LOS ANGELES (Eminem Fans Website) - Having conquered the worlds of music and movies, rap star
Eminem has his sights set on video games.
The first title from his deal with Conspiracy Entertainment, "Mix TV Presents: Eminem," is expected to debut Wednesday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.
The small Santa Monica-based company secured rights to publish interactive properties across multiple platforms featuring the Interscope recording artist.
"This is the first in a line of fan-appreciation titles that we'll ship under the 'Mix TV' brand," Conspiracy marketing director Vince Matthews said. "We're positioning the brand as a fan-appreciation product."
The game features four music videos, including "My Name Is" and "The Real Slim Shady" as well as bonus features and interactive elements featuring Eminem. Conspiracy will ship both a teen-rated version of the game, which will have radio-edit versions of the songs, and a mature-rated version with the uncut material.
In addition to the initial game, Conspiracy is collaborating with Eminem on ideas for the first next-generation video game under the deal. Matthews said ideas for the game include possibly turning "The Slim Shady Show" animated cartoon into a 3-D action video game in time for a release in late 2004.
One or two people can play "Mix TV Presents: Eminem," either cooperatively or competitively. The object is to unscramble puzzles formed from the game's four videos before the song concludes. There are six different types of puzzle modes in the game, including memory match and sliding puzzles. It is scheduled to ship in early summer on PlayStation One and PC for $14.99 or less.
The game will be the first in a new brand of titles using proprietary technology that scrambles full-motion video into various puzzles.
Matthews said the company will expand the brand with additional artists as well as entertainers and entertainment properties.
Conspiracy also will look at the current crop of rhythm-based games and decide what works and what doesn't within the genre, which includes such titles as "American Idol," "Dance Dance Revolution," "Amplitude" and "Britney's Dance Beat," Matthews said.
