Game-spectrum

World’s Most Profitable Pure-Play Online and Console Game
Publisher

Cash Tender Offer for Up to 146.5 Million of Activision Blizzard
Shares at $27.50 Per Share to Commence Within Five Business Days

Vivendi Owns 52% on a Fully Diluted Basis/54% of Outstanding
Shares of Activision Blizzard

PARIS & SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Vivendi (Euronext Paris: VIV) and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the completion of the transaction announced on December 2, 2007 to create Activision Blizzard, as the world’s most profitable pure-play online and console game publisher. Activision Blizzard was formed by combining Activision, one of the world’s leading independent publishers of interactive entertainment, and Vivendi Games, Vivendi’s interactive entertainment business, which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s(R) World of Warcraft(R), the world’s #1 subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Activision Blizzard will continue to operate as a public company traded on Nasdaq under the ticker ATVI.

Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, said: “We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction and the combined strengths of the two businesses offer immense growth potential. I am also very confident that, with the new leadership team in place, the new entity is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these rapidly developing markets across the globe.”

Rene Penisson, Chairman of Activision Blizzard, added: “We are delighted that the merger has been completed. We are very excited about the opportunity for Activision Blizzard to create a broader entertainment software platform. We are leaders across North America and Europe and are creating a substantial footprint in the rapidly growing Asian market. We are determined to ‘think big’!”

“The completion of this transaction marks the beginning of an important new chapter in the history of interactive entertainment,” said Robert Kotick, President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. “By combining leaders in mass-market entertainment and subscription-based online games, Activision Blizzard has leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry. With more than 10.7 million subscribers on World of Warcraft, and with tens of millions of people playing Guitar Hero, Activision Blizzard’s games are transcending the traditional stereotypes and are more popular as a form of entertainment than ever before. We look forward to building upon our brands to create value for our shareholders, customers and consumers.”

“From the beginning, our goal has been to make the best games in the world, and this transaction strengthens our ability to do just that,” said Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment cofounder and Chief Executive Officer. “As part of Activision Blizzard we’ll have the reach and resources to share our games with an even wider audience — while maintaining the same approach as always to providing high-quality entertainment and services to our players.”

In addition to World of Warcraft, the #1 subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, the transaction brings together some of the world’s leading interactive entertainment franchises including Guitar Hero(R), the #1 family entertainment and #1 music-based franchise; Call of Duty(R), the #1 first-person action franchise; Tony Hawk, the #1 action sports franchise; Spider-Man, the #1 Super Hero franchise; Cabela’s(R), the #1 sports hunting franchise; and two of the top-ten kids movie-based franchises, Shrek and Madagascar(TM), for calendar year 2005 through 2007 according to the NPD Group, Chart Track and The GFK Group.

The transaction was approved by Activision’s stockholders at a special stockholder meeting on July 8, 2008 and closed on July 9, 2008.

Structure and Terms of the Transaction

Under the terms of the agreement, Vivendi Games merged with a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision and shares of Vivendi Games were converted into approximately 295.3 million new shares of Activision common stock. Concurrently with the merger, Vivendi purchased approximately 62.9 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share for a total of approximately $1.7 billion in cash, resulting in a total Vivendi ownership stake in Activision Blizzard of approximately 52% on a fully diluted basis and approximately 54% of shares outstanding.

In accordance with the terms of the agreement, within five business days of the closing of the transaction, Activision Blizzard will launch a $4 billion all-cash tender offer to purchase up to 146.5 million Activision Blizzard common shares at $27.50 per share. To the extent that Activision’s stockholders participate in the tender offer, the tender offer may be funded with Activision Blizzard’s available cash on hand at closing, borrowings made under credit facilities from Vivendi, and proceeds from the issuance of additional shares to Vivendi for up to $700 million. If the tender offer were fully subscribed, Vivendi would own an approximate 68% ownership stake in Activision Blizzard on a fully diluted basis.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive in its first year post-closing for Activision’s stockholders on a non-GAAP basis excluding equity-based compensation, one time costs related to the transaction, the impact of purchase price accounting related adjustments including amortization of intangibles, and the impact of the change in deferred net revenues and cost of sales related to online-enabled games.

Both Activision and Blizzard Entertainment’s businesses have maintained their momentum and Activision Blizzard is well positioned to exceed the financial goals set for the combined company at the time of the deal announcement.

Board & Management

The Board of Directors of Activision Blizzard consists of eleven members: six directors designated by Vivendi, two Activision management directors and three independent directors from Activision’s board of directors. Rene Penisson, a member of the Management Board of Vivendi and Chairman of Vivendi Games, will serve as Chairman of Activision Blizzard. Brian Kelly, Co-Chairman of Activision, will serve as Co-Chairman of Activision Blizzard. The three independent directors are Richard Sarnoff, Robert J. Corti and Robert Morgado. Other Activision Blizzard directors will be Robert Kotick (President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard), Bruce Hack (Vice-Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer of Activision Blizzard), Jean-Bernard Levy (Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi), Doug Morris (Member of the Management Board of Vivendi and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Music Group), Philippe Capron (Member of the Management Board and Chief Financial Officer of Vivendi), and Frederic Crepin (Senior Vice President, Head of Legal Department of Vivendi).

