This all-new franchise and original intellectual property from The Sims Label establishes a whole new category of wild animal games.

Now, for the first time players can engage with the wild world of animals in their natural surroundings in an immersive and tactile way. In this game you are challenged to engage, touch, move and try to control a wide range of animals as you journey deeper and deeper into the forest. You control an on-screen animated hand that allows you to reach out and touch, pick up and move everything in the game from foxes and bears to trees and flowers. Cohabitate with these animals in their natural surroundings, and based on how you treat them, the animals will come to know and love - or dislike you! Have fun developing relationships with wild animals and their families, and experience the humor and drama of surviving in the wilderness.

Wild animals abound! You will meet a host of friendly wild animals including deer, squirrels, rabbits, hedgehogs and owls. And also some mischievous characters like foxes, raccoons, badgers, crows and bears who love to stir up trouble. Get in the middle of the action as they all come together in your very own forest setting for a wild time!

Solve challenges and achieve goals throughout the game, because the animals need you to help them thrive. Discover secrets, unlock forest areas and uncover one-of-a-kind objects and wild animals, some with special abilities, by successfully completing tasks. It's survival of the fittest, as you find out who the troublemakers are and who the good guys are to make sure everyone gets along - or not!

In SimAnimals on the Wii, take up to three of your friends with you on a forest adventure in cooperative play mode! The forest, filled with exciting wildlife, is big enough for you and your pals. And, SimAnimals is tailored for the NDS. Use the stylus to orchestrate your wild animals and their environments!

Winner of four Game Audio Network Guild Awards, Phillips has been repeatedly recognized for her contributions to videogames, TV and radio. Most recently she was nominated for a Hollywood Music Award for her work on Speed Racer: The Videogame. Now, her talents will be used to make the forest come alive in SimAnimals!

"Our goal was to give a unique and sophisticated voice to the game," said Robi Kauker, Audio Director for The Sims Label. "Drawing inspiration from pieces like Prokofiev's Peter and The Wolf, we found the context of the game gave us plenty of opportunity for the timelessness of the orchestra's instruments and the rich range of Winifred's compositions."

In SimAnimals, you can venture into the wild world of animals like never before. You have the power to reach out and touch, pick up and move everything in the forest from squirrels and foxes to trees and flowers. As you journey deeper and deeper into the forest, you can feed a bear what he craves, pick up a rabbit or a hedgehog and bring him to his friends or water your favorite tree and watch it grow. Throughout your voyage you will make new animal friends and discover what other creatures lurk in the wild. In SimAnimals, you have the ability to engage wild animals, experience life in the forest and run the wild!

Your journey through the forest is comprised of many small musical moments that combine as the soundtrack. Each location starts off with a unique score, from strains of Celtic music for ancient castle ruins to the funky groove of the old junkyard. Small melodies of solo orchestra instruments underscore the big events of the animals' lives and fully orchestrated moments define the player's choices in the world. The music is designed to ground the complexities of the animal's life in the human scale of emotions. As the fortunes of the world reflect the player's interactions and creative, fun and mischievous choices, the music gives voice to a forest rejoicing or suffering. When the individual animals are in distress due to neglect, the music calls out, and during moments of pure happiness, like the arrival of a new born, the music shares the tender warmth.

"We are very excited about the caliber of music being included in SimAnimals. We needed the music to reflect the status and mood of the game and Winifred has nailed that with her score," said Sam Player, Executive Producer of SimAnimals. "As you move through the game, you will hear how your choices are affecting the forest through the music, whether that be upbeat and light when the forest is happy or dramatic and dark when the forest is not so happy."

Phillips is an American music composer for video games and radio as well as a published fantasy author. Working with music producer Winnie Waldron, Phillips has written music for the video games Shrek the Third, The Da Vinci Code, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and God of War. Her work on the God of War video game received an Interactive Achievement Award in the category of "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.

"It is extremely inspiring for my music producer Winnie Waldron and I to be involved in a blockbuster project like SimAnimals, where the music sets the tone for the entire user experience," said Phillips. "Working on a brand new game allows me to have creative control over the sound from the start with nothing to compare it to, which is invigorating and quite an honor."

SimAnimals will be available worldwide in January 2009.