Aspyr to Bring SimCity 4 to the Macintosh; Play god, play mayor, or play with your Sims in this ultimate SimCity experience.

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2003

Aspyr(TM) Media, Inc. announced today that it will bring SimCity(TM) 4 to the Macintosh(R). Aspyr has licensed SimCity 4 from Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) and is currently working with i5works to convert the game for the Macintosh.

The long-awaited 4th generation of SimCity(TM), SimCity 4, features new simulation and graphics engines, an all new regional game play, and the ability to track the lives of individual Sims as they go about their daily routine. SimCity 4 is the most realistic, powerful, and personal SimCity experience ever.

"In SimCity 4 a city comes to life like never before," said Lucy Bradshaw, Executive in Charge of Production at Maxis, developers of the #1 selling PC game of all time, The Sims(TM). "This is the most responsive, personal, and satisfying SimCity yet."

Right from the start, players experience new God-like powers of creation as they lay the groundwork for their cities by molding mountains, carving valleys, seeding forests, and laying rivers. With these new landscape creation features, players can now construct the most realistic metropolis imaginable.

Unlike earlier games in the series, SimCity 4 cities do not live in isolation from the world, they are part of an entire region. Each city a player creates becomes part of an ever-growing tapestry of municipalities that, once connected by transportation networks, share and compete for resources. Depending upon the choices made by a player, this multi-city game play can result in a variety of outcomes within that region.

For the first time ever, players can follow a Sim as they go about their life in the city. Players can personalize their Sim and immediately move him or her into any area and watch them experience life in the city, first hand. Is he or she enjoying a happy existence in an urban utopia or enduring a futile fight for survival in the inner-city? A player's Sim provides valuable clues to improving the city.

SimCity 4 allows players to actually touch their handiwork and feel the pulse of their creation. Whether a metropolis is booming with expansion or decaying through neglect, the new SimCity 4 simulation engine gives players immediate feedback so they can react to its every need. Individual buildings and their lots now provide feedback to the player who lives there. Bigger, better, and more relevant disasters are also available along with the ability to dispatch the police or fire department to areas in the city where they are needed. Your every decision in this new SimCity has much more of an impact and gives you the ability to respond more effectively. Day and night, the movement in SimCity 4 is first-person, frenetic, palpable, and unpredictable.

SimCity 4 for the Macintosh is rated "E" (Everyone) by the ESRB and will be available at your favorite Mac retailer or directly from Aspyr's online store (http://www.aspyr.com). The suggested retail price is $49.95.

About Aspyr

Based in Austin, Texas, Aspyr Media, Inc. is a leading publisher of interactive entertainment software, committed to offering high-quality interactive entertainment products and service, with a smile, to gamers worldwide.

More information on Aspyr and their line of products can be found on the Internet at http://www.aspyr.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.7 billion for fiscal 2002. The company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA GAMES(TM), EA SPORTS BIG(TM) and EA.COM(SM). More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.info.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, EA GAMES, EA SPORTS BIG, Maxis, The Sims, 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. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.