XSN SportsIn a bold move designed
to shake up the sports gaming industry, Microsoft Corp. officially unveiled its
new brand of sports video games, XSN Sports. Each XSN Sports
video game will include cutting-edge technology that will for the first time link
the Xbox® video game system, Xbox Live™ service and personal computer.
XSN Sports will take sports gaming to another level by offering gamers the ability
to set up leagues, build tournaments and analyze scouting reports on the centralized
Web site, XSNsports.com. This new brand and the exclusive XSN Sports technology
go live today, offering exciting new opportunities for sports gamers.

The XSN Sports revolution begins with "NFL Fever 2004,"
the first title in the new XSN Sports brand and Microsoft’s best-selling football
franchise exclusive to Xbox. "NFL Fever 2004" hits store shelves today
to coincide with the launch of XSNsports.com and the XSN Sports brand. . .

With XSNsports.com, gamers
will be able to battle their friends in a personalized and password-protected
16-game user-created season, challenge top-ranked online competitors in a worldwide
tournament, or settle scores with bitter rivals from the comfort of their living
room. XSNsports.com will provide gamers with
their own virtual sports page of their exploits and broadcast up-to-date statistics,
standings, tendencies and trade proposals every 15 minutes. The site’s Web-based
technology always keeps sports fans plugged into the competition on Xbox and
the PC.

“XSN Sports will revolutionize sports video games as we know them,”
said Ed Fries, corporate vice president of Xbox games publishing at Microsoft.
“The ability to create customized leagues and tournaments among your group
of friends, where the competition truly matters, is the breakthrough sports
gamers have been waiting for.”

“NFL Fever 2004“

The inaugural title in the XSN Sports brand, “NFL Fever 2004″ (http://www.xbox.com/nflfever2004/),
the third installment of Microsoft’s best-selling Xbox- exclusive football
franchise, is now available everywhere video games are sold. “NFL Fever
2004,” already playable with the world’s most competitive arena, the
Xbox Live online game service, is ready to explode on the football scene with
an improved defensive AI, the new “read and lead” passing feature,
and an all-new play-calling interface with “bluff mode.” With the
addition of XSN Sports and its league-management capabilities, “NFL Fever
2004″ is poised for a breakout season.

XSN Sports Titles

In addition to “NFL Fever 2004,” XSN Sports features a robust lineup
of Xbox-exclusive titles launching this fall, including these:

  • “Top Spinâ„¢.” The complete tennis experience
    that allows gamers to experience intense, realistic tournament competition
    features 16 of the world’s greatest tennis stars including Pete Sampras, Anna
    Kournikova and Lleyton Hewitt.
  • “Amped® 2.” The sequel to the popular extreme
    sport title on Xbox now includes more rendered real mountains, new combo and
    style tricks, and multiplayer modes.
  • “NBA Inside Drive 2004.” The ultimate hoops
    experience now features new cover athlete Shaquille O’Neal and revamped offensive
    and defensive schemes.
  • “Links® 2004.” The most realistic golf series
    on the PC has been specially designed for Xbox and is set to make its console
    debut.
  • “NHL Rivals 2004.” The first hockey title created
    by Microsoft for Xbox features Steve Yzerman as the cover athlete and the
    ultimate hockey experience.

Microsoft is supporting the XSN Sports brand and games under the brand with
print and television advertising, a strong retail presence, online marketing
and numerous publicity events.

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide game company with two core businesses:
game development and publishing (http://www.microsoft.com/games/)
and Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/).

About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is Microsoft’s
future-generation video game system that delivers the most powerful games experiences
ever. Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to fulfill their
creative visions as never before, creating games that blur the lines between
fantasy and reality. Xbox is now available in the continents of North America,
Europe, Asia and Australia.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader
in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower
people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, Top Spin, Amped and Links are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other
countries.

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