Women's Boxing Goes Mainstream as EA Signs Eight Top Fighters for Knockout Kings 2001; Best Selling Boxing Video Game Franchise in the World Now Includes Women.Business Editors & Entertainment/Sports Writers NOTE TO MEDIA: Photo is available in a Smart News Release(TM) on Business Wire's Home Page at www.businesswire.com REDWOOD CITY Redwood City, city (1990 pop. 66,072), seat of San Mateo co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; inc. 1868. Manufactures include commmunications, electrical, electronic, and medical equipment. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2000 The Knockout Kings Knockout Kings is a series of boxing games that were produced by EA Sports for the PSOne, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy and GameCube yearly between 1998 and 2003. (TM) franchise of video games See video game console. by Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS ERTS Electronic Arts, Inc. (stock symbol) ERTS Earth Resources Technology Satellite (US NASA) ERTS Embedded Real Time Systems ERTS Enhanced Remote Transit Shed ) is well known for featuring the most famous boxers in the world such as Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali, pasha of Egypt Muhammad Ali, 1769?–1849, pasha of Egypt after 1805. He was a common soldier who rose to leadership by his military skill and political acumen. , Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956) is a retired American professional boxer. He was one of the leading boxers in the world in the late 1970s and 1980s, winning world titles at multiple weights and engaging in contests with such celebrated opponents as Wilfred Benitez, Thomas , and Oscar De La Hoya Oscar de la Hoya (IPA pronunciation: [ˈɑs.kɛɹ dɛ.lɑ.ˈhɔɪ.jɑ][1]) (born February 4, 1973) — nicknamed the Golden Boy . New this year in Knockout Kings 2001, the women move in and take center stage. Mia St. John Mia Rosales St. John (born June 24, 1967) is an American professional boxer, model, businesswoman, and a Tae Kwon Do champion. St. John, a Mexican-American born in San Francisco, California, attended California State University, Northridge, earning a degree in Psychology. , Christy Martin, Lucia Rijker, Sumya Anani, Chevelle Hallback, Regina Halmich, Belinda Laracuente and Denise Morietes will all be in Knockout Kings 2001 and bring a fresh new look to the game. The PlayStation(R) version is due out in early November and the PlayStation(R) 2 computer entertainment system version is slated for release in spring of 2001. All eight women will be in the PlayStation version of the game, while the PlayStation 2 version will include St. John, Martin, Rijker and Halmich. As women athletes gain a higher visibility in sports, Electronic Arts "EA" is working their likenesses into its games more frequently. NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association (R) March Madness(TM), EA's college basketball game, has included women's college teams for several years, and EA SPORTS Supercross 2001 will feature top women's motocross riders Stefy Bau and Jessica Patterson. "I'm glad women are in the game because we are getting huge TV exposure and the fans want to see more of us," said boxing superstar Mia St. John. "Each one of us has a unique fighting style that EA was able to capture, and all of our skill ratings are accurate as well. Anybody that fights me in the game had better look out because in the game or in the ring I'm taking no prisoners." St. John helped in the development of the game on three fronts. First she worked with EA in their state-of-the-art motion capture studio in Vancouver, B.C., to record all of her movements in the ring. This would include how she shuffles her feet, throws a jab, hook or cross, and raises her arms in triumph after a victory. Second, EA worked with Cyber F/X F/X Effects (R) studios in Glendale, Calif. to do face and body scanning of key boxers. The boxers, including St. John, were scanned to ensure they looked as sharp and realistic in the game as they do in real life. Lastly, St. John sat down with the production team to talk boxing strategy from the female ranks to ensure that the game accurately portrays how women fight differently than men. "EA SPORTS has always been on the cutting edge when it comes to developing new games and new technology," said executive producer David DeMartini. "When we saw the interest the public has in female boxing we immediately jumped on it and signed the top names in the business. More importantly, we actually worked with the boxers to make the game play as if you were really in the ring. If you want to play one game that accurately reflects who the big players are in boxing and captures the feel of the ring from a boxer's perspective, Knockout Kings 2001 is the obvious choice." Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS), headquartered in Redwood City, 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(TM), EA GAMES(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.ea.com. Note to Editors: Electronic Arts, Knockout Kings, EA SPORTS and EA GAMES are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA.COM is a service mark of EA.com Inc. NCAA and March Madness are trademarks of the NCAA. PlayStation is a registered trademark and PlayStation 2 is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Note: A Photo is available at URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.091200/bb2 |
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