Prepare To Text, Putt And Swim With Your Mobile Phone

SAN FRANCISCO, BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and SAN JOSE, Calif. — From CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2008 in San Francisco, Verizon Wireless, builder and operator of the nation’s most reliable wireless voice and data network, and Namco Networks, a leading publisher and developer of mobile games and entertainment for the mass-market casual gamer, today announced Verizon Wireless customers now have access to three new mobile games from Namco: “USA TODAY Txtpert™,” “PAC-MAN® Arcade Golf™” and “SubMerged™.”

With “USA TODAY Txtpert” by Namco, the popular word game from USA TODAY, players text the missing letters to complete words as fast as they can in two exciting word games with 33 word genres and more than 8,000 words. In Txtword Mode players must complete the crossword in a limited time; then in Down-Word Mode players need to complete words as they drop down to prevent them from piling up.

A combination of mini-golf and classic arcade-game fun, “PAC-MAN Arcade Golf” challenges players to complete 27 holes of mini-golf in three courses and master more than 100 mini-games. Playing as one of four unique golfers, players putt their way around the world on international mini-golf courses. Each course becomes increasingly challenging with bumpers, walls and warp holes. New twists to the mini-golf concept include bonus fruit from PAC-MAN and coins that can be collected and used to activate arcade machines found on the course.

In “SubMerged” players start at the bottom of the sea and must rise to the surface by destroying the anchored puzzle pieces that descend from above. Players inflate the floating and rising puzzle pieces with air and merge them with the anchored pieces to form horizontal lines that cause an explosion. As lines are cleared, the remaining pieces fall into place forming another line, causing a chain reaction of explosions and racking up a high score.

Verizon Wireless customers can purchase and download “USA TODAY Txtpert” and “SubMerged” from the Puzzle Games category and “PAC-MAN Arcade Golf” from the Sports Games category in the Games shopping aisle in the Get It Now® or Media Center virtual store on a number of popular Verizon Wireless phones. Customers can download “USA TODAY Txtpert” for a monthly subscription fee of $3.49 and “PAC-MAN Arcade Golf” and “SubMerged” for a monthly subscription fee of $2.99. All three games can be downloaded for unlimited play for $6.99. Each game also offers customers a free three-minute demo. Application purchase prices and subscription fees may vary; unless customers have unlimited data features, airtime or megabyte charges may also apply when browsing, downloading and using certain applications.