NEW YORK, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- With more than 80% of its audience gaming online, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group continues to provide its demos with premium gaming experiences across its entire digital portfolio. Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's digital sites, which reach 20 million game players monthly (according to comScore Media Metrix, January 2008, US only), are adding 1,600 new games to an existing library of 5,000 games, along with new tools for users to build their own games and several demographic-focused gaming sites. The game expansion plans will roll out across all of the Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group's digital sites, which include: Nickjr.com (http://www.nickjr.com/); Nick.com (http://www.nick.com/); Nicktropolis.com (http://www.nicktropolis.com/); NickArcade.com (http://www.nickarcade.com/); TurboNick.com (http://www.turbonick.com/); Neopets.com (http://www.neopets.com/); AddictingGames.com (http://www.addictinggames.com/); The-N.com (http://www.the-n.com/); and Shockwave.com (http://www.shockwave.com/). Today's announcement further advances Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's recent $100 million investment in the casual gaming space across all of its various brands.

"Our portfolio of digital brands is delivering fun and innovative gaming experiences for all of our audiences," said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "Because our gaming sites complement and serve the same breadth of audiences as each of our linear channels, we are now offering game experiences that range from educational content, virtual worlds to casual games that are both property driven and totally original."

1,600 New Games

Currently, across its entire portfolio of digital sites, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group has more than 5,000 games and will add another 1,600 in 2008. Of these new additions, approximately 600 will be exclusive, original games to the sites, and 1,000 will come from outside publishers to expand the variety of offerings. Highlights of the exclusive, original games are:

-- Nick.com, TurboNick, Nicktropolis and NickJr.com: Nick.com, Nickjr.comTurboNick and Nicktropolis will launch more than 185 games in 2008,with a focus on multiplayer, cooperative games such as 3D NicktoonsSlimeBall on Nicktropolis. Other titles include an Avatar multiplayerglobal game in the fall, where players assume a character'spersonality, such as Aang or Zuko, and battle each other in real timein various challenges to unlock new Avatar content.-- Nick.com will completely redesign its gaming experience by launchinga brand new games landing page at http://www.nickgames.com/. It willalso add a multiplayer focus to its New Game of the Week franchise,which launches 52 new, original games each week of the year.-- Nicktropolis will introduce more than 20 single and multiplayergames in 2008, the first title being 3D Slimeball. And TurboNick,Nickelodeon's interactive, broadband video player will launch morethan 30 new, original games.-- Nickjr.com will launch 35 original games for preschoolers in 2008,including titles such as: Spin Art, giving kids tools to createtheir unique pieces of art; Diego's Snowboard Rescue (launching mid-March) featuring Diego hitting the slopes to rescue a variety ofAntarctic wildlife; and The Wonder Pets Storybook (launching end ofMarch) for parents and preschoolers to play together to help theWonder Pets save a baby triceratops.-- AddictingGames, the largest source of the best free online games on theweb with more than 3,000 games, will introduce 75 exclusive self-published and licensed games, along with 600+ new titles from gamedevelopers around the world, in 2008. More than 25 of the exclusivegames will be self-published, and 50 under exclusive license.-- AddictingGames will also expand its News and Celebrity Game Series,which are new games focused on happenings in the news or around thelatest celebrity craze, launched close to real time. Examples oftitles include Paris Oh Paris where players feed and fatten up ParisHilton.-- Neopets, the number-one most engaging youth entertainment site on theweb, will expand into multiplayer games which include a new retailconvergent element with Key Quest, along with global gaming tournamentswith the return of Daily Dare and Altador Cup. The site will launchapproximately 25 new content games that are exclusive to the site.Neopets' Key Quest is a new multiplayer gaming and collectingexperience tied to Neopets retail product.-- The-N.com, the number-one site for teen girls 12 to 17, will launch upto 10 exclusive games in 2008, featuring titles like Avatar University(launching in August), a sequel to The-N.com's first blockbuster game,Avatar High. This sim-style game lets the player control a virtualcollege full of students that party, study, hook up, and break up, evenwhen the player logs off and leaves them alone. Other titles include:the multiplayer game Slasher! (launching in May) and The Hook Up 2(launching in December). On The-N.com, gaming is the biggest singleactivity and accounts for more than one-third of the site's traffic.-- Shockwave, the original casual gaming destination for women 35+, willintroduce more than 115 exclusive, self published, downloadable andlicensed online games in 2008, in addition to more than 300 other non-exclusive titles. Twelve of those exclusive properties will be self-published, along with 50 exclusive licensed games; four self-publisheddownloadable games; and 50 flash lite games -- both self-published andlicensed -- across its minis and Qwikies platforms. The site will alsofocus on co-play, with new games rolling out later in the yearinvolving adults playing with their kids.

