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GAMERS IN REAL LIFE (GiRL) GAME DESIGN COMPETITION 2009 - OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

Participation constitutes entrant's full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules. The Sony Online Entertainment ("SOE") Gamers in Real Life ("GiRL") Game Design Competition 2009 ("Competition") begins at 12:00:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time ("PST") on March 24, 2009 and shall end as of 11:59 p.m. PST on June 12, 2009 ("Competition Period"). Competition is sponsored by Sony Online Entertainment LLC, 8928 Terman Court , San Diego , CA 92121 ("Sponsor") and is administered in part by Scholarship Management Services, a division of Scholarship America, 1550 American Boulevard E., Suite 155 , Minneapolis , MN 55425 ("Scholarship America"). Applications received after April 24, 2009 and submission components received after Competition Period will not be considered or judged. One (1) winner will be announced on or about July 17, 2009.

Eligibility: Any individual who is currently enrolled at an accredited school in an undergraduate program related to video games, including programs related to video game art, design, animation, production, programming or visual effects, has an average GPA of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale), and will not graduate before the end of the 2010 spring term is eligible to enter. Only the original author who submitted the application and created the submission may enter or win (in the event of a dispute as to authorship, Sponsor and Scholarship America reserve the right to disqualify any entry or Finalist, and Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any winner; Sponsor's decisions are final). Competition is open only to natural persons who are legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia ) for the duration of the Competition. Void in Puerto Rico, Guam, all other U.S. and all foreign territories and possessions and wherever prohibited or restricted by law. Competition may only be entered from and in eligible jurisdictions. Entrants must be eighteen (18) years of age or older at time of entry in order to participate. Employees, officers, directors, and agents of Scholarship America or Sponsor, its parent company, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, their immediate family members and persons living in their same household, are not eligible to participate in the Competition. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply.

How to Enter: To enter, review these Official Rules carefully, the requirements posted here on www.GIRL.SOE.com and complete and submit the online application available at https://www.scholarshipamerica.org/gamersinreallife. Applications must be submitted no later than April 24, 2009 to be considered. Incomplete applications, applications not submitted online through Scholarship America's application process, and applications submitted directly to Sponsor will not be considered. Scholarship America will review up to three thousand (3,000) applications, and will select up to fifteen (15) finalists (the "Finalists") based on the following criteria, weighted evenly: (i) academic performance; (ii) demonstrated leadership and participation in community activities and work experience (if any); and (iii) financial need. Scholarship America will submit the names of the Finalists to Sponsor, and will send a notification to the Finalists on or about May 22, 2009. All Finalists will be required to submit complete transcripts to Scholarship America. Upon Scholarship America's selection of the Finalists, the Finalists will be asked to transmit the required submission components to Sponsor as directed (including three (3) pieces of concept art, a five hundred (500) word essay describing such concept art and a five hundred (500) word essay describing why the entrant wants to work in the video games industry, how the entrant could improve the image of women within video games and how the entrant's improvements could facilitate the creation of games that more women will play). Once the Finalists have been selected, Sponsor will provide the Finalists with more details concerning the submission requirements and evaluation process to all Finalists. Finalists' submission components must be received by Sponsor no later than June 12, 2009. Submissions posted on any game-related website forum will not be accepted for entry. Submissions which require non-generic, plug-in applications will not be opened or considered for entry. Finalists will be judged by a panel of industry professionals employed by Sponsor. The winner will be announced on or about July 17, 2009.

Entry must be an original work. With the exception of Sponsor materials which are included in the entry (according to the terms and conditions set forth in the Station Terms of Service), all content of each submission component must be the entrant's original design and creation, executed solely by the entrant. The content of the submission components must not be subject to the rights of any third parties, other than Sponsor. The content may not be offensive or otherwise unsuitable for use, as determined in Sponsor's sole discretion. Entrants not complying with these requirements will be disqualified. Entrants must comply with the Station Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and all Competition rules (including these Official Rules), regulations, and policies. Entrants not complying with these requirements will be disqualified. By participating in the Competition, you are granting Sponsor an irrevocable right and license to publish, use, edit, and display any or all of the content in your submission, without further approval, without territorial, time, or other limitations, for any and all purposes, including, but not limited to, marketing, advertising, and promotional purposes.

Determination of Winner: Eligible Finalists will be judged by a panel of judges, consisting of members of Sponsor's executive team, development team and marketing/PR team, according to the criteria set forth below, and whose decisions are final and binding in all respects. The panel of judges will use the following criteria in determining a ranking of the top Finalist submissions (the number of which is at Sponsor's discretion, based upon the number and quality of entries): the panel of judges will use a 0-100 point scale, with 0-25 points for originality, 0-25 points for visual polish, 0-25 points for stability and 0-25 points for 1) improving images of women in games, 2) increasing interest of women playing games and 3) market vision and product strategy. Sponsor will select one (1) winner from all eligible Finalist submissions, and the eligible Finalist receiving the most votes from the judges will be the potential winner, subject to verification or eligibility by Sponsor. In the event of a tie, Sponsor's panel of judges will re-evaluate and compare the tied entries based on the above-listed criteria and determine a winner; Sponsor's decisions are final. The winner will only be selected from those eligible Finalist entries meeting the judging criteria set forth herein and, if no entry meets the criteria set forth above, in the panel's sole and absolute discretion, then no winner shall be chosen. Judges may additionally designate Honorable Mentions for publication on the GiRL website or forums at its discretion.

