EA's New CHARM GIRLS CLUB Website Provides Tween Girls With the Ultimate Online Experience

(October 01, 2009) LOS ANGELES, BUSINESS WIRE --Source: Hollywood Industry

The Play Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced the launch of the CHARM GIRLS CLUB' website www.charmgirlsclub.com, an online destination specially designed for girls, where they can play games, design fashions, socialize, collect charms, and immerse themselves into the world of EA's Charm Girls. Live today, the site is the first of its kind and will be fully integrated with EA's CHARM GIRLS CLUB video games for Wii' and Nintendo DS' when the games become available in the US on October 20, 2009.

'We are excited to provide tween girls with a safe, engaging online experience that truly extends the Charm Girls Club video games and appeals to girls' interests,' said Sarah Handley, Senior Marketing Director, EA Play Label. 'Through the unique, connected console and online game play, girls' experiences will be enriched the more they play with Charm Girls Club.'

The CHARM GIRLS CLUB website provides a safe place for tween girls to create and share cool fashions and connect with friends in a social online environment. On the site, girls can choose from thousands of combinations to create their personalized Charm Girl that reflects their head-to-toe style including hair, facial features, makeup, fashions and accessories. They can design a virtual charm bracelet with hundreds of shimmering charms that are earned by playing games. Girls can also create their personal profile page, update their status, see what's going on with their friends in the news feed, take fun polls and learn about the Charm Girls and the associated video games.

Girls who visit the site will find a multitude of totally girl appealing activities that they can participate in for free. They can play mini-games like 'Mall Mania' and 'Accessorize It' to earn virtual charms and Charm Coins, the website's virtual currency. Earning Charm Coins allows girls to purchase more outfits and accessories for their Charm Girl in the online Shopping Mall. The Design Studio fashion tool allows girls to design their own fabric patterns, choose silhouettes, and create their own unique fashions. These elite user generated designs can be submitted to the Design Gallery for other girls in the Charm Girls Club community to vote on.

Girls who purchase CHARM GIRLS CLUB games when they become available in October will have access to even more content on the website. As girls play through the video games, they will earn Charm Codes that can be used online. By entering Charm Codes online, girls can unlock hundreds of super cool fashions, virtual charms and Charm Coins that will enhance the online Charm Girls Club experience. The more girls play with Charm Girls Club games and the website, the more access they will have in the Charm Girls Club games and website.

CHARM GIRLS CLUB is EA's new, original property for tween girls. Through the games and the website, tween girls are immersed into the world of the Charm Girls where they will show off their unique style, meet friends and complete games and activities to see who can collect the most charms. EA will release four CHARM GIRLS CLUB video games in the US on October 20^th including CHARM GIRLS CLUB Pajama Party for the Wii, and three titles for the Nintendo DS: CHARM GIRLS CLUB My Fashion Mall, CHARM GIRLS CLUB My Perfect Prom and CHARM GIRLS CLUB My Fashion Show. All four CHARM GIRLS CLUB video games are rated 'E' for 'Everyone.'

To see what CHARM GIRLS CLUB is all about, visit http://www.charmgirlsclub.com.

Contacts:

EA
Lilit Baron,
650-628-9247
PR Manager
lbaron@ea.com
Brooke Bauguess,
310-754-7312
Senior PR Manager
bbauguess@ea.com

McDonald's Lures Tweens

By Caren Watson; Source: The Examiner

Tweens are overlooked in the world of fast food. Too hungry for a kids meal and parents are not ready to pay the high price for an adult meal. Thank goodness tweens love the dollar menu and think that it's cool.

Well to add to the cool factor, McDonald's has its own section of McDonalds.com for what they call McDTween. It's where tweens can go for "Havin' Fun".

The tween sized fun includes making your own advertisement, watching videos, and splattering people with berry parfaits. Just what tweens love to do! The current theme of the site is related to the hot game Line Rider 2 which is now available for purchase in several game formats. Line Rider 2 has 40 "mind bending puzzle games".

McDonalds is currently running a contest to win either:

• A Wii with one Line Rider 2 Game
• One of three Nintendo DS Games with Line Rider 2
• Or one of ten Line Rider 2 Games for your home computer

The contest ends August 31, 2009.

Tween Girls Growing Target for Game Makers

By Gerard Campbell; Source: Stuff.co.nz

The recent E3 gaming convention wasn't just about hardcore games. It was also about appealing to casual gamers and tweens, a valuable market for video-game makers.

Teens and casual gamers - those players who don't play games regularly - are proving big money for video-game publishers, and it's something that's not lost on the major players in the industry.

Publishing giant EA showcased a line-up of games aimed at tweens at its press conference, front and foremost being Charm Girls Club, a collection of games in complete contrast to the other testosterone- fuelled titles offered by the company such as Army of Two: 40th Day, Dante's Inferno and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Charm Girls Club will come in versions that feature American proms, pyjama parties and malls, and one of the mini-games featured is speed hair teasing, sure to appeal to the tween in your house who has a love affair with hairspray, hair straighteners and a hair brush.

Sony, too, is trying to appeal to the young girl demographic, by announcing a lilac-coloured PlayStation Portable to go with Disney Interactive's game Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show (this announcement seemed to get a huge amount of applause, but I'm sure it was just gamers taking the micky), and Nintendo, too, is targeting the tween, with its Nintendo DS game, Style Savvy, where girls can create their own fashion boutique and garments.

It also announced WiiFit Plus, the follow-up to WiiFit, where fitness buffs can personalise their routine and customise exercises. "It's Brain Age (another Nintendo game) for your backside," said Cammie Dunnaway, Nintendo USA's executive of sales and marketing.

Music games were also big at this year's E3, with the latest versions of Rockband featuring The Beatles and Lego characters, and Activision showing off a game called DJ Hero, where you get to be the DJ spinning the discs at the party.

At Microsoft's press conference, Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr appeared on stage pimping Rockband: The Beatles, which features their virtual likenesses and 45 of their songs. You'll also be able to buy game controllers modelled on their instruments and be able to download more songs in future.

Starr seemed to say he loved the game and it looked great, while McCartney commented "who would have thought we would have ended up as androids".

ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE