Press Release

Kid Tested and Approved:

McGraw-Hill Home Interactive Ships Its Premier Line of CD-ROM Titles in Time for the Holiday Season

Pony Express Rider
Pyramid: Challenge of the Pharaoh's Dream
and Dr. Sulfur's Night Lab
puts kids in charge

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 22, 1996:
After more than 1,000 hours of kid-testing, McGraw-Hill Home Interactive (MHHI) today announced the availability of its first line of premier children's software titles, Pony Express Rider™, Pyramid: Challenge of the Pharaoh's Dream™ and Dr. Sulfur's Night Lab™ for Microsoft® Windows 95. A fourth title, The Fennels Figure Math™, is due out on November 1, 1996

MHHI recruited more than 300 children to actively participate throughout the development of the titles. Kids provided critical information and observations to MHHI's development teams to shape both the titles' content and tone. Together they combined forces to create content-rich products that kids want to play while still challenging them to learn.

"Active collaboration with our kid testers allows us to develop products that children will use and feel were designed especially for them," said Bill Nisen, president of MHHI. "By listening to kids, educators and parents, we've successfully combined fantastic graphics, unique characters, challenging game-play elements and compelling story lines with the latest interactive technologies."

During the 1,000 hours of kid-testing, many of the children's recommendations were incorporated into the final products. For instance, although The Fennels Figure Math had a strong story line, during the initial product-testing kids indicated that they would enjoy the title and find it more engaging if it included additional adventure-like elements. Therefore, MHHI emphasized the integrated problem-solving quality of the title by adding adventure and role-playing techniques. This team approach to product development resulted in The Fennels Figure Math requiring kids to collect inventory and interact with characters and objects to successfully complete math puzzles. For example, kids are encouraged to explore the wacky Fennel house, find a key, use it to unlock the armoire located in the hallway, open the armoire and get out a raft. The raft is needed to catch the fish as part of a navigational exercise.

By collaborating with kids, MHHI delivers educational and entertaining learning experiences that both kids and parents enjoy. According to one MHHI kid-tester, "[The Fennels Figure Math] is not like you just go to this one screen and do a lot of math problems they give you. This way it's more like you're in charge." Nisen added, "We recognize that children are natural explorers. Our titles allow kids to satisfy their curiosities by actively participating in stories and completing fun educational challenges."

The following titles are now available from MHHI for the '96 holiday season:

Pony Express Rider
Developed for kids ages 9 to 14, Pony Express Rider takes children for a social studies adventure where they experience the Old West as a Pony Express rider. Using the first horseback ride simulation, kids gallop through dangerous territories and influence the outcome of U.S. history. With two legendary riders - Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane - as guides, kids encounter many colorful characters while crossing swollen rivers, Native American territory and difficult terrain to forge a vital link between St. Joseph, Mo. and San Francisco in a mission to get the mail West.

Pony Express Rider is based on an original series concept, AMERIKIDS™ from Lynn Rogoff and AMERIKIDS™ USA, and developed for MHHI in collaboration with Interactive Arts.

Dr. Sulfur's Night Lab
A science title developed for kids ages 9 and up, Dr. Sulfur's Night Lab places kids in the first 3D virtual chemistry lab, where they conduct experiments, learn the principles of chemistry and dabble with mysterious substances to restore order to the chaotic Sulfur Institute. The title combines a realistic chemistry simulator with unique 3D characters to bring chemistry to life and teach kids how chemistry is used in the real world. As the leader of a science rescue team, kids are sent to save Dr. Sulfur, find his missing formulas and restore order to the lab. Kids join forces with the doctor's specially-bred creatures, such as Cruncher and Saltina, to explore chemical relationships and principles.

Pyramid: Challenge of the Pharaoh's Dream
In this social studies title developed for kids ages 10 and up, children are catapulted back in time to discover and understand the secrets of ancient Egypt. This adventure, based on real-world history, provides an accurate depiction of Egyptian society and allows kids to explore the technology, culture and secrets of ancient Egypt. In addition, "virtual flight" sequences allow kids to freely explore how an ancient pyramid might have looked during the reign of the Pharaohs. In this adventure, kids learn about the people and culture of ancient Egypt, the process of building a pyramid, the tools and technologies of the time, and details of daily life along the Nile. Throughout the title, kids are guided by a helpful Scarab who supplies kids with context clues about the different puzzles and adventure.

Pyramid was developed by Knowledge Adventure, Inc. for MHHI. The breathtaking sets and special effects were created by the Academy Award®-winning production house Dream Quest Images®.


MHHI titles require an IBM PC or compatible, 486/66 or faster or a Pentium processor, 8 MB RAM, 256-color monitor, double-speed CD-ROM drive, Microsoft Windows 95, 8-bit sound card, speakers and a mouse. The titles have an estimated street price of $39.95 and can be found at computer software retailers and major retail outlets throughout the country. The Macintosh versions will be available first quarter 1997 and the Microsoft Windows 3.1 versions will be available second quarter 1997.

Established in 1995, McGraw-Hill Home Interactive (http://www.mhhi.com) is based in South San Francisco, Calif. The division is dedicated to publishing consumer multimedia titles that equally emphasize education and entertainment in core subject areas such as science, math, social studies and language arts. MHHI's titles, targeted to children ages 8 to 14, engage their imaginations and stimulate their minds with entertaining narratives, while making parents comfortable with the educational value and proven experience of McGraw-Hill. McGraw-Hill Home Interactive is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. The McGraw-Hill Companies, founded in 1888, is a leading information services organization serving worldwide markets in education, business, finance, the professions and government. Revenues in 1995 exceeded $2.9 billion.


Copyright ©1996 McGraw-Hill Home Interactive, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill Home Interactive.

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