Ratchet & Clank®: Up Your Arsenal Blasts Into the Holiday Season With the First Online Gameplay Experience for the Action Platform Genre

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the launch of Ratchet & Clank®: Up Your Arsenal, the first online action platform game created exclusively for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Insomniac Games, the company that helped redefine the action platform genre with the award-winning Ratchet & Clank and the popular multimillion unit selling Spyro the Dragon™, once again proves its successful formula for innovation by combining the unique, yet familiar, single-player experience gamers have come to love, with robust multiplayer offline and online gameplay modes, as well as challenging 2D side scroller modes.

"With more than four million fans of the Ratchet & Clank franchise, the implementation of online gameplay will appeal to a wider variety of players and attract more network 'adopters' to the PlayStation 2 online community -- the leader in online console gaming," said Grady Hunt, senior producer, product development, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "By preserving the franchise's style and sense of humor, while incorporating online functionality, Insomniac Games has played a tremendous role in delivering a product that both hardcore and casual gamers will enjoy."

The third installment of the Ratchet & Clank franchise returns gamers to Planet Veldin to battle Dr. Nefarious, a robotic supervillain who has devised a diabolical scheme to wipe out all organic life in the galaxy. To fight back, Ratchet and Clank recruit Captain Qwark, a favorite from previous games, out of retirement to lead the Q-Force, an unlikely band of heroic space cadets comprised of some of the most memorable characters from the Ratchet & Clank franchise. Together with the Q-Force, Ratchet and Clank set off on another hilarious interstellar romp to uncover the schemes of the sinister Dr. Nefarious and keep the galaxy safe for organic life. Players can explore 29 single-player locations filled with perilous combat spanning huge, vibrant jungles, arid, craggy deserts and treacherous, icy caverns. Players will be able to earn up to 20 weapons (including online and offline) with up to five levels of upgrades for most weapons during the first playthrough, plus seven new high-tech gadgets to help them through their journey.

For those looking to expand their gameplay experience, the multiplayer online mode accommodates up to eight players over a broadband connection. In order to promote community gameplay, voice communication is supported online via the USB headset (for PlayStation®2) and SOCOM headset allowing players to communicate with fellow team members during online games, either in-game or in the main lobby. Additionally, up to four players can compete offline via the multiplayer split-screen function utilizing the Multitap (for PlayStation®2).

The online lobby features a friends' list, allowing players to be matched up based on their gameplay statistics, and offers the ability to select from more than 20 player skins. In addition, gamers can track more than 100 different types of statistics, including types of weapons, vehicles, gadgets, skins and more in order to customize the type of online game they want to play. The game also supports clan gameplay for up to 64 players as well as a "Quick Play" option for gamers looking to jump immediately into the action.

Ten new levels featuring Siege, Capture the Flag and Deathmatch modes are introduced for online play to provide players plenty of diverse surroundings to destroy environmental obstacles. Commandeering multiple vehicles such as the TurboSlider or Hovership further encourage strategic co-op gameplay by allowing players to work together. Two players can team up to operate vehicles simultaneously as one person controls the vehicle's direction while the other unleashes its powerful weapons arsenal to combat enemies in intense battlefield missions.

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal has been creating quite a buzz among the gaming press in recent months, already garnering three perfect scores from PlayStation Magazine, Official PlayStation Magazine, GMR and Game Informer. "Fit to carry the title of perfection, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is a towering accomplishment that absolutely blows away the team's previous efforts with its razor-sharp gameplay, diversified missions, and flawless balancing," said Andy Reiner, Executive Editor of Game Informer, the world's largest multi-platform gaming magazine on the market today. "The missions show great variety, online play rocks, and the enhanced controls streamline the experience."

To prepare for this holiday season, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is receiving full marketing support in the following categories to extend consumer awareness for this innovative title.

National Print Advertising Campaign

To support the mainstream appeal of Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, a massive print advertising campaign, will reach more than 40 million readers through a vast variety of national consumer publications this holiday season including, Maxim, Stuff, Sync, Playboy, Blender, FHM, Transworld Skateboarding, Transworld Snowboarding, Powder, and more. Targeted publications also include leading gaming magazines, such as Electronic Gaming Monthly, The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Game Informer, GamePro, PlayStation Magazine, PLAY and PSE2.

National Broadcast/Cable Advertising Campaign

The television campaign for Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal will begin the week of November 1 and the spots will run in various time slots on network, broadcast, and syndication through the holiday season. A total of three different executions will air for a variety of programming including "South Park," "SportsCenter," "Fear Factor," "Rap City," "Total Request Live," "Adult Swim," "CSI," "Jimmy Kimmel," "The Simpsons," "Arrested Development," and "The Next Great Champ."

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal "T" for Teens. For more information about the ESRB visit www.esrb.org.

About Insomniac Games

Insomniac Games is an independent videogame developer that has released award-winning hits for PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system for 10 years. The company created the first three Spyro the Dragon games and the Ratchet & Clank franchise, which have combined to sell more than 16 million units worldwide. Additional information can be found on the company's website at http://www.insomniacgames.com/ .

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® 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 game console, develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PlayStation 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.

Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com/ .

SOURCE: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

CONTACT: Jennifer Clark, +1-650-655-5994, or
jennifer_clark@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.insomniacgames.com/

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

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