Xbox

Playboy: The Mansion

Playboy: The Mansion is a lot like The Sims but so much better because you get to see boobs and f***. There were a bunch of bugs, like people walking into each other and my Xbox crashed twice while I was playing, but I think it's safe to say that this is the best game of all time and if you don't think so you are a total pussy.

Surprisingly, considering its sensitive content, Playboy: The Mansion is pretty engrossing. While interaction with the ladies is entertaining, that is not what I am referring to. The actual running and production of the magazine is executed terrifically, and truly makes you feel as though you are making all of the decisions regarding its ongoing production. Some aspects can become a little tiresome, like having to throw parties all the time just to get some interviews, but the fact that there are always new celebrities added to the list makes it a touch less bothersome. The game is well crafted, and has more depth to it than the title would lead you to believe. It doesn't matter, though; you probably didn't make it past the line of the review that referenced ‘naked ladies' before you rushed out to immediately buy or rent the game. You probably didn't even read the whole review. Thanks a lot!

Overall, this game is fairly innovative. It offers a very adult title for adult gamers, who are looking for a little non-competitive fun. It is good to see developers out there are taking chances by making titles that not all gamers and community members may agree with, but it gives the industry more freedom to develop games they truly want to if they do well. Players will get a few laughs with the antics of some of the characters, and a few funny additions that can be found during play. Playboy: The Mansion is not a bad game by any means; it just isn’t a great one. It is however a lot more in depth than some of the like genre games that had come out previously. At times, it even feels like the developers were not just going for the cheap nudity buck from gamers. Playboy could really open the industry’s arms to more mature titles built for older gamers. It has a decent overall game play, good audio, decent graphics, and a good feel for the Playboy lifestyle.

If you came to the party expecting the Playboy experience then you should pack up and get out while you still can. There is some fun to be had here, but no back-of-the-box claims make Playboy: The Mansion any truer to Hugh Hefner's lifestyle than a walk to the magazine store. This is Sims based gameplay, that the Sims has done better. Cyberlore show the potential to make a great licensed game, but they're woefully bogged down with glitchy gameplay and lifeless characters.

Playboy: The Mansion isn't bad, nor is it as good as it could have been. Every time the sunshine wants to break through the clouds, the game comes to a dead halt, a sure sign of rushed development and reliance on a known license. It could have been terrible, though, and we commend Cyberlore for putting some thought into the individual elements, even if they all seem somewhat half-baked. Feel free to rent a copy; just don't expect anything more than a light, casual time. And please, don't buy it looking for stimulation: pixelated bosoms just aren't what they used to be.

Playboy the mansion is much like the real Playboy magazine in that it is simply more than a cheap gimmick of pert breasts and tight peachy buttocks; which lets face it, is not something that is arousing to most men due to them being crude polygons and no substitute for the real thing. So as an attempt to be different I think the management aspect of the game does add that playability factor and works to the credit of the game. However with too much time spent here its clear to see that the game play is rather formulaic, repetitive and supporting of some very unrealistic moments. Whilst maybe not being as involving as The Sims for what it is Playboy the Mansion is a pleasing foray into management gaming and a brave move by the developers as they try and use sex to sell a video game; although they are certainly not the first to do so and definitely wont be the last either. Rent this game first before you buy.

Playboy: The Mansion seems to be another Sims wanabee, trying to copy a popular and successful game but not quite getting it right. The game 'Singles' is coming back into my head, but this time with the Playboy image to back it up. After getting a bit excited about it all when I first heard about it from an E3 video I found on the Internet, the game has ended up being limited in engrossing gameplay and adult content; there is barely anything here to justify that 18 rating and it would have been more interesting if the game had taken more risks, showing more of what really goes on at the Playboy Mansion (and it's more than just photo shoots!) I did enjoy this game for the short while it lasted, but I completed the campaign levels within a few hours but which time the novelty had worn off. Give it a shot if you like, just don't expect a masterpiece in gaming.

Depending on what you want out of Playboy the Mansion you'll either be disappointed or satisfied. On a sexual level there isn't much to get the members rumbling, but it does the trick for a Sim like experience as on of the greatest men of our time. Playboy should be something you rent before you buy, if you're set back by the onslaught of negativity reviews. I was pleased with the game and overall I got my hours out of game.

Wer von uns wollte nicht schon mal so wie der gute alte Hugh Hefner sein? Eine große Villa besitzen, die voller heißer Mädels ist, eine Party nach der anderen schmeißen und einen dicken Batzen Kohle haben. Nun hat jeder von uns - zumindest virtuell - die Chance dazu. Mit Playboy - The Mansion erwartet euch ein spannender Mix aus Wirtschaftssimulation, Rollenspiel und Gesellschaftssimulation. Hierzu kommt aber noch eine kleine Portion Sex. Ihr seid Hugh Hefner, der beneidenswerteste Mann der Welt. Nun ist es eure Aufgabe, unter anderem Ausschau nach neuen Models zu halten, eine Party nach der anderen zu schmeißen etc.

