Microsoft® Preview of PopCap Games'® Heavy Weapon™ for Xbox 360™ Live Arcade at E3 2006 Will Showcase New Multiplayer Mode

PopCap Games®, the leading developer and publisher of casual games for digital entertainment platforms, today announced that its hit PC game Heavy Weapon will be showcased in the Microsoft booth (booth #1246) at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles next week. This marks the first time in PopCap's history that the company has publicly unveiled a game prior to its official release date. A new multiplayer mode added exclusively for the Live Arcade version of Heavy Weapon highlights a raft of new features and enhancements to the game on Microsoft's hugely popular new console, Xbox 360. Heavy Weapon will officially launch on Live Arcade later in the year, and will join other PopCap titles including Bejeweled® 2 and Zuma® which are already among the most popular casual games on the Live Arcade service.

"As a kid, nothing was more fun than playing collaborative-style arcade games like Contra, where you and a friend could play together as a team, working together to blow the daylights out of everything on the screen," said Jason Kapalka, Chief Creative Officer at PopCap. "Few things are more satisfying than total mayhem with you in the thick of it. When we first considered putting Heavy Weapon on the Xbox, it was instantly clear to us that this would be the perfect multiplayer collaborative game, and the first playable prototype totally confirmed that expectation. We haven't been able to stop playing the prototype, and expect this to be a great Xbox Live Arcade game."

Heavy Weapon is a classic arcade-style side-scrolling action game in which the player strives to defeat hordes of enemy armies in the form of tanks, jeeps, fighter jets, helicopters and other land- and air-based vehicles. Power-ups that provide additional speed, shields, firepower and other capabilities help the player overcome increasingly nasty enemy forces and bosses while progressing through levels representing the oppressed (fictitious) countries over which the war is being waged. Since launching for Web and PC Play, Heavy Weapon has been downloaded more than 10 million times.

The multiplayer survival game to be included exclusively in Heavy Weapon for Xbox Live Arcade will be on display at the E3 expo. This game mode allows the player to test his/her tactical prowess with up to three friends on a high definition widescreen display. The single player survival game is already a frenzied battle where the player is pitted against inexhaustible enemy forces. In multiplayer mode the action is even more furious, with as many as four sets of cannons blazing and endlessly intensifying waves of enemy forces. The ensuing chaos would make even a battle-hardened Geo Wars veteran sweat! Stop by the booth, grab a controller and get your nuke on.

Heavy Weapon and all other PopCap titles made available for Xbox Live Arcade include the following enhanced features and functionality:

o High-DefinitionGraphics - All titles will support the Xbox 360's HDTV display output and widescreen resolutions that show off each game's graphics to unparalleled effect

o Leaderboards - Online scoreboards to compare against other Xbox Live players

o Achievements - Merit badges awarded for predefined accomplishments earned in the game that players can proudly display as they navigate the Xbox Live environment

o Gamerscore - A meta-score spanning all Xbox 360 titles, whereby cumulative accomplishments across different game genres/categories are in one "uber-score

o Enhanced Play Controls - Using the new wireless controllers that come standard with Xbox 360 System, players can now 'feel' the weight of the space bricks as they're swapped in Astropop and sense the "kick" of the balls as they're fired in Zuma

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For press information on PopCap, please contact Garth Chouteau: garth@popcap.com / 415-602-8147

PopCap and Heavy Weapon are trademarks, and Bejeweled, Zuma and PopCap Games are registered trademarks, of PopCap Games, Inc. Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox Live are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners, without intent to infringe.