Activision Blizzard is drawing on an accomplished group of leaders from both companies: Robert Kotick is President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. Mike Griffith is serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Publishing, which includes the Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile divisions in addition to the Activision business.

Bruce Hack, who served as Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi Games, is Vice-Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer of Activision Blizzard, accountable for leading the merger integration and the finance, human resources and legal functions. Blizzard Entertainment cofounder, Mike Morhaime, will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Blizzard Entertainment. Thomas Tippl, formerly Chief Financial Officer of Activision Publishing, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Activision Blizzard and Jean-Francois Grollemund, Chief Financial Officer of Vivendi Games, has been appointed Chief Merger Officer of Activision Blizzard.

Portfolio of Video Games and Franchises

Activision Blizzard’s portfolio includes best-selling video games such as Guitar Hero(R), Call of Duty(R), and Tony Hawk, as well as Spider-Man(TM), X-Men(TM), Shrek(R), James Bond(TM) and TRANSFORMERS(TM), leading franchises such as Crash Bandicoot(TM) and Spyro(TM) and Blizzard Entertainment’s(R) StarCraft(R), Diablo(R), and Warcraft(R) franchises including the global #1 subscription-based massively multi-player online role-playing game, World Of Warcraft(R).

About Activision Blizzard

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a worldwide pure-play online and console game publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry.

Activision Blizzard maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia, Chile, India, Japan China, Taiwan and South Korea. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activisionblizzard.com.

Written by Andre Glegg
Monday, 28 April 2008
Ubisoft on Monday confirmed the newest Prince of Persia game, slated for release on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Nintendo DS this holiday Little has been revealed for the working title, but the game is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the same team that designed the original Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time, and most recently, Assassin’s Creed for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

So far, the game is vaguely described as a “new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe, featuring a new breed of gameplay [and] illustrative art style.”

Additionally, Ubisoft will release a Prince of Persia game specifically designed for the Nintendo DS system, featuring a unique storyline and new characters.

Prince of Persia is one of the more recognizable third-party games ever released, particularly after its transformation to 3D in 2003 with the release of Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time.Ubisoft on Monday confirmed the newest Prince of Persia game, slated for release on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Nintendo DS this holiday.

Little has been revealed for the working title, but the game is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the same team that designed the original Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time, and most recently, Assassin’s Creed for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

So far, the game is vaguely described as a “new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe, featuring a new breed of gameplay [and] illustrative art style.”

Additionally, Ubisoft will release a Prince of Persia game specifically designed for the Nintendo DS system, featuring a unique storyline and new characters.

Prince of Persia is one of the more recognizable third-party games ever released, particularly after its transformation to 3D in 2003 with the release of Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time.

Written by James Pikover
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
For most people, the mouse they use is of little concern. “So long as it isn’t a ball mouse,” they’ll say nowadays. “I can’t stand those.” They have a point: laser mice are certainly better, but the market is flooded with them. Which one should you get?

Once again, most people will just stick with whatever their computer comes with, the standard insert-company-name-here two button mouse. Completely functional, utterly boring.

That’s where companies like Logitech step in, to remind you that not only is life not meant to be based around those extra tidbits that come with that important something, but that everything should be that something. And that’s exactly what the G9 mouse is, a superior, superb machine that out-straps every typical mouse ever to come to existence.

At the same time, it’s meant for gamers, typically for fans of the FPS genre. Don’t worry, the G9 is a monster compared to most gaming mice as well. A monster in every way.

What it does require is a little patience and some time to get used to it. The G9 is smaller than most mice, with a thin top and a wide base, and it doesn’t fit most people’s palms for a full grasp. It’s not meant to; it’s meant for quick wrist movements instead of flailing arms, which are slower. There are also nine buttons, an unprecedented number, eight of which are programmable.

Two of the buttons sit on the undercarriage, one which operates the profile settings and the other which commands the scroll wheel lock. The former can be based around the default settings, with three different profiles are available and can be set to different resolutions (dpi, or how much the mouse reads while moving; the higher the dpi, the less physical movement required for ‘virtual’ movement on-screen), and more can be added with Logitech’s downloadable software. However, it isn’t required and the mouse will work on most machines as a plug and play with all it’s default settings intact.

The latter is pretty neat, especially if you never had the function on a mouse. Most mice have scroll wheels that click. By click, I mean that they have a stopper that keeps them from spinning rambunctiously to ensure scrolling is smooth and clean. But sometimes that clicking is just too slow, or perhaps annoying because of its insensitivity. Even with changing the proper Windows settings, you may never get it the way you like. Click the wheel lock, and that clicking mechanism goes away and suddenly the scroll wheel spins (practically) without friction. It may seem like a somewhat useless achievement, since it allows the scroll wheel to effectively have little to no control, those with nimble fingers and a sensitive touch will be able to control it adeptly, both with simple applications and serious games.

