World’s First Online Virtual
Reality Baseball Experience to be Launched Fall 2004 by Netamin Corporation
“Ultimate Baseball Online” To
Bring Real-Time, Multi-Player Baseball to the PC
DIAMOND BAR, Calif. (July 28, 2004)
– U.S.-based Netamin® Corporation (www.netamin.com), today announced the world’s
first virtual reality, massive multi-player online sports game – Ultimate
Baseball Online (UBO) – is in the final stages of testing and will be ready for
a worldwide launch in Fall 2004. Unlike current video games that aspire to
simulate professional sports, UBO delivers a first person perspective online
sports experience as real players team up and face off against another team in
real-time. In order to ensure accuracy, Darrell Evans, a two-time Major League
All-Star (’73 & ’74) and World Series winner (1985), serves as UBO’s principle
baseball consultant.
In UBO, baseball enthusiasts and
gamers compete in 3D virtual stadiums. With stunning graphics and surround-sound
audio reactions from the crowd, participants control a player for a specific
field position. Players use an avatar to bat, pitch, field, run, steal and
perform any baseball action. Participants can practice, play pick-up games, join
or found their own teams, compete against rival teams and win a league
championship in the post season. Gamers build their skill level (player stats)
through successful play on the field against other real human players. Netamin
is now offering Ultimate Baseball Online at a special preview discount price of
$19.95 with free monthly play until the game officially launches in Fall 2004.
Once launched, Ultimate Baseball Online will cost $29.95, which includes the
first month of play free, with a monthly subscription charge of $9.95.
“To date, baseball videogames, as
with all sports video games, have been very solitary experiences. You control a
whole team against the computer, or against one other person,” said Andy Wang,
president of Netamin Corporation. “Ultimate Baseball Online is designed to
simulate the baseball ‘team’ experience – a team of nine real people playing
against another team of nine real people, with every participant viewing the
action from their own perspective.”
Netamin will maintain a secure
listing of individual statistics and will rank players daily and weekly in
accordance to their performance. Winning teams will be invited by Netamin to
compete in a UBO World Series playoff event scheduled when the season is over.
In a sport where pitches fly at 100-miles-per-hour, ensuring every player sees
the same action on screen at the same time is crucial. Netamin has addressed
potential Internet latency issues with a series of exclusive patented
technologies that lie at the heart of the UBO gaming engine.
"Ultimate Baseball Online, for me,
is the closest thing to being back on the playing field,” said Darrell Evans.
“The Mental part of baseball has finally been captured. UBO will give players a
great appreciation for the little nuances of each position, as well as an
understanding of the teamwork that is involved in playing the sport of baseball
successfully.”
Virtual Baseball World Cup To
promote the addition of the new Tournament feature in Ultimate Baseball Online,
Netamin is launching a worldwide round-robin tournament that is open to anyone
who wishes to join one of the UBO teams, or form their own. UBO Summer Slugfest
2004, which will start at the end of July, will feature dozens of teams
competing in 3D virtual stadiums, to win great baseball prizes such as
customized team jerseys and caps, autographed baseballs, and the fame that comes
with being crowned the first Virtual Baseball World Cup Champions.
About Netamin (UBO) Netamin
Corporation, a pioneer in Massive Multiplayer Online Sports Games (MMOSG), is
headquartered in Diamond Bar, California with operations around the globe
including Korea and Taiwan. The company has launched its first MMOSG title,
Ultimate Baseball Online, with subsequent titles expected as demand and interest
for this next-generation gaming technology grows. Founded in 1998, Netamin is a
privately held corporation aiming to provide an online virtual playing field for
all major sports. For more information, please visit
www.Netamin.com
