Available January 21, 2009 SimAnimals Allows You to Take the Wild
World of Animals into Your Hands
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov 20, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that award-winning
composer Winifred Phillips will score the theme music for the newest IP
in The Sims(TM) family, SimAnimals(TM). Winner of four Game
Audio Network Guild Awards, Phillips has been repeatedly recognized for
her contributions to videogames, TV and radio.Most recently she
was nominated for a Hollywood Music Award for her work on Speed
Racer: The Videogame.Now,her talents will be used to
make the forest come alive in SimAnimals!
"Our goal was to give a unique and sophisticated voice to the game,"
said Robi Kauker, Audio Director for The Sims Label. "Drawing
inspiration from pieces like Prokofiev's Peter and The Wolf, we
found the context of the game gave us plenty of opportunity for the
timelessness of the orchestra's instruments and the rich range of
Winifred's compositions."
In SimAnimals, you can venture into the wild world of animals
like never before. You have the power to reach out and touch, pick up
and move everything in the forest from squirrels and foxes to trees and
flowers. As you journey deeper and deeper into the forest, you can feed
a bear what he craves, pick up a rabbit or a hedgehog and bring him to
his friends or water your favorite tree and watch it grow. Throughout
your voyage you will make new animal friends and discover what other
creatures lurk in the wild. In SimAnimals, you have the ability
to engage wild animals, experience life in the forest and run the wild!
Your journey through the forest is comprised of many small musical
moments that combine as the soundtrack. Each location starts off with a
unique score, from strains of Celtic music for ancient castle ruins to
the funky groove of the old junkyard. Small melodies of solo orchestra
instruments underscore the big events of the animals' lives and fully
orchestrated moments define the player's choices in the world. The music
is designed to ground the complexities of the animal's life in the human
scale of emotions. As the fortunes of the world reflect the player's
interactions and creative, fun and mischievous choices, the music gives
voice to a forest rejoicing or suffering. When the individual animals
are in distress due to neglect, the music calls out, and during moments
of pure happiness, like the arrival of a new born, the music shares the
tender warmth.
"We are very excited about the caliber of music being included in SimAnimals.
We needed the music to reflect the status and mood of the game and
Winifred has nailed that with her score," said Sam Player, Executive
Producer of SimAnimals. "As you move through the game, you will
hear how your choices are affecting the forest through the music,
whether that be upbeat and light when the forest is happy or dramatic
and dark when the forest is not so happy."
Phillips is an American music composer for video games and radio as well
as a published fantasy author. Working with music producer Winnie
Waldron, Phillips has written music for the video games Shrek the
Third, The Da Vinci Code, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
and God of War. Her work on the God of War video game
received an Interactive Achievement Award in the category of
"Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" from the Academy
of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
"It is extremely inspiring for my music producer Winnie Waldron and I to
be involved in a blockbuster project like SimAnimals, where the
music sets the tone for the entire user experience," said Phillips.
"Working on a brand new game allows me to have creative control over the
sound from the start with nothing to compare it to, which is
invigorating and quite an honor."
For more information about SimAnimals, please go to www.SimAnimals.com.
For assets related to this story, please go to www.info.ea.com.
About The Sims
The Sims franchise celebrates an impressive over 100 million
units sold since its launch in February 2000. Now translated into 22
different languages in 60 different countries, The Sims has
quickly become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. For the
latest information about The Sims and to check out the hottest
creations for The Sims 2 made by our community members, please
visit www.thesims2.com.
To stay up-to-date on The Sims 3 news and information, check out www.thesims3.com.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded
in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular
handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS
FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted
GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than
one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com.
More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can
be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO, The Sims and SimAnimals are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S.
and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
The Sims Label
Angie Newman, 650-628-2877
Manager, Public Relations
ANewman@EA.com
or
Bender / Helper Impact
Audra McIver, 212-689-6360
Audra_McIver@bhimpact.com
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