Black Eyed Peas to lend musical talent to The Urbz

Electronic Arts' next console outing for the Sims franchise, The Urbz: Sims In The City, is to feature exclusive versions of nine tracks from the Black Eyed Peas' new album, with frontman Will.i.am acting as musical consultant on the game.

The next album from the popular hip-hop band is due in November, around the same time as The Urbz is expected to launch, so the two events are being tied together by the inclusion of nine tracks from the forthcoming album in The Urbz - each one remixed into "Simlish", the language used by the characters in the game.

As well as the musical involvement of Will.i.am, the game will also have an extra treat for the legions of Black Eyed Peas fans - with all four band members set to appear in the game in digital form.

The collaboration is the latest in a series of moves which have brought Electronic Arts and the music industry closer together. Earlier this month, the giant publisher announced that it was working exclusively with Paul Oakenfold on a number of projects, including a new theme tune for the next FIFA Football title; and EA's worldwide music exec, Steve Schnur, revealed at the Edinburgh International Games Festival a fortnight ago that popular rapper Snoop Dogg is creating an original track as the theme tune for Need for Speed Underground 2.