Atari’s Shiny Entertainment Studio Chooses PhysX
Shiny employs AGEIA NovodeX physics software to create rich feature film-style visual effects and digital virtual worlds for their products.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - May 17, 2005 - At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), AGEIATM Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced that Atari's Shiny Entertainment Studio is implementing AGEIA's NovodeX physics software to create physics-based effects and digital virtual worlds for their latest PC adventure title. Shiny is making heavy use of AGEIA's NovodeX physics software for the new game, in which players can engage in physics-based martial arts action and gunplay, as well as physics-defying stunts and aerobatics. Players using add-in boards with AGEIA's PhysX processor will experience a highly accelerated execution of these environments and gameplay, enabling unprecedented interactivity while jacked into these cinema-like mega-worlds.
One of the hottest game developers in the industry, the Shiny team's last game Enter the MatrixTM hit #1 around the world. Reaching almost 6 million copies it was the #1 selling movie game of 2003, and won the "Movie Game of the Year" award from Spike TV. This was made possible by working very closely with the Matrix movie directors, and by demonstrating how Hollywood will be able to collaborate with the video game industry in the future. Shiny and AGEIA are already teaming up to explore further implementations of AGEIA's NovodeX physics software in the epic next-generation game titles developed by Shiny.
"The arrival of AGEIA's NovodeX physics software is a clear sign that physics will be a core pillar needed in the future of nearly all games. The fact that they're not just going to compete with other physics solutions, and instead are going to also build hardware excites me and definitely will excite gamers when they experience the results," said David Perry, president and founder of Atari's Shiny Entertainment Studio. "We look forward to working with AGEIA to find new ways to really push their PhysX hardware and software to the limits in next-generation games."
"Shiny has a reputation in the industry for continuously expanding the boundaries of interactive gaming," said Andy Keane, vice president of marketing for AGEIA. "The combination of Shiny's development skills, their marketing strength, the support of Atari and the use of AGEIA's physics technology in their products, makes them an invaluable partner for us."
AGEIA will be demonstrating games using AGEIA PhysX technology at E3. (By appointment only, Kentia hall, booth #7532.)
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 DRIV3RTM, Enter the MatrixTM, Neverwinter NightsTM, StuntmanTM, Test Drive®, Unreal® Tournament 2004, and Unreal® Championship; and mass-market and children's games such as Backyard SportsTM, Nickelodeon's Blue's CluesTM and Dora the ExplorerTM, Dragon Ball Z® and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. 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 www.atari.com.
About AGEIA
AGEIATM Technologies, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company and the pioneer of hardware-accelerated physics for games. Its flagship product, the PhysX processor, is the world's first dedicated physics processing unit - a completely new hardware category. The PhysX processor and supporting software deliver the processing horsepower to calculate real-time interactive worlds. Developers can define these worlds to obey the laws of classical physics, or create their own physical laws that make their game a unique, hyper-dimensional experience.
AGEIA seeks to ignite innovation in the games industry by working with leading developers, publishers, add-in board vendors and console manufacturers to deliver the next generation of physically immersive entertainment. Consumer add-in boards and systems equipped with the AGEIA PhysX processor and games that take advantage of the technology will be available in late 2005. For more information visit www.ageia.com.
AGEIA, PhysX and NovodeX are trademarks of AGEIA Technologies, Inc. All other products are trademarks of their respective companies.
AGEIA Media Contact:
Kim Stowe
Reverb Communications, Inc.
(408) 839-8750