September 25, 2002

"MotoGP: Online Demo" and "Whacked!" to Ship with Xbox Live Starter Kits

Microsoft announced today that playable trial versions of THQ's "MotoGP" and "Whacked!" from Microsoft Game Studios will ship with the Xbox Live Starter Kit in North America on November 15. The starter kit will contain the Xbox Communicator, setup disc, a 12-month subscription to Xbox Live, along with the "MotoGP: Online Demo" jam-packed with motorcycle racing goodness and a starter version of "Whacked!" featuring hours of zany combat with crazy characters.

In "MotoGP: Online Demo" players will have access to three courses: Jerez, Mugello and Sachsenring. The demo lets gamers check out two gameplay modes: Play Live lets them play against 16 other Xbox Live players and talk trash with the three closest riders, and Time Trials is all about screeching around the track as quickly as possible to set the best lap time without other riders getting in the way. "MotoGP" also supports voice masking with eight different preset options, including an option in which gamers can customize their voice to their hearts' desire. For those who own the full version of "MotoGP", the Xbox Live Starter Kit will completely unlock online play for all of the tracks. Also, custom riders created in the full game can be used online. However, folks who have yet to purchase the full game won't be left behind in the dust -- they can still take the game for a spin on the locked tracks as a ghost rider. The demo features different scoreboard views, including World Best Scores where players get all the glory of being ranked either by track or by overall performance, and a Friends scoreboard to see how you stack up against your friends list.

"Whacked!" players can access three levels and duke it out with their friends online with everything but the kitchen sink in this trial version. Wait, no... everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink! Three levels are at players' DISPOSAL (get it?), including Can Can, Jeffrey's Kitchen and Christmas Tree. Players can familiarize themselves with four of the full game's seven characters, including Lucky the angry footless rabbit, Eugene the sarcastic green duck, Charity the pony-obsessed brat girl and the overly-lovable always-snacking Toof. Game modes available to players of the trial version will be FragFest, Chicken, and Combat.

Xbox ( http://www.xbox.com/  is Microsoft’s future-generation video game system that delivers the most powerful games experiences ever. Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to fulfill their creative visions as never before, creating games that blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Xbox is now available in North America, Japan, Europe and Australia.

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