Monday, April 2, 2001

Free 3D Multi-Player Game "Prequel" to Atlantis: The Lost Empire
IRVINE, Calif., April 2, 2001 -- Beginning this month, game fans can play a simultaneous online multi-player 3D game introduction to Disney's upcoming animated feature film, Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Through a partnership with Disney Interactive, GameSpy Industries is enabling the online multi-player component of "Search for the Journal," a specially created free 3D multi-player game "prequel" to Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire June 15th film release.

GameSpy will also host the online multi-player gameplay for "Trial by Fire," the follow-up, expanded retail version of the game launching May 15th, through a custom Atlantis-themed version of its popular GameSpy Arcade (www.gamespyarcade.com). This leading online multiplayer game service delivers online gaming experiences to nearly one million consumers around the world.

The technologies used in the online multi-player gameplay of "Atlantis: The Lost Empire -- Search for the Journal" and "Atlantis: The Lost Empire -- Trial by Fire" are part of GameSpy.net, an infrastructure of software, back-end servers, bandwidth, and network operations personnel that keep games with online features up and running.

For more information, visit www.gamespyindustries.com.

***

Pepper's Ghost Animates 30 Minutes for new Comedy-Drama
LONDON, UK, 02 April 2001 -- Kingston-based Pepper's Ghost did 30 minutes of animation and a total of 520 shots for the new comedy drama "Little Big Mouth."

Produced by Pagoda Family, "Little Big Mouth" airs at tea-time on CiTV [Children's ITV] weekdays throughout the UK, from Wednesday 28th March to Thursday 5th April. The series consists of seven separate episodes, each of twenty minutes duration.

"When Pagoda Family asked us to handle the character generation, we knew it would be a major challenge," said Ben Lock, head of digital production, Pepper's Ghost.

About 90 percent of the animation on "Little Big Mouth" required motion capture, for which Pepper's Ghost used character studio 3, the extension to Discreet's 3ds max. Pepper's Ghost also employed Discreet's edit to digitize material and create promotional shots.

"character studio incorporates leading-edge motion capture technology to help facilitate the creation of realistic 3D digital characters, ideal for our purposes on the 'Little Big Mouth' project," continued Lock. "It also enables you to link animation files together and edit them as and when required."