Sorry YKB if you were going to post this later, but this one has my favorite game (and I'm impatient waiting for you to post it)
1997: After Star Wing failed miserably (the European version of Star Fox), Nintendo decides to release Star Fox 64 under the name Lylat War. Because that sounds so MUCH better. Apparently, a company named Star Vox prevents a more normal/successful titling of the series in the area. Looking at the box is like being trapped in a bad episode of Sliders.
1998: The Big Network launches—it's an online gaming site that offers multiple family gaming channels. And it's a really Big Deal.
1997: Lylat Wars was the first game I had for my Nintendo 64, I remember opening the big chunky box and there was a big cardboard inner box which contained the cartridge and the RumblePak and the manual was the same size as the box. This was one of the best games that came out on the Nintendo 64, as it contained the one thing you needed for almost every other game the "RumblePak"
In its annual report filed today, THQ reported a record of more than USD 1 billion in net sales - up 27 per cent from 2006.
Net income more than doubled from USD 32 million in 2006 to USD 68 million in 2007. THQ reported diluted earnings per share of USD 1.01, up from USD .49 in 2006.
This is the 12th consecutive year of revenue growth for the company, which sold over 8 million units of Disney-Pixar's Cars and 4 million units of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 last year.
THQ intends to increase owned IP from 20 per cent of revenues to 33 per cent of revenues in fiscal year 2008, and expects that 40 to 50 per cent of its overall revenues in 2008 will come from titles released for the newest generation of systems. Last year, titles for the newest generation of systems represented only 16 per cent of revenues.
Upcoming fiscal year 2008 titles include Frontlines: Fuel of War, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, MX vs. ATV: Untamed, Stuntman: Ignition, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, and a sequel to Cars entitled Cars: Mater-National. A sequel to Saint's Row has been announced for fiscal 2009.
Emergent Game Technologies, developer of Gamebryo Element middleware, has secured USD 12 million in series D funding led by Jerusalem Venture Partners and Worldview Technology Partners.
"The games market is evolving quickly, with cross-platform production scalability and online migration becoming ever-increasing challenges to game creators," said Emergent CEO Geoffrey Selzer.
"This recent round of funding and our organisational changes will enable us to continue to deliver the most progressive development solutions available to the game industry."
Emergent has promoted executive vice president Scott Johnson, formerly with Vivendi Games and Universal Interactive, to president of the company.
John Goodale was named vice president of marketing and business development and will guide Emergent's efforts to expand its presence in Asia, Lisa Wenniger was named vice president of product management, and David Gregory will assume the duties of vice president of engineering and systems architecture.
As part of its organisational changes, Emergent has closed its Walnut Creek, California studio and relocated its staff to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Other investment partners in the latest round of funding include Adena Ventures, Walker Ventures, Copan, and Cisco Systems.
Emergent's Gamebryo has been used to develop more than 70 titles on consoles and on the PC including The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Pirates!, Civilization IV, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
2003: KCET releases Silent Hill 3 for PS2 in Japan. You'd think by the third incarnation of the game, people would know to stay away from scary-looking places that are quite quiet. Horror movies rarely take place in the middle of a Starbucks during the morning rush hour, which is probably one reason they are so popular. Hmmm...grande mocha lattes attack...prices are too high for hungry patrons to eat so they eat one another...screw that, I'll take my scary old mansions and ghoul carnivals any day.
Unit sales of hardware have risen by 51 per cent in the UK for the first 26 weeks of the year, as figures show consumers have snapped up 2.22 million consoles so far in 2007.
Nintendo hardware accounts for 53 per cent of units sold in 2007, compared to 34 per cent last year. Sony consoles accounted for 34 per cent, compared to 44 per cent last year, and Microsoft's share has dropped from 22 per cent to 12 per cent.
Home console units sold during the first six months have jumped 113 per cent, with Nintendo's Wii helping the company rise from just 1 per cent of units sold for the same period in 2006 to 40 per cent.
Sony is just behind Nintendo with 39 per cent of units sales, a drop from last year's 46 per cent, while Microsoft has also suffered a drop from 52 per cent to 21 per cent. In total, 1.29 million home consoles have been sold so far this year in the region.
Handheld unit sales only rose 8 per cent in contrast, although Nintendo has once again grown with 72 per cent of units sold (58 per cent in 2006), compared to Sony's 28 per cent (42 per cent in 2006). 930,000 handheld consoles have been sold since the start of the year.
Unit sales of software in the UK have risen by 19 per cent for the first half of 2007, with Sony's ageing PlayStation 2 still able to shift more software than next-generation consoles.
Despite a decline in unit sales of 23 per cent, there were still 6.49 million units of PS2 software sold for the first 26 weeks of the year.
