Here are two interesting articles about 2 new Disney launches.
Spectrobes Arrives on Earth -- Disney Interactive Studios' Highly Sought Nintendo DS(TM) Video Game Now Available at Retail Stores Worldwide
The wait has finally ended for one of the most anticipated original Nintendo DS video games ever. Spectrobes, the anime-inspired action role playing game from Disney Interactive Studios, is now available at retail stores worldwide. Already well known and eagerly awaited among its target audience, Spectrobes is poised to become a global phenomenon as players experience the engaging single-player story, tournaments, code input card system and full-featured online community.
Utilizing all the features of the Nintendo DS, Spectrobes includes a compelling story that takes players to planets throughout the galaxy. Using the stylus, button controls and microphone, players will experience gameplay that includes exploration, excavation, awakening and battle. Extending beyond the single-player experience are a Wi-Fi feature that allows the player to download new content and access results online; and a local wireless feature that offers the opportunity to trade with or battle other Spectrobes players.
"The anticipation for Spectrobes has been overwhelming. The game's innovative features, compelling fiction and addictive gameplay have generated a tremendous amount of excitement among consumers of all ages," said Craig Relyea, vice president of marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. "Like KINGDOM HEARTS, we expect Spectrobes to be an important game franchise for the company for many years to come."
Spectrobes follows the story of two planetary patrol officers, Rallen and Jeena, who embark on missions as they travel throughout the Nanairo planetary system collecting mysterious fossilized creatures known as Spectrobes. The Spectrobes hold the key to defeating the merciless Krawl from achieving their goal of galactic domination. Players will search seven planets to find and acquire fossils and minerals. Once a fossil has been located, the player will delicately excavate the fossil from the ground using the stylus on the touch screen to access a variety of tools from different-sized drills to an acidic solvent that melts away debris. When dust particles cloud the specimen, players can clear the surface by blowing on the microphone.
Once fossils are obtained, they are awakened in Rallen's spaceship laboratory using an instrument that relies on the player's voice. Maintaining the correct volume and pitch will awaken fossils to become Spectrobes. (If players prefer to remain silent, they can carefully blow on the microphone, creating varying sounds that result in a more challenging but equally rewarding result.) As creatures are obtained and awakened, they'll be nurtured with minerals in an incubation room to evolve into stronger creatures. The player will then need to select two powerful Spectrobes to accompany Rallen in epic battles against the enemy Krawl.
Code Input Cards
Included in each Spectrobes game is a pack of four translucent lenticular code input cards, perfect for collecting and trading. Once players unlock the special ability in the game, they can fit a code input card over the Nintendo DS touch screen and use the stylus to consecutively tap numerical holes in the cards, unlocking new content, which includes creatures and minerals. Along with inclusion in game packages, additional trading cards will be available through various promotions.
Wireless Modes and Tournaments
Once awakened and trained, Spectrobes are powerful creatures that can be used by Rallen to not only battle against the Krawl, but also take on other players and their creatures locally via wireless gameplay. Players can trade content with others, enter a one-on-one battle with a friend or participate in an organized tournament. Tournaments include three to 16 players with one player serving as the "matchmaker." The "matchmaker" determines how many rounds of battle will be required; pairs combatants; and determines final rankings based on reviewing each participant's results.
Downloadable Content and Online Community
Players can also earn the ability to download content such as creatures, custom parts, minerals and videos through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. By logging on each week, players will obtain and accrue points that can be traded in for content. Also, once connected to the Internet, the Nintendo DS will generate a personal Planetary Patrol badge number that can be synchronized to each player's profile page on the Spectrobes web site. Once connected to their game results, players' profiles will include information about their Spectrobes creatures, armor and weapons. In addition, a leader board on the web site will track the top scores from several special sequence battles in the game, allowing players to show their success to a global audience. Players can also view their friends' profiles by accessing their created names. By completing specific accomplishments in the game, players can also earn "badges" to showcase on their online profile.
Developed by Kyoto, Japan-based Jupiter Corporation, Spectrobes is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and has a suggested retail price of $29.99.
