NINTENDO CLAIMS TRADE FOURSOME AT FIFTH ANNUAL MCV INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Friday 20th April/... The fifth annual MCV Industry Excellence Awards took place last night in central London, as over 600 top executives from the computer and video games industry attended a lavish ceremony.

Hosted by broadcaster Iain Lee, and followed with a performance by comedian Al Murray, the Awards celebrated the business's finest achievements across three key areas: Retail, People & Industry and Marketing, in the period from March 3rd 2006 to March 2nd 2007.

Nintendo scooped three individual Awards and one joint accolade, making it the clear winner on the night.

Other highlights included Activision's Guitar Hero as New Games Brand, GAME as Specialist Retailer and Blizzard Entertainment as Unsung Hero. Travellers Tales were crowned best UK Development Team, whilst Gears of War (Microsoft) was judged to be the industry's best marketing campaign.

The MCV Industry Excellence Awards are voted for by a panel of 90 industry judges, making them a real reflection of what the business regards as the finest example of its work.

In addition a special Grand Prix Award was bestowed on the company felt by MCV to have contributed the most to the business over the previous 12 months.

This was awarded to Nintendo in recognition of its trailblazing 12 months, completing a triumphant night for the innovative publisher and hardware manufacturer.

"The MCV Industry Excellence Awards continue to go from strength to strength, cementing their position as the business's most valued accolades," says Stuart Dinsey, managing director of Intent Media, publisher of MCV. "It was a hotly-contested year, with the industry continuing to grow, prosper and innovate - so this year's winners should be thrilled to triumph in such a competitive year. Our congratulations go out to those that picked up MCV Industry Excellence Awards, along with all the finalists who contributed so much to the business over the past 12 months."

The event is sponsored by Microsoft Xbox360, Nintendo, NVidia, IGA, System 3, Sennheiser, Gem and Kiss FM, Disney Interactive Studios, Gamer.tv Creative and Mice Domino.

MCV Industry Excellence Awards 2007 Winners in full:

RETAIL

Independent Retailer

Winner: e-Play

Finalists: Chips, Grainger Games, Playtime Multimedia, Ninja Games

Entertainment Retailer

Winner: HMV

Finalists: Woolworths, Virgin, Asda, Tesco

Specialist Games Retailer

Winner: GAME

Finalists: Chips, Gamestation, Gamestop, CEX

Online Retailer

Winner: Play

Finalists: Amazon, GAME, Gameseek, Shopto.com

Star Store (in association with field marketing agency Channel Advantage, commissioned by MCV)

Winner: Gamestation (Birmingham New Street)

Finalists: Playtime Multimedia (Doncaster), Chips (Orpington), GAME (Braehead, Glasgow), HMV (Oxford Street, London)

Special Recognition Award (voted for by the MCV Retail Advisory Board)

Margaret Pearson - Centersoft

PEOPLE & INDUSTRY

UK Development Team

Winner: Travellers Tales

Finalists: Real Time Worlds, Evolution Studios, Rare, Rockstar Leeds

Distribution Team

Winner: Koch/Nindie

Finalists: Gem, Centresoft, Just, EUK

Unsung Hero

Winner: Blizzard Entertainment

Finalists: Capcom, Square Enix, Mastertronic/Blast, Koch/Nindie.com

Sales Team

Winner: THQ

Finalists: Nintendo/Koch, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Microsoft/Gem

Games Publisher

Winner: Nintendo

Finalists: Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sega, THQ

PR & MARKETING

PR Team

Winner: Nintendo/Cake

Finalists: Microsoft/Red/Edelman, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts/Shine Communications, Sega/Kazoo

New Games Brand

Winner: Guitar Hero (Activision)

Finalists: Brain Training (Nintendo), Gears of War (Microsoft), Just Cause (Eidos), Dead Rising (Capcom)

Trade Marketing Team

Winner: Ubisoft

Finalists: Sony Computer Entertainment, Vivendi Universal Games, Nintendo,

Sega

Marketing Team

Winner: Nintendo

Finalists: Microsoft, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, THQ

Game Campaign

Winner: Gears of War (Microsoft)

Finalists: Wii Sports (Nintendo), Brain Training (Nintendo), FIFA 07 (Electronic Arts), Pro Evo 6 (Konami)

Grand Prix Award

Nintendo

Ends

For more information, please contact Tom Sargent at Barrington Harvey:

01462 456780 / tom.sargent@bhpr.co.uk

About MCV

MCV is the leading publication in its field because it has changed what the industry expects from a trade title. It does not believe in an elitist circulation reaching only the select few, MCV has always been committed to having as broad a circulation as possible. That is why it currently publishes over 11,000 copies every week. MCV covers all sectors of the market equally, from retail to publishing, from international markets to product reviews and software development. MCV always publishes a minimum of 40 pages, with major emphasis on exclusive breaking news and informed analysis.