Aliens Online
FOX INTERACTIVE AND KESMAI INVADE CYBERSPACE, UNLEASHING ALIENS ONLINE tm
LOS ANGELES, June 19, 1997 -- Kesmai Corporation today announced that it will join forces with sister News Corp. company Fox Interactive to develop ALIENS ONLINE, a multiplayer Internet game based on Twentieth Century Fox's hit movie, Aliens. This project is the first in a series of online gaming collaborations between Fox Interactive and Kesmai. The next major project set to go online is Aliens vs. Predator, based on Fox Interactive's upcoming hard-core action game. "Online video gaming is the perfect way to maximize the action and intensity that make science fiction games so popular," said Jon Richmond, president, Fox Interactive. "Joining forces to build an online Aliens universe is an important step in making an entertaining and captivating experience available to our fans in a variety of video game formats."
"Aliens is a terrific movie franchise that really lends itself to a large scale multiplayer game," said Chris Holden, CEO of Kesmai Corporation. "It has everything -passionate fans, ambivalent notions of right and wrong, cool weapons, dark corridors oozing with suspense and danger. This will be the first time that a major movie brand, real-time 3D action, and massively multi-player technology have been brought together in the online world. This is an exciting partnership that will change the face of online gaming." Kesmai, in conjunction with Interworld Productions, will bring ALIENS ONLINE to America Online and other services late this summer. ALIENS ONLINE will offer CD-ROM quality graphics and sound, a first person (or first alien) perspective, and persistent characters that grow with the game as it unfolds. ALIENS ONLINE will allow players to join the Aliens or the Colonial Marines, using different tactics and weapons for each species. Thousands of players can join 100-person arenas where everyone is single-mindedly bent on exterminating the opposing species. Kesmai's multiplayer online games can be found on America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, Concentric Network, EarthLink Network, AT&T Worldnet, M-Path and at such major websites as TV Guide Entertainment Network (www.tvguide.com), GeoCities (www.geocities.com), Jumbo (www.jumbo.com), and GameStorm (www.gamestorm.com). Publisher of such hits as Die Hard Trilogy and Independence Day: The Game, Fox Interactive, an operating unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a News Corporation company, is committed to developing a full range of bold and engaging interactive entertainment.
Fox Interactive products are distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Check out Fox Interactive at www.foxinteractive.com. Founded in 1981, Kesmai Corporation was purchased in 1994 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Based in Charlottesville, VA, Kesmai is the world leader in multiplayer online games and the parent company of ARIES Online Games, Kesmai Studios and GameStorm. The company develops, publishes, and distributes quality interactive gaming content to over 12 million paying subscribers of America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, EarthLink Network, Delphi, and major websites throughout the Internet. Popular Kesmai titles include Air Warrior, Online Casino (tm) , Harpoon Online (tm), Legends of Kesmai (tm), MultiPlayer BattleTech, Star Rangers (tm) Online, Stellar Emperor (tm), CatchWord (tm), Jack Nicklaus Online Tour (tm) and a collection of classic board and card games. Air Warrior and ARIES are registered trademarks of Kesmai Corporation. ARIES Online Games, Kesmai Studios and Stellar Emperor are trademarks of Kesmai Corporation. BattleTech is a registered trademark of FASA Corporation and used under license. Online Casino is a trademark of Masque Publishing and used under license. Harpoon Online is a trademark of Larry Bond and Chris Carlson and used under license. CatchWord is a trademark of Discovery Channel Multimedia. Jack Nicklaus OnlineTour is a trademark of Accolade, Inc. and used under license. Aliens is a registered trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All other copyrights and trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Contact: Christopher Kingry/Steve Feldstein
Fox
310-369-5369
Source:
Press Release
KESMAI'S GAMESTORM DELIVERS EXTRATERRESTRIAL TERROR WITH ALIENS™ ONLINEMassively Multiplayer Combat Action Game Goes Live Following Enormously Popular Open Beta Program
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia April 16, 1998 -- Kesmai Corporation, the world's leader in massively multiplayer gaming, today announced that Aliens Online is now live on the company's popular online gaming service, GameStorm. Based on the second installment of the classic Alien film series, the eagerly anticipated massively multiplayer game is a joint project between Kesmai and Fox Interactive. "We've taken all the terror, action and tension that kept fans of the film on the edge of their seats and brought it to the Internet," said Chris Holden, CEO, Kesmai Corporation. "And, using our 'massively multiplayer' technology, we have created a game in which literally thousands of players can simultaneously battle it out in those dark, dank corridors that made the movie so terrifying."
