Hey Ya! Xbox Launches Game With Fame Program With OutKast

Hey Ya! Xbox Launches Game With
Fame Program With OutKast

New Program Lets Gamers Play
Celebrities Online Via Xbox Live

REDMOND, Wash. – Feb. 4, 2004 –
Microsoft Corp., creator of the future-generation Xbox® video game system, today
announced the launch of Game With Fame, a new program that allows fans to play
against some of today’s hottest stars on the Xbox Live™ service. The launch
event, taking place Feb. 4, will give Xbox Live fans a chance to play "ESPN NFL
Football" against today’s hottest hip-hop duo and six-time Grammy® nominees,
OutKast.

Xbox Live is the ultimate online
gaming experience, giving people the opportunity to play and talk with other
gamers around the world any time, day or night. For the Game With Fame program
launch, OutKast’s Big Boi will take on gamers around the globe live from Los
Angeles, where the band will be preparing for its appearance at the 46th Annual
Grammy Awards®.

Throughout the year Game With Fame
will host a league of luminaries from music, film, television and sports.
Scheduled to participate are The Strokes, Phantom Planet, The Crystal Method,
Fefe Dobson and Kings of Leon. Bands including Korn, Hoobastank, A New Found
Glory and Thrice have already played with their fans on Xbox Live.

"Who better to launch Game With Fame
than the hottest musical act around: OutKast," said Mitch Koch, corporate vice
president of marketing for Xbox. "Just as OutKast’s music crosses boundaries and
connects people, Xbox Live is becoming a way to link different types of people
from all backgrounds and walks of life."

"If you’ve listened to our music or
seen us live, you know OutKast knows how to set it off, and we’re about to
change Xbox Live forever," said OutKast’s Big Boi about the Xbox Live Game With
Fame promotion. "Not only will I talk to the OutKast fans out there, but I’ll
show ’em how we get down in the ATL on ‘ESPN NFL Football.’"

Since its introduction just 14
months ago, Xbox Live, the first unified online gaming service, has attracted a
passionate and growing community of more than 750,000 gamers from 19 countries.
Blockbuster titles such as "Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® 3" from Ubisoft, "Project
Gotham Racing® 2" and "Counter-Strike™" from Microsoft® Game Studios, and "Star
Wars® Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™" from LucasArts are driving gamers to Xbox
Live in droves. More than 70 Xbox Live titles are now available at retail.

About Xbox

Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is the
video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most
exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive
collection of breakthrough games, powerful hardware and the unified Xbox Live
online service. The new tag line, "It’s good to play together," captures the
spirit of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle.
Xbox is now available in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia.

About Xbox Live

Xbox Live, which launched in the
United States Nov. 15, 2002, allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with
other gamers worldwide via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive
and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the
ground up for online gaming. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their
friends; talk to other players during gameplay through the Xbox Communicator
headset; download current statistics and new levels and characters to their Xbox
hard drive; and play online – all exclusive features to Xbox Live.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
"MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies
for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products
and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any
place and on any device.

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Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live and
Project Gotham Racing are either registered trademarks or trademarks of
Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The National Academy of Recording
Arts & Sciences, Inc., owns the GRAMMY and GRAMMY Awards registered trademarks.

The names of actual companies and
products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.