ACCOLADE AND ARIES ONLINE GAMES INK EXCLUSIVE MULTI-YEAR DEAL FOR NEW GOLF GAME
Jack Nicklaus 4 OnLine to Offer Mega-Tournaments and Cyber-handicaps
"For the first time, golfers around the country will now be able to participate in the equivalent of the 'Tour'," said Jim Barnett, president and CEO of Accolade. "Aries' experience in tournaments is going to make this the dominant golf game available online."
"We are pleased to have a developer the caliber of Accolade choose ARIES as its online multiplayer solution," said Chris Holden, CEO of Kesmai Corporation, parent of ARIES Online Games. "We'll be able to deliver Jack Nicklaus 4 to an audience of over 12 million paying customers online; it could well become one of the most popular online gaming communities ever."
Jack Nicklaus 4 Online will feature Tournament Play where groups of foursomes play against each other in gross score or handicap tournaments. A Player Database stores scoring history for all online tournaments and provides an official Jack Nicklaus 4 OnLine game handicap. Players can create courses using the popular Jack Nicklaus 4 Course Designer (retail version) and upload or download their favorite golf course, each with an official Jack Nicklaus 4 OnLine course rating.
Jack Nicklaus 4 Online differs from the upcoming retail version, which is scheduled to ship this March, by offering features designed specifically for online play. For example, players can caddie for their friends or join a gallery to watch their favorite golfers, all the while chatting live with text and voice.
"This fits into our long term strategy of developing lasting relationships with the industry's most important game developers," said John Taylor, President of ARIES Online Games. "We think the Jack Nicklaus series, already extremely successful in its boxed version, will attract a very loyal and extensive online community."
ARIES Online Games provides third-party game publishers and developers with the most advanced tools, technology and consulting services available to bring their products online. Accolade joins current ARIES development partners including Discovery Channel Multimedia, Twentieth Century Fox, Interactive Magic, Interactive Broadcasting, Masque Publishing, Vor Technologies, and Kesmai Studios. In addition, ARIES' distribution partnerships deliver immediate turn-key access to over 12 million paying subscribers through America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, EarthLink Network, Concentric Network, Delphi, and Genie.
ARIES Online Games is a sister company to Kesmai Studios and a subsidiary
of Kesmai Corporation. Founded in 1981, Kesmai has led the online gaming
industry as developer and publisher of online, multiplayer games. ARIES
Online Games' parent company, Kesmai Corporation, was purchased in 1994
and is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corporation companies include
Twentieth Century Fox Films, Fox Broadcasting, the fX Cable Channel,
HarperCollins Publishers, iGuide, and other world-class media
organizations.
Headquartered in San Jose, California, Accolade, Inc. publishers action,
sports, and strategy games for personal computers and next generation
gaming systems, such as the Sony PlayStation game console. The company's
products are distributed in North America by Warner/Elektra/Atlantic
Corporation, a unit of Warner Music Group. Leading titles from Accolade
include Bubsy, HardBall, Jack Nicklaus, Deadlock,
and Star Control 3.
Accolade games are available from major software specialty stores,
computer superstores or direct from Accolade by calling 800-245-7744.
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