New Audio Visual Interactive Platform Launches at CES; Baseball Great Steve Garvey Debuts New XaviX Technology

Business Wire, Jan 8, 2004

Business Editors

2004 International CES

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2004

XaviX(R) Games To Be First in Series of Interactive Home Entertainment

A new, interactive home entertainment technology that promises to merge the line between reality and imagination debuted today at the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. XaviX(R) (pronounced ZA-vix), developed by engineers who helped create the first Nintendo Entertainment System, will offer consumers an entirely new way to interact with video entertainment, beginning with a line of exciting games and continuing with a multitude of home applications.

At CES, baseball great Steve Garvey was hitting baseballs out of the park for technology fans when he and son Ryan debuted XaviX Baseball (South Hall 3, Breakthrough Technologies, Booth #22675), one of the new line of XaviX Games to be introduced along with XaviX Bowling and XaviX Tennis. The XaviX Games add a new dimension to home video games by putting the players right into the action with interactive sports accessories that have the near-real feel and functionality of actual baseball bats, tennis rackets and bowling balls and put the players' movements right into the TV screen.

Unprecedented Micro-Processing

The XaviX system features a single XaviX PORT that is sold separately, plugs into a TV and is used with individual system cartridges and accompanying player equipment.

The XaviX multiprocessor chip is the heart of the system, but unlike most home entertainment systems, the XaviX chip is located in the system cartridge, not the XaviX PORT. When a player swings the XaviX Baseball bat, XaviX sensors in the PORT "see" the movement, relay it to a XaviX multiprocessor chip that calculates the velocity and angle of the swing and lets the ball fly (unless it's a strike!).

"The XaviX technology lets people get off their couches and get into the action," said Mr. Katsuya Nakagawa, CEO, president and one of the original founders of Shinsedai (SSD) Company Limited, the makers of XaviX Technology based in Kusatsu, Japan. "Our goal was to invent something that would take electronic entertainment to a new level of interactivity that is fun, healthy and social."

The bonus that comes with housing the technology in the cartridge and not the XaviX PORT is that the console won't need upgrading as new applications are developed; each new product in the lineup will contain the latest technology right in the cartridge.

More Than Mere Child's Play

XaviX is not a game - it's a technology. With the launch of XaviX comes the introduction of a new form of home entertainment, and XaviX Games will be just one of a suite of XaviX products that SSD is developing for various market segments. Future categories will include XaviX Home, XaviX Education and XaviX Entertainment.

Availability and Pricing

XaviX Games will be available in the Summer of 2004 at retailers nationwide. Estimated average retail price for the XaviX PORT is $79.99.

XaviX Game cartridges and equipment are sold separately. Estimated average retail price for individual games is $59.99, which includes the individual system cartridge and accompanying game equipment.

About the Creators of XaviX

SSD Company Limited seeks to create a new era in home entertainment by making sophisticated virtual reality applications available to anyone with a television set. A privately owned company based in Kusatsu, Japan, SSD was founded by a group of nine people, eight of whom were key members of the team that created the first Nintendo Entertainment System. Established in 1995, SSD now has a staff of 100 and continues to expand. SSD created XaviX Technology in 1997, which is the heart of its current product line.

While earlier forms of XaviX technology were licensed to several Japanese and U.S. companies, the debut of the XaviX Games is the first time the XaviX technology has been applied to a sophisticated, virtual reality system.

XaviX technology combines audio, visual and interactivity to create a world that merges imagination and reality. Current products include XaviX Baseball, XaviX Bowling and XaviX Tennis, and future applications will be a part of the four XaviX product lines: XaviX Games, XaviX Home, XaviX Education and XaviX Entertainment.