The Mastertronic Group shows September wares…
The Mastertronic Group has announced four new titles for release in September across its incredibly successful PC Gamer Presents... and M.A.D £9.99 PC labels.
September's PC Gamer Presents... pairing marks the budget debuts of Deus Ex: Invisible War and Championship Manager 03/04. Both titles were previously released through Eidos Interactive, and have gained admission to the PC Gamer Presents... label with review scores of 92% and 83% respectively.
Deus Ex: Invisible War is a stunning first-person action/adventure set within a believable future world. Set 20 years after the events of the original Deus Ex - also available as part of The Mastertronic Group's Sold Out label - Invisible War is set on an Earth where religious and political factions are battling for supremacy over a shattered populace. Famine and disease are rife after previous wars, and the player must expose the machinations of the various parties. To this end, a series of missions featuring a wealth of weapons drop the player into the murkier side of global domination - where Invisible War's twisting plot reveals the player is more integral to Earth's future than initially thought...
Championship Manager 03/04 needs little introduction, and furthers Sports Interactive's legendary managerial simulation. With team and player stats for the 03/04 season, the latest version to join the PC Gamer Presents... label enjoys even more depth than its predecessors. New additions include 'Goal of the Month' and live cup draws and expanded International elements. Similarly, the training and tactical elements that form the backbone of the game have been made easier to use, opening up this incredibly absorbing game to even more wannabe managers.
Matching the PC Gamer Presents... additions in terms of quality, World Championship Snooker 2005 and Hitman: Contracts make the cut for the M.A.D label. Only games amassing sales in excess of 100,000 units as full-price titles are applicable to join the range, and the September releases make these criteria with ease.
World Championship Snooker 2005 was a huge success for Sega, and is the best recreation of snooker for any system. Featuring realistically modelled renditions of the game's best players, and a camera system that allows shots to be viewed from any angle, everything a die-hard Snooker fan could need is present. The game's amazing aesthetic detail is also extended to the control system, where every nuance and spin of the real thing can be added to each shot.
Covering the September range's rear comes the acclaimed Hitman: Contracts - the latest adventure starring genetically modified assassin, Agent 47. Finding himself wounded in Paris, Hitman: Contracts is easily the darkest episode in this best-selling series. Fleeing the French capital, the player embarks on a series of missions whilst trying to piece together what went wrong. Versatility is the key to the game, and each mission can be handled as the player sees fit. To this end, a wide range of Agent 47's 'Tools of the Trade' are available, as he takes out a series of targets that, in addition to a series of graphic flashbacks, will help him work out how the Paris job went so wrong.
Peter Ball, Mastertronic's Sales Director, proudly claims "No-one can come close to the quality and value we offer. Not only are these four terrific titles, they are also four fantastic franchises. Eidos and SEGA are two of the biggest publishers in the business and there's only one choice for them when it comes to a budget partner - Mastertronic, Europe's leading value software company."
About Mastertronic Group Limited
Mastertronic is one of the best known electronic entertainment brands in Europe. It pioneered the European console market with its launch of the Sega Master System, invented the budget retail sector and built an international development and publishing operation under the Virgin Mastertronic label.
The brand was subsequently relaunched as The Mastertronic Group Limited in 2003 by founder Frank Herman, together with Andy Payne and Garry Williams.
The Group now leads the European value publishing sector through its retail brands M.A.D. (Mastertronic Added Dimension), Sold Out (the UK's largest-selling budget operation, acquired by the Group in 2004) and PC Gamer Presents, a unique quality-assured brand in association with the leading games magazine publisher Future Publishing.
The Group also offers, through its wholly owned subsidiary The Producers Limited (also acquired in 2004) a 'cradle to grave' total turnkey service for physical product, from marketing through packaging and warehousing to retail and electronic distribution. In addition, MAD 4 Games, a wireless channel for content delivery to mobile phones was established first quarter 2005.