Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) and Firaxis Games announced today that Sid Meier's Pirates!(R) for the Xbox(R) video game system from Microsoft is currently in development and is scheduled to release worldwide in spring 2005. Sid Meier's Pirates! for Windows will ship to retail stores worldwide on November 16, 2004. The award-winning 1987 smash hit game, Sid Meier's Pirates!, received unprecedented critical acclaim and set the industry standard for innovative game design with its unique blend of open-ended role-playing, real-time adventures and thrilling action sequences.

"There has been great anticipation for the long awaited return of Pirates! and to see what the team at Firaxis has been able to accomplish with the franchise," said Nancy MacIntyre, vice president of marketing, Atari, Inc. "We are pleased to follow-up what is sure to be a great PC launch this holiday with an Xbox title next year."

"We're thrilled to continue our relationship with Atari to bring Pirates! not only to fans of the original game but to a new generation of gamers," said Jeff Briggs, President and CEO of Firaxis Games. "Pirates! is among the most popular and loved titles in gaming history and Sid and the team here are working hard to uphold the high standards of the franchise."

In Sid Meier's Pirates! for Windows and Xbox, players take the leading role of a Pirate Captain in the 17th century Caribbean - amassing fortune and fame in an attempt to seize a rightful place as one of the most revered and feared pirates in history. Players test their skills as a sea captain exploring the high seas and exotic ports in a richly detailed 3-D world. As your reputation and skills grow, so will the size and quality of your crew, your ability to take on larger enemy ships, raid and plunder heavily fortified ports, and locate ancient treasure.

Sid Meier's Pirates! for Xbox will include a Vs mode and will take advantage of many Xbox Live! capabilities, high fidelity 5.1 Dolby Digital surround and will support HDTV.

Additional information about the franchise and Sid Meier's Pirates! for Windows and Xbox can be found at http://www.atari.com/pirates or http://www.pirates-game.com .

About Firaxis
FIRAXIS Games, home of legendary designer Sid Meier, is one of the world's premier independent game development studios. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, FIRAXIS has created some of the most successful and award-winning PC games on the market. The company's most recent hit titles include: Sid Meier's SimGolf (published by Electronic Arts); the mega-hit Sid Meier's Civilization III (published by Atari); Sid Meier's Civilization III: Play The World, the multiplayer expansion pack; and Sid Meier's Civilization III: Conquests, the second expansion pack to the legendary strategy game. Firaxis has a rich history of creating great games including: Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire and Sid Meier's Antietam!. For more information on FIRAXIS Games visit http://www.firaxis.com .

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 DRIV3R(TM), Enter the Matrix(TM), Neverwinter Nights(TM), Stuntman(TM), Test Drive(R), Unreal(R) Tournament 2004, and Unreal(R) Championship; and mass-market and children's games such as Backyard Sports(TM), Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues(TM) and Dora the Explorer(TM), Civilization(R), Dragon Ball Z(R) and RollerCoaster Tycoon(R). 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 http://www.atari.com .

About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com) is the video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive collection of breakthrough games, powerful hardware and the unified Xbox Live online service. The new tagline, "it's good to play together," captures the spirit of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox is now available in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

About Xbox Live
Xbox Live, which launched in the United States Nov. 15, 2002, allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers everywhere via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the ground up for online gaming, negating the need to buy additional, costly peripherals or upgrades. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their friends; talk to other players during game play through the Xbox Communicator headset; download current statistics, new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive; and play online--all exclusive features to Xbox Live.

Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Posted By: Adam Paoli - 161 Reads

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February 15, 2005