Press release: 2002-10-23: Mad Catz Introduces the Blaster, the First-to-Market Light Gun for Xbox; Light Gun for Xbox made exclusively for SEGA's "The House of the Dead III"

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: The Free Library

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SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2002

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSE: MCZ), a leading manufacturer of video game accessories, today announced the launch of the Mad Catz Blaster, the first-to-market light gun for the Xbox video game system from Microsoft.

This product will be available for $39.99 in stores beginning October 2002 in conjunction with the much-anticipated launch of SEGA's "The House of the Dead(TM) III."

Mad Catz, SEGA(R), and Microsoft have been co-developing the Mad Catz Blaster for "The House of the Dead III" over the past 12 months in an attempt to define the light gun protocol for Xbox. Mad Catz' Blaster identifies a better way to transmit data from the light gun, the television and the Xbox gaming system and takes full advantage of the powerful capabilities of Xbox.

"As the leading designer of innovative accessories, Mad Catz has expanded its line of peripherals to include the first-to-market light gun for Xbox," said Darren Richardson, President and COO of Mad Catz, Inc. "The Mad Catz Blaster is the first gun for any console to incorporate a `Shotgun' firing mode, enabling players to fire five rounds at a time. We anticipate great success for Mad Catz' Blaster and SEGA's `The House of the Dead III,' both of which use next generation technology."

The Mad Catz Blaster for Xbox features three firing modes, "Auto", "Burst", and "Shotgun" and an auto-reload function that gives players unlimited ammunition for an enhanced gaming experience. "Auto" allows players to shoot 360 rounds per minute, similar to a fully automatic weapon. "Burst" allows players to fire three rounds per second with a single trigger pull. "Shotgun" is a new feature exclusive to Mad Catz' Blaster and allows five rounds to be fired in a star-like pattern on and around the target point. This enables a larger surface area to be blasted with one trigger pull. Other features include rubberized grips for increased comfort and high precision optics, making the Blaster the most accurate gun available.

In SEGA's "The House of the Dead III," players will defy the undead with shotgun in hand as they explore a post-apocalyptic wasteland of unrelenting terror. Fans of the series will thrill to beautifully rendered gore, time-sensitive gameplay and a wide variety of branching paths. Gamers take out wave after wave of horrific zombies as they travel different routes and advance the storyline, uncovering new secrets and hidden areas along the way. "The House of the Dead III" is available October 29 exclusively for Xbox.

About Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc., (http://www.madcatz.com), designs, develops, manufactures and markets a full range of accessories for video game consoles and PC gaming systems. Mad Catz is a worldwide leader of innovative peripherals in the interactive entertainment industry. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Mad Catz has offices in the U.K. and Asia, as well as distributors in Canada, Europe and Australia.

About SEGA

SEGA(R) of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a $3.5 billion corporation by market capitalization, recognized as a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America's Web site is located at www.sega.com.

About Xbox

Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is Microsoft's future-generation video game system that delivers the most powerful games experiences ever. Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to fulfill their creative visions as never before, creating games that blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Xbox is now available in North America, Japan, Europe and Australia.

Xbox is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

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