NEWS - Thursday, May 13, 2004
Shadow Ops Gets THX Certification
LOS ANGELES – May 11, 2004 – Atari’s upcoming military blockbuster, Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, the highly anticipated cinematic first-person action game for the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft, has earned the coveted THX Certified Game™ status. THX ensures that the game has the potential to deliver the immersive and compelling audio and video experience typically found in blockbuster Hollywood films. Shadow Ops: Red Mercury will be available June 22 and will offer players a gripping action movie-style experience through its unprecedented Hollywood production values and ground-breaking sound and visual effects. The THX Certified Game program, launched in September 2003, provides game publishers optimization of the development environments that were used to produce Shadow Ops: Red Mercury. These capabilities leverage the cinema design and film post-production experience of THX and provided the Shadow Ops: Red Mercury sound designers and visual artists a means to push the limits of interactive content creation. In addition, THX expertise in audio/visual playback provided a level of consistency across all elements of the game that were created in different studio locations, ensuring the artistic vision of the production team was maintained throughout its development. “Video games like Shadow Ops: Red Mercury are moving closer to Hollywood blockbusters, incorporating 5.1 surround soundtracks and visual effects that match the realism of feature films,” said Mark Tuffy, director of advanced technology at THX. “We are thrilled to work with Atari to help its team of developers create a truly groundbreaking game experience. This partnership reinforces the commitment of THX to innovation that raises the production standards for game development.” - more- Atari, Inc. 2230 Broadway Santa Monica, CA 90404 www.atari.com "Working closely with THX to deliver the most realistic and impactful audio and video experience is another example of how Atari is continually blurring the lines between games and films,” said Jean Philippe Agati, executive producer, Atari. "With a richly textured universe of sounds and emotional depths, Shadow Ops will provide players with a new level of realism that will change the way they play games.” Set in the near future, Shadow Ops: Red Mercury will engulf players in the world of an elite Delta Force operative. When a female Russian double-agent discovers information on “Red Mercury” -- a secret substance that can be used as a nuclear accelerant – players must travel the globe from the Middle East to the African Congo to the battlefields of Eastern Europe to find and control Red Mercury before terrorist organizations can use the device for mass destruction. For more information on Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, please visit the game’s official Web site at www.shadowopsgame.com.Source: http://www.atari.com/
