INTEL CONCLUDES THE INAUGURAL INTEL® ASIA PC GAMING SHOWDOWN

Finalists from Malaysia, Philippines & Thailand play off at EA Experience to determine the best PC gamer in region

Hong Kong, October 28, 2008 – The Intel® Asia PC Gaming Showdown has drawn to a climactic close, with the winners announced after the event concluded on Friday in Hong Kong. Following weeks of intense competition across seven countries, Rinie Bin Ramli, freelance blogger from Malaysia has been announced as the inaugural champion of champions. Kunlasub Wattanaphon, reporter from sanook.com, Thailand, and John Nieves, Tech Editor from Gadgets Magazine, Philippines were announced as second and third overall winners, respectively. The finalists went head-to-head in several games from Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS): EA SPORTS™ FIFA 2008, Need for Speed™ Pro Street and Crysis®.

Rinie Bin Ramli, freelance blogger from Malaysia flew home with a Dell® XPS 730 high-performance gaming PC - featuring the Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX9650 processor - and five EA game titles as the ultimate prize. Kunlasub Wattanaphon, reporter from sanook.com, Thailand was awarded with a Creative GigaWorks® S750 multimedia speaker system - designed to heighten gaming experience, and three EA game titles, while John Nieves, Tech Editor from Gadgets Magazine, Philippines was awarded with a range of EA game titles. All winners were also presented with a range of EA merchandise.

The Intel Asia PC Gaming Showdown drew out the best of the best from Asia’s gaming media and amateur gamers. Representatives from seven countries – India, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – competed head-to-head for a chance to fly to Hong Kong to compete in the finals. The Showdown was an exciting event that united countries across the region, with the passion and fun of gaming as its focus.

Hosted at the EA Experience centre at The Peak - the only EA-branded venue in the world - the location added a high-tech, futuristic touch to the proceedings. Competitors were truly immersed in the three different PC gaming genres, leveraging the unrivalled performance of the Intel Core 2 Extreme processors.

“The Intel Asia PC Gaming Showdown gave us the chance to witness the amazing skills and camaraderie of the best media and amateur gamers across the region, in games that showcased a level of detail and life-like experience made possible through the use of Intel Core 2 Extreme processors,” said Tim Bailey, Director of Platform Marketing, Intel Asia Pacific.

“The positive feedback received from competitors in the country heats and the finals here in Hong Kong are testament to the success of the tournament – and the fun that was had by all who participated,” Bailey concluded.

“We are extremely pleased to be a partner of Intel in this high profile competition. The sheer scale of the event is a reflection of the popularity of PC gaming in Asia and Intel certainly ups the ante with their technology” said Jon Niermann, President of EA Asia Pacific. “Witnessing the excitement of competitors from the different countries in competing across three of our biggest titles truly underscored the success of the tournament and showcased what PC gaming is all about.”

“These EA games running on Intel Core 2 Extreme processors were incredibly smooth! Using my home PC it will take a few minutes to even launch the intro but these Intel PCs only took seconds. The performance and graphics improvement in Crysis is particularly strong. There were no lags. I enjoyed the game play very much and I strongly recommend the running of PC games on Intel Core 2 Extreme processors,” said Rinie Bin Ramli, freelance blogger from Malaysia and Asia Champion of Intel Asia PC Gaming Showdown.

When more is better, the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor delivers unrivalled performance for the latest, greatest generation of multi-threaded games and multimedia applications. The Intel Core 2 Extreme processor is based on Intel's cutting edge 45nm high-k metal gate technology. Utilizing hafnium-infused circuitry to deliver even greater performance and power efficiency, the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor delivers the most graphically intense gaming experience for today’s demanding gamers.