AOL members gets exclusive EA games

America Online today announced that it will provide AOL and AOL for Broadband members with free access to the games from EA's Club Pogo site.

With the release of AOL 9.0 Optimized, the latest version of the AOL and AOL for Broadband services, free access to exclusive Club Pogo games is available to all AOL and AOL for Broadband members.Members will also receive a special subscription rate of $2.99 per month, or $19.99 per year, as well as an extended 60-day trial period to the community features of Club Pogo. The non-AOL membersubscription rate is $4.99 per month, or $29.99 for the entire year, and the trial period is 14 days.

“Playing games online is one of our members favorite daily activities – in fact, it ranks most popular after email and instant messaging – and Club Pogo is a great addition to our selection of online games currently available through AOL,” said Matt Bromberg, VP and General Manager, AOL Games. “We are excited to be able to exclusively offer members this unique value as part of their membership. In addition to access to these popular premium games for free, they’ll have the option to subscribe for more community benefits for about half the price.”

“AOL has always been a great partner with EA’s online publishing group, because both companies are dedicated to fostering strong online communities and providing them with the highest level of entertainment,” said Lesley Mansford, VP of EA Online Publishing. “AOL’s gaming community is among our most vibrant and active, and therefore we are pleased to reward them with this new enhanced and exclusive service at a discounted rate.”

The Club Pogo site offers a variety of premium services, including exclusive games with enhanced graphics, sound and player features; a variety of ways to win big prizes, including Double Jackpot Spinner, which doubles all jackpots up to $4999; Instant Win Prizes and Club Pogo Prize Drawings. (No purchase necessary to win prizes. See official rules for details.) Club Pogo also eliminates intermissions, pop-ups and advertising interruptions; features a one-time download, where members access new games with no additional downloads and provides members with access to private chat and special game challenges that award players special badges to display in their player profiles.

Currently, Club Pogo offers AOL subscribers exclusive free access to five new games:

Pop Fu: A sequel to Poppit!(TM) Sensei Spike guides players through an exotic set of challenging puzzles.

Dice Derby: Dice Derby is a fast-paced board game in which players try to beat their opponents by building poker-style hands with dice.

Jungle Gin: Jungle Gin is a twist on the classic card game of runs, sets and melds. Players can play against the computer or challenge someone one-on-one.

GreenBack Bayou: A casino game that takes a strategy to help frogs jump as many flies as possible for increased payout.

Squelchies: This fast-action puzzle game requires quick wits along with well-placed power-ups to defeat the ever-growing army of squishy sea creatures.

AOL Games is a leading online destination for consumers. AOL Games creates unique and exclusive features for online, PC and console games, as well as a wide range of unique broadband opportunities to maximize the gaming experience. AOL Games offers unique programming such as First Play, which features exclusive premieres of online, PC and video games before they’re available anywhere else; and Inside the Game which offers exclusive video footage and special features from the hottest new games before they hit stores.

AOL 9.0 Optimized, the latest version of the AOL service, is designed to help consumers get the most from being online whether they connect via dial-up or add the AOL for Broadband service to a basic high-speed connection. New features include enhanced communications options, an upgrade for AOL(R) Mail, additional built-in safety and security protections, more on-demand and exclusive programming, AOL’s new Top Speed(TM) Web acceleration technology that is designed to enhance Web surfing at no additional charge, and more.