Unreal Championship Set to Dominate the First-Person Action Genre
In the Console Market
LOS ANGELES, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- (Electronic Entertainment Expo,
Booth #824) Infogrames, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFGM) a leading global publisher of
interactive entertainment software, unveiled Unreal Championship at E3 today.
A first-person action game built from the ground up by Digital Extremes, part
of the team responsible for Unreal and Unreal Tournament, is coming
exclusively to the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft in Spring 2002.
"With the astonishing graphics and technical capabilities of Xbox, coupled
with 'bot'-blasting explosive gameplay and tons of brand new features, Unreal
Championship will be the definitive action game for Microsoft's new video game
system," said Laddie Ervin, director of marketing at Infogrames, Inc.'s
Los Angeles label. "The console market is ready for a leader in this genre on
next generation systems and Unreal Championship is poised to take that spot."
"Having co-developed Unreal and Unreal Tournament with Digital Extremes,
we feel they are the perfect partner to continue delivering the excellence
required in a next generation Unreal product," remarked Tim Sweeney, founder
of Epic Games. "James Schmalz and his team are building a top notch Xbox game
from the ground up."
Developed by Digital Extremes, Unreal Championship uses the latest Unreal
technology by Epic Games in building a brilliant single player experience
combined with an unparalleled multi-player component. Additional features
include all new characters and weapons; land, air and team-based vehicles;
exotic levels and environments as well as new game modes and some old
favorites.
"Our past experience with Unreal and Unreal Tournament has provided us
with an excellent foundation to create a killer console product based in the
Unreal universe," said James Schmalz, lead designer at Digital Extremes.
"With Unreal Championship for Xbox we are raising the bar on first-person
action games; and the latest Unreal technology on Xbox is allowing us to do
that on all fronts."
With the addition of terrain technology to the Unreal engine, this title
will feature over 30 brand new exotic indoor and outdoor locales. By
combining the capabilities of Xbox and the Unreal engine, environments will
feature such jaw-dropping effects as volumetrically lit-wind affected smoke,
particle effects allowing sparks to bounce off individual branches on a tree,
and fog that actually moves when solid objects pass through it.
Other exciting new features include brand new highly individualized
characters with high polygon counts and high-resolution textures. In
addition, characters will have specific animations and individual background
profiles.
The game will also feature Internet play with up to 32 players online
simultaneously, up to 4-player spilt-screen, and system link play. Unreal
Championship for Xbox will be available in most retail stores in Spring 2002.
About Digital Extremes
Digital Extremes, based in London, Ontario Canada and established in
1993, is a developer of cutting-edge PC and video games. The company is best
known as the co-developer, with Epic Games based in Raleigh, NC, of the
award-winning PC 3D action games Unreal and Unreal Tournament as well as a
series of successful computer pinball games that began with the extremely
popular Epic Pinball. For more information, visit http://www.digitalextremes.com.
About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is Microsoft's future-generation video game
system that delivers new and unforeseen game play experiences. With more than
three times the graphics performance of the newest generation of game systems,
Xbox unleashes game designers' creativity to produce games that are
challenging, exhilarating, surprising, and fun.
About Infogrames
Infogrames, Inc. is a leading publisher and distributor of video games for
consoles (Sony, Sega, Nintendo, and Microsoft), personal computers and
Macintosh systems. The company's award-winning franchises include Alone In
The Dark, Driver, Deer Hunter, Test Drive, and Unreal. Infogrames, Inc.'s
Humongous Entertainment division is a leader in children's entertainment
software and its Macintosh publishing label, Macsoft, is the number one
publisher of Macintosh entertainment software. Based in New York, NY,
Infogrames, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based
Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257) and serves as the headquarters for
the company's operations in North America.
Founded in 1983, Infogrames Entertainment SA is a global publisher and
distributor of video games for all platforms, as well as interactive digital
television, mobile smart devices (WAP, HDML) and in-flight entertainment
systems. With Infogrames Entertainment SA's recent acquisition of
Hasbro Interactive, the company now boasts a line of software based on
well-known licenses such as Monopoly, Jeopardy, Tonka, and Atari. For more
information, visit Infogrames' US Web site at http://www.us.infogrames.com.
NOTE: Xbox and Microsoft are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
SOURCE Infogrames, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.infogrames.com
CONTACT:
Meridith Braun, 408-985-3133, or
mbraun@us.infogrames.com, or Wiebke Vallentin, 408-985-3225, or
wvallentin@us.infogrames.com, both of Infogrames, Inc.
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