REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 3, 1996 — You just might be spending this holiday season several miles beneath the sea, defending 25th-century Earth from the mother of all alien invasions. Or, if you’re into more sedate pursuits, expect to find yourself behind the wheel of BigFoot® , the king of monster truck racing, with archenemy Snake Bite® closing in fast.
These are just two of the options now available to PC game players as Microsoft releases the first four of its holiday 1996 game titles. Microsoft® Deadly Tide
™
, Hellbender
™
, Monster Truck Madness
™
and NBA
™
Full Court Press
™are available now through resellers worldwide. Four more titles – Microsoft Flight Simulator for the Windows® 95 operating system, Microsoft Golf 3.0, Microsoft Soccer and GEX
™
– are scheduled to be released in November.
”
Our games lineup for this holiday season delivers heart-pounding action, cinematic visual effects, and in-depth game play using today’s most innovative technologies, including support for multiplayer Internet gaming and the Direct3D
™API,”
said Ed Fries, general manager of the games group at Microsoft.
“Our commitment to games and our strategic relationships with some of the best talent in the industry have combined to provide a broad range of PC games to thrill all kinds of game players.”
Action Titles Challenge You to Blast and Strategize Your Way to Victory
The new action titles now available from Microsoft for the holiday season are Deadly Tide and Hellbender.
Deadly Tide is a cinematic underwater action shooter in which players move from mysterious sunken ships to alien mining operations to battles on the open sea as they attempt to save humanity from the enemy that has invaded the Earth on a mission to drown the world. The incredibly realistic 3-D graphics in Deadly Tide were created by the same designers responsible for the eye-popping effects on the
“SeaQuest”
and
“Star Trek: The Next Generation”
television series and movies such as
“RoboCop”
and
“Total Recall.”
Casual gamers will be captivated by the pulse-pounding action and the need for lightning-fast reflexes. Hard-core gamers will be fully challenged and engaged by Deadly Tide multiple paths, significant mobility and seamless integration of game play. People who enjoy movie-like game-play experiences will enjoy Deadly Tide, with its compelling cinematic graphics and powerful musical score.
To show off the game’s cinematic quality, Microsoft has recently featured Deadly Tide on nationwide movie screens as part of an innovative marketing campaign, including a
“Stay and Play”
night on Sept. 25 at United Artists’ theaters. Moviegoers across the country played Deadly Tide on the big screen, a PC-industry first.
Hellbender is an intense action shooter that offers players an integrated science-fiction story line for challenging game-play experiences. Designed for the hard-core game audience, Hellbender features tremendous depth of play and replay value, including strategic elements, secret worlds, hidden objects, numerous weapons and a variety of adversaries. The game is a technological powerhouse and provides full support for Direct3D-based gaming, multiplayer competition via LAN, direct modem and the Internet (via Microsoft Internet Gaming Zone at (http://www.zone.com/) , and full freedom of movement using the SideWinder
™
3D Pro joystick. The engaging story line was written by acclaimed science-fiction film writer Geof Miller, and voice-over is provided by
“The X-Files”
star Gillian Anderson.
Simulation, Sports Titles Offer the Ultimate in Down-to-Earth Realism and Interactivity
Monster Truck Madness, the world’s only PC monster truck racing simulation, features an extraordinarily realistic racing experience that allows gamers to feel the uninhibited power and outrageous fun of monster trucks. Play begins with highly detailed renderings of world-famous monster trucks including BigFoot, Snake Bite and Gravedigger® . The trucks have the physical characteristics of their namesakes and provide true-to-life, bone-jarring movements. Racing courses contain realistic obstacles and terrain rendered in detailed, textured 3-D graphics. The gunning motors and cries of twisted metal are the real things, too, recorded and digitized from actual monster truck races. And narrating the drive to victory is the voice of Armey Armstrong, beloved by millions of monster truck racing fans.
In addition to the standalone, direct modem and LAN playing options, players can also participate in multiplayer gaming over the Internet by meeting other players at Microsoft Internet Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com/) . Gamers can also connect to the Microsoft Monster Truck Web Stop site on the World Wide Web http://www.microsoft.com/games/monster/ to find the no-charge Monster Truck Madness trial version, up-to-the-minute information on monster trucks, race results and Monster Truck Madness promotions, as well as online adversaries ready to crunch and squash their own way to victory. Monster Truck Madness also supports Direct3D-based gaming to take advantage of today’s powerful Direct3D-based graphics boards for optimal game play.
NBA Full Court Press is a competitively engaging PC basketball game. Play head-to-head with up to four players on one PC or across town over a modem or network. Basketball fans will be captivated by its incredibly true-to-life graphics, lifelike player moves and intense, realistic five-on-five game play. NBA Full Court Press combines the best of exciting arcade action with a deep, sophisticated database of statistics that affects on-the-court play.
The game’s realistic feel starts with more than 250 motion-captured player moves – including jump shots, skyhooks, blocked shots and a variety of creative dunks – real crowd noises, and all 29 NBA arenas captured and digitized in full detail. All 29 NBA teams are represented, and every dunk, rejection and rebound is narrated by Kevin Calabro, the colorful voice of the Seattle SuperSonics. Sophisticated artificial intelligence integrates real player statistics and the game’s coaching features (including a playbook of more than 100 actual plays) into the game play. NBA Full Court Press uniquely combines an exciting, realistic game with enough depth to satisfy true basketball fans time and time again.
Pricing and Availability
Deadly Tide is available now for approximately $54.95. Hellbender, Monster Truck Madness and NBA Full Court Press are available now for approximately $44.95.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, Deadly Tide, Hellbender, Monster Truck Madness, Full Court Press, Windows, Direct3D and SideWinder are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
BigFoot, Snake Bite and Gravedigger are registered trademarks of BigFoot 4×4 Inc.
The NBA and individual NBA member team identifications used on or in this product are trademarks, copyrighted designs, and/or other forms of intellectual property that are the exclusive property of NBA Properties Inc. and the respective NBA member teams and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the NBA Properties Inc. All rights reserved.
GEX is a trademark of Crystal Dynamics.
For online product information:
Microsoft games Web site:
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.
