| DISNEY
INTERACTIVE AND SQUARE JOIN FORCES TO CREATE EPIC ROLE-PLAYING GAME FOR
PLAYSTATION®2 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM – KINGDOM
HEARTS BREAKTHROUGH
3D ADVENTURE DEBUTS AND LAUNCHES NEW DISNEY CHARACTERS UNPRECEDENTED
BLEND OF ORIGINAL AND CELEBRATED DISNEY CHARACTERS, AND MULTIPLE WORLDS FROM
DIFFERENT DISNEY FILMS, NOW EXIST IN ONE TITLE Los
Angeles — (May 17, 2001) — Disney Interactive and Square Co., Ltd. (Square)
usher in a new era in interactive entertainment with the announcement of
Kingdom Hearts, a 3D epic adventure and role-playing game for the
PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system that will feature both existing
and newly created Disney characters, as well as multiple Disney and
Square-designed worlds — all coexisting in one unique game. Making
their debut in Kingdom Hearts, the new Disney characters — Sora, Riku, Kairi
and the Heartless — are designed by director and character designer Tetsuya
Nomura, best known for his creations in Square’s breakthrough titles FINAL
FANTASY® VII AND FINAL FANTASY VIII. These characters team up with renowned
Disney characters, but as they’ve never been seen before, to embark on a
dark, magical adventure that takes them to familiar and newly created Disney
worlds, interacting with characters indigenous to those realms. Scheduled
for release in winter 2001 in Japan, and fall 2002 in North America and
Europe, Kingdom Hearts immerses players in an adventure of fantasy and
non-stop action, delivering a unique interactive gaming experience that melds
the Disney and Square entertainment legacies of animation, design,
story-telling and character development. "Kingdom
Hearts is a unique undertaking and opportunity for Disney Interactive on so
many levels: we’re working in alliance with one of the world’s leading
interactive entertainment companies; we’re launching new characters for The
Walt Disney Company; and we’re creating breakthrough creative content on an
advanced platform that allows us to push the boundaries of 3D animation and
design, and tell a new story with unprecedented fusion of Disney characters
and movie worlds," said Jan Smith, president, Disney Interactive.
"This game represents the most recent expansion of Disney Interactive
content into categories of entertainment products and genres that broaden our
reach to new and older audiences throughout the world." "Kingdom
Hearts has allowed Square to work with Disney Interactive in an unprecedented
way, with both companies contributing their highest levels of creative talent
and teamwork. The result is a game completely original in its scope, scale and
creativity — a breakthrough title for our industry," said Hisashi
Suzuki, president of Square Co., Ltd. "Square’s expertise in game
design and action-based RPG’s combined with Disney’s historic legacy of
rich characters, animation and story development will allow us to bring a
unique product to established gamers who already expect the best from Square,
while at the same time introducing new players to this genre of interactive
entertainment." Kingdom
Hearts represents the first time Disney Interactive and Square have worked
together. The title is Disney Interactive’s most expansive effort at
integrating different Disney film content in one interactive product. Under
the direction of Tetsuya Nomura, the game takes full advantage of the power
and advanced technology of the PlayStation 2, incorporating beautifully
crafted 3D and CG worlds that allow for flexibility and customization of
gameplay. The
Story of Kingdom Hearts Kingdom Hearts is an epic story of adventure, heroism,
teamwork and life’s most important lessons. It is the story of Sora, a
15-year-old boy whose world is turned upside-down when a violent storm crashes
into his idyllic island-paradise home, and he is separated from those closest
to him: his best friend Riku — a 16-year-old boy — and a young girl named
Kairi. The storm’s force scatters the friends to three different and unknown
worlds. At
the same time, there’s turmoil in the world of the Disney Castle. King
Mickey is missing and protectors Court Wizard Donald and Captain Goofy set out
on a mission to find him. On their travels they meet Sora, who is on his own
mission to search for his lost friends. The three are told of dark, ominous
creatures known as the Heartless, beings without hearts derived from an
unknown dimension and, as it turns out, the ones responsible for the
devastating tornado. Imbued with the ability to morph and change their form,
the Heartless’ ultimate goal is to recruit the Disney Villains to help them
steal the pure hearts and souls of others. Upon
learning of the link between the Heartless, the storm and the disappearance of
King Mickey, Sora, Donald and Goofy decide to join forces to recover Sora’s
friends, return the King to his rightful position and save the universe from
the Heartless. On their adventures, they journey through a fantasy Disney
Universe, where each land is its own unique world. The heroes visit many
different worlds, including those of Disney’s Aladdin, Disney’s Tarzan(TM),
Disney’s Peter Pan and many more Disney and new, original worlds, where they
interact with the characters of those worlds and battle their way across
dimensions. More
than two years in development, Kingdom Hearts has a production team of more
than 100 people, representing the best creative talent from both Disney
Interactive and Square. About
Square Co., Ltd. And Square Electronic Arts L.L.C. Square
Co., Ltd. is the leading third-party developer and publisher of home video
game console software in Japan with annual sales of more than US $687 million
consolidated base (based on the average annual exchange rate of 106 Japanese
Yen per US dollar during fiscal year 2000) and 1,200 employees worldwide.
Square Co., Ltd. became famous for its role-playing games, including its
world-renowned FINAL FANTASY series, which has sold more than 33 million units
to date, and now publishes other titles under the SQUARESOFT® brand spanning
all genres. Square Co., Ltd. is based in Tokyo, Japan, and maintains a branch
office in Osaka. Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., located in Los Angeles,
California, is the exclusive publisher of all SQUARESOFT products in North
America. More information can be found at www.squaresoft.com. About
Disney Interactive Disney Interactive, part of the Disney Consumer Products
division of The Walt Disney Company, develops, markets and globally
distributes a wide variety of interactive entertainment, educational and
sports CD-ROMs and video games. For more information on Disney Interactive’s
products, visit www.disneyinteractive.com. SQUARESOFT
logo and FINAL FANTASY are registered trademarks of Square Co. Ltd.
PlayStation and the PS family logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. Tarzan(TM) owned by Edgar Rice
Burroughs, Inc. and used by permission. CONTACTS: Square
Electronic Arts L.L.C. (U.S.A.) Kyoko Yamashita Phone: (310) 846-0400 x354 kyoko@sqea.com DISNEY
INTERACTIVE Leslie Oren Phone: (818) 553-3923 leslie.oren@disney.com Square
Europe Ltd. (United Kingdom) Stephanie Journau Phone: +44 (207) 291-5124 stephanie@square-europe.com #
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