PlayBoy: The Mansion is such an odd idea. Who wants to be Hugh Hefner? Well, most every male alive. But who wants to sit in front of a TV and pretend? Fans of the Sims? Not likely, they're busy enjoying the social complexity of the Sims 2. The typical male, perhaps? Probably not, they're more likely to spend 50 bucks on a real Playboy subscription. So, what kind of gamer is Playboy supposed to appeal to? Ultimately, Playboy suffers from a dire lack of sex appeal. It fails to grab the attention of Sims fanatics while failing to seduce the average gamer. The business aspect is the most entertaining part of the game, if only because it lets you do something besides try and bed a clone army of big-breasted bunnies. It's worth a look if you've plowed through every Sims game on the market and still crave more of the same, minus the polish.

Let’s face it: every hot-blooded American male would love to step into Hef’s comfy slippers and admire his massive empire or his parade of gorgeous girlfriends frolicking about his dream estate. Who wouldn’t want to throw lavish parties with major celebrities or decide what beauty should grace the cover of the October issue? While the game makes it possible to see into Hef’s life, Playboy: The Mansion isn’t engrossing enough to want to keep playing for very long. It’s worth playing, though, so rent this one if you can.

Playboy: The Mansion suffers from a bit of schizophrenia, half the time it’s trying to be The Sims with its purchasing of items/furniture which affect characters’ moods and can help your chances of succeeding with your business. The other half of the time is spent taking pictures of half naked women and dry humping the hell out of some seriously monotonous character models. If this was supposed to be a mature sexual-themed game then it shouldn’t have held back. Encounters just aren’t hot enough nor are the photo shoots. On the other hand, if a Sims-style game was the intention, well, it should be more fun. Let’s hope Hugh’s life is a bit better than this.

PBTM will only really appeal to, well, lets be honest here, the male audience. With Hugh going around trying to mate with anything female this is hardly going to appeal to many females out there. The 18 certificate also seems wildly exaggerated and will only serve to sell even more copies (proof that high age limits never hurt). The only area that PBTM does get interesting is sadly also the most underused portion of the game, the chance to publish the magazine itself. There is something quite satisfying about publishing your own magazine but sadly the game doesn’t go into enough depth and makes the whole process far to easy to accomplish anyway. As it stands PBTM is nothing more than a wannabe 'Sims' type expansion, and there’s already enough of them about thank you very much.

Playboy: The Mansion does offer quite a bit of entertainment value. Unfortunately, glitchy graphics and sounds cut into the game’s overall credibility. Completing missions and putting together issues of the magazine were a lot of fun at first, but because there was so much repetition, they became more like chores rather than a pleasant diversion. If you absolutely have to have an infamous game, Playboy: The Mansion is better than the other games it has been categorized with, but if you’re looking for a quality title, these are not the droids you’re looking for.

Overall, this isn’t a bad game as far as the sim genre goes, since it cleverly borrows so heavily from the established leader, The Sims, as far as interface and game design. But since all the girls look pretty much the same, the challenge is artificial and there’s a limited amount of animations (I mean, don’t real Playmates know more than 5 poses or three sex positions?), it gets old quicker than it should. The bottom line is if you want to enjoy the “fruits” of the Playboy empire, you’ll get greater satisfaction with the magazine itself - for the articles, of course.

Playboy: The Mansion stayed too far in the middle to be very good. It wasn’t deep enough as a simulation. The magazine editing idea was very original, and fun, but again wasn’t deep enough. This piece could be more detailed, and be a hit game in the future, but not in it’s current shallow state. The nudity turns off the folks who are interested in the sim side of things, but isn’t raunchy enough to sell games based on the nudity alone. I have to admit I enjoyed the sim side (specifically the magazine creation and process of getting content) of this game for the first few hours, and then it got stale. The nudity and sexual content were stale from the get go. I just can’t recommend this game to friends.

Beyond simply not being a particularly compelling game, Playboy: The Mansion really seems to balk at presenting the swinging spirit of the Playboy name, and it openly treats both Hefner and the Playboy reader like a commodity. Like Hef himself, who has gradually shifted from outspoken cultural icon to caricatured corporate mascot, there's not a lot of Playboy left in The Mansion.

