CONTEST SPONSORS AWARD MORE THAN $150,000 IN CASH AND PRIZES TO SECOND ROUND WINNERS OF “$1,000,000 NVIDIA MAKE SOMETHING UNREAL” CONTEST

Epic Games Releases New Tools for Third and Fourth Rounds

E3 (May 10, 2004) -- Epic Games, along with NVIDIA Corporation, Atari, Inc., AMD, Abit, Alias, Cooler Master, and Digital Extremes, today announced the 45 winning mod teams that will bring home over $150,000 in cash and prizes for their second-round winning entries in the “$1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal” mod-making contest www.makesomethingunreal.com . More than 400 mods were entered in the second round of the contest that will award in total over $500,000 in cash prizes; an Unreal Engine commercial license (value of $350,000); 100 computers (approximate worth of $3,000 each) that feature NVIDIA GeForce FX graphics processing units (GPUs), an Abit NVIDIA® nForce2 -based motherboard with Dolby® Digital output, and an AMD Athlon® XP processor. Cash and computer prizes were awarded to winners in 12 categories.

The first prize winners in each category were: Best FPS Mod – “Red Orchestra”; Best Non-FPS Mod – “UnWheel”; Best Real-Time Movie – “Infection”; Best Level – “DM-Hardcore-BE”; Best Level Using Original Content – “DM-CBP-Arkanos”; Best Mutator – “SatoreMonsterPack”; Best Model – “Eon”; Best Voice Pack or Audio Modification – “Red Orchestra”; Best Vehicle – “UnWheel”; Best Tool – “Map Mixer”; Best Use of Karma Physics – “UnWheel”; and Best Gametype - “Freeze Match”. A full second-round winners list and links to the entries is posted at www.makesomethingunreal.com  or check out the winning mods at the NVIDIA booth (South Hall #324) at E3 2004.

“Like the first round, the second-round entries were really spectacular,” said Mark Rein, VP at Epic Games. “At Epic we take the mod community very seriously and are constantly looking for ways to support the community with our new releases and features sets. We have continued this trend with the release of UT2004 which adds numerous tools and features for third and fourth round mod makers.”

With the release of the Unreal Tournament 2004 game, which is flying off store shelves, mod makers are now able to take advantage of the new Unreal Tournament 2004 enhanced game engine for future contest rounds. The new engine features vehicles and voice-over-IP support, and a revamped user interface resulting in a much more powerful and easy-to-use system. Epic has also added a community page to the game menus to seamlessly integrate mods into the game, as well as aid Epic in publicizing outstanding mods throughout the community.

As part of Epic's commitment to providing outstanding support and features for mod authors using UT2004, the company has integrated a licensed version of the Impersonator speech and facial animation tool from OC3 entertainment (http://www.oc3ent.com/home.htm), making it easy for mod authors to create realistic talking characters. Impersonator support is integrated directly into the UT2004 game editor, UnrealEd. Impersonator for UT2004 will be available in the UT2004 patch currently in beta testing. Other samples and tools will be released soon to make using Impersonator as easy as possible.

Upcoming Rounds of Contest

Modders still have time to work on entries for the third and fourth rounds of the contest. Anyone can enter in any round, regardless of whether they had any previous entries. In addition, many of the mods already under development are looking for additional talent, including level designers, artists, and programmers. Registration for the third round, with an entry deadline of May 30th, will begin soon. The fourth round will have an entry deadline of August 20th. For more details on entering the contest, go to www.makesomethingunreal.com 

Selected entrants from phase four will be shown at ECTS, where the five grand finalists will be announced. Following ECTS the five grand finalists will be given until October 1, 2004 to make additional changes and improvements to their entries for grand prizes consideration. The grand prize will be announced shortly thereafter. In order to participate in the “$1,000,000 NVIDIA Make Something Unreal” mod-making contest, contestants will need to ensure that their mods are freely available for download and work with Unreal Tournament 2004.

About Epic Games

Epic Games Inc, based in Raleigh, NC and established in 1991, is a developer of cutting-edge computer and video games and 3D engine technology. The company is best known as the creator of hit PC 3D action games Unreal and Unreal Tournament, award-winning blockbusters having each sold more than 1 million copies each. Games created with the Unreal Engine include: 2002 Console Game of the Year winner: Tom Clancy’s Splinter CellTM (on PC and console platforms) from Ubi Soft, PC Gamer’s 2000 Game of the Year: Deus Ex from Ion Storm/Eidos, America’s Army from the United States Army, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (PC) from Electronic Arts – and many others. Prior to their 3D success, Epic Games was well known for the hit shareware games Jill of the Jungle, Jazz Jackrabbit and Epic Pinball. Additional information can be obtained through Epic's Web site at www.epicgames.com 

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms. Its graphics and communications processors have broad market reach and are incorporated into a wide variety of computing platforms, including consumer digital-media PCs, enterprise PCs, professional workstations, digital content creation systems, notebook PCs, military navigation systems and video game consoles. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 1,800 people worldwide. For more information, visit the Company’s Web site at www.nvidia.com

About Atari

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 games such as Driver , Enter the Matrix , Neverwinter Nights , Stuntman , Test Drive®, Unreal® Tournament 2003, and Unreal® Championship; and mass-market and children’s games such as Backyard Sports , Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer , Civilization®, Dragon Ball Z® and RollerCoaster Tycoon®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com

About Alias As the world's leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias develops award-winning software, custom development and training solutions for the film and video, games, web, interactive media, industrial design, education and visualization markets. In 2003, the company was awarded an Oscar® for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its development of Maya software, the professional 3D animation and effects package. Alias also offers a powerful range of services for new to advanced users in the most demanding environments. Learning Tools and training, support, and professional services help meet rigorous production deadlines. Entertainment customers include: Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., CNN, Core Design Limited, Digital Domain, Disney, Electronic Arts, Industrial Light & Magic, Factor 5 LLC, Midway Games, Nintendo, Pacific Data Images (PDI), Pixar, Sega, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Square Co., Ltd., Warner Feature Animation and Weta Ltd.

Copyright © 2003 NVIDIA Corporation. Unreal is a registered trademark of Epic Games Inc. Alias is a registered trademark of Alias Systems, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. Maya and 3December are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc., exclusively used by Alias Systems, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited. Oscar is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All rights reserved. All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

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