Jean Pons of France Crowned as 2005 World RUBIK'S CUBE Champion

Top U.S. Finisher is Leyan Lo of New Jersey

After twisting and turning the iconic RUBIK'S CUBE puzzle for twodays, Jean Pons, 20, of France was crowned world champion today at theWorld RUBIK'S CUBE Game Championship at Disney's Pop Century Resort atWalt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Pons defeated 140players in the traditional 3x3x3 cube competition with an astoundingaverage cube solving time of 15.1 seconds. Pons heads home with $5,000in hand, a trophy and the title "world champion."

"Since my introduction to the cube in 2003, I have been practicingto be the best cube solver in the world," said Pons. "Thischampionship title means so much to me. I am fortunate to haveparticipated in this event and to have competed against some of themost skilled cubers in the world."

Second place was awarded to Pons's friend and fellow FrenchmanEdouard Chambon with a remarkable average solving time of 16 seconds.Third place went to Shotaro Makisumi representing Japan with anaverage time of 16.07 seconds. Chambon and Makisumi both received cashprizes and trophies.

In addition to the top three finishers, finalists included:
Name Country Average Time (in seconds)

Leyan Lo United States 16.36
Jon Morris United States 16.60
Yuki Hayashi Japan 16.68
Ryan Patricio United States 16.77
Matt Walter Canada 16.97
Tyson Mao United States 17.22
Chris Hardwick United States 17.42
Andy Camann United States 17.60
Brent Morgan United States 18.71

(a) for all finalist names and results visit www.rubiks.com

Coinciding with RUBIK'S CUBE'S 25th anniversary, the championshipkicked off on Saturday, Nov. 5 with preliminary competitive rounds,and concluded with the fastest players advancing to the finals onSunday, Nov. 6. Cube finalists competed before a 40-foot-tall RUBIK'SCUBE, one of the pop culture icons celebrated at Disney's Pop CenturyResort. Representing 24 countries, over 150 cube enthusiastsparticipated in a series of unusual and timed challenges, includingstandard speed solving, one-handed cubing, blindfolded cubing, andfoot cubing.

"Once again, this high-profile contest brought together the mostdynamic cubers from around the world. Nearly 100 players from theUnited States alone competed in the 3x3x3 event," said Geoff Medieros,marketing manager of the RUBIK'S CUBE at Hasbro Games. "With RUBIK'SCUBE'S 25th anniversary upon us, this year's world championship istruly a memorable event and another example of the staying power ofthis iconic puzzle."

About the RUBIK'S CUBE

RUBIK'S CUBE may appear simple to solve, but the 3x3 originalhides an astonishing 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,856,000)different configurations. Each of its six faces displays a differentcolor, and each face consists of nine squares. With a few twists, thefaces scramble into mixes of red, yellow, orange, white, green andblue. Solvers must restore the cube to its original state, with eachface again a single color. Some algorithms have revealed 22 moves asthe fewest necessary to solve a completely jumbled cube.

Invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik, a professor at the HungarianAcademy of Crafts and Design in Budapest, the RUBIK'S CUBE did notenter the United States until 1980. Rubik meant to create a cube withparts able to move around a center axis. He painted each side adifferent color for demonstration purposes and accidentally stumbledupon the puzzle now known and loved as the RUBIK'S CUBE.

Soon after its U.S. introduction, the Museum of Modern Art in NewYork City featured a RUBIK'S CUBE in an exhibit. In addition, over 60books have been published to help puzzlers solve the cube, and fansworldwide have posted their solutions to the Internet.

Recently, Starwave Mobile, a mobile publishing and licensing labelfrom the Walt Disney Internet Group, obtained exclusive worldwidemobile rights for the RUBIK'S brand of puzzle games. Under the termsof the deal with Seven Towns Ltd., license holder of the RUBIK'Sfranchise, next year Starwave will launch a line of mobile games basedon the RUBIK'S brand, expanding the puzzle into new media and offeringfans a novel way to experience RUBIK'S.

The RUBIK'S CUBE is for all kids ages 8 and older. A special, 25thanniversary cube is now available at all major toy and game retailersin the U .S. for an approximate retail price of $9.99. Over the lastquarter century, more than 300 million RUBIK'S CUBES have been soldworldwide. For more information, please visit www.rubiks.com.

About Hasbro

Hasbro Games manufactures and markets games and puzzles under thebrand names Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers. Included in itsproduct line are some of the world's best-known games and puzzlesincluding: CANDY LAND, the MONOPOLY game, SCRABBLE Brand CrosswordGame, YAHTZEE, TWISTER, THE GAME OF LIFE, TRIVIAL PURSUIT and BIG BENPuzzles. The company also markets its games in three focusedinitiatives: MY FIRST GAMES (pre-school games), FAMILY GAME NIGHT(family games) and GET TOGETHER GAMES (adult games).

Hasbro Inc. (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children's andfamily leisure time entertainment products and services, including thedesign, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging fromtraditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the UnitedStates, its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGERand WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highestquality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.

About Disney's Pop Century Resort

Guests take a spin back in time at Disney's Pop Century Resort,the newest value hotel at Walt Disney World Resort. Guests of all agescan groove to pop culture from the past in this 2,880-room timecapsule. And they can do it at Disney's value-category rates.Larger-than-life icons of 20th century popular culture are found allover the sprawling resort property -- four-story RUBIK'S CUBES,65-foot-tall bowling pins and 55-foot cellular phones, to name a few.Individual lodge buildings pay tribute to popular culture from eachdecade.

About Winning Moves

Winning Moves Games is a leading maker of classic card games,RUBIK'S Puzzles and family games. Founded in 1995 and working closelywith toy and game industry leaders, such as Hasbro, Inc. and RUBIK'S,Winning Moves makes special editions of many of the world's mostpopular games and creates new, original game concepts for all ages toenjoy. For more information, visit www.winning-moves.com.

(C)2005 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (R) Denotes Reg. U.S.Pat. & TM Office.

SCRABBLE is a registered trademark of HASBRO in the United Statesand Canada.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT is the registered trademark of Horn Abbot Ltd. forthe games distributed under exclusive license to Hasbro, Inc.

RUBIK'S CUBE is a registered trademark of Seven Towns.