Interactive Games Grow More Popular As Intel Technology Improves Real-World Gaming Experience

Intel Processors Power the Latest Games at E3 2002

E3 TRADE SHOW, LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2002 - If you think your mother does only e-mail or shopping online, think again. In a recent survey by the Interactive Digital Software Association, women make up 43 percent of people who play interactive gamesⁱ.

The popularity of gaming among women is one example of the quickly changing patterns of PC gaming. Approximately 60 percent - or 145 million Americans - play video games and increasingly, these games are being played in cyberspaceⁱⁱ. More than 49 million people in the U.S. played an online computer game last year and analysts predict that number will jump to 58 million this yearⁱⁱⁱ.

The increasing power of the personal computer (PC) has helped drive the growing popularity of the gaming industry. At the E3 trade show this week, Intel Corporation will preview the latest computing technologies for mainstream and hard-core gaming enthusiasts.

Desktops, Laptops and Handhelds
Intel processors power many of the most popular gaming platforms, and at E3, Intel will show some of the latest PC games running on an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor at 2.53 GHz, the world's highest-performing desktop processor. Combined with the latest software, Pentium 4 processor-based PCs enable sophisticated physics engines and artificial intelligence so that consumers can enjoy greater action and a more true-to-life gaming experience.

In support of the wireless gaming trend, Intel will demonstrate two Alienware* laptop PCs that are designed for gamers, by gamers. The Alienware systems are based on the recently introduced Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor-M, Intel's new high-performance processor for mobile PCs. Intel will also demonstrate several handheld computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) powered by the 206 MHz Intel® StrongARM* processor. The high performance Intel-based PDAs provide users with an outstanding gaming experience in a small handheld device.

Intel will also exhibit wild new PC creations from a select group of gaming enthusiasts known as PC "modders," or "case" modders (since they modify traditional PC cases). Recognized as innovators inside the hard-core gaming community, PC modders build systems that challenge traditional notions of PC aesthetics. Equipped with the fastest Pentium 4 processors and accessorized with extras such as florescent neon lights to water-based cooling systems, PC modders drill, cut, carve, weld, paint and stain to create computers that deliver top performance and are as visually stimulating as the games they will play.

Intel has an extensive program to enable hundreds of software developers to create games that take advantage of the power of the latest Intel processors. For example, Epic Games has optimized their Unreal* 3D engine for the Pentium 4 processor that will be used in their upcoming Unreal Tournament 2003 game. At E3, Intel will show some of the newest games in various stages of development by leading software companies, including:

• Impossible Creatures* by Microsoft and Relic Entertainment
• Men in Black II: Crossfire* by Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment
• NASCAR Racing 2002 Season* by Sierra Entertainment
• Neverwinter Nights* developed by BioWare and published by Atari
• Rise of Nations* by Microsoft and Big Huge Games
• Star Trek* Elite Force II* developed by Ritual Entertainment and published by Activision, Inc.
• TRON 2.0* developed by Monolith Productions and published by Disney Interactive
• Unreal* Tournament 2003 published by Infogrames and co-developed by Digital Extremes and Epic Games
• Warcraft* III: Reign of Chaos* by Blizzard Entertainment

Intel StrongARM-based PDAs will run Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf Game* and Metalion Game* by Z!Osoft, as well as Hyperspace Delivery Boy!* by Monkeystone Games, Inc.

Marketing the Game
At E3 this week, Intel announced that the Pentium 4 processor will be the worldwide sponsor of the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) and tournaments. The CPL is the world's largest professional gaming league with tournaments in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Twice a year, thousands of gamers from around the world converge in the U.S. for the CPL's championship events. At these events, top gamers compete for total prizes worth up to $100,000.

To communicate the performance capabilities of the Pentium 4 processor for gaming, Intel is targeting gamers through print and online advertisements.

The company will preview a new PC gaming advertisement in the E3 Show Daily. The ad features the Juggernaut character from "Unreal Tournament 2003*," courtesy of Digital Extremes and Epic Games, with the tagline "Don't hold your games back." The ad's copy calls out the benefits of playing games on an Intel Pentium 4 processor-based PC, which include better graphics, realistic environments, smoother animation and faster response. The print advertisement will appear in select gaming enthusiast magazines starting in July. The ad was created by Messner Vetere Berger McNamme Schmetter/EURO RSGG, New York. Additionally, Intel is supporting several online initiatives targeting gamers.

Editor's Note: The Intel suite is located at MR 150 B Concourse Hall during E3, May 21-24 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The suite will feature demonstrations of desktop PCs, laptops, handheld devices and PC modders.

Intel and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

i  Interactive Digital Software Association 2001 Gaming Software Study
ii  IDSA
iii  IDC

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.