Players Can Slip Into Hef's Slippers in Playboy Videogame
The new videogame, PLAYBOY: THE MANSION, from Groove Games and ARUSH Entertainment, published under license from Playboy Enterprises, will be available on the PlayStation2 for the 2004 holiday season.
Under development at Cyberlore Studios, PLAYBOY: THE MANSION combines intriguing social interaction, party-throwing simulation and empire- building challenges in the gaming experience. This marks the marks Playboy's entry into videogame.
"As you can imagine, we're all very excited about this project," said Joe Minton, ceo of Cyberlore Studios. "From the very beginning we've put a great deal of effort into making this groundbreaking game a fun and sexy experience for the PS2."
The game puts the player into the virtual slippers of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, building PLAYBOY MAGAZINE and the Playboy mansion into dynamic cultural icons. Gamers also will virtually host extravagant, exciting parties to live the lifestyle, rub elbows (is that all?) with stunning women and celebrities and share the mystique of the mansion. Smart management of the mansion's social scene is required to keep the business thriving, in addition to scoring hot celebrity interviews and arranging sexy photo shoots to grow the empire. The innovative Photoshoot gameplay allows the player to take control of the camera, shoot models for magazine covers and pick and choose the best overall theme for each issue.
"PLAYBOY: THE MANSION is an ambitious, clever title that will be right at home on the PlayStation2 system," said Jim Perkins, president/ceo of ARUSH Ent. "This game is unlike anything console gamers have ever seen before, and will raise the bar for simulation and empire-building games."
The game tries to present an accurate version of the Playboy mansion, rendered in a beautiful 3D environment including actual Playboy estate areas such as the Game House and the world-famous Playboy Grotto. Gamers can also create their own versions of the mansion as they step into the role of the Playboy mogul. With Campaign and Empire modes, players can either follow an intriguing and involved storyline, or be set loose to explore and create on their own.
In addition to game industry advertising and merchandising initiatives, ARUSH and Groove will aggressively market the game in PLAYBOY MAGAZINE and on Playboy.com to support the launch. Playboy readers spent more than $300 million on videogames over the last year with more than 3.1 million readers owning a videogame system.
PLAYBOY: THE MANSION, distributed in North America by Hip Interactive, will be on display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May 2004 in West Hall Booth 2208. For more information on the game, please visit www.PlayHef.com.
Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, ARUSH Ent. is a worldwide publisher of interactive entertainment software for personal computers and advanced entertainment consoles. As a division of World Entertainment Broadcasting Corp. (WEB Corp.) ARUSH publishes PC and console videogames for sale in retail outlets and on the Internet. For more information, please visit www.ArushGames.com.
Headquartered in Toronto, Groove Games partners with leading developers to deliver games for avid gamers. Groove is also publishing Digital Extremes' cutting-edge new first-person action game, Pariah. For more information visit www.groovegames.com
Based in Northampton, Massachusetts, Cyberlore Studios, Inc. has been creating great, award-winning games for over a decade. Cyberlore's mission is to create games that focus on providing fun and innovative play. The company also values its employees, offering them an open, healthy and fun workplace along with great benefits. For more information about Cyberlore Studios and their games, please visit www.cyberlore.com.
Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Hip Interactive (www.hipinteractive.com) is a leading provider of electronic entertainment products, including PC and videogames, movies, video arcade games, and proprietary games, branded as Hip Games, and accessories, branded as Hip Gear. The company distributes all first party products, including Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo hardware, software and accessories, as well as third party licensed video game software. With offices across North America and in Europe, Hip uses its distribution business to leverage into higher margin, higher growth areas of the electronic entertainment industry, such as licensing, publishing and its proprietary games and accessories.