For more information about Spectrobes, please visit: www.spectrobes.com
About Jupiter Corporation
With headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, Jupiter Corporation designs and develops interactive entertainment software and publishes video game titles licensed by Nintendo. Jupiter's motto is "Let's Play! Let's Smile!" and they continue to push boundaries with innovation and creativity. For more information, please log on to http://www.jupiter.co.jp/company/
About Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Interactive Studios is the interactive entertainment affiliate of The Walt Disney Company DIS. Disney Interactive Studios self publishes and distributes a broad portfolio of multi-platform video games and interactive entertainment worldwide. The company also licenses properties and works directly with other interactive game publishers to bring products for all ages to market. Disney Interactive Studios is based in Glendale, Calif. and has four internal game development studios around the world including Avalanche Software, Fall Line Studio, Propaganda Games and Climax Racing. For more information, please log on to www.disney.com/videogames. Contact Information: Disney Interactive Studios Eric Wein, 818-553-4137 or For consumer media: fortyseven communications Brian Rubin or Craig Sinel, 323-658-1200 brian@fortyseven.com craig@fortyseven.com or For video game enthusiast media: Kohnke Communications Rannie Yoo, 415-777-4000 rannie@kohnkecomm.com Copyright 2007 BusinessWire
AND
Disney to Launch Web Site Aimed at Moms
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Walt Disney Co. is launching a new Web site aimed at moms who are increasingly turning to the Internet for answers to everything from problems with teething babies to financing college. The new site, Disney Family, is a departure for the media conglomerate, which has primarily launched Web efforts to promote its own brands and products, keeping strict control over content and presentation.
By contrast, the new site is a one-stop site for parents, especially mothers, providing everything from Internet search to user-generated articles on key topics such as education and food, and, eventually, a "ParentPedia," a compilation of information on 1,000 topics that can be expanded by users.
The site, to be announced Tuesday in Los Angeles, will go live later this week at http://www.family.com and remain in beta, or testing, stages until the summer, said Paul Yanover, executive vice president of Disney Online, a unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group.
Disney hopes to make money from selling advertising and from sponsored search, text ads that appear next to search results.
The launch marks Disney's second big Web announcement since it revamped its main Disney.com site in January to include more video, games and interactive features.
"This is uncharacteristically good," said principal analyst Josh Bernoff of Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research.
"To get community right, you need to have the right mix between homegrown content plus the ability to loop in people and content from outside. That takes guts because you don't really know what users are going to say. It's uncharacteristic for a company that wants to control things as much as Disney."
Yanover said the openness of the site is what the more than 30,000 mothers surveyed over the past year said they wanted, along with trusted content vouched for by Disney.
The company will include Disney products on the site and promote Disney films, but alongside similar products and content, Yanover said.
"We want to be clear that 'Disney' does not necessarily mean Disney-branded products and services," Yanover said. "It means Disney as a reliable brand. We don't just want to push Disney products."
Parents have become a larger part of Disney's online audience, accounting for nearly half of the 25 million unique visits per month to the Disney.com site, the company said. Most of those are moms.
In addition, the company has seen growth in a smaller site, FamilyFun.com, that is coupled with a magazine and aimed at providing craft and other projects for families with younger children.
Other sites already cater to parts of the audience Disney is hoping to reach by aggregating various topics under one roof.
"Can Disney bring more to the party with this integration approach than the other guys can and compete against them?" asked David Card, media analyst for Jupiter Research. "I think they'll do well, but they have some serious competitors out there."
Disney formed an advisory board that includes mothers who had launched their own online Web journals, or blogs, some of which will be featured on the site. Yanover figures the "mommy bloggers" alone account for 9 million unique visitors each month.
One feature that should appeal to moms is the "Family 1,000," a prefiltered list of smaller Web sites that typically do not rank high on searches using traditional Web search sites such as Google and Yahoo, Yanover said.
The list will change as users nominate their own sites, and the ranking will change based on how users rate them.
"As a family, we have to go to the Internet to get answers," said Victoria Pericon, who runs the Web site SavvyMommy.com and served on Disney's advisory board. "I need a convenient source, but is it also trusted? Because it's Disney, you know it is, so you don't have to question that."
The site will be monitored for foul language, racist remarks and other comments that go against the "house rules," Yanover said.
Guests will be able to load their own profiles to the site and make connections with other users.
But the site is not meant to become a dating service.
"This audience doesn't want to 'hook up,'" Yanover said. "They want to find someone who says 'I've been through that as well.'"
