Total Entertainment Network - Press News

Total Entertainment Network to Deliver Total Annihilation For Free

Cavedog Entertainment's Hot New Real-Time Strategy Game to Debut on TEN Oct. 14

San Francisco, CA, October 13, 1997 -- Total Entertainment Network (TEN) today announced that Cavedog Entertainment's Total Annihilation, heralded by gamers and media worldwide as the most advanced real-time strategy game ever, will be the first game available for free on the TEN service starting Oct. 14. Total Annihilation fans can enjoy multiplayer action on TEN for free by simply installing the TEN software provided on the game's CD-ROM. TEN accounts created in this fashion will only have access to the Total Annihilation areas of TEN.

"This is a special promotional offer for Total Annihilation customers, intended to give them access to the very best online environment in which to play the game," said Lesley Mansford, TEN's vice president of marketing. "We're continually evaluating new mechanisms to drive trial subscriptions to the TEN service. Letting Total Annihilation customers log onto TEN and see all of the added value the service provides will hopefully motivate them to create full TEN memberships in order to experience everything else that TEN offers."

"We are thrilled that TEN has embraced Total Annihilation, making it easy for players everywhere to enjoy the thrill of Internet multiplayer combat," said Ron Gilbert, founder and creative director of Cavedog Entertainment.

"Total Annihilation is clearly one of the hottest games of the year to date, and is expected to be a big hit on TEN," said TEN producer Sukhbir Sidhu. "The game's support for ongoing developer expansion and extensive player customization means that it will have a long and successful life online. We expect it to be a top-five game on the TEN service within a month."

Cavedog Entertainment will add to Total Annihilation's 150 run-time 3D-articulated battle units starting October 31, giving players free new and fully functional units for download every week at www.cavedog.com. These new units will integrate seamlessly into the game, including multiplayer action over the Internet or a local area network, providing virtually unlimited expansion and enhancement of game play and strategy.

Total Annihilation will be optimized for play on TEN via B.U.L.L.E.T. T, a proprietary, performance-optimizing technology that enhances both the speed and reliability of certain types of games. TEN will offer Total Annihilation contests and other player activities. Additional player information about Total Annihilation on TEN can be found online at www.ten.net in the website's news areas and in the iarea.

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Cavedog Entertainment, based in the Seattle area, was created in 1995 by Ron Gilbert and a team of the game industry's best designers, programmers and artists, to pioneer interactive gaming and create new standards of fun. In 1997, Computer Gaming World and GameSpot proclaimed Ron Gilbert to be one of "the 15 most influential people of all time." Gilbert previously spent eight years at LucasArts Entertainment, where he designed such classic games as Maniac Mansion and the Monkey Island series. Both games have won numerous awards and appeared in PC Games' Top Eight Most Influential Games of All Time list. Chris Taylor, creator and lead designer of Total Annihilation, is an award-winning game designer responsible for such hit titles as Triple Play Baseball, Hardball II, and 4D Sports Boxing. Industry accolades include the Software Publishers Association Sports Game of the Year Award.

Total Entertainment Network is the premier entertainment network for game playing consumers on the Internet. TEN has online rights to more than 30 games, more than half of which are TEN exclusives, by leading software publishers including 3D Realms Entertainment, Apogee, Blizzard, Bungie Software, Cavedog Entertainment, Eidos Interactive (formerly Domark), id Software, GT Interactive, Maxis, MicroProse, Sierra Online/Papyrus, SSI and Westwood Studios. Based in San Francisco, TEN was formed in 1995 from the merger of Outland, Inc. and Planet Optigon, Inc. TEN received its initial funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, with subsequent investors including: Ameritech; Goldman Sachs; Robertson, Stephens & Co.; Vertex Management; and Wasserstein Perella.

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