Buzztime(R) to Debut Multiplayer Texas Hold'em for Cable iTV at the National Cable Television Association Show

Buzztime(R) to Debut Multiplayer Texas Hold'em for Cable iTV at the National Cable Television Association Show

Buzztime Entertainment, Inc., Raises the Stakes on Multiplayer Competition by Adding Virtual Game Tables to Its Play-Along TV(R) Technology

CARLSBAD, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Buzztime Entertainment, Inc., the Play-Along TV(R) community and a subsidiary of NTN Communications, Inc. (AMEX:NTN), announces the debut of multiplayer Texas Hold'em for digital cable television. Buzztime(R) Texas Hold'em invites players within the home, across town and across the country(TM) to join in live poker games from the comfort of their couch using only their remote control and digital cable set-top box to play along. Buzztime will demonstrate the game in their booth (#40, GameNET Pavilion) at the National Cable Television Association Show (NCTA) April 3-5 in San Francisco.

Buzztime Texas Hold'em is currently available in over 1,000 locations of the NTN iTV Network where Phil Gordon, world-class poker player and co-host of Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown", provides players with on-screen tips throughout each game. The NTN iTV Network reaches over 3,600 restaurants and sports bars in North America.

The availability of Buzztime Texas Hold'em marks the first time Buzztime has introduced virtual game table technology into its Play-Along TV(R) multiplayer game platform. This new feature automatically places new players into one of up to ten open seats at virtual game tables and creates new game tables after each table is filled with players. The enhanced Play-Along TV Technology is also designed to support future Buzztime multiplayer games. This initial offering of Buzztime Texas Hold'em is built for Scientific-Atlanta's PowerTV(R) platform with plans to port to other iTV platforms.

"Buzztime Texas Hold'em and our new virtual game table technology are great examples of how we will build game communities around the TV," said Tyrone Lam, president and COO, Buzztime Entertainment. "We recognize that the majority of casual game play on the internet is multiplayer, and Buzztime is pushing the frontier to bring the most valuable two-way games to digital cable TV for the 'couch gamers'."

Buzztime intends for this to be their first fee-based product offering on cable where the operator and Buzztime share in the consumer subscription revenue. Buzztime will support the game's marketing launch through cross-promotion to its millions of players on the NTN iTV Network already familiar with and actively enjoying Buzztime Texas Hold'em.

Created for advanced and beginner poker players alike, Buzztime Texas Hold'em follows the same rules as the popular No-Limit Texas Hold'em. Players receive two pocket cards and use five community cards to form the best five-card poker hand. Blinds are set at 10 points and 20 points. Buzztime Texas Hold'em gives each new player the virtual amount of 2000 points when they join a table. Individual participation continues until a player's points run out. The player may then enter into another table, again receiving a 2000 point credit, and start game play anew. Credits do not transfer from table to table or game to game.

Buzztime Texas Hold'em games on digital cable have no set time limit; game play continues as long as players have credits and remain at the table. Players are seated at a virtual table, which appears -- along with their pocket cards, the community cards, and point totals -- on their television screen at all times.

Players use their digital cable remote control to play along. Onscreen menus list all game functions and play options, for which Buzztime has installed Texas Hold'em key shortcuts to make game navigation easy and quick. Additionally, each player's turn is timed to maintain the game's pace.

Continuing Buzztime's tradition of player recognition onscreen, point leaders and round winners are displayed after every hand. No prizing or awards are offered for this product to comply with individual state gaming regulations.

About Buzztime Entertainment

Buzztime Entertainment, Inc., a subsidiary of NTN Communications, Inc. (AMEX:NTN), is the developer and distributor of Play-Along Television(TM) technology and programming. Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. develops Buzztime(R), the Play-Along TV(R) community for multiplayer games and competitions on digital cable for players of all interests and ability levels. Buzztime's trivia and Play-Along TV sports games have been available to millions of players in restaurants and sports bars via the NTN iTV Network for almost 20 years. The company owns one of the world's largest databases of iTV trivia and operates an interactive broadcast studio where it produces multiplayer trivia game shows, live sports prediction games -- such as QB1(R) Predict the Play(R) football -- popular arcade and classic games across iTV, mobile and PC platforms. Buzztime Entertainment has agreements with Media General, Inc., Liberate Technologies, ICTV, Cadaco, Airborne Entertainment, DTI Software, the National Football League and others. Buzztime Entertainment's iTV studio and broadcast operations center are headquartered in Carlsbad, California. The company website is located at www.buzztime.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's current views of future events and operations, including, but not limited to, statements pertaining to the availability of Buzztime Texas Hold'em on digital cable, the ability to deploy multiplayer products, technology and features, the ability to launch additional games as a premium service, are all based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the risk of changing economic conditions, failure of product demand or market acceptance of both existing and new products, delays in closing of sales or agreements, unforeseen and uncontrollable increases in expenses or costs and the impact of competitive products and pricing. Other important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements are discussed in the "Risk Factors" section and other sections of NTN's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to us on the date hereof. These statements speak only as of the date hereof, and NTN does not undertake to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes show that the indicated results or events will not be realized.

For further information, please contact:

Tyrone Lam, Buzztime Entertainment, 760-930-1159 or ty@buzztime.com

Source: Buzztime Entertainment, Inc.

CONTACT: Tyrone Lam of Buzztime Entertainment, +1-760-930-1159,
ty@buzztime.com

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

-------
Profile: intent