THEATRIX INTERACTIVE ANNOUNCES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED 1996 PRODUCT LINE; Company Builds On Success Of Award-Winning 1995 Product Line.

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 1996--Theatrix Interactive, Inc., an award-winning children's software publisher, today announced four new CD-ROM titles to begin shipping this summer. Theatrix Interactive entered the software publishing arena just six months ago with the introduction of its first four titles, Bumptz Science Carnival, Hollywood, Juilliard Music Adventure, and Snootz Math Trek. To date, Theatrix' 1995 product line has won 22 awards, including the recent garnering of three Software Publishers Association Codie Awards.

The four new titles span a broad range of subjects including math, creative writing, story-making, and science, with most of the product line aimed at upper elementary and middle school age kids. Respectively by subject, the titles are Math Heads, Hollywood High, Build-a-Book with Roberto, and Science Comic Book (working title). All products will be published on CD-ROM for both Windows and Macintosh formats. Street pricing for the product line is expected to be $35 - $40.

Math

Math Heads is a pre-algebra program for 9 to 13 year-olds that puts kids into an outrageous parody of television. Kids become "Math Heads," creating custom characters by choosing from a wide variety of faces, wigs, hats, and outfits -- they can even import photos of their own faces! Then, these Math Heads appear as contestants and featured guests on UTV, a wacky interactive world where kids feel like they are on TV.

Players use an on screen remote control to "channel surf" UTV's many programs, each designed to develop and practice a different set of math skills and challenges. TV channels include Go Mental, a wild game of celebrity tic-tac-toe starring Joe Brain the ultimate irreverent game show host; You Should Talk!, a call-in talk show where kids conduct surveys of the "viewing audience"; and Face the Music, a fast-paced music TV activity where kids build animated music videos of geometric images and numbers. Players in search of other math challenges can switch to news updates, stupid math tricks, infomercials, or UTV's very own home shopping channel. As kids interact with UTV's hilarious cast of characters, they build skills with word problems, fractions, decimals, percentages, and interpreting numerical information.

Creative Writing

Hollywood High, the second title in the award-winning Hollywood series, is a script writing tool that lets kids ages 9 to adult create personalized "shows" about real life situations starring animated, talking characters. Kids turn into screenwriters -- selecting sets, casting characters, writing dialogue, and setting stage direction -- all with a teen-life theme. Write about your life, your best friends, favorite hangouts, or express yourself in situations that would never happen in real life. Then, watch your writing and directing come alive as the script is performed by hilarious animated characters that literally speak out loud!

Hollywood High includes all the original Hollywood functionality that has been inspiring creative writers everywhere -- and more! Over 10 hilarious new characters include Matt the flannel shirt kid or Lilly the pony tail girl, who can roll their eyes, chew gum, or play air guitar. More than 20 new, vibrant backgrounds include places teenagers "hang out" in everyday life, such as the mall, the arcade, or the beach. With Hollywood High, kids can now use multiple backgrounds in the same show. If your creative juices need a boost, the Idea Machine comes to the rescue -- this time with a teen life twist. Hollywood backgrounds, characters, music, and sound effects can even be unlocked and integrated into a Hollywood High show! To top it off, Hollywood High includes a projector program that can be downloaded to floppy disk or sent over the Internet, enabling kids to playback Hollywood High or Hollywood shows for friends who don't have the complete program on their computer.

Story-Making

Build-a-Book with Roberto is a story-making program for 3 to 6 year-olds. Kids build decision-making skills as they create over 100 original stories about an adorable hippo named Roberto, who wants to join a game of Hippo Ball. Kids direct the action and outcome of each story by clicking on choices that send Roberto off in new directions -- should Roberto ask nicely, should he pout, or should he give the other hippos popsicles? A wide range of choices and their consequences can be explored as the storyline unfolds. Once a story is complete, it can be viewed as an animated show or printed as a read-along book that lays the foundation for early reading skills.

Kids will love creating stories that they can print and make into their very own books. Build-a-Book stories can also be printed in coloring book format. What's more, kids can extend the story-making experience as they dance and sing along with Roberto's silly songs, play a game of Hippo Ball, and create their own printable life-sized masks and hand puppets for play acting with friends. The user manual includes a wide range of craft activities that provide kids with hours of extended play away from the computer including book-building, mask and puppet-making, and more. Development of Build-a-Book was sponsored by The US West Foundation. Build-a-Book content is based on Roberto Joins In, a book published by The Children's Television Resource & Education Center.

Science

Coming this Fall, Science Comic Book (working title) is a discovery program for budding scientists ages 8 to 12 with curious minds. Once again, those wacky, wayward Bumptz from Bumptz Science Carnival have crash landed on Earth, this time in Bette's back yard, and they need kids' help repairing their space ship for the return trip home. Kids develop scientific inquiry skills and an understanding of mechanics as they engage in hands-on experiments with simple machines and explore the principles of force, energy, friction, harmonic motion, and static equilibrium. As the Bumptz make their way toward the space ship, the science puzzles become more and more challenging to keep kids engaged in the adventure. Science Comic Book (working title) is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Product Availability

Math Heads, Hollywood High, Build-a-Book with Roberto, and Science Comic Book (working title) will be available nationwide through retail channels beginning Summer 1996 in hybrid Windows and Macintosh CD-ROM format, or by calling 1-800-955-TRIX. For consumer inquiries, the company Internet address is [e-mail].

For over 13 years, Theatrix Interactive has been a developer of children's software, having created widely recognized software titles such as Millie's Math House and Bailey's Book House for Edmark Corp., Anno's Learning Games for Putnam New Media, and The Cruncher for Davidson Associates, Inc.

Theatrix Interactive, Inc., based in Emeryville, California, develops, publishes, markets and distributes children's educational software for the consumer market. Theatrix focuses on helping children develop their reasoning, problem solving, and creative skills through products that make learning fun and simply irresistible!

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Note to Editors:

Build-a-Book, Bumptz, Bumptz Science Carnival, Hollywood, Hollywood High, Math Heads, Snootz Math Trek, Theatrix, Theatrix Interactive, and the Theatrix logo are trademarks of Theatrix Interactive, Inc. Juilliard Music Adventure is a trademark of The Juilliard School, exclusively licensed to Theatrix Interactive, Inc. Juilliard is a trademark of The Juilliard School. All other trademarks are the property of their respective trademark owners.

CONTACT: Connors Communications

Rachel Hassard or Holly Rossetti, 415-771-3940

or

Theatrix Interactive, Inc.

Nancy Deyo, 510-658-2800