Atari Announces BattleZone(R) for PSP(TM) System
Quick, Action-Based Battles Meet Today's Consumer Demands for Engaging, On-the-Go Gaming
NEW YORK, May 4: Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) today announced
the development of BattleZone for the PSPTM (PlayStation®Portable) system, a modern
update to the 1980 classic arcade game. BattleZone immerses
players in an interactive world with relentless onslaughts of
quick, action-oriented battles. In development by Paradigm
Entertainment, BattleZone for the PSP system will blast onto
global terrain in November 2006.
Set in futuristic international military environments,
BattleZone puts players in control of highly maneuverable
hover tanks, challenging them in close combat scenarios
against their rivals. BattleZone features fast and furious
gameplay, photo-realistic environments, eight unique
customizable team vehicles, an assortment of high-powered
weapons and multiplayer battles. The four-player WiFi mode
lets players go head to head, while unlockable weapons,
vehicles and upgrades add even greater depth to the gameplay
experience. In addition, extra game content will be available
through the BattleZone web site, offering gamers news, leader
boards and an exclusive online level builder tool that allows
players to customize game maps. The extra content can then be
downloaded to the players' PSP system through a local PC-USB
connection.
"The BattleZone arcade game broke the mold for vehicle action
combat in 1980, and today's version will reinvent this
classic property into a modern day must-have," said Stephen
Baer, Senior Product Manager, Atari, Inc. "BattleZone for the
PSP system offers the fast-paced action and addictive
gameplay that meets the demands of today's on-the-go
generation."
BattleZone provides players with six popular and well-known
game modes, including Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Team
Deathmatch, Hotzone, Knockout, and Fox and Hound. For casual
gamers, the single player mode offers an easy learning curve
for pick-up and play gaming and a tournament progression to
win upgrades and enhancements.
Designed to take advantage of the PSP system's high quality
display, BattleZone's crisp environments depict military
combat arenas from around the world. Specific sights include
abandoned cities of Russia, jungles of China, desert canyons
of the United States, Antarctica's frozen tundra and the
Canary Islands. Players can fight their way through the
compelling open play of ten worlds in BattleZone, two of
which can be customized online and transferred to their PSP
system.
Capitalizing on all the PSP system offers with quick action
control, close combat gameplay, familiar game modes and WiFi
capabilities, BattleZone will yet again redefine vehicle
combat action for the next generation of today's portable
gamers.
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 franchises such as DRIVERTM, The MatrixTM (Enter The Matrix and The
Matrix: Path of Neo), StuntmanTM and Test
Drive®; and
mass-market and children's franchises such as Nickelodeon's
Blue's CluesTM
and Dora the ExplorerTM, and Dragon Ball
Z®. Atari, Inc.
is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames
Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the
largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more
information, visit http://www.atari.com .
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® 2006, Atari, Inc. All rights reserved. ATARI, the ATARI
logo, and classic Atari game titles and logos are trademarks
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"PSP" is a trademark and "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family
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SOURCE Atari, Inc. -0- 05/04/2006 /CONTACT: Andrea Schneider
Atari, Inc. 212.726.4259 andrea.schneider@atari.com; or Tara Bruno
HighWater Group for Atari, Inc., 212.338.0077, ext. 302,
tara@highwatergroup.com/ /Web site:
http://www.atari.com / (ATAR)