Atari Announces RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Demo and Pre-Sell C..

Atari Announces RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Demo and Pre-Sell Campaign
Offering Exclusive, Professionally Designed Coasters

1,031 words
15 September 2004
06:00
Business Wire
English
(c) 2004 Business Wire. All Rights Reserved.

BEVERLY, Mass. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Sept. 15, 2004 -

Playable Game Demo of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Available Sept. 27th

Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) has announced a "RollerCoaster Tycoon(R) 3
Pre-Order Campaign" and demo program, both part of a comprehensive
multi-vehicle marketing campaign for the November 2nd launch of
RollerCoaster Tycoon(R) 3. The pre-order program allows consumers who
reserve a copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, the highly anticipated next
addition of the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise, to download three
professionally designed coasters that were created exclusively for
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. A playable demo of the game will be available
for download on Monday, September 27th at
www.atari.com/rollercoastertycoon and on partner sites.

Famous for the Nemesis and Oblivion rides at Alton Towers Park in
England, world renowned roller coaster designer and creator John
Wardley designed five roller coasters for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 that
are only available through the pre-sell campaign and won't be included
in the final game. Consumers are able to pre-order RollerCoaster
Tycoon 3 at participating retail partners from now until the November
2nd launch.

"I've had a great time designing coasters with RollerCoaster Tycoon
3," said John Wardley, professional roller coaster designer. "Atari
and Frontier are creating a superb amusement park simulation and the
addition of real-life coaster technology and the ability to ride the
rides you create makes the game as intense as it is captivating."

Consumers will be able to download a "coaster pack" which contains
three exclusive Wardley designed pre-sell coasters. The coaster packs
differ depending on where consumers place their pre-order as outlined
below:


-- Dueling Dragsters:
A twin-track racing standup style coaster set in an
oasis-style park. Available through pre-orders at all
participating retailers.

-- Tesla Coiler:
A crazy launched coaster which looks like a giant Tesla
coil. Available through pre-orders at all participating
retailers.

-- Splinter:
A hillside wooden coaster with a lift near the end of the
ride. Available through pre-orders everywhere except
Electronics Boutique or Gamestop where the below coasters
are substituted.

-- Serpentine:
A large inverter (like Nemesis, only bigger) set in a
quarry or canyon. Available through pre-orders at
Electronics Boutique exclusively.

-- White Palms:
A large and fast giga-coaster set over a lake. Available
through pre-orders at Gamestop exclusively.


The RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 pre-sell program begins on September 15th
at participating retailers and the exclusive pre-sell coasters will be
available for download beginning on October 26th, one week prior to
the game's November 2nd in-store date.

At the time of registration, consumers at Electronics Boutique,
Gamestop and Best Buy in the U.S., and other local retailers
worldwide, will receive a pre-sell box. This box will contain a
key-code and instructions to unlock and download a "coaster pack"
containing three custom-designed roller coasters (as outlined above).
Consumers can also pre-order online at EBgames.com, Walmart.com,
Amazon.com, and CompUSA.com and will receive a key code via email to
download the coasters.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 features stunning 3D graphics, a CoasterCam(TM)
that lets players "ride the rides," a Fireworks MixMaster(TM) to
create fireworks displays, dozens of new rides and themed attractions,
a Peep Designer, VIPeeps, a Sandbox Mode, customizable music and
various day and nighttime cycles.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is being developed by Frontier Developments,
Ltd. and has a U.S. in-store date of November 2nd and a November 5th
launch date in territories outside the U.S. A demo of the game will be
available worldwide on Monday, September 27th at
www.atari.com/rollercoastertycoon. Additional details about the game
and the pre-order campaign are also available on the web site.

About Frontier Developments, Ltd.

Frontier and its founder, David Braben, have a long association with
Chris Sawyer going back to 1987, when Chris first worked on PC
versions of the famous "Elite" and "Virus" games. Frontier has for
many years used its own cutting-edge 3D game engine on both PC and
console titles. The company has a strong track record of creating both
innovative 'own-IP' games and original high-quality titles that give a
faithful treatment of existing brands. The company's most recent two
console games gathered three prestigious BAFTA (The British Academy of
Film and Television Arts) nominations between them ("Wallace & Gromit
in Project Zoo" on PlayStation(R)2, Xbox, GameCube and PC, based on
Aardman Animations Ltd.'s multiple Oscar(R)-winning duo; and the
novel, award-winning "Dog's Life" published by Sony Computer
Entertainment Europe on PlayStation(R)2). Frontier employs
approximately 60 people, and has offices in Cambridge and Ely in the
UK.

About Atari

New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games
for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of
interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+
titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as DRIV3R(TM),
Enter the Matrix(TM), Neverwinter Nights(TM), Stuntman(TM), Test
Drive(R), Unreal(R) Tournament 2004, and Unreal(R) Championship; and
mass-market and children's games such as Backyard Sports(TM),
Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues(TM) and Dora the Explorer(TM),
Civilization(R), Dragon Ball Z(R) and RollerCoaster Tycoon(R). Atari,
Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames
Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest
interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit
www.atari.com.

(C) 2004 Atari, Inc. All Rights Reserved.