Following yesterday's announcement that Codemasters has secured the worldwide interactive video game rights to the reality-TV show American Idol, the company has today confirmed that a localized Pop Idol version of the game will be released in the UK. The game is currently in development at Hothouse Creations and is scheduled for release in the fall--around the same time that the second season of the show enters its final stages.

　　"To secure one of the most talked about, most watched, most fascinating entertainment brands of recent years is a major landmark in Codemasters' acquisition strategy," said Gary Rowe, Codemasters' head of business development. "With the gaming market now a mass-market entertainment platform, the Pop Idol title will have a massive impact."

　　In the game, players will be able to create, style, and train their own singers before attempting to take them all the way from show auditions through to the grand finale. The gameplay will not be dissimilar to that of the Parappa the Rapper series of games--characters will perform one of the 40-plus top 10 music tracks featured in the game to a standard determined by the player's rhythmic button pressing. Players who perform badly risk the wrath of the often brutal judge Simon Cowell, who will appear in the game as a computer-generated character.

　　"The Pop Idol video game is an incredibly exciting project for us and we’re delighted to have Codemasters as our worldwide publishing partner," said Dom Wheeler, UK licensing manager at Fremantle Brand Licensing. "Codemasters has an excellent history for bringing extremely popular big-brand video games to market in the US and throughout the world. We strongly feel that working with Codemasters and Hothouse Creations, we have a game that truly reflects the show and gives everyone the chance to have the Pop Idol experience."

　　We'll bring you more information on Pop Idol as it becomes available.