Record-Breaking Oddities Highlight New Guinness CD-ROM

DANBURY, Conn. -- May 16, 1996 --To help the world's most creative, curious
and industrious people intent on setting and tracking myriad records and
competitive results, "The 1996 Guinness Multimedia Disc of Records," from
Grolier Interactive presents more than 15,000 of the most challenging
feats ever performed by humans, as well as popular cultural statistics,
animal antics and natural wonders of the world.

Based on The Guinness Book of Records, the world's second-best selling book
of all time, surpassed only by the Bible, the title uses video sequences,
photographs and animation to help users experience the most thrilling,
record-breaking moments ever documented.

The new title adds more than 300 visuals, including still photos and video
clips of unique phenomena such as the largest flying paper airplane (wing
span 140 feet 6 inches), the most ferocious fish (razor-tooth piranha) and
the world's largest hotel (the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with 5,005 rooms,
751 of which are suites).

The 1996 version also has an updated text database and additional movies;
Random Records, a flash-sequence of photographs and information about some
of the world's most mind-boggling facts; and Guess What? pairs, an
interactive, quiz-like format that lets the user pick and choose trivia
questions.

"We took a tongue-in-cheek approach to the material and created an
inviting, entertaining way for people to learn about the odd facts and
random trivia that Guinness has culled from around the world," John
McIlvaine, vice president, marketing, Grolier Interactive, said. "We think
this will encourage browsing, not just for information, but also for fun,
and will help people stumble upon records they never knew existed, like
how big the world's largest popcorn ball is."

The title uses a circus-motif of brightly colored visual icons, such as
movie reels, vintage airplanes and balloons to help users navigate through
a redesigned interface which illustrates the different sections of the
CD-ROM.

Records A-Z is a complete alphabetical index of the entire text database.
Topics is divided into the same 11 categories included in the Guinness
book. Listing all world records, the section is broken into: Human Being,
Living World, Earth and Space, Science and Technology, Buildings and
Structures, Transport, Arts and Entertainment, Business and Law, Human
World, Human Achievements and Sports and Games.

Consumers can also search by Superlatives and find such information as
where the strongest earthquake in the United States was and how much the
heaviest man in the world weighed. Random Records pairs statistics with
pictures in a format that allows users to browse through "bites" of
information, encouraging them to read the full text that is available.

Videos bring historic and inspiring moments to life in the Movie Index
section, including the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Mission with live footage
of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing the spacecraft on the moon.
Sixty movies are organized by topic and title, allowing immediate access
to some of the most unbelievable feats in the world.

The Picture Index piques user interest with 1,200 photographs of
record-breaking entries, including the world's largest gingerbread house
(2,000 sheets of gingerbread and 1,650 pounds of icing) and the world's
largest ball of string (15 feet 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 41 feet 6
inches in circumference).

The Guess What? section is a game built around some of the quirkiest
records found on the CD-ROM, such as "How many beans were in the world's
largest burrito?," "What's the weight of the heaviest human brain?" and
"What is the highest unclimbed mountain?" The section also incorporates
fun trivia, such as "Which children's program has won more Emmy awards
than any other series?" Hint: The show's oversized star is covered with
fuzzy yellow feathers and loves to play spelling games.

About Guinness includes the history and editorial policy of Guinness
Publishing Ltd. The section features movie clips highlighting record
breakers including Mary Killian, the World's Fastest Potato Peeler, who
claims she never met a potato she didn't like. Additionally, the section
gives a description of how Guinness record-keeping was started. Consumers
can also learn about how records are chosen and how to contact Guinness
with record information.

The Guinness Book of Records has sold more than 74 million copies since it
was first published in 1955.

"The 1996 Guinness Multimedia Disc of Records" is now available through
major retail outlets nationwide for both Macintosh and Windows formats.

Grolier Interactive is well known for its award-winning CD-ROM reference
and entertainment titles found in homes, schools and libraries worldwide,
including "The Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia." The company's main
headquarters is located in Danbury, Conn. To order or register your
product, please call (800) 285-4534. For other customer service inquiries,
call (203) 797-3530. Grolier Interactive's Web site is
http://www.grolier.com.
 
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