Rogers PWR Play Gaming Championships pit man against machine

Canadians invited to join the global gaming craze, win great prizes, and vie for a national title

Date : Saturday - March 19, 2005

Canadians invited to join the global gaming craze, win great prizes, and vie for a national title

TORONTO, March 19 /CNW/ - Starting today in Toronto, Rogers brings the global trend of gaming to Canadians with the 2005 Rogers PWR PLAY Gaming Championships, the first combined gaming championships from Rogers Wireless, Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet, and Rogers Video, for a full-suite gaming experience across mobile, PC and console platforms.

Action-packed events across the country will determine regional winners who will each be awarded $1,000. 2004 Juno award winner and 2005 Juno nominees Billy Talent will be on hand at all events in English Canada to cheer on the gamers, and television personality Val?rie Simard with do the same for gamers at the Montreal event! A showdown on May 7th in Toronto between the top scorers from across the country will determine a national Rogers Wireless winner, Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet winner and Rogers Video winner, each to be awarded $5,000. Plus, one lucky finalist will win a trip for four to the Disneyland(R) Resort in California. To celebrate the victories, Billy Talent will perform live in concert! "This is the third year Rogers Wireless has hosted an exciting forum for Canadians to game with each other, be recognized and be rewarded, and we're thrilled to partner with Rogers Video and Rogers Yahoo!

Hi-Speed Internet to make this year's program bigger and better across multi-platforms," said John Boynton, Vice President, Consumer Marketing, Rogers Wireless. "With Rogers Wireless, gamers can enjoy the latest mobile experience and play wherever they are." "For gamers, speed is everything and Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet is pleased to offer Canadians the chance to participate in the 2005 Rogers PWR Play Gaming Championships," said Terry Canning, Vice President and General Manager, Rogers Internet for Rogers Cable Inc. "For gaming enthusiasts who want speed, our fastest Internet product is Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet Extreme, which opens the door to a world of gaming possibilities." "The Canadian gaming market is rapidly approaching $1billion in size," says Daniel Langevin, Vice President, Marketing & Merchandising, Rogers Video. "With our strategic alliance with EB Games, convenient locations and our in-depth understanding of the changing profile of Canadian gamers, Rogers Video is positioning itself to be Canada's gaming leader." Growth of the international gaming industry is seemingly unstoppable. Over 3.5 million Canadian households have one or more game consoles(x), online gamers spend an average of 6.1 hours per week playing(xx), and Rogers Wireless alone saw a 300% increase in Java game downloads in 2004. As one of the only companies in Canada to offer gaming across PC, wireless and console platforms, Rogers is an ultimate destination for gamers. More than 200 of the latest interactive games are offered by Rogers Wireless, and the newest generation of Rogers Wireless phones are fully equipped to maximize the gaming experience. Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet customers have access to Rogers Yahoo! games, a comprehensive experience for both casual and hardcore gamers including online games, gaming news, trailers, and tips. Rogers Video hosts a number of EB Games stores right within Rogers Video locations and Rogers Video offers gamers the chance to try before they buy. At each regional event in Rogers PWR PLAY Gaming Championships, participants can choose between any and all of the games available. To play for the Rogers Wireless regional prize, players must play both The Incredibles - a mobile game based on the Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film of the same name - and Rogers Word Jumble, a text messaging-based game. To play for the Rogers Video regional prize, participants can go man-against-machine for five minutes on the new PlayStation(R)2 release, Gran Turismo(TM) 4 - a truly authentic car racing experience. To play for the Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet regional prize, participants can go for the end zone in EA Sports Madden NFL 2005, offering groundbreaking graphics that capture the real football stadium experience.

Regional events will take place from 1 - 5 p.m. local time: - March 19 - Toronto (Fairview Mall) - With Billy Talent - March 20 - Montreal (Le Carrefour Laval) - With Val?rie Simard - March 26 - Fredericton (Regent Mall) - With Billy Talent - March 28 - Ottawa (St Laurent Centre) - With Billy Talent - April 9 - Vancouver (Guildford Town Centre, Surrey) - With Billy Talent - April 10 - Edmonton (West Edmonton Mall) - With Billy Talent

Gold sponsors for the Rogers PWR PLAY Gaming Championships include: Mobile phone manufacturer Motorola, providing mobile phones for use by participants at each event and prizing at each event; PC manufacturer Dell Canada, providing computers for use by all participants at all of the events; and Sony Computer Entertainment Canada, providing PlayStation(R)2 consoles and Gran Turismo(TM) 4 for game play at the events. Rogers kicked off a Practice and Play period for Rogers PWR PLAY Gaming Championships on February 15th that runs through until April 4th with Rogers Wireless and until April 11th with Rogers Video and Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet. During this period, Canadians can brush up on their gaming skills and qualify to win great prizes. For complete program details on Rogers PWR PLAY Gaming Championships, please visit www.rogers.com/pwrplay or www.rogers.com/100limites.

About Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Inc. is Canada's largest wireless voice and data communications services provider with more than 5.5 million customers and offices in Canadian cities across the country. Rogers Wireless, which operates Canada's largest integrated wireless voice and data network, providing advanced voice and wireless data solutions to customers from coast to coast, is Canada's only carrier operating on the GSM/GPRS technology platform, the world standard for wireless communications technology. Rogers Wireless is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI; NYSE: RG), a diversified Canadian communications and media company.

About Rogers Video Based in Richmond, British Columbia, Rogers Video is the fifth largest video retailer in North America. Founded in 1988, Rogers Video owns and operates more than 290 home entertainment stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Yukon, with more than 4,000 employees nationwide.

About Rogers Cable Rogers Cable Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI; NYSE: RG). Rogers Cable passes 3.3 million homes in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, with 69% basic penetration of its homes passed. Rogers Cable pioneered high-speed Internet access with the first commercial launch in North America in 1995 and now approximately 27% of homes passed are Internet customers. With 99% of its network digital ready, Rogers Cable offers an extensive array of High Definition TV, a suite of Rogers On Demand services (including Video on Demand (VOD), Subscription VOD, Personal Video Recorders and Timeshifting channels) as well as a large line-up of digital, multicultural, and sports programming. Approximately 30% of Rogers basic subscribers are also digital customers and approximately 42% are Rogers Hi-Speed residential and business customers. Rogers Cable also owns and operates 294 Rogers Video Stores. Additional information on Rogers is available at www.rogers.com.

(x) According to Rogers Video. (xx) According to The Canadian Interactive Reid Report.

NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo of today's regional event in Toronto will be available by 6 p.m. EST today on CNW Group.

Spokespeople are available now for interviews and demonstrations.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca. Additional archived images are also available on the CNW Photo Archive website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

Source: ArriveNet (press release) - Castle Rock,CO,USA