Video Gaming News - June 2004

Los Angeles, CA (June 7, 2004) - Atari, Inc. and Reflections Interactive today announced that development is complete on DRIV3R for Xbox and PlayStation 2. DRIV3R will be available in North America on June 21 and in Europe and Australia on June 22.

"The Wheelman is back...and in a big way," said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Atari. "Everything that was great about the previous two games - the awesome driving, deep storyline, film-like cinematics and the feeling of ultimate cool - has been amped to the next level in DRIV3R. With amazing new technology, Reflections has blown away every other game in the genre in terms of driving physics, graphics, and vehicle destruction to create the ultimate movie-like action game."

From Atari:

The next evolution of Driver, one of the most successful franchises in video game history, DRIV3R is an action-packed driving adventure game that recreates the excitement of a Hollywood blockbuster car chase and plays like an interactive movie. Developed by Reflections Interactive (an Atari studio), the masterminds behind Driver and Driver 2 - which have sold more than 12 million copies worldwide - DRIV3R stays true to its roots, incorporating the cinematic gameplay and gritty street crime of its predecessors with ground breaking graphics and three mammoth, wide-open city environments.

Featuring Hollywood-level production values and a gripping, narrative story line, DRIV3R casts players once again as Tanner, a jaw breaking, no-holds-barred undercover cop who does whatever it takes to bring the bad guys down. In DRIV3R, Tanner, alongside his longtime partner, Tobias Jones, must infiltrate a global car theft ring in tire squealing chases and fierce on-foot firefights while tailing gangsters, chasing witnesses, stealing cars and unloading massive clips of ammo to bring the criminals to justice.

DRIV3R features include:

- Blockbuster voice-over and scriptwriting talent involved from the ground up in the creation, production and performance of DRIV3R, including Michael Madsen as Tanner, Mickey Rourke as the sinister Jericho, Michelle Rodriguez as the sexy Calita, and Ving Rhames as Tanner's partner, Tobias Jones

- Three gigantic and true-to-life cities, including Miami, Nice and Istanbul, with more than 35,000 buildings hand-placed and decorated for intricate detail and ultimate immersion

- More than 150 miles of major highways and city streets to explore plus countless uncharted open areas, alleys, dirt roads and smaller byways

- A stunning graphics engine creating massive photorealistic environments - both indoor and outdoor - filled with hundreds of destructible objects to be smashed and blasted both in vehicles and on foot

- Complete destruction models allowing vehicles to crumble realistically as they are bashed, smashed and driven to the limits of their design

- Unmatched driving and physics engine creating the most realistic vehicle performance in any game and the most exciting chases ever seen

- A deep, narrative storyline that plays like an interactive movie, recreating the attitude, action and car chase sequences of modern gangster films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Pulp Fiction; nearly an hour of CGI video fleshing out the plot with dramatic scenes of sinister crime syndicate dealings

- Multiple solutions to missions allowing players to plan strategically before they move in on the crooks and choose between a full frontal assault or a more surreptitious alternative, depending on gameplay tastes

- Driver's signature "Film Director" function, which records every move made in the game, allowing gamers to place cameras anywhere, edit and direct a sequence and save their own Hollywood car chase to memory card to share with friends; on Xbox, players can upload their films to Xbox for other fans to download and view

- More than 70 controllable vehicles, including motorcycles, boats, police cars, vans, mopeds, muscle cars and fully articulated 18 wheelers

DRIV3R is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and is expected to release in North America on June 21 and in Europe and Australia on June 22. For more information on DRIV3R, please visit the game's official Web site at www.DRIV3R.com.

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