Vivendi Universal Games Mobile Announces Six New Titles

LOS ANGELES, April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivendi Universal Games Mobile ("VUG Mobile") today announced its second and third quarter mobile game titles for 2006. Among the highly anticipated games will be SWAT(R) Force, Empire Earth(R), After Dark(R): Flying Toaster, Red Baron(R), Navy Challenge(TM) and Black Hawk Down(R): Team Sabre.

"VUG Mobile continues to expand its product line-up of premium titles ranging in appeal from core gamers to casual players and in gameplay from engaging strategy games to one-thumb gaming fun," said VUG Mobile President, Paul Maglione.

  The announced titles:

  SWAT Force

Based on the critically acclaimed PC tactical-action franchise, which to date has generated more than $50 Million in sales and was named GameSpy's Tactical Game of the Year in 2000, SWAT Force allows gamers to take control of a two-man SWAT squad and lead them through seven crisis situations. SWAT Force allows the player to assume the role of a SWAT squad leader, choose the equipment and tactics for the squad's sharp shooter and explosives experts. Players must use each one at the appropriate moment and defuse the traps that lie in the way.

IGN's Editor's Choice Award review of SWAT Force recognizes VUG Mobile's efforts to translate the best-selling PC franchise to the mobile screen: "SWAT Force is one of the better PC-to-mobile games I have played. The game delivers the tactical mechanics of the PC game, but scales back on the number of talents, tools, and objectives without sacrificing the general essence of the series ... the secret to success is to deliver the proper essence of the traditional video while accurately recreating the universe the game exists in. On these counts, SWAT Force succeeds."

Empire Earth

Based on the popular PC franchise, which to date has generated more than $100 Million in sales and was named GameSpy's PC Game of the Year in 2001, Empire Earth will turn mobile gamers into generals, allowing them to command forces from the past, present and future and build up their own empire ... To succeed, players must conquer all opposition through eight challenging campaigns. Empire Earth features a full combat system combined with strategic resource management, providing players with the means to capture and control an enemy's territory and move forward in time. Each age brings its own challenges, new units and additional strategic issues.

After Dark: Flying Toaster

Based on one of the most recognized electronic entertainment icons, After Dark: Flying Toaster is VUG Mobile's first 2006 entry into the casual gaming arena. Simple to play, fiendishly difficult to master, After Dark: Flying Toaster is an addictive, humorous one-thumb game featuring the Flying Toaster. Players navigate through numerous puzzle levels while catching enough toast to keep the famous Flying Toaster energized. Various level environments present interesting challenges, as the player must avoid running into obstacles, enemies and "slow down" items such as hamburgers.

Red Baron

Based on the renowned classic Sierra flight game, Red Baron offers mobile gamers a chance to go head-to-head with the best fighter pilots of World War I, including Manfred von Richtohoven, AKA the infamous "Red Baron." The game features epic dogfights as the player chase, and are chased by, various enemy pilots, each with a distinctive fighting and flying style. Mission-based levels will offer varied gameplay such as protecting bases and bombing the enemies' buildings. Red Baron will be offered in both 2D and 3D versions across a wide range of J2ME and BREW-enabled handsets.

Navy Challenge

Set in World War II, Navy Challenge is a state-of-the-art mobile take on the classic battleships game genre, enabling the player to assume the persona of a US, British, Japanese or Chinese admiral directing a fleet into battle. Enhanced gameplay options feature a wide array of weaponry and an "active defense" mode, where users can choose between an air strike, torpedo attack, rocket attack or radar sweep to detect and destroy enemy ships. The game is far from static, allowing players to move their ships mid-game to avoid enemy fire. Initially offered in single-player mode, Navy Challenge will also be available later in the year as a turn-based multiplayer game.

Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre

Based on the popular NovaLogic franchise, which to date has sold 4+ million units worldwide with the original game a #1 selling PC title in North America, Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre allows players to lead an elite Delta Force(R) unit on 10 missions through treacherous South American jungles and across remote deserts in the Persian Gulf. Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre is a 2D tactical-action game represented in top down view, featuring superb graphics. Levels alternate between helicopter combat and ground combat, presenting a total of 20 action sequences.

About VUG Mobile

VUG Mobile has current game offerings live across 70 operators in 40 countries. These titles, several of which have been developed in-house at VUG Mobile's Paris studio, include Crash Nitro Kart(R), Crash Twinsanity(TM), and Crash(R) Tag Team Racing (nearly two million Crash Bandicoot(R) mobile games have been sold to date); Spyro Ripto Quest, Spyro the Dragon(R), Leisure Suit Larry(R) Magna Cum Laude, Leisure Suit Larry Sexy Pinball, Empire Earth and SWAT Force. The company, with worldwide headquarters in Paris, North American offices in Los Angeles, and Asia-Pacific offices in Singapore, is a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal Games. For further information, visit http://www.vugames.com/.

About Vivendi Universal Games

Vivendi Universal Games (http://www.vugames.com/) is a global developer, publisher and distributor of multi-platform interactive entertainment. The company is a leader in the subscription-based massively multi-player online (MMO) games category, holds leading positions in the PC, console and handheld games markets, and is an emerging player in mobile and wireless games. Its development studios and publishing labels include Blizzard Entertainment(R), Radical Entertainment, Sierra(R) Entertainment, Massive Entertainment(R), Swordfish Studios and High Moon Studios. VU Games' library of over 700 titles features owned intellectual properties including Warcraft(R), StarCraft(R), Diablo(R) and World of Warcraft(R) from Blizzard Entertainment; Crash Bandicoot, Spyro The Dragon, Empire Earth, Leisure Suit Larry, and Ground Control(R) from Sierra Entertainment. VU Games also maintains strategic relationships with industry leading content partners, including Universal Music Group, NBC Universal, Twentieth Century Fox and Ludlum Entertainment.