Sega GameWorks, owners and operators of the uberarcade facilities scattered throughout the country, announced today that it has formed a preliminary agreement with Louis Vuitton-Moet-Hennessy, parent company of DFS Galleria, that will see a GameWorks site go up on the island of Guam.

　　The 25,000-square-foot GameWorks center will be constructed in Tumon Bay, Guam's Pleasure Island attraction.

　　Michael Montgomery, president and CEO of GameWorks, said, "Many tourists visit Guam to experience a touch of America without having to travel as far. In Guam, we are taking the core GameWorks concept and expanding it into a full-scale themed adventure."

　　GameWorks Guam is slated to feature eight "major" attractions as well as a number of themed "neighborhood" game zones, including a tropical rainforest, dinosaur adventure, adventure zone, and sports and racing zones. Vertical Reality, the "vertical challenge game" created by Steven Spielberg seen in many of the US GameWorks locations, will be a part of GameWorks Guam as well. (In Vertical Reality, players climb aboard chairs that rise up to 26 feet in the air. As they eliminate bad guys on each of the game's four levels, players rise up a notch, or are knocked back down as they are shot.) The site will feature motion simulators, water rides, and climbing trees as well.

　　Guam's Pleasure Island attraction includes the UnderWater World Aquarium, Sandcastle, Planet Hollywood, and Hard Rock Cafe, part of Guam's plan to increase its tourism business by the year 2001. Guam is, in fact, one the most popular destinations for Japanese honeymooners, so efforts to build up its tourist profile do make sense.

　　Five GameWorks facilities currently operate in the US, and the company has announced plans to open three more later this year - in Miami, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; and Orange, California. Other extraterritorial GameWorks are in the works as well - GameWorks has announced a partnership with Brazilian developer Grupo Multiplan to bring the entertainment facilities to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in 1999.