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WESTWOOD, MA, January 18, 2006 – Turbine, Inc. and Atari, Inc. announced today that Messrs. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the legendary co-designers of the world-renowned fantasy roleplaying game DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, have agreed to provide some of the voiceovers for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™. As creators of the original pen and paper game, they will provide the game’s first celebrity “Dungeon Master” voiceovers for certain in-game adventures. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) “Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson are icons within the gaming community, and their roles in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™ will resonate with players everywhere,” said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “We are striving to adapt online gaming to the true D&D experience and the involvement of the original D&D creators is absolutely thrilling.” In the early 1970s, Gygax and Arneson revolutionized tabletop gaming when they created DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, combining tactical elements of war-gaming with complex storylines and player-driven characters. Since its publication in 1974, D&D® has become an international phenomenon and is widely credited as the inspiration for the modern gaming industry. Gary Gygax has been writing and developing games for more than 30 years and, in 1968, founded GenCon, now the world’s largest annual hobby gathering. He has also authored multiple games and books, including seven bestsellers. For over three decades, Dave Arneson has worked as a game designer, reviewer, video historian and lecturer. He has also appeared in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: The Movie, published the Blackmoor fantasy campaign with his game company Zeitgeist Games, and currently teaches computer game design at Full Sail Real World Education in Winter Park, Florida. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ is the first and only online roleplaying game based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS brand franchise from Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro.. This unique online world features highly customizable characters built from authentic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS races, abilities, skills and feats; real-time action combat; dangerous dungeons with devious traps; hand-crafted, private adventures; monsters and stories from the action-packed and intrigue-laced Eberron® campaign setting; and award-winning visuals. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ is being published by Atari, Inc. and is scheduled to ship this winter.
ABOUT TURBINE Turbine, Inc. is a premier developer, publisher and operator of online subscription entertainment and is headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts. The company is the largest privately-held online games company in North America. Turbine’s catalogue includes some of the most famous online entertainment brands, including Asheron’s Call®, Dungeons & Dragons Online™: Stormreach™ and The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™. For more information on Turbine and its services, please visit www.turbine.com. ABOUT ATARI, INC. New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company’s 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining franchises such as DRIVER™, The Matrix™ (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo), Stuntman™ and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children’s franchises such as Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues™ and Dora the Explorer™, and Dragon Ball Z®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext – ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com. ABOUT THE HASBRO PROPERTIES GROUP The Hasbro Properties Group (HPG), the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc., (NYSE:HAS), translates one of the industry’s richest portfolios of brands into a world of fun and excitement for children and adults globally. Through a host of publishing, lifestyle and entertainment platforms, HPG is able to surround fans worldwide with consumer products that expand Hasbro’s core brands, such as TRANSFORMERS, DUEL MASTERS, MY LITTLE PONY, MONOPOLY and CANDY LAND, beyond the toy and game aisle, creating rich lifestyle experiences. Dungeons & Dragons Online, Stormreach, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons, and Eberron and related logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc. in the United States and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Turbine, the Turbine logo and Asheron’s Call are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
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