EA SPORTS Challenges Gamers to Get Out of the Stands and Onto the Ice

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., September 26, 2000 - Experience high-flyin’, hard hittin’, intense powerplay hockey as only Electronic Arts™ (EA) can do it with NHL® 2001 for The PlayStation® and PC. Skate for Lord Stanley’s Cup with the latest installments of EA SPORTS’ widely popular NHL Series containing numerous new features allowing gamers to live the experience.

Lace up the skates and play with or against any of the 30 NHL franchises, including the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets™ and Minnesota Wild™ or 20 (18 on PlayStation) of the best International teams. NHL 2001 also offers a variety of game modes to choose from including: Quick Game, Season Play, Career Mode, Playoffs, Shootout and Tournament. All are just a slap shot away.

An exciting new addition to NHL 2001 for the PlayStation is the NHL Challenge. With the NHL Challenge, gamers are able to unlock valuable bonus points by completing tasks on the list of challenges for each level. The higher the level accomplished, the more points received. Bonus points are then used to boost the attributes of created players for skills like speed, shot power, checking and others. Users can track of all challenges accomplished and save them to a memory card, allowing gamers to create a superstar, or a team of superstars, to help them bring home “The Cup.”

Gamers can create their own franchise with the Create-A-Team feature (PC Only). Create-A-Team allows gamers to build a team that is truly their own with customizable team logo, team jersey, city name, as well as players’ faces using EA’s Face in the Game™ technology. With Face in the Game, anyone can compete against the NHL’s best by following simple instructions that allow game players to take a digitized picture of a face, and place it directly onto their own hockey player.

NHL 2001 for the PC features full online Internet play via EA.COM. Here players can match up and compete against opponents around the world with as many as eight players. Chat rooms and match-up servers provide gamers a forum to congratulate opponents on a well-played match or discuss an upcoming contest. In addition, the PC version allows gamers the ability to customize numerous settings to their preference. With the “Customize Gameplay” option, players use sliders to adjust speed, scoring, checking, shooting, fighting and more.

“From the beginning we set out to create the most fun, immersive, easy to play and best looking interactive hockey games ever,” said Rory Armes executive producer of NHL 2001. “On the PlayStation side, we are very excited about the new NHL Challenge and think users will have a great deal of fun trying to complete each challenge. On the PC side, playing solo, or against somebody across the world on EA.COM, using their own franchise and custom players with the Create a Team and Face in the Game features will once again be a favorite among our users,” Armes went on to add. “Our hope is that gamers will find NHL 2001 the most interactive and deep hockey game available.”

NHL 2001 Cross-Platform Feature Set:

• 10-year Career Mode, where gamers become the General Manager, has been upgraded. As the GM, gamers can trade players or draft picks, retire players, sign free agents, or even draft rookies to replace departed players. Career Mode allows gamers the chance to be the architect of the next great hockey dynasty.
• New to NHL 2001 is a Momentum Meter™ that fluctuates during the game according to each teams performance on the ice. Scoring key goals and comebacks all increase team moral resulting in better team performance, while the opposite adversely affects the team and decreases momentum.
• Big Shot and Big Hitter icons add to ease of play. These icons, in the shape of a hockey stick blade for Big Shots and a hammer for Big Hitter, allow newcomers the ability to easily identify their goal-hungry snipers and check-happy defenders with a single glance.
• Real player physics and over 900 new motion-capture moves from actual NHL players and new checks performed by Hollywood stuntmen.
• All new artificial intelligence, new camera close-ups, exciting new ways to score such as, cannon shots from the point, and one-footed wristers make NHL 2001 the most intuitive and realistic interactive hockey experience to date.

NHL 2001 is an officially game of the NHL and NHLPA®. San Jose Sharks Captain Owen Nolan’s image appears on all NHL 2001 packaging and merchandising. In-game music for NHL 2001 is provided by Collective Soul, who contributed their hit song “Heavy”, and Canadian band Templar and their song “Here We Go.” Also assisting in the production of NHL 2001 was Mission Hockey, which is the worldwide leader in development and design of hockey equipment who provided logistical assistance and equipment for the cover shoot with Nolan. Land-Sports.com is the provider of player ratings for NHL 2001.

NHL 2001 is rated “E” (Everyone). NHL 2001 for the PlayStation will ship September 26, while the PC version will hit shelves September 29. Both are analog controller compatible and support up to eight players. Consumers may purchase the game directly at the EA Store SM (http://www.eastore.ea.com) or by calling EA Direct Sales at 1.877.324.2637. Both titles have a suggested retail price of $39.95.

EA SPORTS (www.easports.com) is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling franchises and games include FIFA Soccer, John Madden Football™, NHL® Hockey, Knockout Kings™, NBA LIVE Basketball, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® Golf, Triple Play Baseball™ and NASCAR®.

Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.4 billion for fiscal 2000. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for the Internet, personal computers and video game systems. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA GAMES™ and EA.COMSM. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at .

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Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, EA GAMES, Face in the Game, Momentum Meter and EA Store are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA.COM is a service mark of EA.com Inc. NHL and Stanley Cup are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHLPA is a registered trademark of the National Hockey League Players’ Association. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams. All Rights Reserved. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.