Nickelodeon's mobile web service (wap.nick.com) will also continue to build a robust library of games, with 20 new games scheduled to launch in 2008. The company will also will launch approximately 10 to 12 downloadable game titles this year, following recent launches such as the SpongeBob SquarePants UnderPants Slam game for Xbox Live Arcade.

"We want to be the bookmark sites for each of our target demographics and we know that for our audiences, casual games are what they crave online," said Steve Youngwood, Executive Vice President of Digital Media, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "Not only do we want to entertain our audiences with a robust gaming portfolio and demo-focused gaming sites, but also tap into their creativity through game development tools to enhance the gaming community and help them entertain each other."

Game Development Tools

Several of the Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group sites will introduce tools for users to build original games and game levels. These include:

-- Nickgamestudio.com is a completely new vertical launch for theNickelodeon Kids and Family Group. Launching in third quarter,Nickgamestudio.com will provide users with various tools to build newNick-branded or original games and levels within existing games.-- AddictingGames Toolkits and Shockwave Gamebuilder: AddictingGamesToolkits and Shockwave Gamebuilder lets users create and upload theirown versions of games and game levels using simple drag and dropediting tools, and a selection of art assets. AddictingGames hasalready seen huge success with the first of these games, Pencil Racer,launched in February.-- The-N.com Role Player: The-N.com users have spent years creating theirown role-playing games on the site's message boards. Groups of friendscraft rich, collaborative stories, some of which have gone on foryears. Role Player, launching in June, gives users new tools to creategames, expanding and enriching these stories outside of the confines ofthe message boards. Users can invent their own worlds and characters,audition players, and customize different versions of their avatars tofit each game they're playing.Gaming Sites

In addition to expanding its game development, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group will launch several new demographic-focused game sites and services in 2008, some of which will be subscription-based and some free to play.

-- N-Games.com: In June, The-N.com will launch the first major gaming siteto focus solely on teen girls, N-Games.com. With an emphasis on socialgaming and collaborative creativity tool, N-Games.com endeavors toaddress the underserved demographic of teen girls with games likeSlasher, Avatar Mall and others.-- myNOGGIN.com: Existing services such as the recently launchedhttp://www.mynoggin.com/, a personalized, premium subscription-basedservice for preschoolers and their parents featuring curriculum-basedlearning through game play, will expand. myNOGGIN will also have apresence at retail with a gift card offering for a subscription to theservice.

As virtual worlds become one of the fastest growing segments in terms of online casual gaming, the company will continue to focus in this area with three new virtual worlds currently in development, and by growing its existing virtual worlds Neopets and Nicktropolis.

In addition, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group's digital sites will continue to build community features around its gaming content to deepen the user experience. By adding game rankings, comments, profiles and user rewards, the company aims to bring its users' voice to its sites. AddictingGames, for example, will launch user profiles in second quarter, which will feature social networking functionality.

MTV Networks has an expansive footprint in gaming through a diverse portfolio of online casual gaming, console-based and handheld games. MTV Networks continues to build a multi-dimensional games media network with acquired properties Xfire and GameTrailers.com, and content on branded sites including MTV.com and SpikeTV.com. The company also has a strong foothold in console-based and handheld gaming with MTV Games and Harmonix, which provides music fans with a deeper interactive experience through its popular music and rhythm titles.