8 quarter-finalists chosen for the Unlock Xbox competition; Also, promotions on the site

by: Tina - posted: 12/2/2009 2:39:00 PM

Can you remember all the way back to August? Me neither.

Well, way back in August, Doritos teamed up with Microsoft to bring back their Unlock Xbox competition. This past Monday they finally selected 8 quarter-finalists from the pool of over 1,500 submissions. The winners are as follows:

1. “Arak Attack” by Samuel Gaultlent of Bellevue, Nebraska

2. “Avatar Crash Course” by Jill Robertson of Raleigh, North Carolina

3. “Fowl Play” by Matt Kurtz of New Haven, Indiana

4. “Harms Way” by Justin Carpenter of Ogden, Utah

5. “Have A Ball” by Keith Nelson of Spokane, Washington

6. “Skies Ablaze” by BJ Chavez of Waskom, Texas

7. “The Artifact” by Jonah Masse of Dixmont, Maine

8. “Thrown” by Jason Santaman of San Diego, Calif.

The three semi-finalists will be chosen by the masses, whereupon the semi-finalist winners will go to Microsoft for a last pitch to see which two will win the final round. To vote for your favorite game, you can head to the Unlock Xbox website from now till December 31st. And because they really want you to log on and vote, visiting the website will enter you in for a chance to win a prize. Two prizes mentioned are an Xbox 360 Arcade, and copies of Halo 3 ODST.

Don't feel too bad if you vote for one gamer/game-developer over the others - all 8 of the quarter-finalists will be receiving a $5,000 prize package.

DORITOS AND MICROSOFT REVEAL EIGHT CONSUMER-CREATED

XBOX LIVE ARCADE GAME CONCEPTS VYING TO BE DEVELOPED



Fans Nationwide to Determine Top Three Ideas That Move on to Semi-Finalist Round



PLANO, TX (November 30, 2009) — Doritos tortilla chips – the bold, intense snack brand within PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division – today announced that eight quarter-finalists have been selected from more than 1,500 unique game ideas submitted to the Doritos “Unlock Xbox” program. With a higher-stakes Unlock Xbox challenge this year, consumer votes will now determine the top three semi-finalists that will revisit Microsoft for one last pitch, where two finalists will be selected. Fans can vote for their favorite gaming concepts beginning now until December 31, 2009 at www.unlockxbox.com.

“As we continue to put our fans in control of the Doritos brand, they continue to step up to our challenges and meet them with unwavering enthusiasm and creativity,” said Rudy Wilson, vice president, marketing, Doritos. “Many Doritos lovers are very passionate about gaming, and were excited to give them this unmatched level of engagement and ownership of Xbox LIVE Arcade.”

“This campaign represents a true value exchange,” said Mark Kroese, general manager of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Advertising Business Group. “The Xbox LIVE and Doritos communities get to become game developers and Doritos gets to engage with their core consumers when they are receptive to their messaging – while they are having fun.”

The Doritos “Unlock Xbox” contest challenged gaming fans to submit original Xbox LIVE Arcade game concepts that embodied the bold and intense Doritos experience in a unique way. From vehicle simulation to shooter games, the top eight entries represent a wide variety of gaming tastes. The eight quarter-finalists, as determined by a panel of Doritos and Microsoft judges, (in alphabetical order) are:

1. “Arak Attack” by Samuel Gaultlent of Bellevue, Nebraska

2. “Avatar Crash Course” by Jill Robertson of Raleigh, North Carolina

3. “Fowl Play” by Matt Kurtz of New Haven, Indiana

4. “Harms Way” by Justin Carpenter of Ogden, Utah

5. “Have A Ball” by Keith Nelson of Spokane, Washington

6. “Skies Ablaze” by BJ Chavez of Waskom, Texas

7. “The Artifact” by Jonah Masse of Dixmont, Maine

8. “Thrown” by Jason Santaman of San Diego, Calif.



The eight quarter-finalists each will receive a prize package for their creativity, valued at more than $5,000. And, giving video game fans and Doritos chip-lovers everywhere even more reason to get in on the game, between now and December 31, 2009, visitors to www.unlockxbox.com will have a chance to instantly win great prizes everyday including a Xbox 360® Arcade and copies of Halo® 3 ODST as they log on to cast their vote among the quarter-finalists. Promotion details and rules will be available on www.unlockxbox.com during the promotion period.

Unlock Xbox is one of many ways the Doritos brand continues to turn control over to consumers. The brand’s commitment to fan-empowerment began with the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” program, which started in 2007 and has turned the brand’s Super Bowl advertising over to its fans every year. In addition, the brand has put consumers in control through a variety of other exciting opportunities, including the Doritos “X-13D Flavor Experiment,” where consumers had a chance to name a new mysterious flavor of chips; “THE QUEST,” which engaged fans in a multi-faceted online and real-world adventure of challenges; and “Doritos Late Night,” which provided Doritos fans ground-breaking virtual musical performances by blink-182 and Big Boi through the power of augmented reality technology where fans could enjoy and control the performances in the palm of their hand.

Frito-Lay North America is the $12 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. In addition to Frito-Lay, PepsiCo business units include Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, Gatorade and Tropicana. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site, http://www.fritolay.com/ , the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fritolay.

PepsiCo offers the world’s largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade – also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200 countries. With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose.

By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.