Microsoft Invades 1998 Electronics Entertainment Expo With Spitfires and Catapults Blazing
REDMOND, Wash., May 26, 1998 — Microsoft Corp.’s Games Group will unveil two of its most-anticipated PC game titles, Microsoft® Combat Flight Simulator and Age of Empires® II: The Age of Kings, at this year’s Electronics Entertainment Expo (E 3 ), in Atlanta, May 28-30 (Booth 4420, West Hall, Georgia Congress Center). The two titles lead Microsoft’s 11-game lineup at the show and demonstrate the company’s commitment to building and extending its popular PC-game brands. Microsoft also announced that it plans to ship an Age of Empires Expansion Pack in time for the 1998 holiday season. The Expansion Pack focuses on the ancient Roman Empire and delivers new civilizations, unique units and additional campaigns, including the rise of Rome.
Combat Flight Simulator, set for release this fall, builds on the 15-year legacy of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the best-selling simulation game to date. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, which is scheduled to ship in spring 1999, is a sequel to Age of Empires, the best-selling PC-game strategy title during last year’s holiday season. Other Microsoft games that will be showcased at E 3 include Urban Assault
™, Monster Truck Madness® 2 racing simulation, Motocross Madness
™
, Revenge of Arcade
™
and Pinball Arcade,
“Inertia,”
* Close Combat
™
3 and the recently released Microsoft Baseball 3D and Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition.
“We’re building on the success of our most popular titles and creating innovative new games,”
said Ed Fries, general manager of the games group at Microsoft.
“Microsoft is offering exciting products for the gamer in everybody. From the dogfighting adrenaline rush in Combat Flight Simulator, to the strategic challenge in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, to the nostalgic appeal of Microsoft Pinball Arcade, Microsoft brings gaming to life on the PC.”
Flagship Titles Lead the Way
Combat Flight Simulator is a World War II air-combat simulation game built on the realism of the Flight Simulator engine. Combat Flight Simulator combines exciting air combat with the most realistically modeled aircraft found in PC games today – including authentic flight models and accurately detailed cockpits – and the ability to import and export scenery and aircraft from Flight Simulator.
The Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings game spans a thousand years, from the Dark Ages to the late medieval period, in which players control human destiny from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages. Starting with minimal resources, players must build nations into great civilizations. Players can win in several ways, including conquering enemy civilizations, accumulating wealth by extensive trading and diplomacy, building and defending wonders of the world, or protecting a king or queen. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, developed by Ensemble Studios, was designed using the expertise of Bruce Shelley, co-designer of Age of Empires and the hit strategy game Civilization.
Innovation in Action
Urban Assault, another Microsoft game featured at the trade show, combines diverse-action game play and real-time strategy elements against a foreboding post-apocalyptic backdrop. Urban Assault is a thinking gamer’s action game, in which players are simultaneously the generals and the front-line soldiers. Gamers simultaneously command and deploy their entire army from an overhead transparent map while controlling, from the cockpit, 15 types of combat vehicles – from airplanes, helicopters and satellites to jeeps and tanks.
The Madness Continues
Fans of Monster Truck Madness have more to look forward to with the release of Monster Truck Madness 2 and Motocross Madness. Monster Truck Madness 2 combines outrageous on-road and off-road action, unrestrained racing, and real monster trucks for a heart-pounding romp across rugged, challenging terrain. Monster Truck Madness 2 adds new tracks and trucks that show damage, including four new models based on famous WCW and nWo wrestling characters, as well as stunning graphics and sound, variable weather conditions, night driving, and multiplayer-only king-of-the-hill style games.
Motocross Madness captures the daredevil spirit of world-class motorbike racing. Gamers control the bike’s throttle, brake, steering and gears, as well as the rider’s center of gravity, which provides superior control and realistic overall game play. In addition, players can control 16 midair stunts and jumps. Motocross Madness, which requires a 3-D graphics acceleration card, uses photographically sampled textures to supply highly detailed graphics of riders, bikes, terrain and sky. Both Madness products take advantage of today’s hottest technologies, including support for force-feedback and multiplayer gaming via the Internet Gaming Zone.
Family Entertainment for Everyone
Revenge of Arcade and Pinball Arcade extend one of the most popular family entertainment PC product lines. Revenge of Arcade combines five classic arcade games – Ms. Pac-Man, Xevious, Rally-X, Mappy and Motos – into one collection that offers a nostalgic return to 1980s arcade-game smash hits. Pinball Arcade combines seven licensed pinball table games from the 20th century.
Microsoft Sports Games Drive Home Excitement
Committed to expanding its sports offerings, Microsoft recently released two new titles that capture the authentic game experience with all the sights and sounds of the environment. Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition, the fourth golf offering from Microsoft, is an easy-to-use PC golf game featuring four of North America’s most challenging courses, fluid and realistic game graphics, beautifully rendered courses, and accurate physics that re-create the feel of a real round of golf. Microsoft Baseball 3D takes full advantage of 3-D acceleration and provides true baseball gaming purists with the sophisticated action, sights and sounds of Major League Baseball – everything from the proper flight of a curve ball to an off-the-wall double is re-created in full 3-D splendor.
And the Game’s Not Over Yet
Microsoft will also preview at E 3 two upcoming PC games titles: Close Combat 3 and
“Inertia,”
which are scheduled for release in 1999. Close Combat 3, the latest game in the award-winning Close Combat series, puts players in command of the Eastern Front – the largest land war in modern history, spanning from the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union to the 1945 fall of Berlin. Inertia is a fast-paced vehicular shooter that lets gamers custom-design a combat vehicle.
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.
* Inertia is a working title.
Microsoft, Age of Empires, Urban Assault, Monster Truck Madness, Motocross Madness, Revenge of Arcade and Close Combat are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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