GamersInfo.net: A recent open letter from the IGDA on quality of life issues in the industry mentions Cyberlore as a good example of how to achieve both good quality of life and business success. What's it like to work there-everyone doesn't wear pajamas and sip cocktails all day, do they?

Seth Spaulding: We were very pleased to be mentioned by the IGDA in the above mentioned piece. As one of the owners of Cyberlore, I can tell you that we have worked very hard for the last 12 years to make the company a great place to work. One way we do that is to focus on work/life balance. Working at Cyberlore is a very rewarding experience - nowhere else have I found such a mix of creative, fun, smart and dedicated co-workers.

No one has shown up in pajamas yet - although they don't violate the letter of the dress code - probably due to the fact that it's chilly in the winter here. As for sipping cocktails all day - never - we always wait till four p.m. at the earliest.

GamersInfo.net: Are people surprised when they hear that a woman, Brenda Brathwaite, is the lead designer for a game set around the Playboy Empire?

Seth Spaulding: Yes, and in a good way. It's like they think, "Ok, it's cool for me to talk about now." Our culture still has so many hang-ups about sexuality (even after Hefner's 50 year effort) that having a female lead designer lends an air of credibility - or sensibility. Brenda has been a tremendous influence on the project.

GamersInfo.net: What's it like to work with Playboy on a game? Is it all weekends at the mansion and office parties around the Grotto?

Seth Spaulding: Being out in Northampton, Massachusetts, we get very few opportunities to pop over to Hef's for the weekend. There have been a few press events at the mansion in the last year. Most of our contact with Playboy on a day-to-day basis has been with their licensing office in New York. They've been a real pleasure to work with.

GamersInfo.net: How much input as Hugh Hefner had in the creation of this title?

Seth Spaulding: Mr. Hefner has seen the game at several stages of development; he has had over-all approval on lifestyle game-play issues, the look of the mansion - and himself of course. But more significant is the input he has indirectly given through the 50+ year history of the Playboy Empire and his own well-documented life. These sources gave the designers and artists on the project a wealth of inspiration from which to draw.

GamersInfo.net: There are a number of celebrities featured in the game including over numerous Playmates, Carmen Electra and Tom Arnold. What was it like to have them on board?

Seth Spaulding: It's been fantastic to have the opportunity to feature so many Playmates and celebrities. We actually have more than 130 Playmates from the history of the magazine represented in the game. What's been fun is that there are a number of "celebrities" in the game that only a few people are going to notice or recognize. Anybody who saw the E3 demo may know what I'm talking about. Let's also not forget that the game gives you the opportunity to add whomever you want to your game. Want to bring over your best friends to the Mansion? Use the character editor tool to create them.

GamersInfo.net: When building your Mansion, are you set into a late 60's "Playboy After Dark" setting, or are you able to construct it however you want?

Seth Spaulding: The user is able to build the Mansion any way they want. We have included architectural textures and features from the actual west-coast Mansion as well as a variety of modern and retro features. As far as fashion goes, we are understandably more weighted to bikinis and lingerie, and almost all of it is from the modern era and/or Playboy's own fashion line.

GamersInfo.net: Many people actually DO read Playboy for the articles. Is there an aspect of the game where you need to get short stories from successful authors and editorials and interviews?

Seth Spaulding: Yes. You won't be able to read the stories but you do need to solicit essays, articles and interviews from celebrities in order to put out your magazine each month. To do that, you must establish strong relationships with your party guests and keep them happy - which at the Playboy Mansion is not as hard a task as it might be elsewhere.

GamersInfo.net: Playboy: The Mansion will feature sex and topless nudity, but not full nudity. Was this a difficult decision to make while keeping in tradition of Playboy's style of being tasteful?

Seth Spaulding: Yes, it was one of the most debated subjects during production. We always felt there was more danger in being too tame than too risquй because people approach Playboy with a certain set of expectations, and nudity is one of those expectations.

Honoring the Playboy brand to us meant recognizing that nudity was going to be a part of the game because it was part of the world of Playboy. Playboy approaches the subject playfully and at the same time, with a great deal of respect to women. These two themes - playfulness and respect - were guidelines we used as we determined the goals and boundaries of the sexual content in the game.

GamersInfo.net: Will players actually be able to share their magazine publications with others?

Seth Spaulding: Not on the consoles. Players on the PC versions can share their magazine covers and centerfold photos, though.

GamersInfo.net: Can you focus entirely on one aspect, such as just the socialization with guests at the mansion or just the tycoon aspect of building a successful magazine, and still be rewarded, or will players be required to mix the two in order to achieve the type of success that Hugh Hefner has had?

Seth Spaulding: Players will have to have a mix of the two to be successful. It's through the very act of socialization with the guests that the player gets the great magazine content - articles, centerfolds, covers, interviews, etc. - that drives the tycoon game, so these game-play aspects are intimately intertwined.

Additionally, ignoring the Mansion-building aspect will not allow your setting to develop and that won't make guests of a higher stratum as happy as the game progresses.

GamersInfo.net: Why did you decide to tackle what is an arguably difficult title to build?

Seth Spaulding: It was simply an awesome opportunity for us. I think any life simulation is difficult to build. Real life is hard because everyone knows what it looks like, and how it should behave. With Playboy, we have built a lifestyle sim and added a tycoon element. This gives a more "goal-oriented" feel to Playboy: The Mansion than perhaps other life simulations.

GamersInfo.net: How did you come upon the idea of creating an empire building game with the Playboy license when the first thing to come to mind when you hear the name Playboy is not that of an empire.

Seth Spaulding: The original idea given to Playboy was that of Jon Walsh of Groove, one of our co-publishers. The concept meshed very well with Playboy's own vision of their brand and was a great way for them to break into the gaming world.

GamersInfo.net: Do you feel this game will meet the expectations of the millions of readers of Playboy Magazine?

Seth Spaulding: We certainly think so. In addition to being a fun and challenging game, Playboy: The Mansion brings together Mansion building, Playmates, user driven photo-shoots, the notorious Grotto, celebrities, the Magazine - with a wealth of reward material from the magazine and never before seen material from Hef's private archives. Game players of all levels of ability and Playboy aficionados will all find a lot to love here.