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Golden Balls

Interactive TV spin-off available via Sky boxes.

For Immediate Release:

Dundee, Scotland. Monday, October 13th, 2008. Game development studio Denki today released Golden Balls the company's latest game for digital interactive television.

The game is now available in the UK through Sky’s interactive TV games service. Every Sky customer can access and play Golden Balls using their Sky remote control.

Golden Balls was reinterpreted and built specifically to recreate the popular television gameshow, within the tight constraints of digital interactive television (DiTV). The design and development was completed by Denki's highly experienced External Development Department (EDD), the world's leading developer of games for DiTV.

The release of Golden Balls brings EDD’s total releases for DiTV in 2008 to 17 games, while the department has designed, created and released more than 170 games over the last eight years.

“We're very pleased with the way Golden Balls turned out,” says Richard Ralfe, the head of Denki's EDD. “Capturing the essence of a very popular show and recreating it within the confines of a set-top box was something of a challenge, but which we were more than capable of meeting. Anyone who's watched Golden Balls will be able to pick up and enjoy the game. It's as close to being on the real show as we could possibly make it. The only way we could make it any more realistic is to send the presenter round people's houses to press the buttons for them...”

The market for DiTV games is growing worldwide, with the UK leading the majority of other countries in the penetration of set-top boxes and the advanced nature of Interactive services. Sky has 8,980,000 subscribers in the UK and Ireland and a growing number of interactive services – including games – which every customer can access through their set-top box and Sky remote control.

Denki’s EDD has recently celebrated seven continuous years of DiTV Product development, and an incredible 72% of its total product portfolio is still being broadcast today for audiences to enjoy.

Other countries around the world are now starting to open up their digital interactive television markets, offering enormous potential for Denki's titles to reach a massive global audience. In February 2007 Denki premiered titles on DIRECTV in North and South America, providing a number of games for the launch of their new DiTV ‘Game Lounge’. DIRECTV reaches over 16 million subscribers in the United States and over 1.5 million in Latin America.

Denki is now actively pursuing opportunities in other countries around the world.

Colin Anderson, the managing director of Denki, said, “The Digital Interactive Television market is one which is often overlooked by the mainstream gaming industry, yet it offers significant benefits to developers, brand owners and gamers alike. While the technology is restrictive, compared to the current generation on consoles – or even handheld games devices, the penetration into households, familiarity with the controller and the on-demand nature of the games lend themselves to a very large mainstream market. This market is growing in leaps and bounds as more and more countries begin offering these services to television viewers.

“Our external development team is quite simply the most experienced and talented DiTV game developer in the world today. They've done an incredible job with Golden Balls and I am delighted to have them available to millions of Sky homes.”

Denki’s External Development team is always happy to offer their experience to brand owners and media companies with properties they wish to bring into the interactive entertainment market

Golden Balls can be found on Sky Games, which is accessed by pressing the Interactive Button on your Sky Remote Control.

ENDS

Notes To Editors:

About Denki

Formed in March 2000 by four veterans of the computer games industry, Denki creates digital toys and games for all types of entertainment platforms.

Based in Dundee, Scotland, Denki currently has 20 employees, split over two departments. The External Development team has responsibility for branded and licensed titles and has released over 170 games for digital interactive television. The company's Internal Development team is responsible for generating original game concepts and prototypes, as well as extending Denki's existing catalogue of original titles across all of the new and emerging games platforms.

Denki is creator of the multiple award-winning Denki Blocks! puzzle game; winner of 'Overall Best Game of the Show' and 'Best Handheld Game of the Show' at the European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) 2001. Denki Blocks! was also nominated for a BAFTA award for best Mobile Game in 2002. The game perfectly demonstrates the company's skills in creating original Intellectual Property and exploiting it across multiple technologies.

Denki was one of the first companies in the world to begin developing games for interactive digital television channels such as those operated by DirecTV and Cablevision in the US, Bell Telecom in Canada, and Sky Television in Europe. Since the company was founded, Denki has created over one hundred and seventy (170) titles for digital TV networks, including many premier brands owned by the biggest media companies in the world, such as Disney, Universal Studios, Celador, Endemol, Hasbro, Atari, Aardman, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, Namco, Sky Sports, The Tetris Company, Channel 4, Eidos and Mattel.

Denki's External Development team has built an excellent reputation for taking top brands - which have already proven popular with audiences in other media - and translating them into successful interactive TV titles aimed specifically at a mainstream 'casual' audience.

Denki treats each and every brand with enormous care and respect, ensuring their hallmarks are retained within the interactive versions.

This results in Denki always being in demand from game publishers, brand owners and intellectual property creators who know their products will be of the highest standards.

Denki’s External Development team is always happy to meet brand owners and media companies with properties they wish to bring into the interactive entertainment market

Denki’s Internal team is now rapidly building a portfolio of original titles encompassing a huge range of different game styles and designed to work across all current and emerging gaming platforms.

Contacts:

Jaecinta Needs

Denki

T: +44 (0) 1382 308645

E: press@denki.co.uk

Media

Brian Baglow

Indoctrimat Ltd

T: +44 (0) 1577 864100

M: +44 (0) 7747 792247

E: brian@indoctrimat.com

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