May 24th, 2002 (12:00am) - London, May 24, 2002 The World Wrestling Entertainment™ Superstars may be intimidating in the ring, but from 5th June 2002, Orange lets fans challenge the fearsome World Wrestling Entertainment™ Superstars from the safety of their Orange mobile phone.
World Wrestling Entertainment™, one of the most popular entertainment shows in the world, is now available on the Orange network courtesy of videogame licensees THQ Inc./JAKKS Pacific. In World Wrestling Entertainment™ Mobile Madness you can Choke, Slam, Power Bomb and Angle Lock™ your opponents in a text message or WAP game. Play as Stone Cold Steve Austin™, The Rock® or even create your own WWE™ Superstar, and fight your way up the to the top. Moves can be chosen strategically and each Superstar has a signature move that is unique to the real-life counterpart.
The game allows you to play against real opponents who are logged on the same time as you, or even a friend by entering their unique username. To register for the game, call 277 from your Orange phone or log on to http://www.orange.co.uk/wwe in the games category of the Orange WAP home section.
Fergus Lynch, Fun and Games Manager at Orange comments: ”World Wrestling Entertainment™ is watched in over 130 countries around the world, and now we are offering UK fans the chance to emulate and challenge their heroes and even their friends whenever, wherever, and however they choose. World Wrestling Entertainment™ Mobile Madness is only available in the UK to Orange customers and reinforces Orange’s position as the leading provider of wirefree™ entertainment.”
With 15 games already available to Orange’s WAP users, World Wrestling Entertainment™ Mobile Madness illustrates Orange’s expansion across a multimedia gaming platform that encompasses WAP, SMS, the Internet and voice media. As mobile technologies continue to evolve towards 3G (third generation), the range and quality of games is set to increase.
Orange launched its wirefree™ gaming division in January 2001 as part of a large portfolio of life services to be provided to the phone. Mobile gaming will form the cornerstone of Orange’s entertainment strategy for 2002 and beyond, giving customers access to the games that they want whenever, wherever and however they choose.
About Orange
Orange, wirefree and any other Orange product or service referred to in this release are trademarks of Orange
Orange provides a broad range of personal communications services, including Orange GSM 1800 services and other digital cellular telephone services
In August 2000 Orange plc was acquired by France Telecom, leading to the creation of Europe’s second largest mobile operator. The new Orange has operations in 20 countries across Europe and beyond, and aims to have a presence in 50 countries worldwide by 2005
As at the end of September 2001, Orange had over 12.2 million customers in the UK, 16.6 million in France and 37 million controlled customers worldwide
In May 2001, for the fourth consecutive year, the J.D. Power and Associates study on the UK mobile market ranked Orange number one for customer satisfaction
Orange provides high quality coverage to 99% of the UK population and over 80% of the geographic area. Coverage is based on hand portable, unlike some other operators which choose to base their coverage on boosted car kits
Orange UK now offers roaming on 258 networks in 116 countries
Information about Orange can be found on the Orange website at www.orange.co.uk and media information can be found at www.orange.com
About World Wrestling Entertainment™
World Wrestling Entertainment™(NYSE: WWF) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with sales offices in New York City, Chicago, Toronto and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and wwecorpbiz.com.
About JAKKS Pacific
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: JAKK) is a multi-brand company that designs and markets a broad range of toys and leisure products. The product categories include: Action Figures, Arts & Crafts Activity Kits, Stationery, Writing Instruments, Performance Kites, Water Toys, Sports Activity Toys, Vehicles, Infant/Pre-School, Plush and Dolls. The products are sold under various brand names including Flying Colors®, Road Champs®, Remco®, Child Guidance®, Pentech®, Toymax®, Funnoodle®, Laser Challenge™ and Go Fly a Kite®. The Company also participates in a joint venture with THQ Inc. that has exclusive worldwide rights to publish and market World Wrestling Entertainment™ video games. For further information, visit www.jakkspacific.com.
About THQ
THQ Inc. develops and publishes interactive entertainment software worldwide for a variety of hardware platforms including PC CD-ROM, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Nintendo and Microsoft. The THQ web site is located at www.thq.com. The THQ Wireless website is located at www.thqwireless.com.
This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about THQ’s business based, in part, on assumptions made by its management. These statements are not guarantees of THQ’s future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including, but not limited to, those described above and the following: changes in demand for THQ’s products, product mix, the timing of customer orders and deliveries, the impact of competitive products and pricing and difficulties encountered in the integration of acquired businesses. In addition, such statements could be affected by growth rates and market conditions relating to the interactive software industry and general domestic and international economic conditions. Specific information concerning these and other such factors is contained in THQ’s registration statement on Form S-3 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 22, 2002. A copy of this filing may be obtained by contacting THQ or the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date on which they are made, and THQ does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
