"Pump It Up: Exceed" Selected for Game On Exhibit
Home version of popular dance game added to US leg of groundbreaking tour
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAN FRANCISCO, CA September 16, 2005 Video Game publisher Mastiff today announced that Pump It Up: Exceed, the home version of the international arcade hit dance game has been selected for inclusion in the Game On touring exhibit. Originating at The Barbican Art Gallery in London, Game On is the first major exhibition to explore the vibrant history and culture of video games. Pump It Up: Exceed was developed by Andamiro and is published in North America by Mastiff for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The game shipped to retail stores on August 31, 2005.
The highly interactive Game On exhibition examines the game design process from conceptual drawing through to the finished game and identifies the key creative people who make them. It explains the developments in hardware technology from the colossal computers of the early 1960s to the recent consoles like Xbox, Nintendo GameCubeT and PlayStation 2, illustrating how content and technologies need each other to move forward successfully. The influence games have had on culture in Europe, North America and Japan is explored, and a series of eight new commissions by contemporary artists, architects and designers responding to games, complements the show.
"Pump It Up illustrates the best of the current crop of dancing games," says Neil McConnon, Touring Exhibition Manager for The Barbican Art Gallery. "These games have had a significant impact on American gamers because companies like Mastiff are active in bringing the best Asian games to the US."
Following its successful run at the Barbican in the summer of 2002, which attracted 50,000 visitors, the exhibition exceeded all expectations at the Royal Museum at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, with 55,000 visitors. The exhibition has also shown at the Tilburg Art Foundation, The Netherlands (28 May - 24 August 2003) with 20,000 visitors (biggest audience the venue has achieved to date) and Helsinki City Art Museum, Finland (18 September - 14 December 2003) with an audience of 40,000. Game On was one of the main events at the Lille European Capital of Culture 2004 in France (15 May - 15 August 2004) and it was hosted at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, Israel (September 26 - December 31 2004). The U.S launch of Game On began at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (4 March - 5 September 2005) and will thereafter travel to the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose (26 September 2005 - January 2006), with a return to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (February - April 2006), before travelling to the Pacific Science Center, Seattle (May - September 2006). Game On will return to England at the Science Museum, London (1 December 2006 - 1 May 2007).
About Pump It Up: Exceed
PSM magazine recently tagged Pump It Up: Exceed with it's "Buy or Die" designation, and Rolling Stone magazine says, "Already a hit in arcades, Pump It Up: Exceed now comes in a home version that is more intuitive and challenging than Dance Revolution."
Visit www.piu4home.com, the official site of the home version of Pump It Up: Exceed, for more information about the game. The website features all the latest news on the home game, sample tracks, and more.
While other dance games arbitrarily assign positions to a dancer's feet, Pump It Up features choreographed steps for each song and a five button mat that lets the step designers reward players for not just where they put their feet, but how the feet got there. The game features about 100 songs, including new music for the console version from cutting edge artists such as Grammy nominees Crystal Method and Steriogram, as well as Elvis vs. Junkie XL;, Earth, Wind and Fire; and Sugarhill Gang. Music familiar to fans of the arcade include top K-POP (Korean pop) acts like Sechs Kies, Honey Family, Clon and Novasonic, and songs like Beethoven Virus and Pump Me Amadeus by BanYa, the Pump It Up original band.
Developed by Andamiro of Korea, Pump It Up first debuted in arcades in 1999, and over the next 5 years became an international smash hit, with nine versions selling a remarkable 20,000 machines.
In 2004 Mastiff and Andamiro joined forces to produce a version of Pump It Up for console systems. The vision behind the project was simple: without changing what makes the arcade experience great, add the features and modes that home users expect.
About The Barbican Centre
Designed in the 1960s and constructed in the 1970s, the Barbican Centre was opened on 3 March 1982 by Her Majesty The Queen who described it as 'one of the wonders of the modern world'. Owned, funded and managed by the Corporation of London, the third largest sponsor of the arts in the UK, it was built as 'the City's gift to the nation' at an historical capital cost of £161million, equivalent to almost £400 million today.
Open 363 days a year, the Barbican presents a uniquely diverse programme of world-class performing and visual arts, encompassing all forms of classical and contemporary music, international theatre and dance, visual arts and design, and a cinema programme which blends first-run films with special themed seasons.
About Mastiff
Mastiff is a publisher of interactive entertainment with offices in Tokyo, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Recent titles from Mastiff include La Pucelle: Tactics, which was recently awarded an Editor's Choice Award from leading gaming website, IGN.com, and a "Must Buy" from top PlayStation 2 publication, PSM. Other recent releases include Gungrave: Overdose, Technic Beat and Top Gun. Please see www.mastiff-games.com for more information.
About Andamiro
Andamiro is a major developer and manufacturer of interactive coin operated entertainment equipment supplying the amusement and gaming business. Andamiro is headquartered in Seoul, Korea with a world wide sales and marketing office located in Torrance, California. For further information contact sales@andamirousa.com
Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Editorial Contact:
Michael Meyers
Michael Meyers Public Relations
925-551-8080
michael@mmpr.com