Zeebo Inc. announced today that its 3G-connected digital gaming, entertainment and education platform, also known as Zeebo, has shipped to major national retailers with more than 2,000 stores throughout Mexico. Zeebo provides families with simple and convenient wireless access to videogames and educational content as well as the ability to bring the best of the Internet Cafe into the home, enabling consumers to connect via email and social networking sites from the comfort of their living rooms. Zeebo will be available for a suggested retail price of 2,499 Mexican Pesos (approximately $189 US) and comes with the Zeebo platform, game controller, full sized keyboard, 5 free games and one hour of free Internet access, along with a Z-Credit card for recharge of the system for game and Internet time purchases. For the first time for a home system, all game are purchased wirelessly, over-the-air and stored inside the Zeebo’s internal flash memory. No physical media or traditional distribution is necessary, creating a breakthrough in ease of shopping and use. More than a dozen Zeebo games are available for wireless purchase now on the Zeebo and more than a dozen more are expected by the Christmas season and Epiphany Day in January. Zeebo includes the following free titles: Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D, Pac Mania, Tekken 2, Zenonia and Zeebo Family Pack. Leading content publishers and developers, including Activision, Capcom, Com2uS, Digital Chocolate, EA Mobile, Gameloft, Gamevil, Glu, Id Software, Machineworks Northwest LLC, Namco Networks, PopCap Games and THQ, are supporting the Zeebo platform. In addition, Mexican content providers including Huevocartoon will be bringing locally-optimized games to the platform. More than 10 Internet Z-Channels are preloaded into the Zeebo, with more than 50 family-friendly Web sites for homework, social networking, email and connecting, news, sports and education. Local Internet content providers like Interlingua are also working with Zeebo to offer families content based on their popular entertainment and educational brands. “For Mexican consumers who are faced with a difficult choice between a personal computer to support their children’s education and a video game system to enjoy family entertainment, Zeebo offers the consumer a compelling alternative,” said John Rizzo, president and CEO, Zeebo Inc. “The Zeebo is 33% less expensive than the nearest video game system similarly configured and offers 100% localized content in Spanish, 400% more than other game devices. And shopping through the wireless store for the latest games and services couldn’t be easier; the Zeebo is the first home system on the world to offer such a capability.” Rizzo added, “Compared to a personal computer for educational Internet access in the home, the Zeebo is 67% less expensive. Compared to slow Internet bandwidth in the Mexican Internet Cafes for connecting to educational content, email, and social networking like Facebook, the Zeebo is 600% faster. This higher speed is also available at 20% less hourly access rates in the average Internet Cafe. Plus the Zeebo also consumes 98% less electricity than the combination of a video game and a personal computer making it economical to operate.” The platform fosters the development and monetization of local content by preventing piracy through fast and convenient shopping via secure 3G broadband wireless cellular connectivity and over-the-air delivery. Connectivity is provided pre-activated for the system, and the consumer will not have to sign up for any additional service plan or contract. Content delivery and user interface software updates occur over the wireless network and are completely transparent to the customer. They simply plug the Zeebo to their television set and the system automatically connects to the ZeeboNet Wireless Network.
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“Zeebo is an innovative and fun product and we believe it will provide families in Mexico with the chance to stay home to enjoy quality time together in an entirely new way,” said Franz Elizondo, head of operations, Zeebo Inc. “Growing up in Mexico, I am obviously very passionate about Zeebo and its promise to Mexican families. Zeebo will offer parents peace of mind, it is simple to use and offers family- friendly entertainment, education and connectivity from the comfort of home. Zeebo is the perfect gift for Christmas or Epiphany day, delivering fun and learning for children and adults of all ages for years to come.” Zeebo will be available in thousands of storefronts across Mexico including such retailers as Elektra, Coppel, Chedraui, Soriana, and Best Buy. More than 1,000 locations are online now for the purchase of pre-paid Z-Credits, not only at national retailers but also at popular convenience stores throughout Mexico including Extra, Circle K, and Supercity. Zeebo systems will be available across Mexico with a major concentration in Mexico City, Puebla, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Veracruz. Zeebo has created a powerful and credible alliance of partners to bring the product to Mexico including Telcel for 3G connectivity, Brightstar for local production and service, Pago Todo and Biaani for Z-Credit sales and recharge at retail, and the Publicis group including Leo Burnett, Starcom MediaVest and the Jeffrey Group for local marketing. From mid-November until Three Kings Day in January, 150 stores will have Zeebo Demo Kiosks and full time Zeebo demonstrations staffed by Zeebo knowledgeable consultants, and a broad-based TV, print, outdoor and online advertising campaign will be launched at the same time. For more information on the Zeebo videogame console, please visit www.zeeboinc.com [1]and www.zeebo.com.mx [2] . ABOUT ZEEBO Zeebo, Inc., a closely held company based in San Diego, California, has developed the Zeebo, a wireless system to deliver digital gaming, entertainment and education to the next billion consumers in emerging global markets. Primary shareholders in Zeebo include wireless technology leader Qualcomm and Tectoy SA, which pioneered the introduction of digital gaming in Brazil.
Links:
[1] http://www.zeeboinc.com/
[2] http://www.zeebo.com.mx/