Electronic Arts , the world's leading interactive entertainment software company, today officially announced plans to publish R: RACING from Namco Limited for the PLAYSTATION 2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox� video game system from Microsoft and the Nintendo GameCubeTM across PAL territories.

R: Racing is an extraordinary action-racing experience, from the creators of the Ridge Racer games, featuring authentic licensed cars and challenging, real-world tracks. Combining jaw-dropping graphical quality and high performance driving physics with a spectacular story line, R: Racing chronicles the intense competition and deep rivalries found only within the professional racing circuit.

Exciting features such as the Interactive Driver AI System and in-game radio communications bring players closer to racing action than ever before! In Racing Life mode, two tough racers, Rena Hayami and Gina Cavalli play out their fierce rivalry in a series of breathless races. Their fast-paced story heats up, as other determined competitors appear to challenge their track supremacy. In R: Racing, you will drive more than 35 real-world vehicles that allow for upgrades and modifications, in 14 tracks from real-world and fictitious locations.

In R:Racing, Namco went all out to deliver the exhilaration and tension that make up a superb racing game. Players will live through the real experiences of a top racer, driving the circuits and threading through cities at speeds of over 300 kph. All the car models have been expertly recreated from data collected on real cars from all over the world, that allows players to feel realistic features, such as the heaviness of the wheel, the engine activity, and air resistance on the car's body.

R: Racing also is due to be released across all PAL territories in March 2004, and will be fully localised into English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.