Natsume, a worldwide developer and publisher of family-oriented video games, announced today their
lineup for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which begins tomorrow, Tuesday, July 15, and runs through Thursday, July 17. The company will be holding one-on-one meetings in room 517 at the show
with select media representatives. The majority of the titles showcased will be shipping this summer and fall on a variety of video game systems, including the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and the PSP.

“We are very excited to share the details on all of the titles that fans and consumers can expect to see from us later this year,” said Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO at Natsume. “From all-new games that expand on the Harvest Moon series to an original-IP, Princess Debut, a dance and adventure game for girls, we will have plenty of family-friendly interactive entertainment for everyone in the
household.”

Information on each title is listed below. For more information on Natsume at E3 or any of these titles, please visit www.natsume.com.

Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (DS)
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness brings the largest portable Harvest Moon experience ever to the Nintendo DS. Starting off with an abandoned farm, a handful of seeds, and the determination to start a new life, it’s up to the player to develop a mysterious, abandoned island into a bustling tropical paradise. By harvesting crops, raising animals, and mining for precious gems, players will help the island grow into a vibrant town filled with people, businesses, and eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. Players can take on the role of a male or a female, and choose who they want to fall in love and start a family with. Players can also test their farming skills against each other and compete for prizes via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (Wii)
In Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, players find themselves in a troubled island town which once prospered with life and energy, but is now in serious trouble. The mystical Mother Tree that once watched over the island has disappeared, and the Harvest Goddess is nowhere to be found! The island has lost its connection with nature and the inhabitants don’t know what to do - it’s up to the player to save the island! You must help to rebuild the island by tending to the earth, befriending and raising animals, nurturing friendships, and creating a
family. Long-time Harvest Moon fans as well as new players will find an exciting, involving storyline and plenty of activities including cultivating crops, caring for animals, and participating in festivals.
All-new controls for the Nintendo Wii Remote give players the chance to feel like they’re really farming!

Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)
Rune Factory 2 is set several years after the first game. The evil Sechs Empire has been defeated, and the Kingdom of Norad is once again at peace. Things may not stay that way for long, however, as dark premonitions foretell of dangers to come. It’s up to player to uncover the source of these premonitions and bring peace to the kingdom once more. In a first for the Rune Factory series, the story of Rune Factory 2 is multigenerational. Players begin the game as Kyle, a strange man who comes to Alvarna Village. Eventually, players will take on the role of Kyle’s child, opening up a whole new adventure. It’s an innovative feature that allows players to follow the story of their family and the townsfolk over two generations! Rune Factory 2 offers innovative Touch Screen controls, easy-to-use menus, and an all-new compelling storyline.

Princess Debut (DS)
In Princess Debut, players find themselves in a fantasy world where they have 30 days to get ready for the big ball. They’ll have to master their dance moves and win over one of the six handsome, charming princes to be their partner. They’ll meet and woo the princes through the game’s large, branching storyline and exciting events. Once the player convinces a prince to be their dancing partner, it’s time to go out on the dance floor! Players will use the Touch Screen to guide their character gracefully across the dance floor while matching their partner’s rhythm. All of the dances in the game are taken from motion-captured professional dancers, so the game is just as impressive to watch as it is fun to play.

Hamtaro (DS)
Join Hamtaro and all his friends in a variety of fun and educational brain-training games designed for elementary school children. Children will develop their memory, word comprehension, math skill, and many other abilities as they play through 12 engaging, interactive games. Parents can monitor their child’s growing abilities, adjust the difficulty level to match their child’s skills, and reward them with special items. Hamtaro and his friends make learning fun!

Yumi’s Odd Odyssey (PSP)
Yumi’s Odd Odyssey is a fast-paced puzzle platformer for the PSP. Trapped in a bizarre world filled with spikes, pitfalls, and giant, hostile fish with nothing but her wits and her trusty rubber fishing line, Yumi will have to run, jump, climb, and swing her way to freedom. Yumi’s fishing line isn’t just handy for fending off fish–it also works like a grappling hook, allowing Yumi to latch onto and swing from just about any part of the environment. The game’s advanced physics allow players to pull off remarkable feats of grappling acrobatics and find new, creative ways through the open-ended levels. With its colorful graphics, wild worlds, and ingenious grappling gameplay, Yumi’s Odd Odyssey will have players hooked!

Activision, Inc. today announced that the Delaware Court of Chancery has denied the Wayne County Employees’ Retirement System’s request for a preliminary injunction relating to Activision’s proposed combination with Vivendi Games, Inc., the interactive entertainment business of Vivendi S.A.

A special meeting of stockholders of Activision, Inc. will be held on Tuesday, July 8, 2008, to consider and vote on proposals to approve the transaction and related matters. If Activision’s stockholders approve the transaction and the other matters to be considered at the special meeting, Activision anticipates closing the business combination on or about July 9, 2008.

