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9-7-99

Simon & Schuster Interactive Ships the First Simulation Game in Its "Family" Business: Mob Rule
Updated 7:12 AM ET September 7, 1999
Called "A Winner" by Major Gaming Press, Mob Rule to be Backed by the Largest Marketing Campaign since Starship Titanic, Targeting Both Hard-Core and "Casual" Gamers Alike

NEW YORK (ENTERTAINMENT WIRE) - Simon & Schuster Interactive announced today it's much anticipated PC game title MOB RULE (Windows(R) 95/98, $39.95 estimated street) has shipped nation wide and is now available at computer software retailers everywhere. The title will be backed by the largest marketing campaign since the company's other hit PC/MAC game "Starship Titanic."

MOB RULE has received critical acclaim from some of the largest computer gaming and consumer press:

"For anyone who was disappointed by Gangsters, Mob Rule will cheer you up. With good graphics, fun gameplay, and a great sense of humor, Mob Rule looks to be a winner." - Game-Revolution.com

"What's really impressive about Mob Rule is the way that it takes relatively simple concepts and tools and pulls them into tricky scenarios which are always easier said than done." -- Happy Puppy Games (happypuppy.com)

"Mob Rule is shaping up to be a fun little game for any would be Capone or Siegel." - Computer Games Online (cdmag.com).

"The juxtaposition of city simulation and mob atmosphere is a natural, and all indications are that Mob Rule will build on this foundation with solid gameplay, a twisted sense of humor and a long list of options that should entice even the choosiest gamers." - The Adrenaline Vault (www.avault.com)

"Mob Rule is clever, addictive, and possibly one of the most entrepreneurial games we've seen in a while." -- USA TODAY

"MOB RULE will be backed by our largest marketing campaign since Starship Titanic," said Walter Walker, vice president of sales and marketing for Simon & Schuster Interactive. "We are going to promote this game to the hard-core gamers and to casual gamers alike."

The marketing campaign for MOB RULE will consist of:

  • Broadcast TV ads - Network cable and local network TV affiliates

in top markets.

  • National Consumer Print Press
  • Hard core gaming publications - PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World,

Computer Games Strategy Plus

  • Trade - MCV, Gameweek, GamesBusiness
  • Online - Games sites, consumer web sites
  • Poster Snipes - In key college markets.

About MOB RULE

Unlike anything in the entertainment software market today, MOB RULE combines go-to-the-mat gameplay action with macabre comedy and the artificial intelligence (AI) of a cityscape simulation to give players a thoroughly entertaining strategy game.

Without Insurance You Could End Up Sleeping with the Fishes

Welcome to 1930's America. Thanks in a large part to Prohibition, organized crime is on the rise and a number of criminal Families are fighting for national control of the illicit markets - booze, prostitution, numbers, you name it. It's a dog-eat-dog world of corruption, murder and sex...and as the new kid on the block, you're lookin' like a milk bone.

Your quest for total criminal control will take you to five cities, all ready for that corrupt touch!

  • Hicksville - Tiny backwater `burb with not an ounce of illegal

activity...until you arrive.

  • Cripple's Bend - A snowed out wasteland just waiting for someone

to expose its penchant for corruption.

  • Detroit - A decently sized city comprised principally of slums,

your job is half-done here when you arrive... can you finish it?

  • New York - You'll need to become a worm in the Big Apple,

spreading your criminal businesses across its skin until the very

core disintegrates.

  • Capital City: The Mother Lode - Over-run with powerful, rival

families, Capital City is your ultimate proving ground. If your

business acumen and paranoid tendencies are JUST right, you'll

walk away holding the leash of the North American Cosa Nostra.

You begin MOB RULE with one humble building from which you create an empire. Start by taking over city blocks and adding the basics - a soup kitchen (to get money to further your efforts), a breeder house (you need to make new workers and tenants), and so on. To get you going in the right direction, a Godfather is provided who helps you through the "training missions." These missions will lay the foundation for your world dominance.

Along the way, you'll learn how to:

  • Build a new business - Peep show, Brothel, Burlesque Theater,

Saloon, Speak Easy and so on. All key to making big money to

further your "family."

  • Bribe the police - There's two types of police - those that

monitor your `hood and the other your opponents'. You'll need to

bribe both so they won't "bust" your illegal business, and so

they'll leave you alone when your opponent's house mysteriously

blows up!

  • Interact with "undesirables" - These are people you wouldn't dare

bring home to mom. From Hoodlums (they commit arson, among other

things) to Hookers (distract those Police with a good

strip-tease!), you're bound to find a character you can associate

with!

MOB RULE is now available for the PC (Windows (R) 98/95) at an estimated street price of $39.95. A "demo" (or demonstration) version of Mob Rule is available at all major online games sites or at the Mob Rule web site: www.mobrule.net.

Mob Rule has been rated T or "Teen and above" by the Entertainment Software Review Board (ESRB). More information can be found at www.esrb.org.

Simon & Schuster Interactive (www.ssinteractive.com) is the consumer software publishing unit of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Based in New York, S&SI is the Codie Award winning publisher of the best-selling "Douglas Adams Starship Titanic" adventure, the best-selling parody "Deer Avenger," the award-winning Richard Scarry children's software line and Star Trek(TM) entertainment / reference titles.

Simon & Schuster, the publishing operation of Viacom Inc., is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed and multimedia formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Trade Publishing, Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster New Media, Simon & Schuster Online, Simon & Schuster U.K., and Simon & Schuster Australia. For more information about Simon & Schuster, visit our website at www.simonsays.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: All brand and company/product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Contact: Simon & Schuster Interactive Peter Binazeski, 212/632-3544 e-mail: peter.binazeski@simonandschuster.com




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