Electronic Arts Ships Madden NFL 98 for the PC; EA SPORTS Delivers the Ultimate PC Football Game for Head-to-Head Competition.

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 1997--Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), a leading global interactive entertainment software company, today announced the shipment of Madden NFL 98 for the personal computer. Madden NFL 98 features head-to-head competition via modem and network support. The game also includes "Madden 101," an interactive football tutorial with exclusive team scouting reports and explanations about the fundamentals of football by Emmy Award-winning broadcaster John Madden. His observations are illustrated with NFL Films footage.

The John Madden Football series is the most successful interactive sports game in the world, selling more than nine million units in the history of the franchise across multiple platforms. Eleven years of collaboration between EA SPORTS and Super Bowl-winning broadcaster John Madden has resulted in the most advanced interactive football simulation on the market.

Madden NFL 98 offers all 30 current NFL teams and 104 All-Time and Super Bowl teams to provide a multitude of match-ups for historical football fans who like to relive the glory years of their favorite teams, or the more casual fan or newcomer who is interested in focusing on this year's season. Weekly roster updates are available over the Internet via the EA SPORTS website at www.easports.com . The game's TV-style presentation features Madden in the booth along with his longtime broadcast partner Pat Summerall providing play-by-play.

Every detail of the real game has been authentically reproduced. Superior 3-D graphics that deliver fully-rendered custom stadiums for all 30 teams, multiple camera angles and instant replay with a full 360-degree view all contribute to Madden NFL 98's realism. Working with professional athletes, EA SPORTS has used advanced motion capture technology to reproduce the exact movements of NFL players so that they run, jump, pass, tackle and celebrate the same way in the video game as they do in real life.

Exclusive to the PC version, Madden NFL 98 features "Madden 101," an interactive football tutorial that comes bundled as a separate disk with the core game. It provides consumers with more than an hour of John Madden breaking down each and every team in the league as he discusses its strengths and weaknesses. Madden explains and diagrams numerous offensive, defensive and special team plays. Additionally, clips from NFL Films are used to provide action footage of the players and teams that Madden analyzes.

Madden NFL 98 pushes interactive sports game technology to a new level. A key area of focus this year was devoted to the game's artificial intelligence (AI), which is the manner in which the computer reacts as the game is played. Pioneered by EA SPORTS, Madden NFL 98 is the first video game to implement a concept called Liquid AI. Just as a liquid, such as water, flows when it hits a surface to fill open space and gaps, Liquid AI enables the video football players in Madden NFL 98 to dynamically flow and move to the correct positions on the field in order to make a play. Other football games will give a player a pre-set responsibility for a play. In Madden NFL 98, however, a player will read a play as it develops, check what other players on his team and the opposing team are doing, and will react and change his assignment if necessary. The game reacts exactly as a human would.

"The artificial intelligence in this game is the culmination of working with John Madden for eleven years," said Madden NFL 98's executive producer, Scott Orr. "The Madden series has now evolved to a point that as the action unfolds on the PC, the players react so realistically that Coach Madden can actually use the game to break down plays the way he normally uses game film. For those football fans that really want a fun, head-to-head action gaming experience, Madden delivers like never before."

In an effort to increase the level of fun for both expert and novice game players, Madden NFL 98 features Touch Passing giving the user the highest level of control for the passing game. Touch Passing enables the game player to make different types of passes, based on the situation and defense, that will have the highest chance of success. Depending on how long the controller paddle pass button is hit, users can loft the ball over a defensive back and hit a receiver on a fade route in the corner of the end zone. It is now also possible to zip a bullet pass between two defenders and hit a receiver in stride. In addition to the pure fun factor of touch passing, it also rewards those hardcore game players who can read a defense and execute the right pass in a given situation.

Hundreds of plays are included in Madden NFL 98 to reflect the NFL's sophisticated offensive and defense playcalling. Madden NFL 98 also has the option of letting participants take on the role of a general manager and trade players. With the "create a player" feature, custom players can be created for any position.

Madden NFL 98 includes four-button joystick support. It carries a suggested retail price of $49.95.

EA SPORTS is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling titles include FIFA Soccer, John Madden Football, NHL Hockey, NBA Live Basketball, PGA TOUR Golf, Triple Play Baseball, NCAA Football, NASCAR and Andretti Racing.

Electronic Arts(EA), headquartered in San Mateo, California, is a leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $625 million for fiscal 1997. The Company develops, publishes and distributes software worldwide for personal computers and advanced entertainment systems such as the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn. Electronic Arts markets its products worldwide under six brand names: Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, Maxis, Inc., ORIGIN Systems Inc., Bullfrog Productions Ltd. and Jane's Combat Simulations. EA has international subsidiaries in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Company has North American development operations in San Mateo and Walnut Creek, Calif.; Baltimore, Maryland; Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.ea.com . -0-

Note to Editors: Electronic Arts, Origin Systems, Bullfrog, Maxis, EA SPORTS, John Madden Football, Triple Play Baseball, Liquid AI and Touch Passing are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts or its wholly-owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. FIFA Soccer is an official FIFA licensed product. NBA, NHL, NCAA, NFL, Super Bowl, FIFA, NASCAR and PGA TOUR are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are used under license. Jane's is a registered trademark of Jane's Information Group Ltd. Nintendo is a registered trademark, and Nintendo 64 is a trademark of Nintendo of America Inc. PlayStation is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sega Saturn is a trademark of Sega Enterprises Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Electronic Arts

Charlie Scibetta, 650/513-7537

[e-mail]