The meeting will be at 11:00 a.m., local time, at The Peninsula Hotel located at 9882 South Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $2.9 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Nyko Technologies, the premier gaming peripherals manufacturer, today revealed details for its upcoming Media Hub for the PlayStation 3. The Media Hub easily attaches to the console, adding three additional USB ports and a media card reader slot that supports SD cards and Memory Sticks. Compatible with all PS3 models, the Media Hub matches the color and contour of the system to expand its media capabilities while maintaining a clean form factor.

The all-new Media Hub from Nyko attaches to any available USB port and enables the connection of three additional USB devices including flash drives, PSP, MP3 players and additional controllers. Its unique design requires no tools or internal modifications, draws its power directly from the PS3, and easily installs in just seconds.

“We found that many of our customers who had purchased the popular 40 GB version of the PS3, which has less USB ports and no media card reader, were looking for an affordable solution to expand with these features,” said Chris Arbogast, Director of Marketing at Nyko Technologies. “With the Media Hub, an additional three USB ports and a media card reader are now possible for all PS3 models, allowing consumers to enjoy the full capabilities of their multimedia system no matter which model they choose.”

Nyko’s Media Hub for PS3 is expected to hit store shelves by August 2008 for the suggested retail price of $19.99. Please visit www.nyko.com for more information.

The record setting teen is at it again! Chris Chike (known online and in-game as Iamchris4life) has broken his own Guinness world record of 840,647 points on the hardest song in the game, “Through the fire and the flames” and has now perfected the song with a flawless 100% (987,786 points and a 3722 note streak) on expert—AND caught the whole performance on video.

The video is currently one of the top viewed videos on Youtube and has just broken the 1.6 million view mark (currently stands at 1,609,299).

“I was almost in shock when I finished the song and had hit the 100%–I am so glad I caught it on video or even I wouldn’t have believed it happened,” said Chike. “It feels great to have accomplished it, and it is exciting to see so many people online watching me get a perfect score on the hardest song in the game.”

The teen, who recently signed with The Ant Commandos guitar and peripheral company to be their spokesperson and help them design their next guitar, was recently challenged for his Guinness World record title. But Chike has no doubt he will continue to be at the top of his game and will get the title back soon, declaring “It is pretty hard to beat 100%”.

After more than a year of intensive study, the U.S. Copyright Office issued its report on whether to maintain, modify or eliminate Sections 111, 119 and 122 of the Copyright Act. It will serve as the basis for discussion for possible changes to the statutory licenses.

Section 109 of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act (SHVERA) of 2004 requires the Copyright Office to examine and compare the statutory licensing systems for the cable and satellite television industries under Sections 111, 119 and 122 of the Copyright Act and recommend any necessary legislative changes no later than June 30, 2008.

The Section 111 license, first enacted in 1976, permits a cable operator to retransmit both local and distant television and radio signals to its subscribers, provided that the cable operators pay royalties according to the formula set forth in the law. The other two licenses govern the retransmission of broadcast signals by satellite carriers. The Section 119 license, first enacted in 1988, permits a satellite carrier to retransmit distant superstation and network television station signals (but not radio signals) to its subscribers for private home viewing and to commercial establishments on a flat fee basis. The Section 122 statutory license, on the other hand, was first enacted in 1999 and permits satellite carriers to retransmit local television station signals into the stations’ local market on a royalty-free basis. These statutory licenses are linked, in many respects, to the broadcast signal carriage rules administered by the Federal Communications Commission.

In preparing its report, the Copyright Office sought comment from the affected industries, copyright owners and other interested parties and held three days of hearings in July 2007 to further supplement the record. The report was delivered to Congress on June 30 by the Copyright Office.

The principal recommendation in the report is that Congress move toward abolishing Section 111 and Section 119 of the Act. According to the Copyright Office, the cable and satellite industries are no longer nascent entities in need of a statutory licensing system. They have substantial market power and are able to negotiate private agreements with copyright owners for programming carried on distant broadcast signals. Moreover, the Copyright Office finds that the Internet video marketplace is robust and is functioning well without a statutory license. The Copyright Office also concludes that the distant-signal programming marketplace is less important in an age when consumers have many more choices for programming from a variety of distribution outlets. The office nevertheless recommends the retention of a royalty-free local-into-local license, because such a license is still necessary and it promotes the general welfare of users, broadcasters and the public.

Despite the Copyright Office’s determination that the ultimate solution should be the elimination of the existing distant signal licenses, it recognizes that the digital television transition in 2009 is likely to generate unanticipated signal reception problems for millions of American households. The office also finds that it is important for Congress to provide a lifeline distant signal service for subscribers during the post-transition period. The Copyright Office therefore recommends the establishment of a new statutory licensing system that would cover the retransmission of distant broadcast signals beginning on Jan. 1, 2010, and ending on Dec. 31, 2014. This will permit users of the license to serve the needs of their subscribers who may experience viewing disruptions. According to the Copyright Office, an equally important rationale for a transitional license is that it will take time for voluntary licensing arrangements to take shape and become widely available. The marketplace will work but it needs to be given time to adapt to changes in the regulatory regime.

