Midway's MLB SlugFest: Loaded First Ever Game to Implement New Xbox Live 3.0 Features

Business Wire, May 27, 2004

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CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2004

SlugFest to Introduce Online Tournaments via

Microsoft's Newly Revamped Xbox Live

Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY), a leading interactive entertainment industry publisher and developer, today announced that MLB SlugFest(R): Loaded(TM) is expected to be the first ever video game to implement Microsoft's recently announced updates to Xbox(TM) Live 3.0 via customizable, online tournaments. MLB SlugFest: Loaded is scheduled for release on June 21, 2004, for the Xbox(R) video game system from Microsoft.

Using the ability to create, customize and run online tournaments while in-game, as opposed to using the previously established XSN Web site, MLB SlugFest: Loaded gamers are to be the first to be given the ability to create in-game tournaments, an option that Microsoft has announced will soon be available for any game across all genres. Tournaments are to consist of 4, 8 or 16 teams and can be controlled by the user via private, password-protected channels that allow invited players only to join.

"The SlugFest development team has been working very hard over the past few months to integrate some of the great new features that Microsoft has helped to successfully execute through the recent updates to Xbox Live," said Matt Booty, senior vice president of product development, Midway Amusement Games, LLC. "These new features dramatically increase the level of interaction when it comes to playing online, and we are proud to have MLB SlugFest: Loaded introduce them to the Xbox Live consumer."

"We're thrilled to see Midway be our first publisher to take advantage of the tournaments feature added to Xbox Live via the recent service update," said Julia Miller, Director of Marketing for Xbox Live. "This new functionality will expand the experience gamers can have when they challenge their friends on Xbox Live, and MLB SlugFest: Loaded is a great game to see this start."

About MLB SlugFest: Loaded

MLB SlugFest: Loaded is the only baseball videogame for the 2004 season featuring Midway's classic fast and furious gameplay with hard tags and over-the-top animations. This year's SlugFest features today's greatest baseball players with the addition of over-the-top abilities, including turbo-speed running, highlight reel-worthy fielding, earth-shaking collisions and, as one would expect from a Midway Sports title, the ability for a player to catch fire and turbo charge the game action.

In addition, all-new gameplay features add a measure of depth and adrenaline yet to be matched by competing, simulation-like baseball titles: Customizable Instant Replay, providing gamers with complete control of the numerous camera angles available to get the best view of towering home runs and diving catches, Exploding Scoreboards, giving players the ability to light up stadium jumbo-screens with one swing of the bat, and also, the most updated MLB team rosters available in any game of its kind. Furthermore, players will be able to for the first time in the SlugFest series, take coaching skills, players and/or teams online for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox Live, one of only three 2004 baseball videogames to have such capabilities. Additional online capabilities will include voice chat using an optional headset and an on-screen sports ticker tape that allows players to track ongoing MLB action with a live news feed from MLB.com, offering up-to-date scores and stats. It also features an Online Tournament Mode which allows online users to match-up at anytime against the stiffest competition coast-to-coast where winners take all and the losers goes home. MLB Slugfest: Loaded also includes a completely original soundtrack from new breakthrough bands, including tracks from Ivory Wire, Buckfast Superbee and Flipswitch.

About Sammy Sosa

Entering his eighteenth year in Major League Baseball(R), Sammy Sosa is looking to continue his torrent run as one of baseball's greatest sluggers in the ongoing 2004 campaign. Continuing to set a precedent on the field that few have had the ability to match and/or exceed, Sosa recorded one of the top five season-long stretches (1998-2002) in Major League history, hitting 292 homers while batting an astounding .306 with 622 runs scored, 437 extra-base hits and a .649 slugging percentage. In 2003, Sosa became the first player in National League history to have six-straight 40 home run seasons and nine-straight 100 RBI seasons, finishing the year with 40 home runs, 103 RBI and a .279 batting average while helping to lead the Chicago Cubs to the National League Championship Series.

About Midway Games Inc.

Midway Games Inc. is a leading developer, publisher and marketer of interactive entertainment software. Midway videogames are available for play on all major videogame platforms including the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube(TM) and Game Boy(R) Advance.