Tecmo and Xbox Live announced today that Tecmo’s infamous creator of the Dead or Alive series, Tomonobu Itagaki, will once again take the reigns of the DOAU Mystery Gamer for this Sunday’s Mystery Gamer Session of “The Dead or Alive Ultimate Mystery Gamer Competition”.

The upcoming online fighting session, which will be held this Sunday, March 13, 2005 from 10a.m. to 11a.m. PST through Xbox Live, will be the second time that Itagaki has stepped up to the plate as the honored DOAU Mystery Gamer. Those fans that did not get a chance to play during his last session will once again get a chance to beat the developer at his own game and beyond that, move on to the final round of DOAU competition and a shot at winning a “Chance of a Lifetime” Grand Prize to the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

With only two weeks left of the first round, DOA fans, that have not had a turn to show off their skills against the DOAU Mystery Gamer, must make sure to check out the official schedule and rules for “The Dead or Alive Ultimate Mystery Gamer Competition” at this URL for an entire listing of days and times for the DOAU Mystery Gamer sessions. More details on the final round of the DOAU tournament and the “Chance of a Lifetime” grand prize to E3 2005 will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

About The Dead or Alive Ultimate Mystery Gamer Competition

The first round of the U.S. and Canadian tournament, entitled “The Dead or Alive Ultimate Mystery Gamer Competition,” allows DOAU fighting fans from both countries a chance of a lifetime to fight against one of the creators of the game from Tecmo’s highly esteemed Team Ninja development group. For one month, participants will be able to show off their fighting skills and prove their worth by logging into designated DOAU Mystery Gamer sessions through Xbox Live. Once there, they will receive only one chance to play and beat the DOAU Mystery Gamer in order to qualify for the finals round of the tournament. Designated dates and times for the DOAU Mystery Gamer sessions are listed on the official Xbox website at this URL later this week. Other regions will follow suit with their own versions for the first round of competition, details on other region’s tournaments will be announced in the upcoming weeks from Microsoft.

Contestants who beat the DOAU Mystery Gamer will move on to the finals round of the tournament where they will have a chance to fight against each other through Xbox Live in a fast and furious face-off using a random bracket format to decide the best of the best from US and Canada. The top two winners from this round, along with the 6 other regional winners from around the world, will win a “Chance in a Lifetime” prize package to the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California. For more information on prizing and the official tournament rules go to www.xbox.com

About Dead or Alive Ultimate

The latest installment in the multi-million selling Dead or Alive fighting series is packed with a punch as it boasts unbelievable new graphics, staggering new moves and combo attacks, new multi-tiered and fully interactive environments, brand-new unlockable costumes and secret characters, an in-depth story line, unique 2-disc set packaging with inclusion of collectible trading cards, and a behind the scenes look at Team Ninja and the making of Dead or Alive Ultimate. True to its roots, the famous DOA girls will also be back in action and sexier than ever in the most scantily clad and outrageous outfits to date in the fighting series.

Topping that all off is the revolutionary new online capabilities in the game made available through Xbox Live. With six different online modes to choose from including Winner-Stays, Tournament, Team Battle, Survival, Loser-Stays, and Kumite Battle, and all using the highly anticipated online feature, “Virtual Arcade”, where 8 players are able to participate in a fighting session at one time, Dead or Alive Ultimate is the ultimate 3-D online fighting game this fall. Players from across the nation will be able to play each other using all six of these modes and experience smooth online game play whether they are playing their friend down the street or across the country.