Laszlo Powers Ziff Davis Media's 1UP.com

Laszlo Powers Ziff Davis Media's 1UP.com

- Online Gaming Portal Brings Gamers and Games Together -

SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Laszlo Systems, developer of the Laszlo open source platform and provider of rich Internet applications (RIAs) and services, today confirmed that Ziff Davis Media, Inc. has implemented Laszlo in its online gaming destination, 1UP.com. Laszlo's ability to deliver a dynamic, next-generation Internet experience was instrumental in Ziff Davis' redesign of its gaming Web site, making 1UP.com the preferred portal for millions of gaming enthusiasts.

Already the largest publisher of electronic game magazines in the United States, Ziff Davis' 1UP.com is the companion online presence that brings gamers and games together. 1UP.com provides a community that enables gamers to play games online with other gamers, network with gamers in their geographic location, and benefit from a vast repository of game content, such as reviews, previews and the latest online gaming news. 1UP.com is also influential in increasing readership of Ziff Davis' print gaming publications.

Shampa Banerjee, Director of Technology and CTO for 1UP.com, said, "The Laszlo-powered applications make the redesign of the 1UP.com portal a fun and cool experience for our tech-savvy video gamer audience. Our users are very happy with the site and it's an excellent example of how rich Internet applications are delivering a superior user experience."

The new 1UP.com site features two Laszlo-powered RIAs that couple an intuitive, highly interactive user experience with rich content: SizzleZone and GameFinder. The main application, known as SizzleZone, is located on the home page and serves as the primary entry point to all content and features. Six animated panes rotate to feature gaming content and give users access to news, articles, product reviews, and streamed video clips. The content on SizzleZone can be viewed using Laszlo's seamless single-page user experience, which allows users to explore content without being interrupted by time- consuming page refreshes.

The second Laszlo-powered application, GameFinder, helps gamers find thousands of video games by using a variety of criteria and sophisticated filters that narrow down their section choices. For every search, the user receives game summary information that includes user ratings and feedback. The user-friendly interface enables gamers to track and collect games at any time.

Ziff Davis' 1UP.com selected Laszlo Presentation Server (LPS) because of Laszlo's XML-native development environment, which simplified the integration process with Ziff Davis' extensive content management system. Additionally, LPS was selected because it supports Version 5 and higher of the ubiquitously deployed Flash Player, making it possible to use Laszlo's RIAs with virtually any Web browser.

Banerjee commented, "We worked closely with Laszlo Studios, Laszlo's design team. The technology's ability to cater to developers and the Laszlo Studio team's ability to accurately translate the needs of our customers meant we were able to turn our site redesign around faster and with more interactivity. Plus, Laszlo's support for customizable, XML-native user interface components ensures that our future enhancements will be rapidly rolled out in a cost-effective manner."

Antony Campitelli, Vice President of Marketing for Laszlo Systems, said, "1UP.com is a great example of how RIAs break through the barriers of traditional HTML Web sites by using powerful XML-based development methodology that creates a world-class next-generation gaming portal. 1UP.com is particularly exciting because it gives us the opportunity to showcase the power of rich Internet applications to a very Web-savvy audience."

Ziff Davis' annual "Digital Gaming in America" survey of 1,000 randomly selected U.S. households polled in May and June 2004 revealed that video games are pulling consumers away from their televisions. 54.5 million households played video games and 52.3 million played PC games.

To view the Laszlo-powered applications, please visit http://www.1up.com/.

About Laszlo Systems


Laszlo Systems is the original developer of the Laszlo open source platform and provider of rich client applications and services that advance the Web experience. The Laszlo Platform is an open source, XML-native foundation for building next-generation Web applications that increase customer conversion rates and brand loyalty. Laszlo provides comprehensive support services, education, and commercial application modules so that any company can easily make the move to rich client applications. For more information about Laszlo Systems, visit http://www.laszlosystems.com/.

Note to editors: Laszlo is a registered trademark of Laszlo Systems, Inc. Other trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners.


Source: Laszlo Systems

CONTACT: The Devon Group: Jeanne Achille, +1-732-542-2000 x.11,
jeanne@devonpr.com, for Laszlo Systems; or Antony Campitelli, Laszlo Systems,
+1-650-358-2726, acampitelli@laszlosystems.com

Web site: http://www.1up.com/

Web site: http://www.laszlosystems.com/


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