Reuters RALEIGH, North Carolina — Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, both long dead, get new lives in an online game aimed at the 40-and-over crowd that seeks to tap into the Hollywood legends' eternal, and lucrative, popularity. Presley and Monroe are both “starring” characters in Entertainment Games' episodic, free-to-play adventures of “Retro World,” which will launch on Facebook on Nov. 8 before expanding to Google+ and tablet devices. But in an unusual twist, Presley and Monroe won't play themselves. Just like in Hollywood, they play characters within the serialized point-and-click adventure games. Entertainment Games is banking on nostalgia and story driven content to connect with the older demographic communing on Facebook and adopting new technology like tablets. “We think the new generation of gamers is the 40-plus crowd, and they don't want games that look like Saturday morning cartoons,” said Gene Mauro, president of Entertainment Games, “They want something that appeals to them visually, and has actual gameplay at the core. Story-driven adventure games helped advance the game industry forward 20 years ago, and we believe what is old is new again.” Michael Pachter, video game analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, believes as many as half of Facebook's 150 million monthly unique users are over 40 years-old. “The 40-plus audience grows every day,” said Pachter. “More people over 40 get on Facebook and more people under 40 get older. There is a ton of opportunity in this market.” __
