Contact:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Paul G. Silva
Cofounder and Lead Designer
All inPlay (formerly known as ZForm)
paul@AllInPlay.com
(413) 585-9692
September 2nd, 2003 – Northampton, MA – All inPlay LLC, the industry’s leading provider of online, interactive games for the blind and visually impaired, announced today the launch of their second game, Crazy Eights. Following on the success of All inPlay Poker, Crazy Eights translates one of the world’s most popular card games into a fully accessible online game. Crazy Eights remains faithful to All inPlay’s charter of developing games that level the playing field, games that let the blind and the sighted play together as equals. All of All inPlay’s games are specifically designed to work seamlessly with the assistive technologies employed by the visually impaired to use computers. It works well with all screen readers and screen magnifiers currently available. Great care has also been taken to create contemporary graphics to enhance the game play experience for sighted players.
“We are very excited about the launch of Crazy Eights,” said company CEO Will Coleburn. “It’s a very popular, family-oriented game that will appeal to a wide audience. The initial reaction for our customers has been fantastic.”
The market has reacted favorably to All inPlay’s portfolio of games. Subscriptions to the company’s service have increased over 50% since June, 2003 and the customer retention rates exceed 80%, far in excess of industry averages. “ The games are providing needed entertainment to an underserved market,” said Coleburn. “Our growth and customer retention rates demonstrate that we are providing products with lasting customer value.”
More than just a game company, All inPlay is a community that brings the blind, visually impaired and the sighted together in one place. Players come together from all over the world to sit at All inPlay’s virtual tables, to have fun, make friends and enjoy each other’s company. Integral to the All inPlay experience is the innovative live text chat engineered into the game. As with all popular games, much of the entertainment happens through the interaction of the players around the table. With All inPlay games, players can keep up a running commentary, real-time, in the game.
All inPlay Poker, All inPlay Crazy Eights and the All inPlay community can be found at www.allinplay.com.
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"Thanks for setting the Poker game up, for the first time in my life, I've been able to play a decent card game with my 2 daughters, who are both sighted, and unfortunately, better players than me, smile."
– "Tom Lorimer"
"My family has played games on the net for a good while but Friday night was the first time ever that I have been able to play with them. Which is fantastic to feel a part of the same sorts of things that your other family members do for entertainment."
– Scott White
"You play against other people who are sitting at this virtual poker table on the Internet, and the software does not care - the players do not care - who is blind and who is sighted."
– Curtis Chong, Former Director of technology, National Federation of the Blind (www.nfb.org)
"I wrote the email simply because i admire your work and dream tremendously. And i just wanted people to appreciate what you and zform have done. And the fun and friendship i've gotten are living proofs of your endeavors. Cheers!”
- Jaffar Sidek (Singapore)
"I've played the
game since it was an alpha back in February. I've never
gotten bored or tired of playing. The
people on the tables are very
friendly. The ZForm team is
great."
- Colin
"One thing I can say about Zform poker is that it is one of the very few accessible games that I can keep playing over and over. Usually, they are so hard to learn that I quit after fifteen seconds. I've been playing Poker for weeks now... that should tell you guys something! Keep up the great work!"
- Aaron Howell (Australia)
"The surgeon general has determined that Zform poker can cause insomnia."
– Charlie Richardson
"I am a sighted person who loves playing poker online. I've played a lot of the games out there, and I tell you, accessible or not, yours is the best I've ever played!"
- Ed Cooper (Ohio, USA)
"I have to tell you, what Paul and Jeremie have done - making ZForm - is one of the best things that has happened to me. My wife and I have a whole new world that is open to us, a world full of some of the nicest people from all around the world - blind AND sighted. What they are doing is God's work, and I hope to help them do it any way I can."
- Lawrence Anderson (Texas, USA)
I want to thank you and the team for bringing this fantastic game in to our lives, the game is brilliant yes, but the wonderful friends I've made through means a great deal more to me, so big hugs and smiles
– Mags (Scotland, UK)