maria@borkowski.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

About One Piece^TM: Grand Battle^TM

Battle your way across the Grand Line to become King of the Pirates. In a world of pirates, one man wants to become the greatest of them all: Monkey D. Luffy. Join Luffy as he sets out to sea in a rowboat, in search of "One Piece," the greatest treasure in the world!

• 16 playable pirates with 32 additional support characters from the TV show!

• 6 game play modes including Grand Battle and 2 player Versus Mode

• Interactive 3D environments: pick up objects and use them to attack your opponent!

• 7 environments in which to battle your opponents, all faithfully recreated from the TV series.

• Each character has more than 20 regular moves, as well as special attacks and ultimate attacks!

• Unlock hidden features such as additional characters, costumes, items and mini-games.

• Collect items and gimmicks to power up or increase your skills.

About Virgin Megastores

With over a million people visiting a Virgin Megastore somewhere in the world per day, served by knowledgeable and informed staff, Virgin Megastores remain at the forefront of popular culture with the broadest range of music, movies and games in the world. A recently launched Addict loyalty-card is the first of its kind for the entertainment retailer and a new phase set to drive customer loyalty, sales and footfall in-store.

Famous for in-store live performances, Virgin Megastores has hosted recent appearances from David Beckham to Destiny's Child, Jordan to Franz Ferdinand and Pamela Anderson to Velvet Revolver.

The first Virgin record store opened in London's Oxford Street in 1971 and in 1979 the company took over the site at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenham court road. This is the megastore that we still know and love that sells around 7,000 CDs per day. As well as a high profile retail estate in the UK, including the landmark Number One Piccadilly Store, London, Virgin have stores in the USA, France, Australia, Greece, Japan, Kuwait and Lebanon.

For more information please visit www.virginmegastores.co.uk a fully transactional website presenting the latest in music and home entertainment

About Virgin Digital

Virgin Digital Luxembourg SARL part of the Virgin Group, is a leading digital music company offering consumers the most comprehensive digital music service available. Virgin Digital is responsible for leveraging new technologies and combining them with Virgin's unrivalled heritage in music to build innovative and highly successful digital consumer offerings.

Virgin Digital has created an experience for passionate music lovers that is exciting, fun, dynamic, and the best of breed. Virgin Digital is the first true music-retail driven digital entertainment experience, featuring a massive download store, digital music club, integrated digital radio, music & portable device management tools and the most sophisticated customer service functions ever found in a music service.

For more information please visit www.virgindigital.com