Mattel Interactive Announces Lineup for Championship Surfer

FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contacts:

Mattel
Interactive, Entertainment Division

Michael
Shelling, Public Relations

(415)
382-2923

EntertainmenPR@broder.com

Sharon
O’Donnell, Public Relations

(415)
382-2917

EntertainmentPR@broder.com

Mattel
Interactive Announces lineup for Championship
Surfer™

Multi-platform
Surfing Title to Include Members of O’Neill World Championship Team

Novato,
CA
– August 23, 2000 – The
Entertainment Division of Mattel Interactive, a division of Mattel, Inc.
(NYSE: MAT) today announced it has secured licensing agreements with eight
members of the O’Neill World Championship surf team for its upcoming game
Championship Surfer^™. 
Available for the Sega Dreamcast^™, Sony PlayStation^®
game console and Windows^® in November, Championship Surfer is the
first arcade-action game that looks and feels like real surfing.  

“Our
partnership with the members of the O’Neill surfing team will help us bring
an air of authenticity to Championship Surfer,” said Mattel Interactive
President Bernard Stolar.  “With
the growing popularity of games based on skateboarding and snowboarding, a
product like Championship Surfer is a logical progression. 
The combination of a talented developer like Krome and world-class
surfers from O’Neill will enable Championship Surfer to deliver a new brand
of excitement to console and PC gamers alike.” 

Brisbane,
Australia-based Krome Studios, is developing Championship Surfer. 
The development team is staffed with avid surfers, including current
Australian National Champion Mark “Richo” Richardson.  Richo has provided a wealth of information on the development
and implementation of wave dynamics, board dynamics, and the moves of the
featured surfers in the game. 

Krome’s
proprietary technology and game engine has been developed in association with
leading specialists in the fields of physics, engineering and 3D graphics. 
This expertise has resulted in some of the most realistic wave
appearance and behavior ever seen to date.

Each
of the O’Neill team surfers is modeled and textured in seamless 3D with a
full set of animations that accurately reflects their individual style and
moves. Surfing action takes place on a fictional South Pacific Island with 10
selectable beach locations, each with waves possessing their own unique
breaking style and size, as well as varying weather conditions. 
Championship Surfer will also incorporate both single and multiplayer
modes, including a “Championship” mode using scoring methods compliant
with ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) methodology. 

The
following O’Neill surfers will be represented in Championship Surfer:

Cory
Lopez

This
23 year-old from Indian Rocks Beach, FL is one of the most versatile surfers
in competition today.  Cory has
risen to the top in a relatively short amount of time and has firmly
established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the waves for years to
come.  

Shane
Beschen

Hailing
from San Clemente, CA, 29 year-old Shane has consistently been among the top
surfers in the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) since his pro debut
in 1993 and continues to chip away at the ASP field to secure his place as ASP
World Champion. 

Rochelle
Ballard

Sunset
Beach, Hawaii’s Rochelle Ballard won the largest purse prize in women’s
professional surfing history in May of this year at the OP Boat Challenge in
Indonesia.  In 1999, Rochelle won
her first world championship tour event in Huntington Beach, CA and finished
the year with an impressive fourth-place finish in the World Championship Tour
standings.  Surfing the powerful
hollow waves of her native Hawaii has helped Rochelle garner her reputation as
one of the finest barrel riders in the sport. 

Jason
Collins

Known
in surfing circles as “Rat Boy,” this 29 year-old Santa Cruz native won
the Vans/Surfing Magazine Air Show
in 1999, and has also been featured on the cover of Transworld
Surf Magazine.  For several
years Jason has been at the forefront of innovative surfing, drawing his
inspiration from power surfing, as well as snowboarding and skateboarding. 

Tim
Reyes

One
of the newest O’Neill riders, this 18 year-old Huntington Beach, CA native
is poised to be one of surfing’s future stars. 
He already has several NSSA (National Scholastic Surfing Association)
High School championships to his credit, along with an equally impressive
seven-event winning streak.  

Nathan
Carroll & John John Flourence

Both
from Sunset Beach, Hawaii, 15 year-old Nathan is an up and coming surfer with
the O’Neill team.  Although John
John is the youngest member of the team (Age 7), he has the incredible
distinction of being the youngest ever to surf the world famous Banzai
Pipeline in Hawaii

About
O’Neill

O’Neill
has been the world’s premiere wetsuit manufacturer since Jack O’Neill
fabricated his first foam vest in 1952. Today, more than 47 years after Jack
stepped into the Pacific Ocean wearing the O’riginal wetsuit, the O’Neill
name remains synonymous with the most advanced, most innovative wetsuits and
active wear in the world. Because of Jack O’Neill’s bold pioneering
efforts, millions now enjoy the ocean in comfort and style – worldwide!

About
Mattel Interactive 

The
Entertainment Division of Mattel Interactive, a division of Mattel, Inc.
(NYSE: MAT) publishes a variety of entertainment software products under the
SSI and Mattel Interactive brands, including Myst, Chessmaster, Prince of
Persia, Panzer General, and Warlords.

2000 Mattel, Inc.  All product
names are trademarks of Mattel, Inc., or their licensors.