ENTER THE AMAZING WORLD OF SHANDALAR AND ENGAGE IN A MAGICAL QUEST ON YOUR
PC WITH MAGIC: THE GATHERING

AWARD-WINNING DESIGNERS SID MEIER AND RICHARD GARFIELD WORK TOGETHER ON THE
PRODUCT

ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO, LOS ANGELES, MAY 16, 1996 -- Magic: The
Gathering is the collectible card phenomenon thats taken the world by
storm. Now its creator, Richard Garfield of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.,
and the award-winning PC strategy game designer Sid Meier of the
MicroProse studio of Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBYT) have teamed up
to bring Magic: The Gathering to CD-ROM as a native Windows 95 title. The
game will be developed under the MicroProse brand and distributed
worldwide.

By pairing MicroProse, which is a leader in the interactive entertainment
industry, and Wizards of the Coast, Inc., which is a leader in the paper
trading card industry, we can develop a computer version of Magic: The
Gathering that appeals to gamers of all types, said Louis Gioia, Jr.,
chief marketing officer for Spectrum HoloByte, Inc.

Magic: The Gathering software is based on the popular Wizards of the Coast
trading card game of the same name, which has sold more than one billion
cards worldwide in seven languages. The game is filled with wizards,
spell-casting and strategy.

Magic: The Gathering is a fun card game, and I want to design a complete
adventure game around it to bring Magic: The Gathering to life in an
animated world, said Sid Meier, vice president of creative development at
the MicroProse studio in Maryland and award-winning designer of such
software hits as Sid Meiers Civilization and F-15 Strike Eagle.

Richard Garfield is the award-winning creator of the original Magic: The
Gathering and other successful games, including RoboRally, Netrunner and
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, at Wizards of the Coast.

GAME CONCEPTS

Meier is programming a new adventure game segment that is based on the
original card game. In this exotic fantasy world, players interact with AI
(artificial intelligence) opponents that personify many of the Magic: The
Gathering cards.

Players will use green, red, blue, black and white Magic to defeat more
than 100 mystical creatures. Gamers will be able to bludgeon a
Beastmaster, vex a Vampire Lord, control fantastic beings like the
virtuous Serra Angel, build impenetrable defenses using a combination of
supernatural spells and rare artifacts, and much more.

Meier is also programming a stand-alone duel segment in which players can
challenge the computers AI outside the adventure world. This duel
interface mode allows players to jump right in and go head-to-head against
a variety of creatures.

Game players may choose to duel against the computers specially themed
decks or against decks that they create.

WINDOWS 95 FEATURES

The AutoPlay feature, which is an automatic configuration, enables the
computer to automatically install the game and run under Windows 95. For
the player, this means less tweaking to get the game to run.

Windows 95 allows for faster gameplay, higher quality audio and better
resolution. The operating system will enable all users to see the Magic:
The Gathering card art in whatever screen resolution they currently use.
MicroProse will use 24-bit images as the basis of its art to take full
advantage of the capabilities of each users display hardware. Although the
game will run easily on a high-end 24-bit or 16-bit graphics card, it will
also look brilliant in 256-color mode.

The interface is a natural with Magic: The Gathering because the look of
Windows 95 enables the programmers to duplicate how the paper card version
looks and acts. The fantasy-style format takes the player into a Magic:
The Gathering universe.

Product information is available for download from the MicroProse BBS at
510-522-8909, FTP site: ftp.microprose.com or World Wide Web site:
http://www.microprose.com. For consumer orders, call 1-800-695-GAME in the
United States and Canada and call 619-693-1200 outside the United States
and Canada.

Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive
entertainment software for use on CD-ROM based personal computer systems.
The company is also developing software for next generation console
machines. The companys four development studios are Spectrum HoloByte,
Alameda, California; MicroProse Software, Hunt Valley, Maryland;
MicroProse Limited, Chipping Sodbury, England; and SimTex Software
Corporation, Austin, Texas. Products are available nationally and
internationally through major distributors, retailers and mass merchants.

Wizards of the Coast is a game manufacturer based in Seattle, Wash. In
August 1993, the company released its first trading card game, Magic: The
Gathering. To date, more than one billion cards have sold worldwide in
seven languages. Wizards of the Coast has branches in Glasgow, Scotland;
Antwerp, Belgium; and Paris, France. Wizards of the Coast currently
employees more than 225 people among its four locations.

Spectrum HoloByte, 2490 Manner Square Loop, Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 522-3584;   Fax (510) 522-3587
 
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