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Contact: Michael Fiegel aethereal FORGE aeon@aeforge.com Christopher O'Neill 9th Level Games chris@biznextonline.com AETHEREAL FORGE & 9TH LEVEL GAMES JOIN FORCES TO PRODUCE NINJA BURGER: THE ROLE PLAYING GAME SAN MATEO, Calif., December 23, 2000 -- aethereal FORGE, a creative services and content development company, has agreed to license their Ninja Burger concept to 9th Level Games for the purposes of creating "Ninja Burger: The Beer and Pretzels Role-Playing Game." The two companies will share resources in developing and marketing the game, based on the popular Ninja Burger concept and website (www.ninjaburger.com). Ninja Burger, a satiric look at a fictional fast food delivery service run entirely by ninjas, was launched this past July, and since then has gained a large cult following and widespread acclaim. Thousands of visitors have checked out the site's ninja menu, placed orders for their friends, and filled out job applications; although it purports to be, none of it is actually real, and that, of course, is the true appeal. "When we get email from one of the writers of 'The Onion' (www.theonion.com) telling us that we're the funniest thing he's ever seen, we know we've struck a chord with the right group of people," said aethereal FORGE co-founder and Ninja Burger creator, Michael Fiegel. "To then have a gaming company like 9th Level call us up to discuss a role-playing game was just icing on the cake. How could we say no?" The Ninja Burger game will be based upon 9th Level Games' newly revamped game engine, the second such release to use the newly dubbed "Beer Engine." The first such release is featured in the guise of a free game, available inside issues of the Dork Tower #12 comic book (more information online at www.kovalic.com/dork/d_comic.html). An earlier version of the engine was used with great success in the first 9th Level Games publication, the acclaimed "Kobolds Ate My Baby!", which cracked the top 25 in US sales of role-playing games in September of 1999. "This may not be the first role-playing game about ninjas, and it may not even be the first role-playing game about fast food, but it's certainly the first RPG to include both ninjas and fast food at the same time," said O'Neill. "And if that's not a great concept for a role-playing game, I don't know what is." The "Ninja Burger RPG" is scheduled for release in Q2 2001. About 9th Level Games 9th Level Games is a game design company based in Pennsylvania, renowned within the industry for satiric RPGs including the critically-acclaimed "Kobolds Ate My Baby!" and "Evil Rules!". Aside from their work on the Ninja Burger concept, they are planning for a Q3 2001 release of "Kobolds 3rd Edition." For more information, visit www.9thlevel.com. About aethereal FORGE aethereal FORGE is a creative services company specializing in online (ie. web-based) content creation and conceptual design. In support of the Ninja Burger RPG, aethereal FORGE will be adding an online game to the Ninja Burger site soon, and is currently soliciting offers from filmographers interested in working on a Ninja Burger commercial. The company is also finishing development of the Iconoclast RPG (www.iconoclast.org), scheduled for release on January 1, 2001. For more information, visit www.aeforge.com. # # # "Ninja Burger" and "Iconoclast" are trademarks of aethereal FORGE. "Kobolds Ate My Baby", "Evil Rules!", and "Beer Engine" are trademarks of 9th Level Games. "Dork Tower" is copyright 1998 John Kovalic.