VICARIOUS VISIONS®, INC. ANNOUNCES
PURCHASE OF INTRINSIC ALCHEMY® TECHNOLOGY ASSETS FROM INTRINSIC GRAPHICS™, INC
LOS ANGELES, CA –
ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO – MAY 13, 2003 –
Vicarious Visions®, Inc. (www.vvisions.com),
a leading developer of video games,
announced the purchase of
all rights to the Intrinsic Alchemy technology, originally developed by
Intrinsic Graphics as a powerful middleware platform for PC and video game
consoles including Sony
PlayStation®
2, Microsoft Xbox™,
and Nintendo GameCube™."
“We are delighted to add Alchemy to the Vicarious Visions family,” said
Karthik Bala, CEO of Vicarious Visions. “This enables the continued
availability of the Intrinsic Alchemy technology and tools to game developers
such as ourselves, who are creating hit titles that need the leading edge that
Alchemy provides.
The near-term focus for
Vicarious Visions will be to continue Intrinsic Alchemy product development.
The company will work with international partners
such as Silicon Studio in
Japan to provide
Alchemy’s value to game studios worldwide. Going forward, Vicarious Visions
sees great potential in the Alchemy technology to become the middleware
solution of choice for blockbuster games.
Its powerful software
architecture allows for a robust production pipeline and multi-platform
development on 128-bit console systems, and has been designed for scalability
to future generation of console platforms and mobile devices.
Intrinsic Alchemy is
currently being used in a number of high profile PC and console titles to be
released Fall 2003 including Vicarious Visions’ upcoming Crash Nitro
Kart™ for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox
video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube, a fast action
multiplayer kart racing game based on the hit Crash Bandicoot® franchise from
Vivendi Universal Games. Alchemy is also being used to power hit titles in
development at Activision, Konami, Sega, Take-Two Interactive, and other
studios worldwide.
“We’ve brought a core group
of people on board with expertise in the development of the Alchemy
technology,” added Guha Bala, President of Vicarious Visions. “Combining
expertise in multi-platform middleware solutions with our native game
development application and production expertise will allow us to create
technology that can have a big impact on the future of game development.”
About Vicarious Visions, Inc.
Vicarious Visions is an independent game development studio that has created
hit titles with top brands such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater™, Spider-Man®, Crash
Bandicoot®, Star Wars®, SpongeBob Square Pants® and Monsters, Inc®. The
company’s success is based on innovative technology, compelling game designs
and a rigorous development process. Vicarious Visions is a trusted partner of
publishers including Activision, THQ, and Universal Interactive and brand
holders including Disney, Pixar, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Warner
Brothers. Vicarious Visions is a contributing member of The Khronos Group,
which is focused on the development of OpenGL ES and OpenML™ graphics
standards.
For more information, visit the Vicarious
Visions web site at http://www.vvisions.com
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Vicarious Visions is a registered trademark
of Vicarious Visions, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
Xbox is a trademark
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
“Crash Nitro Kart” interactive game 2003
Universal Interactive, Inc. Crash Bandicoot and related characters are ® and
of Universal Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. Vivendi Universal Games
and the Vivendi Universal Games logo are trademarks of Vivendi Universal
Games, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
