MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – March 21, 2006 – AGEIA™ Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced that City of Villains™ developer Cryptic Studios plans to supercharge the game’s powers and effects for players whose PCs are equipped with Physics Accelerator add-in boards powered by the AGEIA PhysX™ processor. The standalone sequel to the hugely popular City of Heroes from NCsoft, City of Villains was an immediate hit among MMORPG fans and critics alike with its intense interactivity and exceptional particle systems.

While all City of Villains players benefit from the game’s software physics created by the AGEIA PhysX SDK, players with PhysX Accelerator cards will experience some 10 times the number of particles displayed in physics-based events, resulting in an even more immersive experience. For example:

• Mayhem Missions, which are set in a destructible environment, have destroyed objects taking greater advantage of the physics effects, such as a newspaper vending machine which, when blown up, shreds thousands of particles of paper around it.
• Physics particles can be affected by external forces. For example, the shredded bits from the newspaper machine linger in the air only to be blown away by other explosions.
• World geometry will be retrofitted with reactive physics effects, such as leaves being dropped from trees when a Power Blast is cast nearby.

“City of Villains players with PhysX-based Physics Accelerator add-in boards in their PCs will be blown away by the added realism and immersiveness of the game,” said Michael Lewis, CEO of Cryptic Studios. “While the ability to succeed in the game will be unaffected, the overall user experience will be greatly enhanced through support for the AGEIA PhysX processor.”

“The team at Cryptic Studios is among the most talented in the business, and it’s exciting to see them apply their wizardry using AGEIA PhysX technology,” said Kathy Schoback, vice president of content acquisition at AGEIA. “City of Villains is already a one-of-a-kind game experience, but the action acceleration of the AGEIA PhysX processor will take it to an entirely new level.”