Call of Duty promotional campaign to hit theatres
by VGLN Staff

Friday, December 26, 2003

Activision and Nvidia partner to promote Call of Duty.

Continuing its alliance with NVIDIA, Activision, Inc. premiered a new Call of Duty in-theater promotional campaign, which includes NVIDIA's The Way It's Meant To Be Played branding. The 30-second commercial is running now through January 1, 2004 on more than 5,500 screens nationwide in front of some of the holiday season's most anticipated films, including "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" and "The Last Samurai."

In addition to the co-branded in-theater commercial, Activision and NVIDIA are working closely on a variety of retail and consumer co-marketing programs and cross-promotional activities in support of Call of Duty and NVIDIA's video graphics cards, including co-branded print ads, in-store retail bundles and the Call of Duty - Answer The Call - Online Sweepstakes, running now through Jan. 9, 2004. Consumers can log on to the official Call of Duty website at www.callofduty.com and enter to win an Alienware® Area-51(tm) PC, loaded for gaming with an NVIDIA® GeForce(tm) FX 5900 Ultra-based graphics card, a Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS sound card, a Creative Inspire(tm) T7700 (7.1 speaker system) and a copy of Call of Duty for the PC.

"NVIDIA has been a great partner through their technical collaboration and marketing support for Call of Duty," said Dusty Welch, vice president of global brand management, Activision, Inc. "The national in-theater campaign is a great vehicle for showing consumers how top quality graphics and production values can deliver a movie caliber gaming experience."

"Many reviewers are hailing Call of Duty as the best game of the year," stated Dan Vivoli, executive vice president of marketing at NVIDIA. "We have worked closely with Activision to ensure that gamers get the full cinematic computing experience, so that they can play the game the way it's meant to be played."

Since its release, Call of Duty has received critical acclaim earning "Editors' Choice" awards and ratings scores at or above 90% from more than 30 publications worldwide. The PC game is rated "T" (TEEN - blood and violence) by the ESRB and carries a suggested retail price of $49.99.

--- Kit