___
On the Net:
Disney Family: http://www.family.com
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Spectrobes Arrives on Earth -- Disney Interactive Studios' Highly Sought Nintendo DS(TM) Video Game Now Available at Retail Stores Worldwide
The wait has finally ended for one of the most anticipated original Nintendo DS video games ever. Spectrobes, the anime-inspired action role playing game from Disney Interactive Studios, is now available at retail stores worldwide. Already well known and eagerly awaited among its target audience, Spectrobes is poised to become a global phenomenon as players experience the engaging single-player story, tournaments, code input card system and full-featured online community.
Utilizing all the features of the Nintendo DS, Spectrobes includes a compelling story that takes players to planets throughout the galaxy. Using the stylus, button controls and microphone, players will experience gameplay that includes exploration, excavation, awakening and battle. Extending beyond the single-player experience are a Wi-Fi feature that allows the player to download new content and access results online; and a local wireless feature that offers the opportunity to trade with or battle other Spectrobes players.
"The anticipation for Spectrobes has been overwhelming. The game's innovative features, compelling fiction and addictive gameplay have generated a tremendous amount of excitement among consumers of all ages," said Craig Relyea, vice president of marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. "Like KINGDOM HEARTS, we expect Spectrobes to be an important game franchise for the company for many years to come."
Spectrobes follows the story of two planetary patrol officers, Rallen and Jeena, who embark on missions as they travel throughout the Nanairo planetary system collecting mysterious fossilized creatures known as Spectrobes. The Spectrobes hold the key to defeating the merciless Krawl from achieving their goal of galactic domination. Players will search seven planets to find and acquire fossils and minerals. Once a fossil has been located, the player will delicately excavate the fossil from the ground using the stylus on the touch screen to access a variety of tools from different-sized drills to an acidic solvent that melts away debris. When dust particles cloud the specimen, players can clear the surface by blowing on the microphone.
Once fossils are obtained, they are awakened in Rallen's spaceship laboratory using an instrument that relies on the player's voice. Maintaining the correct volume and pitch will awaken fossils to become Spectrobes. (If players prefer to remain silent, they can carefully blow on the microphone, creating varying sounds that result in a more challenging but equally rewarding result.) As creatures are obtained and awakened, they'll be nurtured with minerals in an incubation room to evolve into stronger creatures. The player will then need to select two powerful Spectrobes to accompany Rallen in epic battles against the enemy Krawl.
Code Input Cards
Included in each Spectrobes game is a pack of four translucent lenticular code input cards, perfect for collecting and trading. Once players unlock the special ability in the game, they can fit a code input card over the Nintendo DS touch screen and use the stylus to consecutively tap numerical holes in the cards, unlocking new content, which includes creatures and minerals. Along with inclusion in game packages, additional trading cards will be available through various promotions.
Wireless Modes and Tournaments
Once awakened and trained, Spectrobes are powerful creatures that can be used by Rallen to not only battle against the Krawl, but also take on other players and their creatures locally via wireless gameplay. Players can trade content with others, enter a one-on-one battle with a friend or participate in an organized tournament. Tournaments include three to 16 players with one player serving as the "matchmaker." The "matchmaker" determines how many rounds of battle will be required; pairs combatants; and determines final rankings based on reviewing each participant's results.
Downloadable Content and Online Community
Players can also earn the ability to download content such as creatures, custom parts, minerals and videos through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. By logging on each week, players will obtain and accrue points that can be traded in for content. Also, once connected to the Internet, the Nintendo DS will generate a personal Planetary Patrol badge number that can be synchronized to each player's profile page on the Spectrobes web site. Once connected to their game results, players' profiles will include information about their Spectrobes creatures, armor and weapons. In addition, a leader board on the web site will track the top scores from several special sequence battles in the game, allowing players to show their success to a global audience. Players can also view their friends' profiles by accessing their created names. By completing specific accomplishments in the game, players can also earn "badges" to showcase on their online profile.
Developed by Kyoto, Japan-based Jupiter Corporation, Spectrobes is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and has a suggested retail price of $29.99.
