Namco launches International Mobile Gaming Tournament with European i-mode(TM) operators
Competition Across Multiple i-mode Operators Will Find Europe's Best Player
London, UK. August 17th. Namco today announced the world's first international cross-network operator mobile games tournament.
The tournament is open to every i-mode phone owner, on all of the mobile networks in Europe where Namco offers its PAC-MANTMARCADE site. This includes Bouygues Telecom (France), COSMOTE (Greece), e-plus (Germany), and KPN (Netherlands).
The tournament is based around Namco's brand new high-score version of PAC-MAN, which allows users to upload their highest scores from the mobile version of PAC-MAN to compare it with other users, locally and internationally.
The competition will run from 4-6 weeks, starting in mid August. The player in each territory with the highest score will continue onto the Grand Final in the UK in November, where they will compete live and head-to-head with the other winners on an original PAC-MAN arcade machine at the famous Namco Station entertainment centre at County Hall, in the heart of London.
The overall winner will become PAC-MAN European Champion 2005, and walk away with a rare and exclusive 25th anniversary branded PAC-MAN arcade machine, featuring three classic Namco arcade titles - the original PAC-MAN, Ms.PAC-MANTM and GalagaTM.
i-mode subscribers can enter the competition by downloading the game from Namco's recently re-designed PAC-MAN ARCADE i-mode site.
Mr. Takeshi Natsuno, Senior Vice President,Managing Director, Multimedia Services, NTT DoCoMo, Inc., said, "Since i-mode was first introduced to the European market in 2002, it has proven very successful, offering access to a wide range of innovative services. Namco has been an excellent partner during this time and has offered i-mode customers fun and entertaining content from the very beginning. By taking part in the PAC-MAN Tournament with Namco, we hope to show mobile game fans all over Europe just how exciting i-mode can be."
Tadashi Fukumoto, the Vice President for Namco Limited's Web & Mobile Content division, said, "In Namco's 50th anniversary year, we are very proud to be hosting Europe's first international cross-network operator tournament alongside DoCoMo Europe and our operator partners. Here in Japan, we launched our i-mode service back in 1999 and through working very closely with DoCoMo, we have learned a great deal about how to successfully run our own sites. This is the first of many exciting and innovative projects we have planned for the future."
"PAC-MAN", "Ms. PAC-MAN" and "Galaga" are registered trademarks of Namco Ltd. in Japan and other countries.
i-mode and the i-mode logo are registered trademarks of NT DoCoMO, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
ENDS
Notes To Editors:
About Namco Europe Ltd.
Namco Europe Ltd is the European headquarters of Namco Limited, a Tokyo-based world leader in the high-tech entertainment industry. Group turnover for 2004 was $1.5bn.
Committed to providing the ultimate interactive entertainment experience, Namco uses cutting-edge technology and advanced electronics to take their theme parks, arcades, and home video games far beyond traditional entertainment.
Through its Web and Mobile Content Division, Namco currently provides JavaTM, BREWTM and i-modeTM based content to all carriers in Japan (NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone KK, and KDDI), and in Europe (Vodafone Group through Vodafone live!, Orange World, O2 UK and Ireland, T-Mobile, Telefonica Móviles, Bouygues Telecom, KPN Mobile, eplus and Cosmote)
"PAC-MAN", "Galaxian", "Galaga", "Mr Driller" and "Dig Dug" are registered trademarks of Namco Ltd.
*All brands are registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Contact:
Namco Web & Mobile Content
Pramesh Chauhan
Head Of Business Development
Media
Brian Baglow
Indoctrimat
M: +44 (0) 7747 792247