Guitar Hero Wins Big at Annual DICE Awards

RedOctane Honored by Software Entertainment Industry

Guitar Hero™, the hit rock 'n roll guitar video game for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, was honored by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) at the 9th annual D.I.C.E. Summit's Interactive Achievement Awards at last week's ceremony in Las Vegas. The RedOctane published sensation was nominated in seven categories and received a total of five awards including the Family Game of the Year award.

The Interactive Achievement Awards is a peer-based award that recognizes the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.

"Guitar Hero was made possible through the hard work of two dedicated teams who believed in this title -- Harmonix and RedOctane," said Kai Huang, President of RedOctane. "We are thrilled to be recognized by our peers in the video game industry and we would like to thank all of those who were involved in making Guitar Hero a great success."

Guitar Hero won five D.I.C.E. Awards including:

--  Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
--  Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack
--  Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
--  Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
--  Family Game of the Year
    

Guitar Hero has picked up a stack of awards since its announcement. Game Rankings.com -- a site that collates all press comment and reaction -- lists Guitar Hero's average review score as 93 per cent, including 10/10 from 1up.com, 9/10 from Gamespot and 4.5/5 from Official PlayStation 2 Magazine US.

For more information on Guitar Hero please visit www.guitarherogame.com.

About Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero combines the best of rhythm game action with classic American music in the unique style of veteran music video game creator Harmonix. Without leaving your home experience the thrill and excitement of being a rock star -- choose to be one of six rock characters and perform at concert venues that grow in size as your music career progress. Gamers can earn money to purchase unlockable characters, songs, guitar skins and music videos.

About RedOctane

Based in Sunnyvale, California, RedOctane® is an innovative video game publisher, specializing in rhythm action games. The company began as the world's first online videogame rental service. In 2001, RedOctane introduced the world's first home non-slip dance mat and dance mat covers, and a year later the firm's Ignition Pad was premiered -- subsequently winning a host of peripheral awards. Guitar Hero was released in the US in November 2005 -- to universal consumer and critical acclaim. For more information on RedOctane please visit www.RedOctane.com.

RedOctane® is a registered trademark of RedOctane, Inc. "Guitar Hero" is a trademark of RedOctane, Inc. Developed by Harmonix Music Systems. © 2005 RedOctane, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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