SEGA WINS SEVEN GAMESPOT GAME OF THE YEAR AWARDS
"SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" wins Best Traditional Sport Game on all New Platforms
"Virtua Fighter 4" wins Best Fighting Game
And Much More
SAN FRANCISCO - (January 8, 2003) - Reinforcing its reputation for creating the best video game content, SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that seven SEGA games received prestigious 2002 GameSpot Game of the Year Awards. "SEGA SportsTM NFL 2K3" received three awards for Best Traditional Sports Game across all next-generation platforms - PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the XboxTM video game system from Microsoft® and Nintendo GameCubeTM. "Virtua FighterTM 4" was honored as Best Fighting Game on PlayStation 2. "JSRF - Jet Set Radio FutureTM" received two awards for Best Graphics and Best Music on Xbox. "RezTM" won the Best Graphics award on PlayStation 2. The GameSpot Game of the Year awards, which highlight the best and worst games of 2002, are divided into five platform-based categories and one general category and are determined by GameSpot's team of expert editors who carefully evaluate and review the year's most notable games to make their selections.
"SEGA games were selected from among hundreds of outstanding titles launched in 2002," said Greg Kasavin, executive editor of GameSpot. "Winning seven awards is testament to the strength of SEGA's content lineup and credit to its world-class developers."
"SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube): The most authentic pro football video game, "SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" features ground-breaking Artificial Intelligence, unparalleled lifelike animations, an ESPN telecast-style presentation, an in-depth franchise mode, and full online gameplay options on PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game that pushes the boundaries of realism and blurs the line between a football video game and a real-life NFL telecast, "SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" was also heralded as the "Best Sports Game" by the "Game Critics Awards: Best of E3, 2002" and is rated "E" for "Everyone."
"Virtua Fighter 4" (PlayStation 2): Created by world-renowned developer Yu Suzuki, "Virtua Fighter 4" adds layers of depth to the series' featuring an all-new fighting engine emphasizes speed, timing and finesse, that challenges experts to master complex combos. A deep training mode lets gamers study moves, strategy and timing before squaring off against their opponents. "Virtua Fighter 4," also hailed as "The Best Fighting Game Ever Made" by gaming enthusiast publication Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, is rated "T" for "Teen."
"JSRF - Jet Set Radio Future" (Xbox): Delivering extreme skating, extreme action and extreme style, "JSRF - Jet Set Radio Future," is set in a massive interactive city in which Tokyo crews square off for new turf all in the name of freedom of expression. "JSRF - Jet Set Radio Future," features mind-blowing cel-shaded graphics and a slammin' soundtrack combining hip-hop, techno and electro
nic beats from some of the hottest names in music including The Latch Brothers, Russell Simins, Cibo Matto, Scapegoat Wax, Bran Van 3000, Bis, BS 2000 and The Prunes. "JSRF - Jet Set Radio Future" is rated "T" for "Teen" and is exclusive to Xbox.
"Rez" (PlayStation 2): Widely acclaimed for its unique artistic style and pulse-pounding music, "Rez" is a music-enhanced action-shooter set in a vibrant, vector-graphic world. In "Rez" gamers must navigate within a vast computer network plagued by viruses to revive Eden, an advanced life form, from her overload-induced coma by hacking code and shooting an array of firewalls and viruses in a dreamlike network environment. "Rez" is rated "E" for "Everyone."
Artwork of SEGA games is available at
http://segapr.segaamerica.com. For more information about the GameSpot Game of the Year Awards, please visit
www.gamespot.com.
About Sega
SEGA® of America is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a $3.5 billion corporation by market capitalization, recognized as a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America's Web site is located at
www.sega.com.
About GameSpot
Launched in May of 1996, GameSpot has become the preferred site for nearly 4 million gamers monthly worldwide. GameSpot offers users free access to tens of thousands of PC and video game reviews, previews, game downloads, guides, hints, and news stories.
ESPN is a registered trademark of ESPN, Inc. ESPN branded elements (c)
Disney.
TM, ® and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo.
"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Xbox is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
(c) 2002 NFL Properties LLC. Team names and logos are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other (NFL-related marks) are trademarks of the National Football League. Officially Licensed product of PLAYERS INC. The PLAYERS INC logo is a registered trademark of the NFL players.
www.nflplayers.com (c) 2002 PLAYERS INC.
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CONTACTS:
Gwen Marker
SEGA of America, Inc.
415-701-3814
gwen.marker@segaamerica.com
- or -
Molly Musler
Access Communications
415-844-6230
molly@accesspr.com
