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Midway Announces Honorary Judge in National Cheerleader Search for MLB SlugFest Baseball Videogame Franchise

Matt Johnson Wins Trip to Florida for 2003 Spring Training and Cheerleader Tryouts

CHICAGO – March 18, 2003 – Midway Sports™, the sports brand of leading software industry publisher and developer Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), announced today the winner of the MLB™ SlugFest® Honorary Judge Sweepstakes. Matt Johnson of Tucson, Arizona, has won a three-day trip to the greater Miami area; a ticket to a 2003 Spring Training™ game to meet St. Louis Cardinals® star and MLB SlugFest 20-04 cover athlete, Jim Edmonds; and will sit on the judges panel to select the five cheerleader finalists for the Midway Sports Nationwide Cheerleader Tryouts. MLB SlugFest 20-04 shipped on March 17, 2003, for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft, the Nintendo GameCube™ and Game Boy® Advance.

“We received an overwhelming response from MLB SlugFest fans that wanted to take part in this unique contest to find the next Midway Sports cheerleaders,” said Helene Sheeler, vice president of marketing, Midway. “Since we’ve received such great feedback that we are the only baseball videogame to feature cheerleaders, we thought it would be an added bonus to allow the fans to be part of the action.”

On March 19, Johnson will travel to Florida and join a team of judges, including cover athlete Jim Edmonds and a talent scout from Famous Faces Talent & Modeling Agency, to judge the 25 semifinalists aspiring to become the next Midway Sports cheerleaders. The judges panel will select five finalists, each of whom will have their tryout video and photo posted on www.MidwaySports.net.  Fans from across the country will then have a chance to vote for their favorite MLB SlugFest 20-04 cheerleaders from March 21 through April 11 to determine the next two Midway Sports MLB SlugFest Cheerleaders.

“I’m a huge fan of MLB SlugFest, so I was definitely excited when I found out that I won a trip to Florida to be a judge in the cheerleader tryout and attend Spring Training,” said Matt Johnson.

Cheerleader Tryouts

From January 14 through March 11, Midway accepted tryout videos from women across the country, ages 18 to 25, interested in becoming one of the next Midway Sports MLB SlugFest Cheerleaders. The final two selected cheerleaders will each receive $5,000 and the opportunity to travel to and participate in exclusive Midway Sports promotional events and activities such as a photo shoot for MLB SlugFest in-game exposure and the Midway Sports Cheerleader Calendar. For complete requirements, rules and the official entry form visit www.MidwaySports.net.

About The New MLB SlugFest 20-04

Officially licensed by Major League Baseball Properties and MLBPA, MLB SlugFest 20-04 shipped on March 17, 2003, and is the exclusive aggressive-style baseball videogame, delivering a proprietary blend of hardcore, lightning-fast, adrenaline-style gameplay combined with key baseball features that will please even the most diehard sports fan. MLB SlugFest 20-04 also features cover athlete Jim Edmonds, of the St. Louis Cardinals® along with real MLB players, teams and stadiums.

MLB SlugFest 20-04 will offer real Major League Baseball® athletes with over-the-top abilities, including turbo-powered running, play-of-the-week-caliber fielding and out-of-the-park hitting. In addition, all-new features add plenty of adrenaline, including new modes such as Create-A-Team, which allows gamers to form their own All-Star team; Customizable Instant Replay, allowing gamers control of the camera and the ability to view their towering home runs and diving catches; and Home Run Derby™, which pits gamers’ favorite MLB players against the most feared long ball hitters in the league.

Graphically, MLB SlugFest 20-04 combines more than 1,500 animations with revolutionary player models, resulting in each player being mapped to his exact likeness. Stadiums are also rendered to perfection. Authentic batting stances and pitch motions also add to the realism of the game as players in the field look and swing, and batters and pitchers look and throw, like their MLB counterparts.

MLB SlugFest 20-04 also includes music featuring Hoobastank’s hit song, “Crawling In The Dark,” along with original DVD content that includes the behind-the-scenes making of the game and Jim Edmonds highlight footage: A Day in the Life with Jim Edmonds.

About Jim Edmonds

Entering his tenth full Major League Baseball® season, Edmonds has made his mark on the baseball world since his 1993 rookie season. In 1998, his over-the-shoulder, diving catch received an Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) award as the Play of the Year. Edmonds has won five Gold Gloves in the past six seasons, including three in a row since joining the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000. Edmonds finished the 2002 season with a career-best .311 batting average, helping to lead the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series. He ended the season ranked in the National League top ten in batting average (9th), slugging percentage (10th), and on-base percentage (6th). During his three seasons as a member of the Cardinals, Edmonds has accumulated better than a .300 batting average, hit over 100 home runs and collected more than 300 RBI.

MLB SlugFest 20-04 is available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

Midway Games Inc. is a developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. Midway videogames are available for play on videogame platforms including the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube™ and Game Boy® Advance.

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MIDWAY and SLUGFEST are registered trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. 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. © 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 and Microsoft are trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Nintendo GameCube, the Nintendo GameCube logo and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

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 the Company's current Transition Report on Form 10-K and the other filings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.



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MLB Slugfest 20-04 (GBA)
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