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Be one of the first to get a sneak peek at Free Realms, the highly anticipated free online video game from Sony Online Entertainment. Join thousands of other players and make your home in Free Realms! Do what you want to do, when you want to do it, in a lush, living, 3D world filled with lush landscapes and fun wildlife.

Sign up here!

The First Release of the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game, “Champions of the Force” Now Available

LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment announced today the launch of the Star Wars Galaxies™ Trading Card Game and its first release: Champions of the Force.

Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game: Champions of the Force marks the first ever Star Wars® trading card game offered exclusively online. Available to both current and former Star Wars Galaxies subscribers*, the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game provides players an entirely new gameplay experience by combining the challenge of a trading card game with the adventures and community of the massively multiplayer game. For the first time online, players can:

· Choose between the light and dark sides of the Force and build their own Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game decks to fight virtual matches for the Rebel, Imperial, Jedi or Sith;
· Enhance their digital card decks with 15-card Booster Packs;
· Find more than 20 “loot” cards in the first release, Champions of the Force, that can be redeemed for fantastic virtual items for use within the Star Wars Galaxies massively multiplayer game for players with a Star Wars Galaxies account*;
· Challenge their skills in story-based solo-play or against other Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game players in epic one-on-one matches, cooperative Heroic Encounters, and official tournaments. (more…)

WHAT
Watch, listen and learn what’s new at SOE! To kickoff the 2008 SOE Fan Faire, SOE President John Smedley will provide opening remarks to more than 1000 video game fans at the Hilton Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The second annual “Community Address” combines a live presentation with a streaming video broadcast online. For the first time ever, there will be a live audio broadcast in EverQuest®, EverQuest ®II and Star Wars Galaxies™ through Station Voice™, a service powered by Vivox® that allows players to talk to each other in online games. Smed will give both Fan Faire attendees and gamers worldwide the kind of inside look at SOE products usually reserved for industry insider events.

SOE’s Fan Faire is a unique social event in which players of SOE’s most popular titles congregate to meet their online, game-playing peers. Fan Faire guests will have the chance to demo new titles throughout Fan Faire weekend, August 15th 17th, including the highly anticipated Free Realms™. This year’s event boasts a plethora of game-themed live events including tournaments, contests, live quests, a variety of panel discussions and tons of great gaming-related contests.

WHEN
Friday, August 15th at 6:00pm PST.

WHERE
To view the live webcast, please go to:
http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=50659

To listen to audio broadcast in-game, please go to:
www.station.sony.com/stationvoice

WHO
SOE is hosting its annual Fan Faire event in Las Vegas for fans of its massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming lineup including the hit titles EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, EverQuest® Online Adventures, PlanetSide®, Star Wars Galaxies™ and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes®. This year’s Fan Faire will also feature upcoming titles such as Free Realms™, The Agency™ and more.

For more information on the SOE Fan Faire visit: http://events.station.sony.com/fanfaire/

SAN DIEGO, CA – June 2, 2008 – The EverQuest ^® franchise, the groundbreaking, award-winning fantasy series that redefined massively multiplayer online (MMO) video games for a generation of gamers around the globe, is bringing a near decade of success back to millions of fans with a new Living Legacy program from Sony Online Entertainment LLC, which will feature in-game events, promotions, game updates and more.

Living Legacy, announced today, is a brand-new initiative aimed at the millions of players who have experienced the vast, engaging online worlds of EverQuest ^® (EQ) and EverQuest^® II (EQII) since the original EQ game was launched in 1999. The celebration starts today and continues through the end of September. As part of the promotion, both EQ and EQII subscribers with inactive accounts who left in good standing will be able to log back in to the games and play for free until the end of July.

(more…)

Tokyo, April 22, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that it will expand the Closed Beta testing for PLAYSTATION®Home in Summer 2008, inviting a further number of registrants from the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) users. Following completion of the Expanded Closed Beta test, the PLAYSTATION Home Open Beta service will commence in Fall 2008.

“We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PLAYSTATION Home. Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation® tradition.”

The PLAYSTATION Home Open Beta service that will become available in Fall 2008 will be built around providing new and fun community gaming experiences.
Details of the Closed Beta testing features, registration for the test and the opening of the service will be announced as they become available.

