HIT Entertainment Digital Newsroom

Avanquest Software's Nova Development Releases Thomas & Friends™ Misty Island Rescue with Ten Exciting Games and Activities for Preschoolers

Kids 2-5 learn preschool basics with Thomas & Friends on the Island of Sodor and beyond.

CALABASAS, Calif.

Nova Development, a consumer unit of leading global software developer and publisher Avanquest Software (EPA: AVQ), and HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality children's entertainment, today announced the release of Thomas & Friends™ Misty Island Rescue. Featuring characters from the popular animated television series Thomas & Friends this multi-level game and learning software offers essential preschool lessons encompassing the value of friendship, fair play and teamwork in addition to basic skills such as pre-math, matching, memory and more.

Preschoolers and parents all over the world love Thomas & Friends, making it the #1 preschool toy property (Source: NPD 2010 YTD Q3). Now the adventure continues with easy-to-use software based on the DVD movie, "Thomas & Friends Misty Island Rescue." Features include:

• 10 different games and activities geared toward preschoolers ages 2-5.
• Thomas and his friends Percy, James, Sir Topham Hatt, Ferdinand, Bash, Dash, Captain and other Thomas & Friends characters.
• Matching, memory and recognition games, plus pre-math basics, counting, colors, shapes and more.
• Activities for improving hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and spatial orientation through mouse manipulation.
• Games and puzzles that promote interpersonal skills such as recognizing facial expressions, moods and emotions.

"We are excited to add the number-one pre-school property to Nova Development's family of beloved interactive edutainment software," said Todd Helfstein, president of Nova Development. "Children are already very familiar with Thomas & Friends, and the Misty Island Rescue software adds an educational component that will nurture young minds at a critical stage in their development."

"Nova Development has taken all of the adventure of Thomas and his friends in Misty Island and translated it to an innovative software package," said Gabriela Arenas, Vice President, Consumer Products - Thomas Division, US, HIT Entertainment. "As Thomas fans extend their enjoyment of Misty Island Rescue to their home computers, kids and parents will find learning with Thomas and his engine friends to be both interactive and entertaining."

Thomas & Friends Misty Island Rescue is available immediately for $19.99 at major retailers and online at www.novadevelopment.com/thomas. The multi-platform software is compatible with Macintosh OS X 10.4 or later and Microsoft® Windows® XP, Vista® and 7. Additional system requirements include 512 MB of RAM and a CD-ROM drive. Thomas & Friends Misty Island Rescue is rated "E" for Everyone.

About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment's Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™, Timmy Time™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT's lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

About Nova Development
Based in Southern California and founded in 1984, Nova Development is a market leader in consumer software for both Windows and Macintosh platforms. Nova Development is the retail publisher of best-selling software for desktop publishing, print creativity, and many other purposes as well as educational titles for both children and adults. Nova Development was acquired by Avanquest Software in 2007. For more information, please visit http://www.novadevelopment.com and http://www.avanquest.com.

About Avanquest Software
Avanquest Software (EPA: AVQ), is a world leader in developing and publishing software for businesses and consumers in categories ranging from mobility to utilities by way of multimedia. Avanquest Software strives to ensure that all its software can interact, so that the convergence between the PC, Internet services and the intelligent telephone is as complete and secure as possible. The passion that drives our teams, the high technological added value of the software and the solid presence of the Group in North America, Europe, and Asia make Avanquest Software one of the top 10 consumer software publishers in the world. Since it was established in 1984, the company has put innovation at the core of its business and invested heavily every year in research and development, supporting its teams of engineers scattered throughout France, the United States, Canada and China, working every day to create the best software today and tomorrow. Avanquest Software has been listed on Euronext since 1996. For any additional information, please visit http://about.avanquest.com or http://group.avanquest.com.

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