- Atari Announces the Launch of the European Playable Demo for CD Projekt’s Acclaimed PC Role-Playing Opus, Downloadable via www.TheWitcher.com -

FOURWAYS, SOUTH AFRICA – 18 December 2007 – Megarom Interactive (Pty) Ltd., one of the leading game importers and distributors, today announced that Atari announced the launch of the playable demo for The Witcher, the acclaimed first game from Polish development studio CD Projekt RED and a PC role-playing masterwork which delivers an engrossing story and thrilling tactical combat, all set in a mature and compelling original fantasy universe.  The demo can be downloaded via the official website at www.thewitcher.com or via www.atari.com.

Giving players a tantalizing taste of the world of The Witcher, the demo begins with the first part of the prologue in which the seeds of the story are sown and the white haired witcher Geralt learns the rudiments of combat. The prologue is followed by the entirety of Act 1, during which Geralt of Rivia will see the first threads of the story weave their web around him and be called upon to slay man and beast to stay alive and earn his keep.

In The Witcher players take the role of Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer who exists on the fringes of a complex society afflicted by the kind of problems more commonly found on the front pages of newspapers than in a fantasy universe.  Taken as a child, mutated, and trained in the arcane ways of the witchers, Geralt is a reluctant hero, who nonetheless finds himself all too frequently in the heat of battles that are not his own.  His is a path he might not choose to walk, but walk it he must, guided by his head, heart, and only faithful companion – his sword.

Based on the fictional world created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is set in a unique fantasy universe where real-life issues dominate a troubled society.  In this world there is no right or wrong, only decisions and consequences. 

The Witcher is available now at retailers across Europe as a standard game pack and as a Limited Edition containing a wealth of exclusive content.  For more information about The Witcher visit www.thewitcher.com and for more details about Atari’s entire product line up visit www.atari.com.

Assassin’s Creed™ expected to sell more than 5 million units in 2007-08.

• 2007-08 financial targets revised upwards:
  • Sales to top €840 million
  • Current operating income before stock options to exceed 12 percent of sales.

• Titles release schedule updated.

• Initial forecasts for fiscal 2008-09.

Fourways, South Africa, December 14, 2007 – Today Megarom , one of South Africa’s leading game importers and distributors announced record sales performance for its Assassin’s Creed™ video game, raised its guidance for fiscal 2007-08, updated its games release schedule, and issued its initial forecasts for 2008-09.

Record performance for Assassin's Creed™

Assassin's Creed™ has greatly outstripped Ubisoft's sales expectations and currently ranks among the two or 3 best-selling games for the PLAYSTATION^®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox360^® video game and entertainment system in the vast majority of geographical regions. In less than four weeks Assassin’s Creed™ recorded more than two and a half million units in sell-through sales worldwide, and is the fastest-selling new video game intellectual property in the US ever. Consequently, Ubisoft now forecasts that it will sell a minimum of five million units of the game in 2007-08 compared with its previous estimate of approximately three million.

2007-08 guidance raised and games release schedule updated

As a result of this outstanding sales performance and solid showings from Ubisoft’s other games – particularly its “casual” range – Ubisoft has significantly raised its forecasts for 2007-08. At the same time it has strengthened the line-up of games for next year, with titles such as Tom Clancy’s EndWar™, Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway™ and Far Cry^® 2 now scheduled for release in fiscal 2008-09 rather than the fourth quarter of 2007-08.

The sales target for 2007-08 has been raised to more than €840 million, with around €410 million for the third quarter, versus previous forecasts of €825 million and €330 million respectively.

The target for current operating income before stock options has been significantly revised upwards to at least 12 percent of sales, compared with the previously announced forecast of at least 9 percent. This reflects the combined impact of the stellar performance turned in by Assassin’s Creed™ and the ensuing major leverage effect on profitability, as well as lower-than-anticipated research and development costs due to the postponed release dates for Tom Clancy's End War, Brothers in Arms and Far Cry 2.

Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft, stated: "With the exceptional performance of Assassin's Creed™, the fastest-selling new video game intellectual property in the US ever, Ubisoft’s teams have once again demonstrated their expertise in creating and promoting major brands. These regular-sequel franchises are a source of very high profitability both in the short and long term. Drawing on its strong internal development capacities, Ubisoft is currently in an ideal position to continue to develop numerous new creations – an essential condition for winning market share and ensuring strong growth going forward."

Initial forecasts for fiscal 2008-09

Today Ubisoft announced its initial forecasts for fiscal 2008-09. The Company estimates that it will achieve sales of approximately €975 million and current operating income representing at least 11 percent of sales. These forecasts are notably based on the launch of (i) four new brands, including Tom Clancy's EndWar, (ii) seven franchises including Brothers in Arms, Far Cry 2 and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell^®, and (iii) new games in the Imagine, Petz^® and MyCoach series. More details on Ubisoft’s games portfolio will be provided when the sales figures for third-quarter 2007-08 are released on January 23, 2008.

After much deliberation DriftZilla ZA has told me that "I will start a blog" mainly to inform our local gaming community of what's going on in The Xbox Lounge. So here I am ready to try and pull this off! I hope this works else I'll feel that I'm really wasting space and time! :P

So what is it that I can offer the community well it seems I've landed a nice job at Megarom Interactive as the Marketing Co-ordinator (I don't really know what it means) but in general I create hype around the games we sell. Just to give you some background on Megarom. Megarom is one of the biggest distributors in South Africa Hosting some of the biggest publishers in the world including:

• Activision
• Ubisoft
• Atari
• Take 2 (Partial License)
• NC-Soft
• incl. small publishers

We're a very hard working team and I'm hoping that I can change the views of gamers surrounding the "Distributors are lazy" syndrome and hopefully keep you guys in the loop! of course you need to also understand that I'm bound by law to not reveal certain information (I kinda like my job) but I will try and get you some inside scoop on the happenings inside.

As for TXL (The Xbox Lounge) this was an endevour started by myself and my good Live Buddy DriftZilla ZA, we've been working our assess off to bring gamers a utility that allows them to schedule online matches and LAN's we're busy working on some new features of the site including a new layout and design with some bonuses now if only I could get my act together and finish the artwork! :S so watch this space!