The charity auction is presented by the ESA Foundation, the charitable foundation of the interactive entertainment software industry, and will be held in conjunction with the computer and video game industry's premiere charity fundraising dinner, "Nite to Unite for Kids."

"We're delighted that the deep commitment of the computer and video game industry to help children's charities has allowed us to raised close to $7 million to date through our 'Nite to Unite for Kids' dinner and online auctions," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. "We hope that the game community
will join us once again this year to help kids by bidding early and often on the terrific exclusive items found on eBay from October 7 to October 14."

This year's "Nite to Unite for Kids" dinner will honor famed director George Lucas, founder of LucasArts and chairman of Lucasfilm, Ltd. The black tie optional charity dinner is on Tuesday, October 18, at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

Items in this year's charity auction are available on eBay at: http://tinyurl.com/dp4oc

Exclusive and unique items such as:

• A Star Wars Skywalker Lightsaber signed by George Lucas
• A PlayStation 2 signed by the cast of the hit show Alias;
• 2 passes to the E3Expo and either the Sony or Nintendo of America parties; and,
• A lifesize statue of Halo 2's Master Chief.

Co-chairs of this year's event are Kathy Vrabeck, president, Activision Publishing, Inc.; Jim Ward, president, LucasArts; and, David Zucker, president and CEO, Midway Games, Inc.

Companies or individuals interested in supporting this worthwhile cause are invited to attend the gala event, and/or participate in the online charity auction. Tickets to the gala are $500 for individuals; table sponsorships are available.