American Idol' Video Game Coming for Fall
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Want to be a singing star, but tired of making the shower your stage?
British game publisher Codemasters said on Thursday it has secured worldwide rights to publish video games based on the musical talent contest "American Idol," which has dominated U.S. TV ratings over the last two seasons.
Privately held Codemasters, which has been actively hunting for new game properties to publish, said it will release the game in the fall for the PC and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 game console. It also said it would also produce a game based on "Pop Idol," the hit British TV show on which "American Idol" was based.
The company described the electronic "Idol" as a "music-based rhythm-action game," which will feature the likenesses and commentaries of the U.S. show's real-life judges: Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and the acid-tongued Simon Cowell.
Players will be able to create and train a character, who will then select from among 40 musical tracks to perform for the judges. Codemasters said gameplay will involve pressing the correct button combinations to make the on-screen performers sing in harmony and dance to the beat.
Despite the ongoing TV coverage of the war in Iraq, "Idol" has remained strong in the ratings. Wednesday night's episode on the Fox TV network was the most-watched show in prime time; at its peak, the show drew 22.5 million viewers and a 19 percent share of households watching television.
Fox is part of the Fox Entertainment Group Inc., a unit of News Corp. Ltd.
04/03/03 17:45 ET
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