Aly & AJ Unveil Two Guitars for Female Gamers

Guitars Will Feature Bright Colors and Bold Designs

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aly & AJ, two of the hottest names in pop music, have partnered with Performance Designed Products (PDP) to launch a line of video game accessories targeted at female gamers.

The accessories will debut in September with a signature line of guitar controllers for Wii and PS2 that will be compatible with Guitar Hero.

“We wanted to do something that really speaks to the girls who are fans of these games,” said Aly, the older of the two sisters. “We love the idea of being able to bring them into our music by playing one of our guitars.”

“We are very excited to have personally designed our own guitars for use with Guitar Hero,” said AJ. “Most video games and game accessories are designed for boys. PDP is a forward-thinking company by recognizing that females can rock too.”

PDP, one of the top names in video game accessories, sought out the sisters because they combine star power, popular appeal and musical chops. By working with Aly and AJ, PDP hopes to reach young girls and let them know that rock ‘n’ roll and video games aren’t just for boys.

“Aly & AJ were an obvious choice for us,” said John Moore, Vice President of Marketing for PDP. “They are multi-talented artists who write their own music and are proficient musicians playing guitar, piano and percussion. They are also gamers themselves, and have been instrumental in the design process.”

Since being introduced into the gaming market, music games have grown in popularity, and females make up nearly half of the current players.

“Despite the fact that the female gaming market is large and growing, it has historically been underserved by the video game industry,” said Moore. “We wanted to provide female gamers with an opportunity to rock with the best and most stylish accessories.”

The result is two guitars with fun and vibrant colors and bold designs. Both guitars are wireless and will have a suggested retail price of $69.99 each.

Aly & AJ are sisters Alyson Ranea and Amanda Joy Michalka. Their 2005 debut album “Into the Rush” went platinum. Their second album, “Insomniatic,” was released in July 2007 on the Hollywood Records label. The album features the single “Potential Breakup Song,” which was noted in Time Magazine as one of the Top 10 Songs of the Year for 2007. In addition to music, the sisters have also acted in a variety of TV shows and movies, including the 2006 Disney Channel original movie “Cow Belles” and MTV’s “Super Sweet 16: The Movie.” 2009 will bring theatrical releases for each sister: Aly in the starring role of Charlotte in the Summit Entertainment/Walden Media feature film, “Rock On,” and AJ in the role of Clarissa in the Peter Jackson directed DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures feature film, “The Lovely Bones.” The sisters are planning on releasing their third album in 2009. For more information on Aly & AJ visit www.alyandaj.com or www.myspace.com/alyandaj.

Performance Designed Products, LLC is an industry leader in designing and manufacturing products for all major video game platforms including the PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, GameCube, Nintendo DS, XBOX 360 and XBOX. The company has been supplying video game accessories to the U.S. market for more than a decade. PDP sells products under the Pelican and Score brands with sales in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and throughout Europe. For more information on PDP, visit www.pdp.com.

Guitar Hero is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. The products listed in this press release are not manufactured, endorsed or licensed by Activision.

June 26, 2008 | Categories: Aly & AJ, Disney Music | Tags: Aly & AJ, Alyson Ranea Michalka, Amanda Joy Michalka, Cow Belles, female gamers, Guitar Hero, Insomniatic, Into the Rush, Michalka, ps2, video games, wii | 1 Comment »