Congress may decide that there should still be separate statutory licenses for cable operators and satellite carriers. The Copyright Office, then, makes several recommendations for adjusting Sections 111, 119 and 122. The recommendations in this regard are intended to further parity between cable operators and satellite carriers.

An electronic version of the report will be available under the “Hot Topics” section on the Copyright Office Web site at www.copyright.gov.

Mastiff, a San Francisco based developer and publisher of videogames, announced today that Nihon Falcom’s action-RPG, Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure has become the first third-party PSP (PlayStation Portable) system title available for online purchase and download to the PSP system through the PLAYSTATION Store and is available now.

Upon its release last year, Gurumin immediately won over the hearts of countless reviewers.

Gamespy, for example, said “Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure delivers the classic Japanese RPG experience and is simultaneously adorable and hilarious. If you’re only planning to get a single RPG for your PSP this year, this could well be the one to play.”

The Associated Press said”Gurumin” is filled with a uniquely Japanese sense of whimsy that translates well into English, and it’s one of the nicest surprises of the year so far.” Review site Deeko said “Gurumin is one of those rare games that should be in every PSP owners collection.” Console Gameworld, echoed the sentiment, writing “Gurumin is definitely one of those titles you have to pick up, period.”

“Charming, full of personality, and with a gentle sense of humor, Gurumin is a bright and catchy portable game,” said Heather Campbell of Play magazine. And Geoff Haynes of leading gaming website IGN.com, called Gurumin “…an excellent title that should appeal to action fans.” Gurumin’s strong reviews earned it a place in the top 50 of almost 1100 PSP titles ranked on IGN.com.

About Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure:
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure stars a strong-willed girl named Parin, who is sent to live with her grandfather in a small mining town while her parents are off excavating an ancient ruin. With no other children living in this town, Parin is surprised one day to encounter a young girl being tormented by a stray dog. After Parin drives off the mongrel, she is shocked to discover the young girl is actually a monster, and like all monsters, invisible to adults. Parin is soon invited to the mysterious Monster Village, which happens to be hidden right behind her town. Parin has just started making monster friends when evil spirits, known as Phantoms, invade the village and monsternap most of the inhabitants. Parin soon learns of the Legendary Drill, a weapon hidden underneath the village that is powerful enough to destroy the Phantoms. Thus begins Parin’s quest to reclaim the Legendary Drill and set the world right.

Gurumin features Include:
* Non-linear game play in over 30 stages set in a variety of environments.
* 23 non-player characters, 48 unique enemies, and more than 90 items to collect.
* 18+ costumes to unlock, and 15 equip-able headgear to level up.
* Destroy everything in your path with your legendary drill: almost all objects in a stage can be destroyed, and many hide money and valuable items.
* Challenging boss battles, puzzles and traps.
* Mini-games galore!
* Hidden characters, modes and other secrets.

For more information on Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure please visit www.gurumin.us.

Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company in the world, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks, along with marketing and distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc., are taking the groundbreaking music platform that forever changed the face of music video games to the next level this September with the release of Rock Band 2. With the original providing millions of players a new way to interact with the music and artists they love, Rock Band 2 is the next evolution of the franchise that redefined the standard for music games.

Rock Band is the groundbreaking platform that allows music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before - challenging players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals.

Rock Band 2 builds upon its foundation as the first music game to introduce co-operative band gameplay, multiple instruments, a robust online multiplayer experience, an unrivaled offering of downloadable content and raises the bar by delivering an entirely new level of depth, connectivity, authenticity and features including:

* Backwards compatibility with Rock Band downloadable music content. All previously purchased tracks will immediately load into your Rock Band 2 song list. No need to re-purchase or re-download.
* The biggest and most diverse soundtrack ever featuring some of rock’s most prolific acts, comprised entirely of master recordings.
* Major new and dynamic online modes that will connect the entire Rock Band community in more ways than ever before both locally and globally.
* More variety of instrument choices than ever before with new and improved drum and guitar peripherals, enhanced functionality and innovative new designs - all fully compatible with the original Rock Band instruments.
* And much more.

“As successful as the original Rock Band continues to be, we’ve now had the benefit of the last eight months to listen to our fans’ requests and to build upon that foundation,” said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix. “Rock Band 2 is a second-generation band game that will elevate the music game experience to the next level.”

Rock Band 2 will make its debut on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this September and have an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for additional platforms later this year.

“We expect Rock Band 2 to continue to drive an amazing social music experience on Xbox 360, said David Hufford, senior director, Xbox Product Management for the Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft. “We look forward to supporting Rock Band 2 on Xbox 360 as gamers continue to download hundreds of new music tracks from Xbox LIVE so they and their friends can perform the rock music they love most.

More details regarding features and music for Rock Band 2 will be revealed at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit. Rock Band, the first installment in the franchise, garnered more than 40 awards including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007.

In addition, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 15 million paid downloads since the game’s launch in late November 2007. With more than 200 tracks available to date via download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Rock Band 2 is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.