For more information about Spectrobes, please visit: www.spectrobes.com
About Jupiter Corporation
With headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, Jupiter Corporation designs and develops interactive entertainment software and publishes video game titles licensed by Nintendo. Jupiter's motto is "Let's Play! Let's Smile!" and they continue to push boundaries with innovation and creativity. For more information, please log on to http://www.jupiter.co.jp/company/
About Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Interactive Studios is the interactive entertainment affiliate of The Walt Disney Company DIS. Disney Interactive Studios self publishes and distributes a broad portfolio of multi-platform video games and interactive entertainment worldwide. The company also licenses properties and works directly with other interactive game publishers to bring products for all ages to market. Disney Interactive Studios is based in Glendale, Calif. and has four internal game development studios around the world including Avalanche Software, Fall Line Studio, Propaganda Games and Climax Racing. For more information, please log on to www.disney.com/videogames. Contact Information: Disney Interactive Studios Eric Wein, 818-553-4137 or For consumer media: fortyseven communications Brian Rubin or Craig Sinel, 323-658-1200 brian@fortyseven.com craig@fortyseven.com or For video game enthusiast media: Kohnke Communications Rannie Yoo, 415-777-4000 rannie@kohnkecomm.com Copyright 2007 BusinessWire
AND
Disney to Launch Web Site Aimed at Moms
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Walt Disney Co. is launching a new Web site aimed at moms who are increasingly turning to the Internet for answers to everything from problems with teething babies to financing college. The new site, Disney Family, is a departure for the media conglomerate, which has primarily launched Web efforts to promote its own brands and products, keeping strict control over content and presentation.
By contrast, the new site is a one-stop site for parents, especially mothers, providing everything from Internet search to user-generated articles on key topics such as education and food, and, eventually, a "ParentPedia," a compilation of information on 1,000 topics that can be expanded by users.
The site, to be announced Tuesday in Los Angeles, will go live later this week at http://www.family.com and remain in beta, or testing, stages until the summer, said Paul Yanover, executive vice president of Disney Online, a unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group.
Disney hopes to make money from selling advertising and from sponsored search, text ads that appear next to search results.
The launch marks Disney's second big Web announcement since it revamped its main Disney.com site in January to include more video, games and interactive features.
"This is uncharacteristically good," said principal analyst Josh Bernoff of Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research.
"To get community right, you need to have the right mix between homegrown content plus the ability to loop in people and content from outside. That takes guts because you don't really know what users are going to say. It's uncharacteristic for a company that wants to control things as much as Disney."
Yanover said the openness of the site is what the more than 30,000 mothers surveyed over the past year said they wanted, along with trusted content vouched for by Disney.
The company will include Disney products on the site and promote Disney films, but alongside similar products and content, Yanover said.
"We want to be clear that 'Disney' does not necessarily mean Disney-branded products and services," Yanover said. "It means Disney as a reliable brand. We don't just want to push Disney products."
Parents have become a larger part of Disney's online audience, accounting for nearly half of the 25 million unique visits per month to the Disney.com site, the company said. Most of those are moms.
In addition, the company has seen growth in a smaller site, FamilyFun.com, that is coupled with a magazine and aimed at providing craft and other projects for families with younger children.
Other sites already cater to parts of the audience Disney is hoping to reach by aggregating various topics under one roof.
"Can Disney bring more to the party with this integration approach than the other guys can and compete against them?" asked David Card, media analyst for Jupiter Research. "I think they'll do well, but they have some serious competitors out there."
Disney formed an advisory board that includes mothers who had launched their own online Web journals, or blogs, some of which will be featured on the site. Yanover figures the "mommy bloggers" alone account for 9 million unique visitors each month.
One feature that should appeal to moms is the "Family 1,000," a prefiltered list of smaller Web sites that typically do not rank high on searches using traditional Web search sites such as Google and Yahoo, Yanover said.
The list will change as users nominate their own sites, and the ranking will change based on how users rate them.
"As a family, we have to go to the Internet to get answers," said Victoria Pericon, who runs the Web site SavvyMommy.com and served on Disney's advisory board. "I need a convenient source, but is it also trusted? Because it's Disney, you know it is, so you don't have to question that."
The site will be monitored for foul language, racist remarks and other comments that go against the "house rules," Yanover said.
Guests will be able to load their own profiles to the site and make connections with other users.
But the site is not meant to become a dating service.
"This audience doesn't want to 'hook up,'" Yanover said. "They want to find someone who says 'I've been through that as well.'"
___
On the Net:
Disney Family: http://www.family.com
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed