September 24, 2002

MIDDLE-EARTH GAMING GOES HI-DEFINITION

Black Label Games Maximizes Xbox's Capabilities To Support Hi-Definition Television for Upcoming Game The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Black Label Games would like to share information with you regarding the HDTV/wide-screen capabilities exclusive to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a single-player action-adventure game based on the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novel "The Lord of the Rings" featuring Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn as playable characters. Now, exclusively on Xbox, Tolkien fans have the opportunity to explore Middle-earth in the Hi-Definition Television format. As players travel through the peaceful lands of the Shire to the darkness of Moria protecting the One Ring from the Dark Lord Sauron, they will be immersed in HDTV's lifelike pictures and digital sound. HDTV's high resolution produces a clear, sharp picture that will enhance a player's Lord of the Rings gaming experience.

We would like to highlight some of the key features of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for Xbox including its HDTV/wide-screen capabilities.

· Environment maps create stunning reflective surfaces and gorgeous water effects.

· Bump Maps lend additional detail to the environment and characters.

· Multi-pass per pixel lighting technology allows for dynamic light sources that cast light on materials in the world.

· Volumetric Fog is supported for ground and area specific fog effects.

· Characters are followed by real-time dynamic shadows.

· High polygon throughput allows for detailed indoor and outdoor environments, complete with detailed trees, plants, and other environmental details.

· Sophisticated multi-layer texturing allows for spectacular effects ranging from the subtle shine of worn armor to sunlight sparkling off the surface of a river.

· Dolby 5.1TM Surround Sound, full utilization of Xbox TM onboard DSP for realistic ambient sounds, Microsoft DirectMusic™ and 3D positional sound effects—A cinematic soundtrack dynamically layers throughout the game based on the storyline event or game intensity level.

· High Definition (HD) display and wide-screen formatting-.

· Full screen anti-aliasing-.

· Vertex shader effects such as dynamic geometry variation.

· Advanced particle system rendering with real-time particle system editor