Twisted Metal:Black™ Brings Hell-Raising Car Combat to the Playstation®2 Computer Entertainment System

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the Summer 2001 release of Twisted Metal:Black™ exclusively for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Based on the successful Twisted Metal® franchise, Twisted Metal:Black brings a whole new look and feel to the series, catapulting players into a deeper and darker gameplay environment than ever before. Developed by Incognito Studios and designed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Santa Monica, Twisted Metal:Black utilizes the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system's technological prowess to bring the team's shocking and imaginative vision to life through superior graphics and outstanding special effects.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000510/SFW104-a )

Twisted Metal:Black is designed and developed by the creators of Twisted Metal 1 and 2. When the original Twisted Metal game was released in 1995, the development team was credited with establishing Car Combat as a whole new genre within the videogame industry. Twisted Metal 2 was released to critical claim in 1997 and remains one of the best-selling games of all time, with almost two million units sold in North America to date. Overall, the Twisted Metal franchise has sold close to five million units in North America, making it the best-selling car combat series ever.

"Back in 1995, we introduced PlayStation fans to a new genre in gaming with Twisted Metal; now in 2000, we plan to redefine it with Twisted Metal:Black," said Ami Blaire, director, product marketing. "With the creative minds of the original Twisted Metal team and the advanced technological capabilities of the PlayStation 2, gamers will experience a familiar franchise with a whole new look and feel that provides a deeper and darker reality than ever before."

"With the technological advancement of the PlayStation 2, art direction has become an integral part of the videogame development process, just as it is in the movies," said Dave Jaffe, director and lead designer, Sony Computer Entertainment, Santa Monica. "With Twisted Metal:Black, we were finally able to implement all of the creative ideas we had envisioned for the first two games. The result is a darkly atmospheric, profound and strategic game, which is also easy for gamers to get into and lots of fun to play."

Built upon a world laced with madness and destruction, Twisted Metal:Black sets the stage for a gruesome, yet electrifying battle. Calypso, the mastermind behind the Twisted Metal battles, returns once more to host the ultimate contest of wreckage and devastation. He has plucked some prime contestants straight out of an asylum and has promised these otherwise doomed souls a single wish should they defeat their opponents in a battle of twisted metal. As the carnage unfolds, learn how and why these mad motorists were locked up behind the walls of insanity. Slip into their minds, take a walk around their mental anguish and come out screaming for more.

Through the technological capabilities of PlayStation 2, Twisted Metal:Black features enhanced player environments with moving traffic, changing weather conditions, living pedestrians and interactive objects, making for a highly-charged, living world of destruction. Destruction is at the game's core, but deadly strategy is essential for creative kills, made possible by the many different weapons and combo attacks in Twisted Metal:Black. Get ready to rip through the foreboding battlegrounds and nightmarish landscapes in a wickedly dark world that is sure to bring out the madness in everyone.

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has not yet rated Twisted Metal:Black. For more information about the ESRB visit http://www.esrb.org/.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® game console and the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system is set to revolutionize the home entertainment market, offering the most compelling interactive content and the capability to be used as a network terminal in the coming broadband era.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation game console and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PlayStation game console and the upcoming PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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SOURCE: Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc.

Contact: Charlotte Panther, 650-655-3542, or
charlotte_panther@playstation.sony.com, or Ryan Bowling, 650-655-3657, or
ryan_bowling@playstation.sony.com, both of Sony Computer Entertainment America
Inc.

Website: http://www.playstation.com/