Exclusive chance to drive away in a new Nissan 370Z with Colin McRae™: DiRT®2

Codemasters®, in alliance with Nissan, PlayStation, and Pluto Games, today revealed the details of the DiRT 2 virtual racing challenge that will leave one lucky winner driving home in a 2010 Nissan 370Z sports car with NISMO racing accessories. The challenge will see gaming fans compete on the recently launched Codemasters’ Colin McRae™: DiRT®2 featuring rally racing champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem and other top drivers from around the globe.

The tournament, which will be played on PlayStation®3 consoles, will start on October 1, 2009 at the Gamers Alliance Middle East Show 2009 (GAMES09) Dubai Festival City, and will run for 3 days. The tournament will then travel to Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Manama, and Doha to be held in Virgin Megastore showrooms. In Saudi Arabia the competition will be held at Tokyo Games showrooms in Riyadh, Dammam, and Jeddah. The finals will gather 1 person from each city across the GCC to battle it out in the last round in Dubai in Virgin Mega Store.

During the races, players will be tutored by a virtual representation of legendary racer Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and will have to race on a pre-selected track driving the Nissan Z sports car to record their best lap time. Every 10 minutes, the best lap time recorded will see a winner instantly granted with a gift. More information on the competition, dates and venues can be found at www.dirt2arabia.com.

“Critics and video game fans across the globe agree that Colin McRae: Dirt 2 is THE must-have offroad racing title of the year,” said Hal Bame, Director Distributor Territories and Emerging Markets, Codemasters. “We’re extremely excited to have a rally legend like Mohammed Ben Sulayem in the game and the involvement of Nissan, PlayStation and our retail partners in this fantastic regional competition, makes this one of the largest competitions to ever hit the Middle East, with a 2010 Nissan 370z and other great prizes up for grabs.”

“We are really excited to launch this competition and give all the gamers in the region a chance to win a fabulous prize,” said Tim Stokes, Sales & Marketing Director, PlayStation division, Sony Gulf FZE. “We are expecting a huge turnout at GAMES09, where Dubai players can be the first among the region to begin recording their best lap times on DiRT 2 and increase their chances in winning the sports car.”

“The 2010 Nissan 370Z is the latest generation of one of the most recognized sports cars in the world and we are delighted that the Nissan Z is featured as a hero car in the Dirt 2 game. Dirt 2 utilizes some of the most advanced gaming technology to simulate actual driving while the Nissan 370Z offers drivers world first technology such as the SynchroRev match manual transmission,” confirmed Monal Zeidan, General Manager Marketing and Corporate Communications, Nissan Middle East.

Colin McRae: Dirt 2 is available and distributed regionally by Sony PlayStation on PlayStation 3, and PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system, and by Pluto Games, on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, Games For Windows® LIVE, Wii™, and, Nintendo DS™.

About Colin McRae: DiRT 2
The stunning sequel to the critically acclaimed smash hit of 2007, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 is set to revolutionize off-road racing. Big event atmosphere, incredible locations and a stellar line-up of the most powerful, officially licensed off-road racers are brought together in an all new World Tour.
Colin McRae: DiRT 2 sets its spectacular events in lush jungles, huge stadiums and around stunning locations in London and LA, each lined with hundreds of thousands of cheering spectators. A line-up of best of breed vehicles from race one lets players focus on fast-paced, redline racing. Each can be customized and upgraded to enter different classes and grow with the player’s skill and reputation.
With a host of traditional and new events, including Rally, Rallycross and Raid, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will deliver an unprecedented experience on a tour that goes places racing fans have never been before. Built on the latest  iteration of the award winning EGO Engine at Codemasters Studios, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 delivers jaw-dropping levels of damage. Complete with comprehensive multiplayer options, including full 8 player head-to-head racing, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 is rally, redefined

About Codemasters:
Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience across multiple gaming platforms and channels. Established in 1986, the company’s dominant brands include Colin McRae DiRT, Race Driver GRID, Overlord and Operation Flashpoint; the company recently secured the exclusive worldwide video game rights to FORMULA 1. Codemasters is headquartered in Warwickshire UK, with North American operations based in Universal City, Calif. The company also maintains operations in Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Malaysia. Codemasters receives over two million visitors to its web site every month, discover why at www.codemasters.com

About Nissan Middle East:
Nissan is a leading automotive brand in the Middle East. It boasts one of the most popular and successful vehicle line-ups in the region. Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. became the first Japanese car manufacturer to establish a regional HQ in June 1994. Nissan operations cover over 20 countries across the region making it one of the largest representations in the Middle East amongst Japanese automotive brands.

Nissan reported its best ever Middle East regional sales results for the financial year 2008 with the company and its distributors achieving over 200,000 sales.

About PlayStation Division, Sony Gulf FZE:
PlayStation Division, Sony Gulf FZE based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PLAYSTATION®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) , and PLAYSTATION®Network software and hardware across the GCC, Levant and North African markets.
Since the launch of PLAYSTATION 3 in November 2006, over 16.8 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level.  Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 137.7 million systems worldwide.

Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 44.5 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market.  With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 15 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 236 million items have been downloaded.

About Pluto:
A member of Pragma Holding, Pluto is currently one of the leading retail distributors in the Middle East with four fully owned offices in Saudi (Riyadh & Jeddah), UAE, and Egypt as well as sales force in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon and Jordan.

Pluto’s distribution business was launched in 2002 and has since offered its partners and retailers quality products and value added services such as product knowledge seminars and trainings, merchandising, joint marketing initiatives, stock management, unified pricing, transparency by linking suppliers with local retailers, product localization and a hassle free environment for all retailers.

Pluto represents a large portfolio of world-class brands including Microsoft, Saitek, UBISOFT, THQ, Konami, Atari and many others. The company has been proactively managing a broad range of entertainment software, accessories and consoles, offering retailers more than 600 SKUs a year.