ATARI’S TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED BREAKS NEW PRICING GROUNDs
– COMPANY ANNOUNCES US$39.95 PRICEPOINT FOR
NEXT-GENERATION TRIPLE-A RACING TITLE –
– GAMING EXPERIENCE EXTENDS VIA MONTHLY CAR AND MUSIC DOWNLOADS –
NEW YORK, NY, JULY 20, 2006 – Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world’s most recognized brands and a leading third-party video game publisher, today announced official pricing for its upcoming, highly-anticipated next-generation racing game, Test Drive Unlimited. Atari will offer Test Drive Unlimited for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for US$39.95. To further extend consumers’ gaming experiences, Test Drive Unlimited car packs featuring six or more cars, complete with genre-specific radio stations, will be available for download monthly, beginning six weeks after launch on Xbox Live Marketplace.
“Innovation should be available to everyone, not a privilege for those who can afford high price tags,” said Bruno Bonnell, Chairman, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Atari. “Our GamersFirst program demonstrated the positive impact of flexibility in pricing. We believe it is our mission to deliver triple-A games that are accessible to the masses. As such, we are offering Test Drive Unlimited – a game that is being positively touted and recognized by the media – for $39.95, and furthermore, will continue users’ experiences past launch by featuring new cars and free music for download.”
Test Drive Unlimited’s monthly car packs will feature a mixture of manufacturers and models of the world’s finest vehicles. Each downloaded car pack will also include a free radio station. Radio stations will be set according to genres, such as Rock, Blues, Electronic, R&B, Jazz, Latin, etc., and feature between 10-20 songs.
Test Drive Unlimited has been receiving accolades from industry media as one of the top racing games this decade. GameDaily declared “This is the kind of racing game I live for,” while IGN.com stated “there's no denying Test Drive Unlimited is looking like one of recent memory's most unique racers.” TeamXbox described Test Drive Unlimited as a “revolutionary online driver.” At this year’s E3, the annual video game trade show, Test Drive Unlimited received a slew of E3 nominations and awards, including both PLAY Magazine and GameTrailers.com “Best Racing Game.”
Packed with 90 vehicles, one thousand plus miles of open roads and a host of online options, Test Drive Unlimited is M.O.O.R.: Massively Open Online Racing - the ultimate online automotive gaming experience for Xbox 360 gamers. Both online and offline gamers will experience the world’s most exotic and fastest vehicles on Test Drive Unlimited’s diverse Hawaiian roads. Gamers win races, challenges, missions and tournaments to earn credits and purchase new cars, bikes, apparel, homes and garages. Boasting huge online content, racers around the world can challenge others to join them in the virtual paradise of the game’s persistent online racing world. Players will engage in online challenges, and build communities by creating or joining exclusive members clubs to talk, trade cars, and race with other like-minded and similarly-skilled drivers in Test Drive Unlimited, one of the most comprehensive online racing experiences to date.
For more information about Test Drive Unlimited, please visit www.testdriveunlimited.com
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 franchises such as The Matrix™ (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo) and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children’s franchises such as Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues™ and Dora the Explorer™, and Dragon Ball Z®. 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.
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With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain certain "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. We caution you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein. Some of the factors which could cause our results to differ materially include the following: the loss of key customers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, GameStop and EB Games; delays in product development and related product release schedules; inability to secure capital; adapting to the rapidly changing industry technology, including new console technology; maintaining relationships with leading independent video game software developers; maintaining or acquiring licenses to intellectual property; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly net revenues and results of operations based on the seasonality of our industry; the termination or modification of our agreements with hardware manufacturers; and other factors described in our SEC filings.
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