Thursday, Oct 9, 2008    Text size: 

The hoop-jumping is one of several games in “Playboy Games: Pool Party,” the first release from THQ Wireless since the video game giant signed a global agreement with Playboy Enterprises Inc. in January. Adult star Tera Patrick recently helped THQ promote Saints Row 2, a action-adventure game for Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox 360 platforms.

“Playboy Games” was developed by THQ’s in-house studio Universomo, which has an office in San Diego and retails for $6.99. It was launched Monday on major mobile carriers in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries worldwide, including Europe and Australia.

PocketGamer, a U.K.-based website, gave “Playboy Games: Pool Party” a mixed review. The game has “four mini-games that might be vaguely associated with poolside antics, if you squint generously.”

The mini-games include Water Balloon Hoops, “where you control a bikini babe in the pool who has to lunge and jump while holding a hoop so that incoming coloured balloons go through the hoop,” bull riding and disc-tossing.

‘Playboy Games: Pool Party’ may not be quite as fun as that image of a real-life Playboy pool party that's probably floating around your head, but it's also less likely to lead to crushing feelings of inadequacy as you gawk at the beautiful people who surround you,” according to the review.

It concludes that the game “won’t have Hugh Hefner's staying power, and you'll eventually move on to other things, but it's certainly diverting while it lasts.”