Shanghai Media Group and Ball-IT Oy Launch blobo Fitness Gaming for Chinese Kids and Families

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Feb 01, 2012, 07:00 ET

OULU, Finland, February 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The Shanghai Media Group ("SMG") children's channel Toonmax and Ball-IT Oy, a leading motion control gaming system producer, have signed a partnership agreement. SMG, China's second largest media company, will start to produce a TV game show based on Ball-IT's gaming innovation blobo, and will broadcast 26 episodes in China in the second half of 2012. The blobo TV show will initially reach 30 million households, with the ultimate target being to reach 200 million households.

The TV show promotes fun and healthy living for today's youngsters. On the show kids take each other on in front of a live studio audience, who watch their avatars compete on a large screen, while the viewers can play blobo at home and compare their results with the TV contestants.

The TV show is based on the blobo gaming system - a motion control and fitness gaming device that works with PCs and MACs via Bluetooth. The single golfball-sized wireless wonder, blobo, captures even the smallest movements of the human body, being a genuine fitness gaming experience. The games combine excitement with all-round family fun.

The sales box for Chinese consumers consists of a blobo device, a Bluetooth adapter (needed for computers without built-in Bluetooth), and 8 Fun&Fit games. At first blobo will be sold in China through 1,500 retail shops, including SMG's own digital and electronics supermarkets, later aiming for nationwide broadcast and marketing.

"We are very excited by the opportunity to introduce to China this captivating TV format, which brings families together while making them move and have fun. The product, blobo, on which the game show is based, is unique as it is very intuitive and easy to learn," says Mr. Hu, Vice President of SMG Toonmax.

Mr. Juha Rytky, CEO of Ball-IT, says that they could not wish for a better partner in China. As part of SMG, Toonmax Media is the leading media company in the core target groups, kids and families. "The overall business potential is huge, as there are already more than 150 million PC online gamers today in China. The market already exists and is booming, we are now offering added value for the gamers by offering them the motion controlled gaming experience," says Mr. Rytky.

SMG is a multimedia television and radio company broadcasting, news, Internet and related media entertainment services. The television broadcasting media consist of 11 analogue TV channels, 90 paid digital cable TV channels, and a full Internet broadcasting TV service, along with 10 analogue and 19 digital radio services. The group also owns and operates 5 sports centres and 14 cultural art centres. Other areas of operation include newspapers, magazines, news websites and audio-visual publishing. Formed in 2001, SMG is the result of a merger between the People's Radio Station of Shanghai, East Radio Shanghai, Shanghai Television Station, and Oriental Television Station. The company employs around 5,200 people.

Ball-IT Oy is a Finnish company founded in 2005, focusing on sensor technologies, motion interpretation algorithms and all related software for the development of consumer electronics and product variants for the gaming industry and other segments. It also offers a software development kit for third parties - such as game studios - to develop the content for its motion control gaming system. Games are sold from Ball-IT's online shop, using a revenue sharing model with the game studios. Ball-IT is offering a technologically-advanced - yet very aggressively priced - motion control gaming system for PC and MAC platforms, including games and content. The Company is privately held by its founders and investors, Aura Capital and Fortel Management.

More information about the product and images are available at:

http://www.bloboshop.com/pages.php?page=media&language=en

The TV game show trailer is available at:

http://www.bloboshop.com/tv

SOURCE Ball-IT Oy