Looking For The Ultimate In Gaming?

Electronic Arts(TM), the world's largest interactive entertainment software company, recently announced that two of the company's recently published titles, SimCity 3000(TM) and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri(TM) were February's top selling ultimate gaming PC according to Reston-based PC Data.

Both SimCity 3000 and Alpha Centauri have received critical acclaim from the media and consumers. SimCity players have built dozens of Web sites devoted to the game and to showcase the cities they've created. Alpha Centauri was awarded the highest score ever by PC Gamer magazine, one of the top computer game publications in North America. And Time magazine this month called the two games and another EA title, Populous(TM): The Beginning, “the most addictive computer games known to mankind.”

“The reaction SimCity 3000 has been getting from fans has been extremely rewarding, ”said General Manager Luc Barthelet. “We set out to create an immersive experience that would appeal to both core-gamers and casual-gamers, and we've achieved it.”

“We've always enjoyed games that emphasize building and discovery and it's exciting to see their appeal is as strong as ever,” said Sid Meier, Chairman and Director of Creative Development, FIRAXIS Games(TM). “With Alpha Centauri our goal was to redefine the genre by creating a fun, compelling next generation strategy game and we're thrilled at the great response it's received.”

SimCity 3000, developed by EA's Walnut Creek-based Maxis studio puts players in charge of creating an entire metropolis from the ground-up and keeping their SimCitizens happy. SimCity 3000, the third generation in the decade-old SimCity(TM) line, provides players with a deeper and more realistic simulation than earlier titles and some of the most detailed graphics ever seen in a computer game.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri shipped to retailers in early February and is the creation of FIRAXIS Games, a Baltimore-based development house established by legendary game designers Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds and Jeff Briggs. Alpha Centauri features the perfect balance of exploration, discovery, building and conquest that players have come to expect from a Sid Meier strategy game. The game takes these elements and combines them with a gripping science-fiction story to create the most compelling and addictive strategic gameplay in the industry.

Maxis, best known for its Sim family of products, develops and publishes top-quality entertainment software that uses advanced simulation technologies to deliver challenging fun through creativity, exploration and depth of play. To date, players around the world have purchased more than seven million “Sim” games. FIRAXIS Games creates fun, intelligent computer games to live in the minds and imaginations of people the world over for generations to come. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, MD, FIRAXIS' first title was the critically acclaimed Sid Meier's Gettysburg! and its second game, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, launched in February 1999. The company's titles are distributed and marketed by Electronic Arts.

Electronic Arts, has international subsidiaries or distribution in more than 75 countries worldwide. The company has eleven major development operations located throughout the world based in San Mateo, Irvine and Walnut Creek, Calif.; Baltimore, Maryland; Austin, Texas; Maitland, Florida; Seattle, Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; Vancouver, British Columbia; the United Kingdom and Japan.

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