The other two buttons are the sensitivity setting, which sits directly below the left mouse button. It’s proximity to our favorite of buttons means changing sensitivity settings is easy and affordable. If you’re selecting an area of files to delete and there is a large acreage of display to cover, up the sensitivity and let the mouse fly. If precision is required for photo editing, just hit the “-” button and draw away. With a top sensitivity of 3200dpi, the G9 spans across the typical desktop with ease and comfort.

Considering how well it performs in standard, boring non-gaming applications, imagine our excitement when testing it on games such as Bioshock, Crysis, Supreme Commander and Portal. Having to test it against something, we had the Razer Deathadder in hand and the Creative HD7600L, which came with one of the assorted parts of my custom PC. Suffice to say, the order or mice given is also the order of performance they gave.

In Bioshock and Crysis, there were an assortment of weapons to go through, though both games have limited weapons to carry or use altogether, so there was little need to take off the scroll lock. Crysis called for a medium-high setting, since there was an abundance of camouflaging used while Bioshock ranged higher up. Being dark and scary at times, a higher sensitivity to turn around was much appreciated.

Portal performed wonderfully, and I was able to successfully do several tricks previously unattainable because of the changeable sensitivity. Quickly changing portal placement, turning a corner and doing it all over again at the speed of light worked wonderfully, and kept the flow clean because changing back to my regular settings was so very easy.

SupCom also benefited, mainly due to how much land could be covered. While RTS’s aren’t really the type of game that the G9 was made for, it still found a suitor in it. Selecting individual units versus whole groups was remarkably easy, and navigating from one section of the map to another was unprecedented. There was almost no comparison. While the Deathadder did feel more comfortable than the G9, it was outperformed in every way. The HD7600L just felt very tacky compared to both.

Along with all these wonderful features is an exquisite cable made of low-friction weaved material so it rarely, if ever, gets stuck in knots; a kit of weights to really customize the feel while moving the mouse to and fro; two different grips, one widegrip seen on many newer mice and one “Drygrip” which, true to its name, stays dry and helps against sweaty palms; and on-board memory that can save up to five different profiles directly on the mouse. With the exception of the G9 being made exclusively for right handed people and the small form-factor, it resembles everything we expect to see in a high-end mouse. The whole package retails at approximately $100, which is quite a bit for a mouse. However, with the functionality and usefulness the G9 has to offer, it’s a deal. Still, a quick search showed that finding a deal for it is pretty easy, and as of press time Amazon is selling it for nearly half off at $55. That’s not a bargain, it’s a steal. A mouse this good isn’t something to cherish or praise; it’s something to truly appreciate.

Score: 9.5/10

Recently, Codemasters released their alternate reality title Turning Point. Come Winter 2008, PS3, 360 and PC gamers will have another opportunity to visit a fictitious reality in, Damnation.

In their announcement today, Codemasters touted their upcoming release as a vertical shooter with stunts and gunplay aplenty. There isn’t much detail in the release, but the story looks to revolve around Rourke in a post-industrial America in a classic good versus evil plot.

Tuesday, 6th March 2008 – 2pm UK  –  Codemasters®, a leading video game publisher, and US creative studio Blue Omega Entertainment today announced Damnation™, a new videogame franchise set to come leaping onto the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows® this winter.

Evolving the shooter genre with its unique and exhilarating combination of fluid action and combat, Damnation will feature huge, open environments, frenetic combat, daredevil acrobatics and high-octane vehicle-based stunts. Presenting players with an intense test of reflexes, quick thinking and rapid-fire conflict, Damnation will feature vast, breathtaking landscapes, each covering miles of distance and thousands of vertical feet.

Billed as a ‘shooter gone vertical’ and visually inspired by iconic elements of American history, these massive streaming landscapes will form the battlegrounds for a post-industrial conflict between humanity and an unstoppable arms dealer hell-bent on total world domination.

Players will be able to choose their own paths and navigate the world by performing daredevil feats on the edge of human ability. However players aren’t the only ones with mind-blowing acrobatic skills; intelligent enemies will give chase and engage players in frantic gun fights and attacks that can come from any direction – in Damnation’s world there’s no safe place to hide.

With up to three hours of actual gameplay stretching out in front of them per level, players will need more than just muscle power to get across each level safely. Damnation will offer players a selection of awe-inspiring vehicles, from motorbikes capable of launching across seemingly infinite chasms, to huge, armour-piercing marvels that will induce mayhem with every huge shell.

The high action will be supported with an epic and in-depth story which, while focusing on the exploits of the hero character Rourke, is truly an ensemble piece. Players will meet and become involved in intricate story plots that reveal much more than the obvious.

In addition to the single player experience, Damnation comes complete with a unique set of multiplayer options that take full advantage of the game’s expansive levels. Currently in development at Blue Omega’s facilities in Annapolis, USA, Damnation will be available for Xbox 360, the PLAYSTATION 3 system and Games for Windows in late 2008. For more information and to catch a glimpse of what the future of gaming has in store, visit www.codemasters.com\playdamnation.