Disney's Toontown world expands
by VGLN Staff

Saturday, December 20, 2003

Sellbot Cog Headquarters added to online world.

Disney Online, part of the Walt Disney Internet Group, today launched the Sellbot Cog Headquarters (HQ), an advanced play area in Toontown, a massively multiplayer (MMP) 3D online game for kids and families.

Toontown, an online world where the Toons (players) live, is under siege by the Cogs, a bungling group of robots, who are trying to take over this happy, colorful cartoon world by turning it into a dark metropolis of skyscrapers and businesses. Toons join together to save their world from the evil Cogs by confronting them with gags, such as dousing them with seltzer or giving them a pie in the face. The game allows participants to play together, communicate in a safe environment, and undertake challenging quests.

With the addition of Sellbot Cog HQ, the action and adventure of the “Tooniverse” dramatically increases with an entirely new and more challenging neighborhood containing nothing but Cog office buildings and factories - places where Toontown citizens are being held captive and await rescue by their fellow Toons.

“Our goal with Sellbot Cog HQ is to expand the Toontown world by providing players with an additional land to explore, with fresh challenges that appeal to both experienced players and those who are familiar with traditional console style video games,” said Steve Parkis, vice president of subscription products, Disney Online. “This is one of the beauties of online games - much like our Disney Theme Parks, they can change constantly, in ways both big and small, ensuring that we can respond to our guests with unending surprises.”

Sellbot Cog Headquarters will challenge Toons to achieve a series of intermediate goals, including navigating through Cog factories where the robots are being assembled - negotiating obstacles such as up and down elevator lifts, moving conveyor belts and heavy machinery, and gathering cog parts to assemble a disguise that is required for entrance into the main headquarters building. Once inside the headquarters, Toons head to the “Big Boss Cog’s” office where the conflict culminates in a free-for-all battle with the Boss Cog - with successful Toons rescuing a captive Toon and receiving powers that can be accessed later in the game.

Toontown is currently available for download at http://www.toontown.com, and as a subscription gift card with a CD Rom included at DisneyStore.com and major retailers nationwide, for $9.95 per month.

--- Kit