Return to the London Underworld With the Launch of The Getaway: Black Monday Exclusively for PlayStation®2

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the launch of The Getaway: Black Monday, the sequel to the three-million worldwide best-seller and "Greatest Hits" title, The Getaway, created exclusively for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Team Soho, The Getaway: Black Monday fuses gaming and cinema into one medium, providing players with an exciting, in-depth, interactive entertainment experience, as gamers make "moral choices" in the gangland thriller that will determine their path through the story, concluding with one of the multiple endings. Team Soho used more than 25 square miles of London, adding 17 new locations for the sequel, including rooftops and portions of the "Underground" subway to give The Getaway: Black Monday a truly authentic look at the London criminal world.

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Three very different Londoner's lives collide in The Getaway: Black Monday, which culminates in an explosive showdown with London's new gangland boss, Viktor Skobel. Gamers will piece together parts of three new playable character's stories -- Sergeant Ben Mitchell, who works in tandem with the Metropolitan Police's firearms division, Eddie O'Connor, the boxer, and Sam, the stealthy thief and computer hacker -- all while making critical moral decisions that will influence the final outcome of the game.

Providing gamers an enriched and refined gameplay experience for the sequel, The Getaway: Black Monday features more predictable driving and on-foot controls, varied pacing in 22 missions, a branching storyline, new playable characters, and an all-new cast, including more than 20 actors who were "performance captured" as they acted out more than one hour of in-game cinematic sequences. Additional changes include a game map, motorcycles, more than 250 cars with improved damage models, a refined health system, and new interior and exterior locations including Trafalgar Square and River Thames.

"The Getaway: Black Monday expands on the groundbreaking cinematic gameplay of The Getaway," said Naresh Hirani, game director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "We feel that we have created the ultimate fusion of a full-length action movie with a first-rate videogame, featuring our beloved city of London in the starring role. As gamers become immersed into The Getaway: Black Monday's intriguing gameplay, they will feel like they are directing, not just watching, an action-packed, blockbuster crime movie by making moral decisions in the branching storyline, ultimately producing a more personal conclusion to their Getaway experience."

The Getaway: Black Monday is a single story shown from the unique perspectives of Sergeant Ben Mitchell, Eddie, and Sam, interwoven by a chain of events and twists that culminate in an explosive showdown. When a dawn raid on an East London apartment complex turns nasty, it sets in motion a chain of deadly events that will put Mitch up against the most powerful man in London. Across town, hard hitting-man Eddie O'Connor is beaten bloody after a bank job goes wrong that leaves many of his crew dead. In over his head, his only ally is a foul-mouthed petty crook, Sam, who's as tough as she is pretty. The next 48 hours will be a matter of life and death for all three of them, transporting gamers into the next chapter of London's underworld.

Classic and contemporary cinematic methods were used in game development; from atmospheric lighting, sound and set design to a director working with the actors who were "performance captured."

Using a small head-mounted camera and microphone pointed at the actors faces, in combination with optical and magnetic motion capture tracking systems, the performances of multiple actors at the same time were then transferred into dramatic digital cinematic cut-scenes and interspersed throughout the gameplay for an authentic movie feel. These cut-scenes, along with The Getaway: Black Monday's thrilling storyline, intriguing characters and intense orchestral score composed, arranged and performed by Nimrod Studio Orchestra and Nimrod Productions, which was remixed by artists from the Ninja Tune and Big Dada labels, combine to further blur the line between movies and videogames.

"Team Soho used cutting-edge technology to create a game ahead of its time," said Peter Edward, game producer, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "We wanted to create a game that offered the player a brand new, refined game and movie experience that built on the previous game. Looking back at all of the ideas we were able to implement for The Getaway: Black Monday, we are confident we have done just that."

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated The Getaway: Black Monday "M" for Mature. For more information about the ESRB visit www.esrb.org.

Marketing Support:

To increase excitement and awareness for the title, a massive marketing campaign is in effect.

National Broadcast/Cable Advertising Campaign

Targeting the adult male audience, the national television campaign is comprised of three different 30-second spots. Set and filmed in actual London locations, two of the spots focus on the brutal "rules of the London underworld" and the consequences for violating the rules. The third focuses on the unique "vocabulary" and slang of the same British underworld and entices the viewers to learn and see more at www.speakgetaway.com.

The three separate executions will run during prime time and late-night time slots on network, cable and syndicated programming through the end of February. The spots will air on FOX, NBC, CBS, UPN, and ABC networks, reaching viewers of "The Late Late Show," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "King of the Hill" and more. Targeted cable programming on shows such as "Fear Factor," "The Sony Open," "SportsCenter," "Chapelles' Show," "Battlestar Galactica," "Best Damn Sports Show," "WWE Heat," and various NBA games will also be utilized with spots running on BET, Comedy Central, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports, FX, G4, MTV, MTV2, Nick, Sci-Fi, Spike TV, TBS, TNT, VH1 and additional networks.

National Print Advertising Campaign

To support The Getaway: Black Monday, two different print advertisements, including a six-page gatefold execution, encourage readers to "Learn to Speak Getaway," tying back into the British "vocabulary" and slang of the TV spot. The campaign will reach millions of readers nationwide through placements in a wide variety of national consumer, male outlets, videogame, sports, and comic publications. The print campaign began in January and will continue through March, with ads in publications such as Rolling Stone, XXL, Source, ESPN, Maxim, Playboy, Stuff, Blow!, Vice, Giant, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, Official PlayStation Magazine, Play, PSE2, and PlayStation Magazine.

Online Advertising

Several themed interactive online advertisements encourage players via audio and animation to "Learn to Speak Getaway" in order to survive the London underworld. Additionally, an interactive "pub simulator" asks players to converse with a virtual bartender. Online ads will commence in January and continue through mid-February. The ads will be run on Web sites such as atomfilms.com, comedycentral.com, heavy.com, iFilm.com, LiquidGeneration.com, Maximonline.com, XXL.com, and Yahoo.com.

Viral Advertising

An extensive viral campaign consisting of "A to Z guidebooks" providing a recreational tour through the sights and sounds of London accompany bar-themed media placed in 500 popular bars in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco encourage players to enter the London underworld and "Learn to Speak Getaway" to survive.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® game console and the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system is set to revolutionize the home entertainment market, offering the most compelling interactive content and the capability to be used as a network terminal in the coming broadband era.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation game console and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PlayStation game console and the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com/ .

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SOURCE: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

CONTACT: Patrick Seybold, +1-650-655-5904, or
Patrick_seybold@playstation.sony.com, or Heather Sorensen, +1-650-655-5234, or
Heather_sorensen@playstation.sony.com, both of Sony Computer Entertainment
America Inc.

Web site: http://www.playstation.com/