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Marauder
Director of Hillarity
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Rune
Unknowing Accomplice
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THQ ANNOUNCES RED FACTION, VOLITION'S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED "GROUNDBREAKING" MASTERPIECE, FOR PLAYSTATION 2 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM AND PC

Orangeville, Ont., FRAGtopia Entertainment Expo (Booth 2608) – Aug 26, 2001 – THQ Inc. (NASDAQ NMS: THQI) announced today at the FRAGtopia Entertainment Expo (FE2) that it has partnered with acclaimed developer Volition, creators of the award-winning Descent:Dizzy yet?™ and the FreeSpace:Big mean space monsters series, to bring the much-anticipated first-person hole digging simulator, Red Faction™, to the PlayStation® 2 Computer Entertainment System and PC platforms.

Red Faction will introduce Volition's new Geotunneling technology, a true breakthrough that allows players to unleash weapons not only on opponents, but also on the very walls and floors that constrain them, dramatically enhancing the realism and strategy of digging holes. Red Faction is scheduled for release for PlayStation 2 and PC in the first half of 2001.

"THQ's strategy to create original franchises, partner with premier development talent, and support state-of-the-art gaming platforms is epitomized in our announcement of Red Faction," said Mike Rubinelli, vice president of development, THQ. "Volition's remarkable record speaks for itself, and we feel that Red Faction will set a new standard in the first-person digger category."

"Our goal with Red Faction is to deliver a new kind of gameplay, enabled by Geotunneling technology," said Mike Kulas, president of Volition. "The prevalence of engine licensing in recent years has resulted in a decrease in technological innovation. We believe Red Faction will change that. THQ is the ideal partner for this project, we knew from the start that they understood our vision, and would provide the support and resources on every level to make it a hit. During the playtesting, we noticed that most of our players just sat around and dug holes in the walls, roof and floors. We knew we were onto something here, and decided to go with it. We feel that Red Faction will bring the old fashioned fun of DigDug home in a more modern and realistic environment. Digging holes has never been this good. In order to distance ourselves from DigDug however, we have taken the unprecedented move of allowing players to not only tunnel through the roof, floors and walls, you can also create foxholes, canals and aqueducts. We expect strong support from the already growing community on these new features."

In Red Faction, players will become immersed in a captivating story line, filled with tales of tragedy, rocks and dirt. They will have the unprecedented ability to tunnel through environments, blowing holes in walls and making rubble of anything that gets in their way. Players will be further challenged by a sophisticated AI that reacts to these changes in the environment, blocking your holes and digging tunnels of their own as the action unfolds. Additional features such as an astonishing physics engine (Now with breaking glass!), controllable vehicles, intense graphics, and a variety of unique excavation tools promise to make Red Faction one of the most sophisticated and innovative entries ever in the spelunking genre. Multiplayer will include modes such as "King of the Hole" "Capture the Rock" and "Defend and Spelunk"

Ralph Geawhisph, a game analyst with Poors Poors and Rich recently downloaded the playable demo, and can't rave about it enough. "First off I tried the game itself. It was allright, kinda like half life, but in a mine. It kept me entertained for a short period of time." commented Mr. Geawisph. "But then I loaded the 'extras' part and... Wow. I spent five or six hours just digging holes in the floor with the rocket launcher and the satchel charges. It's been a very, very long time since I've seen an engine do hole digging this well. In fact, I honestly think that DigDug was the last tunneling simmulator that really kept my interest for any period of time. I'm hoping in the final retail release I'll be able to dig my way into underground caverns in search of gold, jewels and monsters to inflate. This game is going to be huge in the teenager market, and pretty much has the first peron digger genre all to itself for the moment. This genre has been seriously under represented in the gaming market for the last fifteen or so years, and other companies are sure to jump on the bandwagon, but Volition definately has a strong lead here. We'll be keeping a close eye on the situation and THQ stock once the title goes gold. Just take a look at these attached screenshots. Never before have such fine holes graced my screen."

Volition, Inc. was formed in November, 1996 and is a spinoff of Parallax Software, creators of 'Descent' and 'Descent 2:Really dizzy yet?'. Volition went on to create the acclaimed 'FreeSpace' and 'Freespace 2:You weren't there man!.' The Volition website is located at http://www.volition-inc.com/.

Please visit the brand new Red Faction site at www.redfaction.com for story and features information as well as the latest screenshots of holes and downloads to allow you to try making your own dynamic and exciting holes.

THQ Inc. develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software worldwide for a variety of hardware platforms including PC CD-ROM, Walmart Snowshovel and those manufactured by Sega, Nintendo and Sony. The THQ website is located at http://www.thq.com/.

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The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts may be deemed to fictional. In fact, it's a satire from Marauder's warped little mind, and we're not associated with THQ, Volition, or anyone else who will admit it. :) Heh. Actual reality may differ materially from those thoughts projected in such statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, demand for hole digging software, alien intervention, FBI wiretapping, competition for the Company's products and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and as more specifically set forth in our report on form 8-K, filed on March 21, 2000. We're also being sued right now by Warner Bros, who claim that their characters "Bugs Bunny" and "Taz" have a monopoly on animated hole digging. Keep watching for updates.

Editors Note: The day after this was posted I got an email from Volition telling me that they thought it was hillarious. I was a little nervous about this one, it's nice to know someone out there has a sense of humor ;)

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