Electronic Arts a world-leading interactive entertainment company and A&M Records plan to have world renowned, multi-platinum selling musical group The Black Eyed Peas provide and produce the soundtrack to the videogame and their likenesses as characters for the highly anticipated THE URBZ: SIMS IN THE CITY videogame. In an ambitious collaboration across the two industries, the game will include exclusive versions of nine tracks from the upcoming Black Eyed Peas' album "Monkey Business" due out this fall. These songs are being recorded specifically for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube versions of the game.
THE URBZ: SIMS IN THE CITY is EA's latest franchise under EA GAMES brand, based off of the number one selling people simulation game, THE SIMS. THE SIMS are moving to the city. Gamers must unlock all nine districts in the city that never sleeps and gain access to all the hottest VIP spots until reaching the highest penthouse in the sky and acquiring control of the entire city.
Band members Will.I.Am, Fergie, Taboo and Apl.de.Ap appear in the game as musicians teaching players hip social moves and unlocking reputation-enhancing missions. All the while, players can enjoy the newest Black Eyed Peas songs custom mixed by Will.I.Am in Simlish, the game's authentic quirky language.
"This is an unprecedented collaboration," said Steve Schnur, worldwide exec of music and Audio at Electronic Arts. "Never before has a band gone back in to the studio to re-record their album in another language, specifically for a game. Once again, EA has set the bar higher than ever before."
The Black Eyed Peas began in the surrounding areas of Los Angeles and have since become a worldwide phenomenon. Their third album, Elephunk, has been on the Billboard Top 40 Album Chart for more than a year and has sold more than six million copies worldwide.
"The Black Eyed Peas music and band members themselves are a perfect fit for the attitude and feel of THE URBZ: SIMS IN THE CITY," said Sinjin Bain, exec producer/vp. "The Band's music embodies the same sense of fun and energy as the game and we look forward to giving players the opportunity to experience music remixed with gaming at its fullest."
THE URBZ: SIMS IN THE CITY ships in Nov. 2004 for all consoles as well as the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS.
Electronic Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a world leading interactive entertainment software company, which develops, publishes and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS, EA GAMES and EA SPORTS BIG. For more information visit www.ea.com.
Combining the legacies of three significant record companies, Interscope Geffen A&M embarked on a new tradition of musical achievement with its combination on Jan. 1, 1999, as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, the global music leader. Interscope Geffen A&M is a major force across a wide range of musical genres including rock, rap, pop, alternative, Latin, gospel and soundtracks. Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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