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By Al Giovetti





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Website:www.dwango.com

DWANGO Zone To Be Featured on Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone

INTERACTIVE VISUAL SYSTEMS AND MICROSOFT JOIN FORCES TO UNVEIL DWANGO-ZONE AT E3 EXPO IN ATLANTA

In an exclusive interview with Robert E. Huntley, founder and CEO of Dwango, The Computer Show was told more details on the most exciting partnership announced at the E3 show. Dwango uses direct connections to their servers to eliminate latency. Dwango also uses software such as Doom and Quake that use a server to run the game, while freeing up the users machine to play.

Interactive Visual Systems Corp. (IVS), operators of DWANGO, a high speed online gaming network, announced today an agreement with Microsoft Corporationr to provide low latency, fast game play for retail games via the Internet Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com.).

DWANGO, which stands for Dial-up Wide Area Network Game Operation, currently consists of 27 network servers spread throughout the world that enable a global community of computer users to play high-action computer games online at the lowest possible latency. Latency refers to the time it takes for the transfer of information to occur between machines, a crucial element in fast response electronic entertainment.

"DWANGO is very proud to be associated with Microsoft and the Internet Gaming Zone," said Robert E. Huntley, founder of DWANGO, and president and chief executive officer of IVS. "Our high speed network is a perfect complement to the Zone. Gamers now have the huge assortment of games offered on the Zone and soon they will be able to access fast response, high action gaming through the DWANGO-Zone." (more)

IVS AND MICROSOFT UNVEIL DWANGO-ZONE AT E3/add 1

"We think DWANGO's approach provides the best multiplayer game performance possible for today's high-speed action games," said Steve Murch, product unit manager of Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone. "We wanted to provide easy access to an affordable low-latency network to those Zone members who demand it for their favorite retail games."

Visitors to the Internet Gaming Zone will be able to enter the DWANGO-Zone Lobby for the game title they wish to play. Players can interface with other players and create teams for competition. Once the "game" is launched, all players on the team are connected to their chosen DWANGO-Zone server. At the end of play the scores for the players are passed up to the Zone for tracking players' performance.

Access to the DWANGO-Zone via the Internet Gaming Zone will become available beginning in the fall of 1997. The DWANGO-Zone access fee will be 99 cents per hour (all customer charges will be administered by IVS).

A public demonstration of the DWANGO-Zone will debut at the 1997 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta on June 19-21 at the DWANGO-Zone exhibit. The DWANGO-Zone exhibit will be located in the concourse between the Georgia Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center. Visitors to the exhibit can sample the high speed action available through the DWANGO-Zone via a variety of multi-media gaming stations, including the new Hanaho ArcadePC, personal computer based arcade machines with 100-inch screen displays and, Compaq Computer Corporation's first home theatre system: the PC Theatre 9000, a powerful personal computer coupled with a 36" multimedia display.

Gamers may also access the DWANGO network directly at http://www.dwango.com. - more - IVS AND MICROSOFT UNVEIL DWANGO-ZONE AT E3/add 2

Interactive Visual Systems Corporation (IVS), headquartered in Houston, Texas, is the recognized leader in providing low latency network solutions for online multi-player electronic entertainment. IVS created and operates DWANGO, a high-speed global network supporting real time, multi-player interactivity for popular retail computer games; and the DWANGO-Zone, featured on Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone as the low latency, multi-player option for high-speed, high action retail computer games.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day. # # # **.