Sony Computer Entertainment America Initiates Powerful Marketing Campaign To Support Release of The Getaway

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today an extensive marketing campaign for its upcoming release The Getaway. National broadcast and print media, promotional partners and retailers are gearing up for this highly anticipated title that fuses interactive gaming and movies into one medium, and will provide players with the ultimate entertainment experience when it hits store shelves January 21.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000510/SFW104-a )

Available exclusively for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, The Getaway is a free-roaming, mission-based, 3D action game set in London. The Getaway features nearly 40 square kilometers of photo-realistically recreated London blocks and street corners, creating the most technological and realistic reenactment ever seen in a videogame.

"The Getaway is pushing the envelope as one of the most ambitious titles ever developed on PlayStation 2," said Ami Blaire, director, product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "As one of the most anticipated titles to come out in 2003, The Getaway is receiving widespread marketing support to generate consumer awareness for this groundbreaking release."

Major marketing support from Sony Computer Entertainment America is as follows:

NATIONAL BROADCAST/CABLE ADVERTISING:

The television campaign for The Getaway kicks off on January 20 and continues throughout the month. The spots will run in various time slots on broadcast, cable and syndicated programming continuing through February 2003. These spots will air on Late Night programming including FOX, NBC, UPN and WBN networks, reaching viewers of "Cops," "World's Wildest Police Videos," "South Park," "Fast Lane," "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Shield," "Smallville," "Mad TV," "Friends," "Saturday Night Live" and "WWE Smackdown." Targeted Cable programming will also be utilized with spots running on BET, Comedy Central, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, FoxFX, MTV2, Speedvision, TBS, TNN, VH1, WGN and USA Network.

NATIONAL PRINT/ONLINE ADVERTISING:

To support the broad appeal of The Getaway, a massive print advertising campaign running more than six months will reach more than 25 million readers through a wide variety of national consumer publications, including Maxim, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Spin, Stuff, Complex, FHM, Gear, Blender, The Source, BPM Culture, URB, XXL, Vice and Transworld Snowboarding. Targeted publications also include leading gaming magazines such as Electronic Gaming Monthly, The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, GameNow, Game Informer, PSM, Game Pro, PLAY, PSE2 and Silicon Magazine, as well as comic magazines such as DC Comics -- Vertigo, Marvel Comics and Top Cow. The campaign will also include advertising in select newspapers, such as LA Weekly, SF Weekly, Seattle Stranger, Philadelphia Weekly, Village Voice and Chicago Reader.

Additional advertising vehicles will include subway billboards in markets including Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, as well as billboards in the nation's hottest nightclub markets such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami.

PROMOTIONAL SUPPORT:

To support The Getaway, a national promotion will be conducted giving away a total of 15 trips to London, allowing the lucky winners to walk the same streets found in the game. Five of the trips will be given away to consumers who enter via an online sweepstakes at www.thegetaway.playstation.com. One hundred t-shirts branded with The Getaway will also be given away as secondary prizes. The remaining ten trips will be awarded by radio stations in the top 10 markets including: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington D.C., Boston, Houston and Detroit.

In addition, Sony Computer Entertainment America teamed up with Electronics Boutique for a promotion this month allowing consumers who order a copy of The Getaway to receive a free full-size, ultra sleek 2003 calendar featuring artwork from the game.

Supported with a national circular advertisement, Sony Computer Entertainment America is facilitating another retail promotion with Circuit City where consumers who purchase a copy of the game will receive a branded The Getaway t-shirt.

NATIONAL RETAIL SUPPORT:

Key merchandising support for the product includes a dedicated point-of-purchase campaign at all national retail outlets. Support hit this month with a launch campaign.

About The Getaway

The Getaway follows the story of two men from opposite sides of the law. Mark Hammond, an ex-bank robber and former member of the Collins Crew gang, is on the run for murdering his wife and kidnapping his child. Frank Carter is a vigilante cop who was suspended from the Flying Squad. Both men, manipulated by Charlie Jolson, a notorious crime boss of London's East End for more than 30 years, are desperate to clear their names. Longing for revenge, they share an obsession of bringing down London's crime supremo.

The Getaway is set to blur the line between movies and videogames, with wild, multiple storylines, intriguing characters, advanced lighting modes and special effects.

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated The Getaway "M" for Mature. For more information about the ESRB visit www.esrb.org.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one™ game console, and the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system is set to revolutionize the home entertainment market, offering the most compelling interactive content and the capability to be used as a network terminal in the coming broadband era.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console and the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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SOURCE: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

CONTACT: Patrick Seybold, +1-650-655-5904, or
patrick_seybold@playstation.sony.com, or Tina Casalino, +1-650-655-8102, or
tina_casalino@playstation.sony.com, both of Sony Computer Entertainment
America Inc.

Web site: http://www.thegetaway.playstation.com/

Web site: http://www.playstation.com/