MIDWAY SPORTS UNVEILS MLB SLUGFEST(R): LOADED(TM) FOR PLAYSTATION(R)2 AND XBOX

Future Hall of Fame Slugger, Sammy Sosa Announced As Cover Athlete As MLB SlugFest: Loaded Goes Online In 2004

CHICAGO – February 26, 2004 - Midway Sports, the sports brand of Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), today announced MLB SlugFest: Loaded, the newest title in the adrenaline-style baseball series which, for the first time, takes America’s Pastime online with a host of new gameplay features. Also new for 2004, MLB SlugFest: Loaded will include the addition of the Baseball Mogul(R) engine into its franchise mode, adding great depth and endless re-playability to the game. Midway also today unveiled Sammy Sosa as the cover athlete for MLB SlugFest: Loaded, establishing a relationship with one of baseball’s all-time greats. MLB SlugFest: Loaded is scheduled for release in June 2004 for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox(R) video game system from Microsoft.

“The improvements that we’ve incorporated into MLB SlugFest: Loaded offer fans everywhere a deeper, more complete baseball experience while still retaining the over-the-top action Midway Sports games are known for,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “Specifically, the additions of the Baseball Mogul engine into our franchise mode and the ability to play online for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox(TM) Live open up several new, exciting means of enjoying the latest title in the SlugFest franchise. We are also very excited to have one of Major League Baseball’s all-time greatest players, and Chicago’s very own, Sammy Sosa as our cover athlete. Sosa truly embodies what SlugFest is all about: big talent, big hits and over-the-top action.”

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 beanballs, 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 games 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 and anywhere 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 upcoming 2004-2005 campaign. Only two homeruns behind the great Ernie Banks for the all-time Chicago Cubs homerun record (512), Sosa continues to set a precedent on the field that few have had the ability to match and/or exceed. During the 1998-2002 seasons, Sammy Sosa recorded one of the top five season-long stretches 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 homerun seasons and nine-straight 100 RBI seasons, finishing the year with 40 homeruns, 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.

About Xbox
Xbox (www.xbox.com) is the video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive collection of breakthrough games, powerful hardware and the unified Xbox Live online service. The new tagline, "it's good to play together," captures the spirit of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox is now available in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

About Xbox Live
Xbox Live, which launched in the United States Nov. 15, 2002, allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers everywhere via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the ground up for online gaming, negating the need to buy additional, costly peripherals or upgrades. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their friends; talk to other players during game play through the Xbox Communicator headset; download current statistics, new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive; and play online—all exclusive features to Xbox Live.

For more information about Midway Games visit www.midway.com

# # #

Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. You can reach Major League Baseball on the web at MLB.com. (C) MLBPA-Official Licensee, Major League Baseball Players Association. Visit the Players Choice on the Web at www.bigleaguers.com.  The MLBPA logo is a trademark of the Major League Baseball Players Association. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. (C) 2001 Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Midway has provided the www.bigleaguers.com  and MLB.com links solely as a convenience for you. The information on these sites has been prepared by third parties, and Midway does not monitor, endorse or accept responsibility for the content on non-Midway sites.

"This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning future business conditions and the outlook for Midway Games Inc. (the "Company") based on currently available information that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the financial strength of the interactive entertainment industry, dependence on new product introductions and the ability to maintain the scheduling of such introductions, technological changes, dependence on major platform manufacturers and other risks more fully described under "Item 1. Business - Risk Factors" in Amendment No. 1 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2002, and in the other more recent filings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

del.icio.us | Digg This | Glink It

---