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MEDIA ALERT: AUGUST 31, 2000

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CRIMSON SKIES ACTION THEATER DEBUTS ON ZONE.COM

Microsoft today announced that on Friday, September 1, Crimson Skies Action Theater will debut on Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/). Crimson Skies, a new action/adventure game for the PC, combines the heart-pumping action of air combat with the swashbuckling feel of an Errol Flynn adventure movie. Crimson Skies Action Theater is a six-part, serial radio drama that tells the story of the game's dashing air pirate, Nathan Zachary, and his cohorts, the Fortune Hunters. The game hits retail shelves in late September, and is available for pre-order through Electronics Boutique and Babbage's-Software, Etc.

Crimson Skies Action Theater will debut a new radio drama every week through October 5. Gamers are encouraged to tune in to hear the latest high-flying adventure, as Nathan Zachary and fellow air pirates hunt for riches and glory. The first episode has Zachary and the Fortune Hunters on a mission for millions in uncut diamonds. The delightfully devilish Black Swan is on their tails, and a mysterious party crasher joins in the melee! Along with the radio drama episodes, Zone.com will spotlight one character and his/her aircraft, giving gamers the scoop on who's who and the deadly machines flown by the game's air pirates.

Gamers are also invited to take advantage of exclusive pre-order programs currently underway for the game. By pre-ordering Crimson Skies at store locations, or online at EB World (http://www.ebworld.com) or Gamestop (http://www.gamestop.com), they'll receive either a mini-strategy guide (for pre-orders from Electronics Boutique) or the Crimson Skies "spicy air tales" novella, Pirates Gold (for pre-orders from Babbages's-Software, Etc.).

In Crimson Skies players fly fast and low in a game reminiscent of a classic Hollywood tale, where dastardly enemies menace, evil plots abound, and a bevy of femme fatales awaits. As the handsome and daring air pirate Nathan Zachary, players take to skies filled with treacherous privateers, tricked-out fighter planes and giant aircraft-carrier zeppelins. Amid an ever-changing political landscape, Zachary and his notorious band of air pirates, the Fortune Hunters, have become the free agents in a fight for control of the skies.

The game transports players to an alternate-reality 1937. The United States has been struck by the crushing blows of the Great Depression, the Great War and Prohibition, resulting in mounting isolationism. The once-budding road and railway system has been destroyed, leaving the skies as the only means of transport and commerce. Militias in the North, South, East and West have formed rival independent nations in a fight for air supremacy. It is an era where swing may be king but pilots rule, a world where the guns are bigger, the planes faster and the adventures more daring -- the world of Crimson Skies

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For more information on the game, go to the official Crimson Skies Web site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/crimsonskies 

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