GamerMetrics Guide to E3 2005 Forecasts Top Games, Trends, Industry Outlook
to Navigate Huge Expo

IGN Entertainment’s GamerMetrics, the industry’s leading business intelligence
tool analyzing awareness and activity of over 24 million gamers, reveals Madden
NFL 06 and The Legend of Zelda already look to dominate the 2005 holiday season
heading into this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), taking place May
18 – 20 in Los Angeles, Calif. In “The GamerMetrics Guide to E3 2005,”
a comprehensive roadmap to the interactive entertainment industry’s largest
show, IGN lays out the most anticipated games and surprise hits while outlining
the focus and trends to emerge from the convention.

According to GamerMetrics, the following titles topped the list as this year’s
most anticipated E3 games across all platforms:

  1. The Legend of Zelda (GCN – Nintendo)
  2. Madden NFL 06 (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PSP, PC – EA)
  3. The Godfather (PS2, Xbox, PSP, PC – EA)
  4. Final Fantasy XII (PS2 – Square-Enix)
  5. Grand Theft Auto (PSP – Rockstar Games)

The top picks from the handheld market: (continues)

  • Animal Crossing (DS – Nintendo)
  • Grand Theft Auto (PSP – Rockstar)

“Our objective with GamerMetrics is to be able to look into the crystal
ball of the interactive entertainment business using information directly from
the consumer,” said David Tokheim, vice president of marketing, IGN Entertainment.
“Game companies, retailers, analysts and potential licensors look to GamerMetrics
to understand each product’s buzz, engagement and purchase intent. We are looking
forward to seeing how all the new title announcements at E3 will impact the
2005/2006 outlook.”

Additional highlights of the report include:

  • An overview of the state of the industry in a foreword by senior publisher,
    Peer Schneider
  • An analysis of the top trends for the year to be spotted at E3
  • A gauge on mindshare by publisher
  • Most anticipated games broken down by platform and by publisher

GamerMetrics, the industry’s leading business intelligence tool, analyzes awareness
and activity of over 24 million gamers, 2.5 million daily gamers and game ownership
metrics from over 400,000 panelists and 260,000 paying subscribers. Taking the
heartbeat of the business directly with gamers, IGN can be a resource for anyone
who needs to understand the year ahead in the games market.

The GamerMetrics tool tracks and reports on more than 42 million game content
page views for 29,000 game titles, more than 500,000 game file downloads from
FilePlanet and 98,000 board posts just including the top 10 games. Reports can
be generated by the number of downloads for files by game title and by file
type.

For more information on GamerMetrics or to obtain the GamerMetrics Guide to
E3, please visit IGN Entertainment’s booth at E3, West Hall # 503. The E3 guide
will be available during the show and by request.

About IGN Entertainment
IGN Entertainment provides many of the Internet’s leading destinations for video
gaming, entertainment and community targeted at teens and 18-34 year-old males.
The company’s properties include IGN.com, GameSpy,
Rotten Tomatoes, FilePlanet, GameSpy Arcade, GameSpy Arena, Direct2Drive, TeamXbox,
3D Gamers, more than 70 community sites and a vast array of online forums. Collectively,
these properties reached more than 24 million users worldwide(a) in the month
of March 2005, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore Media
Metrix. IGN Entertainment is also a leading provider of technology for online
game play in video games. The company’s paid content, download and game play
services are among the most popular game-related subscriptions available on
the Internet. The privately held company has its headquarters in the San Francisco
Bay Area, with offices throughout the U.S.

(a) comScore Media Metrix, March 2005 Worldwide data. Worldwide data cited
herein represent an aggregate of 32 countries reported by comScore Media Metrix
on a monthly basis.

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