This is the first time that a major movie brand, real-time 3D action, and massively multiplayer technology have been brought together in the online world. With fast action and frighteningly realistic environments, Aliens Online rewards its players with palpably intense levels of suspense and a constantly expanding game universe. Thousands of gamers have already become addicted to Aliens Online's gripping gameplay and heated head-to-head combat during its open beta testing period.
Produced by Kesmai Studios in conjunction with Fox Interactive and Mythic Entertainment, Aliens Online pits Colonial Marines against a group of murderous aliens that have infested a space station and are threatening the lives of humans traveling through the universe. Along with suspenseful real-time action, claustrophobic corridors, ominous lighting, and menacing sound effects taken directly from the movie, Aliens Online offers players the choice of competing as either a Marine or an alien.
Aliens possess great speed, but can only kill Marines by direct contact. Marines, on the other hand, have all the formidable weapons seen in the movie -- flamethrowers, grenades, pulse rifles, smart guns, k-bars, shotguns and pistols -- but move much more slowly and can only detect an alien by sight or by using their motion detector, a device that obscures their view while in use.
Just as the Marines and aliens have varying capabilities, they also have different goals. While the Marines attempt to destroy the hive and its queen, the aliens must work together to defend the hive. The players build status and points in this persistent universe by killing opponents and completing special missions. Successful Marines rise through the ranks from private to captain, commanding ever-larger numbers of players, while alien players can work to acquire Queen status, controlling a hive and the players within it. Since Aliens Online is designed to foster cooperation, single players will not survive for long without the help of other team members.
Each Aliens Online sector supports up to 100 players, and new sectors are created so that up to 10,000 gamers can play simultaneously, all linked into a single persistent universe. Aliens Online requires a Pentium90 or better, running Windows 95, with 16 MB ram, and a sound card.
ABOUT GAMESTORM
GameStorm is the first "end-to-end gaming nirvana," pulling together the leading massively multiplayer games, the best fast-action service, and award-winning editorial content all in one convenient, easy-to-use package.
Unique partnerships with SegaSoft's HEAT.NET, ENGAGE games online and GameSpot allow GameStorm members to enjoy the largest collection of online games ever assembled in cyberspace, along with the most robust player communities and the most comprehensive collections of downloads, reviews, and Web content. The entire package is offered at the breakthrough price of $9.95 per month for unlimited play.
ABOUT FOX INTERACTIVE
Publisher of such hits as Die Hard Trilogy and Independence Day: The Game, Fox Interactive, an operating unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a News Corporation company, is committed to developing a full range of bold and engaging interactive entertainment. Fox Interactive products are distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
ABOUT KESMAI
Kesmai, a News Corporation company headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, is comprised of three operating units: Kesmai Studios (developer), Aries Online Games (platform technology and third party publishing), and GameStorm (web-based retail games service). Kesmai is known for a variety of immersive, large-scale, persistent-universe games such as Air Warrior® III, MultiPlayer BattleTech®, Casino Poker™, and Legends of Kesmai®. In addition to the GameStorm service, Kesmai games can be found on AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, AT&T WorldNet, Concentric Network, EarthLink Network, Delphi Internet, LineOne (UK), Fujitsu (Japan) and numerous major Web sites such as Fox Broadcasting, Fox Home Entertainment, Fox Sports Online, 20th Century Fox Film, Toronto Star, Golf Web and TV Guide Entertainment Network.
ABOUT MYTHIC ENTERTAINMENT
Mythic Entertainment, formerly Interworld Productions, is a leading developer of online entertainment. Mythic works with the best online content providers to bring exciting and cutting-edge entertainment to gamers. Mythic is the developer of such online titles as Rolemaster™: Magestorm, Aliens Online, Darkness Falls, Starship Troopers™: Battlespace, Splatterball™, Dragon's Gate, and the forthcoming Godzilla Online.
Source:
GameStorm Press Release
Contributed by Jeanne.