Samurai Warriors for X-Box has gone gold

Samurai Warriors for X-Box has gone gold

"Gone gold" is a gaming term referring to a game entering production and is preparing to ship.

The tactical game, once available for the PS2, will be available for the X-Box on July 13.

SAMURAI WARRIORS™ FOR THE XBOX® VIDEO GAME SYSTEM GOLDEN

Samurai-Themed Tactical Action Game Will Ship To North American Retailers on July 13, 2004

Burlingame, CA – June 25, 2004 – KOEI, recognized worldwide as a leading brand of strategy and action games, today announced that Samurai Warriors™ for the Xbox® video game system has gone gold. The Tactical Action game will ship to North American retailers on July 13, 2004. Gamers can still pre-order the game now at ebgames.com and gamestop.com.

About Samurai Warriors for Xbox
SAMURAI WARRIORS for Xbox includes new features exclusive to the console including in-game Dolby® Digital, and as many as ten more characters per screen for an even greater challenge.

Set in 16th century Japan, the fall of the Ashikaga Shogunate caused a series of major wars between individual warlords vying for power. This era in Japanese history became known as the Sengoku or "warring states" period. SAMURAI WARRIORS reveals the stories from this dramatic era and combines it with the Tactical Action excitement for which KOEI has become known.

Gamers can play as the heroic Yukimura Sanada or other legendary warriors including the powerful Nobunaga Oda, and the mysterious ninja, Hanzo Hattori. Their quests will take players to the sprawling Japanese battlefields of Okehazama and Kawanakajima and inside the embattled walls of Osaka Castle. Through 90 stages of epic battles, players will come face-to-face with gun-toting troops, echelons of ninja, and deadly kunoichi (female ninja).

SAMURAI WARRIORS features a new Active Mission System, or AMS, that triggers distinct missions during battle. With 500 variations, the series of missions is unique with each play. The new Auto-Formation System, or AFS, dynamically generates castle levels offering a new experience with each play. With the game’s RPG-style Character Skills System, players can enhance a character’s abilities as they progress through the game. Furthermore, the game’s steeds now have the ability to jump and attack enemy soldiers.

Learn more about the game and the history behind the characters on the game’s official minisite at www.samurai-warriors.com.

SAMURAI WARRIORS was developed by KOEI’s internal team, Omega Force, the award-winning studio behind the Dynasty Warriors® series. SAMURAI WARRIORS is a Tactical Action game for 1-2 Players and is rated “T” (Teen- Suggestive Themes, Violence) by the ESRB.

About KOEI Corporation
KOEI Corporation, the North American subsidiary of KOEI Co., Ltd. of Japan, established operations in 1988. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company is now in its sixteenth year and is recognized as a leader in the highly competitive video game industry.

KOEI is respected worldwide as the premier brand for Strategy and Simulation games, and is recognized as the innovator of the Tactical Action genre. The company’s Dynasty Warriors® series has generated nearly 7 million units in sales worldwide, since releasing for the PlayStation game consoles in 1997.

KOEI maintains operations in Japan, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, China, Korea and Taiwan. KOEI employs over six hundred people worldwide, with sales exceeding $200 million. The company constantly seeks the fine balance between entertainment, technology, art and education, and provides games that will mesmerize gamers across the globe. More information about KOEI and its products can be found on the company’s websites, located at www.koei.com, www.koei.co.uk, and www.koei.co.jp.

Samurai Warriors, Dynasty Warriors, and the KOEI logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KOEI Co., Ltd. ©2004 KOEI Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. Dolby and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.