North American Soundtrack Will Feature Weezer, Mars Volta, DJ Shadow and other Hot Musical Artists

FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 25, 2008 - Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) announced today the North American soundtrack for Gran Turismo^TM5 Prologue, the fifth installment of the billion-dollar selling racing franchise developed exclusively for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3^TM) by Polyphony Digital Inc. The official Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soundtrack is headlined by an in-game exclusive remix of Weezer’s “Automatic,” from the band’s upcoming album and an EL-P remix of Mars Volta’s “Goliath.” The soundtrack will provide North American racing fans with a High Definition (HD) audio experience to complement Gran Turismo 5 Prologue’s stunning Full HD visuals, and furthers Sony Computer Entertainment’s commitment to providing an intermix of entertainment, music and games.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue features an edgy soundtrack that mixes an aesthetic audio blending of indie dance rock, electronica, classic rock and brand new remixes by some of today’s hottest recording artists such as Weezer, Mars Volta and DJ Shadow, among others. The Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soundtrack enhances an already comprehensive driving experience, and it builds on the historic success of past Gran Turismo soundtracks that have featured original scores and licensed tracks from the biggest names in the recording industry.
“The Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soundtrack gives fans the perfect audio accompaniment to high-octane racing from Daytona to Eiger Nordwand,” said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA. “The edgy variety of music complements the pure adrenaline rush fans experience as they eclipse 200 miles-per-hour in the most authentic driving simulator around.”

The North American version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue’s soundtrack offers fans a dozen exclusive singles from some of today’s hottest new artist such as Justice, The Klaxons and Friendly Fires, and pulses with new tracks such as “Love Love” made famous by Jimi Hendrix and interpolated by DJ Shadow, a pioneer in instrumental hip-hop and famed producer. In addition to the exclusive North American tracks and a new version of Gran Turismo theme song “Moon Over The Castle,” the soundtrack offers an international flare of recordings from Goose, Alloy Mental, naomee, Daiki Kasho and Nittoku Inoue.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue North American Soundtrack
Exclusive Tracks to North America

• Weezer - “Automatic” (LA Riots remix)
• The Mars Volta - “Goliath” (EL-P remix)
• Justice - “Let There Be Light”
• SebastiAn - “Dolami”
• Kavinsky - “Testarossa Autodrive” (SebastiAn remix)
• DJ Shadow - “LOVE LOVE”
• Does it Offend You, Yeah? - “With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)”
• The Earaches - “Not the Kind of Man I Am”
• Thin Lizzy - “The Rocker (Richard Evans Mix)”
• The Klaxons - “Golden Skans”
• Friendly Fires - “On Board”
• Pride Tiger - “Let ‘Em Go”

International Tracks also on the North American Soundtrack

• Masahiro Andoh - “Moon Over The Castle” (Gran Turismo 5 Prologue version)
• Nittoku Inoue - “Road Star”
• Nittoku Inoue - “100,000 R.P.M.”
• Nittoku Inoue - “Get Away”
• Nittoku Inoue - “V12″
• Nittoku Inoue - “Kill Switch”
• naomee - “Vanish From Angel”
• naomee - “Sky High Mountain Breeze”
• naomee - “Twieky 4″
• Daiki Kasho - “Surv1v3″
• Daiki Kasho - “Edge of the World”
• Daiki Kasho - “Flow”
• Goose - “Check”
• Goose - “3T4″
• Goose - “Everybody”
• Backdraft ft Tor - “Off The Wall”
• Alloy Mental - “We have Control”
• Reverend & The Makers - “The Machine”

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available in April for $39.99 SRP on Blu-ray Disc^TM (BD) and as a download via PLAYSTATION®Store.

SAN DIEGO, CA & TOKYO, JAPAN (March 13, 2008) — In a strategic move to closely align itself with the strong growth of the worldwide online gaming market, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will report to Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCEI, effective April 1, 2008. The new structure is designed to mutually benefit both companies by further accelerating the PlayStation business through SOE’s strong online gaming expertise.

“I am excited to be able to work with SOE even more closely, as online games and services become a more integral part of the PS3 entertainment experience,” Hirai said. “This new structure will allow us to take full advantage of the extensive breadth of expertise of the two companies and increase our range of exciting entertainment offerings to our consumers.”

San Diego-based SOE is currently part of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Under the new structure, SOE will continue to develop its games for the PC and the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system, and SOE President John Smedley will report to Hirai.

“We are thrilled to become a part of the incredible team that has made PLAYSTATION 3 the premier platform for next generation online gaming,” said Smedley. “This move is going to broaden our capabilities and expand the development of our products into new and exciting directions.”