ATARI
DEVELOPING WILDEST RIDE YET WITH ROLLERCOASTER TYCOON 3
Thrilling New Sequel to Best-Selling Franchise to Ship in
2004
BEVERLY, MA
– March 3, 2004 – Get your barf bag ready! Atari,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) announced today that a thrilling new
sequel to the stomach-turning excitement of the RollerCoaster
Tycoon franchise will make its way to store shelves later
this year. RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 will take the series
to new heights with brand new features including 3-D graphics,
giving players complete control of views around the park,
and a front seat to the action with a new Coaster Cam feature
that allows players to ride the roller coasters. RollerCoaster
Tycoon 3 is being developed by Frontier Developments, Ltd.
of Cambridge, England, in conjunction with Chris Sawyer,
the creator and sole developer of the RollerCoaster Tycoon
franchise.
“We are
very excited to be working with Frontier Developments and
Chris Sawyer on this completely new version of the blockbuster
RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise,” said Wim Stocks,
Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Atari,
Inc. “RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 demonstrates Atari’s
ability to take an existing franchise to new heights, creating
an entirely fresh and exciting entertainment experience
for fans and new players alike.”
RollerCoaster
Tycoon 3 will also feature new gameplay elements that fans
have been asking for – including diversity of guests,
added group behavior and improved guest AI - and many other
new features which build upon the fun and addictive nature
of the original game.
The RollerCoaster
Tycoon series is the #1 Tycoon series having sold more than
seven million units life-to-date worldwide*. The original
RollerCoaster Tycoon game debuted in 1999 and held onto
a spot on the PC top 10 best-seller list for 150 weeks.
RollerCoaster
Tycoon 3 will be introduced in Holiday 2004 for the PC.
Additional information will be available on www.rollercoastertycoon.com
and www.atari.com.
About Frontier
Developments, Ltd.
Frontier and its founder, David Braben, have a long association
with Chris Sawyer going back to 1987, when Chris first worked
on PC versions of the famous "Elite" and “Virus”
games. Frontier has for many years used its own cutting-edge
3D game engine on both PC and console titles. The company
has a strong track record of creating both innovative 'own-IP'
games and original high-quality titles that give a faithful
treatment of existing brands. The company's most recent
two console games gathered three prestigious BAFTA (The
British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nominations
between them ("Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo"
on PlayStation®2, Xbox, GameCube and PC, based on Aardman
Animations Ltd.'s multiple Oscar®-winning duo; and the
novel, award-winning “Dog’s Life” published
by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe on PlayStation®2).
Frontier employs approximately 60 people, and has offices
in Cambridge and Ely in the UK.
About Atari
New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive
games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party
publishers of interactive entertainment software in the
U.S. The Company’s 1,000+ titles include hard-core,
genre-defining games such as Driver™, Enter the Matrix™,
Neverwinter Nights™, Stuntman™, Test Drive®,
Unreal® Tournament 2003, and Unreal® Championship;
and mass-market and children’s games such as Backyard
Sports™, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues™
and Dora the Explorer™, Civilization®, Dragon
Ball Z® and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Atari, Inc. is
a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment
SA (Euronext 5257), the largest interactive games publisher
in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.