Limit one (1) entry per person during the duration of the Competition. Any attempt at entry except as above stated is void. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person or email address that submits multiple entries. Any submission of robotic, automatic or programmed entries, or any entries submitted by agencies, other third parties, or through other unapproved methods are void.

Description of Prize: One (1) Grand Prize Package will be awarded: Ten Thousand Dollars (US$10,000.00 scholarship) to be applied directly toward the winner's tuition and other educational expenses via one (1) direct payment to the winner's school in which the winner is enrolled and a paid internship of up to ten (10) weeks (at ten dollars (US$10.00) per hour) at SOE's headquarters (located in San Diego, California; room, board, transportation and living expenses not included). In the event that the winner fails to comply with these Official Rules or is no longer an eligible student in good standing at his or her stated educational institution, then any unapplied balance of the prize will be forfeited. Maximum approximate retail value (ARV) of prize: US$14,000.00. The winner will be displayed (subject to Sponsor guidelines, standards, and practices, and in a manner and location determined by Sponsor in its discretion) on the www.GIRL.SOE.com website and/or any other GiRL-related website in Sponsor's sole discretion.

General Limitations for all prizes: No alternative prize, cash, or other substitution is permitted except by Sponsor in the event of prize unavailability. Prize is nontransferable. All federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. A total of one (1) prize will be awarded. Maximum ARV of the Prize: US$14,000.00. The potential winner will be notified by e-mail or first class mail within five (5) days of the conclusion of the judging. Each potential winner will have five (5) days from notification to accept the prize by e-mail or by U.S. mail to the address specified in the notification.

Requirements of Winner: Each potential winner is required to sign and return releases of liability, declarations of eligibility, and where lawful, publicity consent agreements, within five (5) days of acknowledged notification. By agreeing to become a winner you agree to the use of your name, voice and/or likeness, and submitted artwork, for the purpose of advertising, trade, or promotion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. If a selected potential winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible (under these Official Rules or due to a failure to comply with any of the other applicable policies, licenses, rules, and terms of service, or fails to timely return the completed and executed releases/agreements as required), potential winner status may be forfeited and an alternate potential winner may, at Sponsor's discretion, be selected.

General Terms and Conditions: By participating in the Competition, entrant agrees that under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall Sponsor or its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, agents, successors, and assigns (the "Released Parties") be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising out participation in the Competition, even if any or all of the Released Parties have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, therefore such exclusions may not apply to you. By participating in the Competition, entrant waives any and all rights to bring any claim or action related to his/her participation in any forum beyond one (1) year after the first occurrence of the kind of act, event, condition or omission upon which the claim or action is based. By entering, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Scholarship America and Sponsor, which shall be final. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person, entry, or e-mail address that Sponsor determines to be in violation of any term contained in these Official Rules. Sponsor, its parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors, and its employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents, and representatives, are not responsible for and shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, stolen, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible or postage-due entries, notices, releases, forms, affidavits, or other correspondence; (ii) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, interruptions or difficulties of any kind; (iii) failed, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions; (iv) any condition caused by events beyond the control of the Sponsor that may cause the Competition to be disrupted or corrupted; (v) any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising in connection with or as a result from participation in the Competition or arising from the entrant's access to and use of the Internet site www.GIRL.SOE.com (and all related websites of Sponsor) or https://www.scholarshipamerica.org/gamersinreallife/, including without limitation, personal injury, death, and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy, to the extent permitted by law; or (vi) any errors in any materials associated with the Competition. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Competition if any problem corrupts the administration, security, or operation of the Competition, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Competition or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to undermine the legitimate operation of the Competition may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

Disputes: Competition is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California . As a condition of participating in the Competition, entrant agrees that any and all actions or proceedings related to the Competition shall be exclusively brought in the County of San Diego, State of California (if under state law) or the Southern District of California (if under Federal law), and the parties agree not to raise in connection therewith, and hereby waive, any defenses based upon the venue, the inconvenience of the forum, the lack of personal jurisdiction, the sufficiency of service of process or the like in any such action or suit brought in the State of California.

Winner List and Official Rules: A winner's list will be posted on the web site at www.GIRL.SOE.com, or an underlying page thereto, on the World Wide Web at the conclusion of the Competition. To obtain a copy of the winner list or a copy of these Official Rules, send your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Attn: PR Department "Sony Online Entertainment Gamers in Real Life (GiRL) Game Design Competition 2009", Sony Online Entertainment LLC, 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, CA 92121. Requests must be received no later than October 31, 2009.

 
   
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