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Video Games System Inspires Developers to Create Better Games, Faster

“Building on our strengths as a software company, X-Box will offer game developers a powerful platform and game enthusiasts an incredible experience,” said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft. “We want X-Box to be the platform of choice for the best and most creative game developers in the world.”

Unlocking New Gameplay Experiences Familiar tools such as the Microsoft® DirectX® API will inspire movie-quality rendering, enhanced Internet gaming, and superior audio in future-generation games. X-Box will catapult gameplay quality to new heights by delivering the following:

More than three times the graphics performance of the newest-generation game consoles

Co-developed with experts at nVidia Corp., the custom-designed graphics chip will deliver more than 300 million polygons per second.

Rich, fast-action and realistic experiences enabled by the X-Box hard drive

Broadband Internet connectivity that extends the game experience Combining the power of PC technology with the accessibility of its cutting-edge DirectX development tools, Microsoft is providing game developers with a maximum-performance creative medium to deliver better games.

“The PC has always been the design center for high-end entertainment because of the unlimited graphics power and the great tools that make programming easier,” said Robbie Bach, vice president of the Games Division at Microsoft. “Our developer partners are excited to apply Hollywood design techniques to creating superior X-Box games.”

Developer Enthusiasm Microsoft is allocating significant resources in technology, developer support and marketing to make X-Box and its developer partners successful. X-Box is slated to launch in 2001, and numerous developers and publishers have already expressed their enthusiasm for it, including industry leaders Electronic Arts Inc., Konami Company Ltd., Acclaim Entertainment Inc. and Eidos Interactive.

“We view Microsoft’s entry into the console business as an important and positive event for our industry. Electronic Arts is intrigued by the opportunity to develop exciting new games for X-Box,” said Larry Probst, chairman and CEO of Electronic Arts.

“We welcome the development of the new X-Box platform because we expect it will help the home game console industry to expand,” said Kagemasa Kozuki, chief executive officer of KonamiCo., Ltd. “We plan to organize an X-Box development team and release new titles for the platform before anyone else. We hope that the X-Box will be a successful platform and will help the game console industry grow further.”

New Games Division To advance future-generation PC and X-Box games, Microsoft has formed a new dedicated games division comprising world-renowned software engineers and designers in the industry. Robbie Bach, vice president of the Home and Retail Division, will oversee the Games Division. Further directing the division’s efforts are Vice President Rick Thompson, and General Manager Ed Fries, who will oversee first-party software development.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software 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.