Although I had some problems with the way the game blatantly rips off The Sims, and the overall easy difficult, I still think Playboy: The Mansion is fun enough to be an above average experience. Managing your own nudie magazine isn’t for everyone (for God’s sake you better keep this away from your girlfriend or wife ……. unless they are very liberal, heh heh) but you may be surprised at how playable and interesting it is to be just like Hef.

But all of the game's many good points are eventually soured by the necessity to perform repetitive tasks over and over again with next to no chance of anything unusual or surprising ever resulting from the chore. If you don't get bored of tending after the Sims sanitary and dietary needs then you probably won't tire of sorting out the casual, formal and romantic lives of the denizens that inhabit the mansion. However, if you are a casual gamer lured in by the prospect of some virtual lovin' then be warned that plastic melts when overheated.

Playboy: The Mansion deserves credit for trying to deliver an authentic Playboy Mansion experience, however imperfectly. And though its mishmash of gameplay elements quickly becomes tedious, there are moments of genuine fun that will keep you coming back in the short term, including a wide variety of vintage Playboy unlockables. However, one five-day rental should be enough to show you everything the Playmates have to offer, which isn't that much.

Over all the game was a disappointment. No skill or thought is required beyond the ability to read and click the mouse. One would think living the life of Hugh Hefner would be fun and exciting, but the glitz and glamor soon wears off. You realize that this isn’t a party life you’re looking at, but an image being produced, a magazine being sold. The game is about business, power networking, and getting as many women as possible to take their clothes off.

If you want a simulation game get a Sim game but Playboy the Mansion is one to pass up. It's not that it does anything wrong particularly, it isn't adult enough to be an adult game and get the market that way, it isn't simulation enough to get that market and it isn't a good enough Sims clone to get at that market. If there's a follow-up then undoubtedly a lot of these problems can be resolved but as it is this game falls short of being recommendable.

Bottom line: Playboy: The Mansion tries too hard to avoid its core existence—the provocative presentation of beautiful women. The concept is interesting, playing the life of one of the most coveted people in the world, but the execution is just not there. Give this one a rent and see for yourself. If you’re into interior decorating, or schmoozing with guests, you might get a little fun out of this for a short while. Definitely don’t get this for the nudity, because it is poorly presented and not worth the effort. Sadly, Hef forgot the Viagra for this one. Skip it, pay the 12 bucks for a subscription, and go play The Sims.

Part of the reason is that I may be burned out on the Sims formula: meet someone, chat, chat some more, tell a joke, dance, get jiggy with a well-endowed model, and chat some more. It’s achingly repetitive. And dealing with the magazine aspect of Playboy: The Mansion is interesting for a while, but then it too gets boring. The same can be said of the photo shoots, which are handicapped by a limited number of available poses. (This last point could be addressed by updates available through Live.) Not helping is the music selection, which ranges erratically from okay to “Pop my eardrums with this ice-pick, please!” variety. For pure numbers, it’s close to what the Grand Theft Auto series usually packs in, but the quality is lacking.

Aussi paradoxal que cela puisse paraître, passer sa vie en pyjama à festoyer au milieu de filles en bikini n'a rien de très amusant. Les fêtes se ressemblent toutes, de même que les séances photo avec les playmates. En fait, Playboy The Mansion avait certainement tout ce qu'il fallait pour faire de lui un titre agréable, mais trop trop limité et super répétitif, il n'assure pas vraiment sur le long terme. Tant pis pour lui.

While Playboy: The Mansion offends me as a female, it offends me far more as a gamer. I am all for mature games; however, I have a very different opinion of what is considered “mature.” Games like Leisure Suit Larry, The Guy Game and Playboy: The Mansion show that developers and publishers alike think that if you show enough pixilated skin and slap an M rating on a game, it will sate our hunger for more adult-themed games. I don't know one serious gamer who would be enticed by this sad mix of boring gameplay and soft-core porn. Playboy: The Mansion is as deep as a kiddie pool, which also matches its maturity level. There were some interesting ideas presented, but the game ends up being little more than a guise to show giggling teenagers lots of breasts.

Without the semi-decent business elements, the game would qualify quite easily as one of the dullest games I've played in many a month (and I've played Altered Beast). Even with them, it's still less than adequate. If you want boobies, buy the magazine. If you want a management simulation, buy any one of the innumerable tycoon games on the market. If you want them both together, buy The Sims 2 and seek out a naked-skins mod that is probably on the net, and let your imagination run wild. Just don't buy this.

When I went in my GameStop to purchase this game, I was a little leery that my crew at the store might think I was odd for buying a game that promised sex. Little did I realize that the odd looks I received was not for that, but more for buying such an obviously crappy game. I have an unwritten policy of my own that I never trade in video games to buy others. However, for this one game I am going to break that policy.