| Contact: David
Swofford ORIGIN
Systems 512
434-6620 dswofford@origin.ea.com EA’s
Ultima Online To Enter New Dimension Ultima Online: Third Dawn to Feature 3-D
Characters, New Lands and Monsters; Unveiling Takes Place at Inaugural UO
World Faire AUSTIN,
Texas, November 10, 2000-Call it a makeover, an exciting new look, a change of
face or just the latest chapter for the Internet’s most popular virtual world.
Today, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and its Austin, Texas subsidiary, ORIGIN
Systems(tm), announced plans to launch Ultima(tm) Online: Third Dawn(tm) early
next year. Third Dawn is the latest upgrade to the highly successful Ultima
Online (UO) game, which currently boasts more than 200,000 active subscribers.
Third Dawn was formally unveiled this morning at the first annual Ultima
Online World Faire taking place today and tomorrow at the Austin Convention
Center. With Third Dawn, Ultima Online will be more immersive than ever with
fully animated, motion captured 3-D characters, each with enhanced gesturing
and animations. In all, Third Dawn will feature more than 700 motion-captured
animations on nearly 200 different character models. An enhanced lighting and
shading system, a new land to explore, more than a dozen new monsters, a
particle system for spell and magic effects and improved music and sound
effects will make Ultima Online look and sound better than ever before.
"Third Dawn is really going to give our players a brand new way to
experience Ultima Online’s virtual world," says Gordon Walton, ORIGIN’s
vice president for online services. "We’re not just adding more of the
same thing. We’re creating 3-D technology that will enhance how each person
plays and identifies with their character. It opens up an emotional attachment
between players and their avatars that we’ve never had before in Ultima
Online." Third Dawn also will allow development teams greater latitude to
make additions and enhancements to UO long after Third Dawn launches. With
Third Dawn, ORIGIN Systems is making a commitment to its players and fans for
a long time to come. Beta testing for Ultima Online: Third Dawn will begin
soon and will be open to current UO players only. More information on Third
Dawn can be found at http://www.uo.com/thirddawn.
Ultima Online: Third Dawn was announced this morning at the Inaugural Ultima
Online World Faire. More than 800 Ultima Online players from around the world
are attending the two-day event which includes roundtable and panel
discussions, period costumes and music, medieval weaponry and art exhibits, a
Renaissance village of vendors, a charity auction, parties and game demos. About
Ultima Online Ultima
Online is a thriving, persistent, virtual world where more than 200,000 people
live and play on the Internet. Players can enjoy true social interaction with
other participants in real-time, form adventure parties, engage in battles,
take on perilous quests or chat in a tavern over a goblet of virtual ale. More
information on Ultima Online can be found at http://www.uo.com. About
ORIGIN Systems ORIGIN
Systems develops and publishes state-of-the-art entertainment software. To
date, the company has released more than 60 titles, including the award
winning Ultima, Wing Commander(tm), Privateer(tm) and Crusader series of
games. ORIGIN is based in Austin, Texas and is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Electronic Arts (EA). More information on ORIGIN products can be found on the
Internet at http://www.origin.ea.com. About
Electronic Arts Electronic
Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading
interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts
posted revenues of more than $1.4 billion for fiscal 2000. The company
develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers
and video game systems and markets its products under two brand names: EA
SPORTS(tm) EA GAMES(tm) and EA.COM(sm). More information about EA’s products
and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.ea.com. #
# # ORIGIN,
Origin Systems, Ultima, Third Dawn, Wing Commander, Privateer, Electronic
Arts, EA SPORTS and EA GAMES are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA.COM is a service
mark of EA.COM Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners. For
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