ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT, INC. RACES ON TO NEXT-GENERATION SYSTEMS WITH 'BURNOUT' FOR XBOX AND NINTENDO GAMECUBE
Award-Winning Arcade Driving Game Returns With New Enhancements and Features
"Burnout set new benchmarks in the genre with its incredible realism, heart-pounding driving action and unprecedented crash effects, and has quickly become one of our top performing brands," said Evan Stein, vice president of Brand. "We're thrilled to bring this celebrated gaming experience to Xbox and GameCube owners, and are confident that they will enjoy getting behind the wheel and experiencing the rush of driving at dangerously high speeds from the safety of their couch."
Burnout was inspired by some of the most memorable car chase scenes from the greatest action films of all time, and won IGN.com's Editors' Choice Award on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The game features an incredibly sophisticated and intelligent traffic system, challenging players to race to the finish line at breakneck speeds through a myriad of trucks, cars and buses. With dramatic crashes possible with every turn of the wheel, competing drivers are rewarded for pushing the envelope and their skills to the extreme. Burnout also includes a simulated in-game heart monitor, rewarding the player with incredible bursts of speed as their pulse increases with every risk they take.
Burnout offers a broad array of features, including several new items that are exclusive to the Xbox and GameCube versions:
- All-new high-resolution visuals, including HDTV and Progressive Scan support, delivering incredibly crisp and clear action up to 480p (GameCube) and 720p (Xbox);
- Improved deformation models, allowing for more realistic car crashes;
- All-new tri-linear filtering and anti-aliasing, creating smoother textures and images;
- Improved lighting, enhancing the game's realism, including the way light reflects on the cars and tracks;
- Bump mapping (exclusive to the Xbox), provides greater detail on road surfaces;
- Dolby surround sound technology, including 5.1 channel Dolby Digital audio support (Xbox version only);
- Improved real-time vehicle crashes, highlighted by multiple-camera instant replays;
- 16 exciting courses, each filled with unique challenges and obstacles, spanning the United States and Europe;
- Multiplayer split-screen action for head-to-head competition;
- More than 300 vehicles to collide with on each course;
- Intelligent traffic system, featuring three distinct types of driver behaviors;
- Vibration enabled controller compatibility, letting players feel every turn and crunch of the car.
Burnout is currently available for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube at a suggested retail price of $49.99. In addition, the game is also available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system at a suggested retail price of $49.99. For more information regarding this title, please visit http://www.acclaim.com.
Criterion Software and Criterion Games Background Information Founded in 1993, Criterion Software is a rapidly expanding organization, which currently employs over 160 people in its software technology and game development divisions. The company is headquartered in Guildford UK, and has offices in Tokyo, Austin, Paris and Derby. Criterion Games is dedicated to the development of accessible and rewarding games for next-generation console systems such as the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Microsoft's Xbox video game system and Nintendo's GameCube. Criterion Software is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon, Inc. Further information on Criterion Games can be found at www.criteriongames.com.
About Acclaim Entertainment
Based in Glen Cove, N.Y., Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and mass marketer of software for use with interactive entertainment game consoles including those manufactured by Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment and Microsoft Corporation as well as personal computer hardware systems. Acclaim owns and operates six studios located in the United States and the United Kingdom which includes a motion capture and recording studio in the U.S., and publishes and distributes its software through its subsidiaries in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Australia. The Company uses regional distributors in Japan and the Pacific Rim. Acclaim also distributes entertainment software for other publishers worldwide, publishes software gaming strategy guides and issues "special edition" comic magazines from time to time to support its time valued brands, Turok and Shadow Man. Acclaim's corporate headquarters are in Glen Cove, New York and Acclaim's common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ.SC under the symbol AKLM. For more information please visit our website at www.acclaim.com.