That compares to 4.04 million DS units, 3.14 million Xbox 360 games, 1.57 million Wii titles and 930,000 copies of PlayStation 3 software.
The figures have been revealed by Chart Track and ELSPA as part of its first-half assessment of the market. So far this year, the UK games market has seen revenue grow by 42 per cent year-on-year.
I found this site and I figured that my favorite group of online gamers would be interested. There is this site called Prize Rebel that gives away free gaming stuff for basically giving your name and e-mail address to a bunch of advertisers. Here is how it works:
7. Scroll down and choose an offer, and follow the completion requirements stated underneath it.
8. You will receive points that you can use to purchase gifts under the View Available Prizes link.
In addition, you can refer people and it gives you an extra 20% of the total amount of points the person you refer gets with offers. And no, it doesn't take that 20% from the person who was referred, it just adds on more points to the referrer's account. LMAO.
This thing is unbelievable, and I just had to share this find. The site is prizerebel.com, but if you want to help me out, you can use my referral link.
One more thing: if they don't have a prize you want, you can look up the prize you want on Amazon.com and give them a link to it and they will get it for you. Seriously, this thing is amazing.
Also, I don't think that I should be the only one here scrounging up all of the referrals, so you guys should put your referral links in your sig, or post them right here.
EDIT: This post was made into a tutorial because many of my referrals have no points racked up, so I assumed they didn't know how to do it.
1998: Prima Publishing releases Lara's Story: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon. More than just a compendium of strategy guides, the paperback features a hefty collection of Lara Croft pictures and "facts". Though we're sure prepubescents everywhere bought this literature for the articles.
2000: The 3DO Company releases Vegas Games Midnight Madness: Table Games for PC in the US. Why is it "midnight madness"? Because you are up late. Because you are cool. That's why.
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, and unfortunately, the latest case of exploding battery syndrome led to something far worse than a minor injury. Reportedly, a 22-year old Chinese welder actually perished after a cellphone battery residing in his pocket exploded. The eruption was so violent, in fact, that it "broke a rib and drove the remnants of the pack into his heart," and while rescue crews were able to get him to a hospital, he passed away shortly thereafter. Currently, the manufacturer of the phone and battery are being withheld, but expects in Jinta were dispatched in order to conduct an investigation.
The Animal Crossing merchandising explosion continues. Soon you will be able to outfit your house only with things that bear Tom Nook's smug face.
The latest cash-in is this series of Animal Crossing cups. They come in pairs featuring related characters, like the set with Mable and Sable above, and another set with Tom Nook and his roaming counterpart, Crazy Redd. Each cup holds about 10.5 ounces, and each set of 2 costs $8.75 from NCSX.
We like the design of these cups. The colors are nice and happy, ensuring that your Sunny Delight (or purple stuff, you rogue) is somewhat sunnier and more delightful.
2002: Nintendo announces Game Boy Advance Latias/Latios editions. They are special versions released to commemorate (read: promote) the new Pokemon movie. Because nothing says commemorate like ugly purple and pink GBAs.
2003: Playmore Corporation changes their name to SNK Playmore Corporation. We know you don't care, but it might be on the quiz. Do you care now? Good. Because we were just making that quiz stuff up. We would never do that to you. OK, we would, but it would involve large heads of industry "giants."
France's Robosoft has just announced a new bot model set to roll off of its assembly line, dubbed the RobuDog. The Windows XP-programmable canine was shown at RoboCup this year and will be made available for public consumption sometime this Fall. The little pup has a 500MHz onboard processor, 802.11b/g, 17 joints, 2 infrared sensors, an "intelligent" color camera, and floor-contact sensors on each foot. The dog also features articulated ankles, which make it easier for it to find its footing and allow the bot do things like kick soccer balls or dance (if you're interested in those sorts of activities). Additionally, the dog can interface with Microsoft's Robotics Studio 1.5, which allows you to create actions in virtual simulations which you can upload back to the bot. Available soon for 3,200 Euros, or about $4,397 [£2,163].
It looks like Japan's Yaskawa Electric has found yet another human job for its Motoman-DIA10 robot to take, with the company now teaming with Mitsui & Co. and Hokusho Co. to put the bot to work sorting packages. Apparently, the multipurpose bot will be paired with Hokusho's existing sorting system, letting the robot scan the barcodes on packages and route them appropriately, supposedly at a rate of 1,000 items per hour. As you can see above, the robot certainly seems to mean business, boasting seven-axis robotic arms that are no doubt capable of far more than simply sorting packages.
id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead believes Nintendo will have difficulty breaking down the psychological barrier that separates veteran gamers from novice gamers following Satoru Iwata's comments to that effect yesterday.
"That's a tough one. I don't know that that's a solvable problem," he told GamesIndustry.biz at E3. "Because I think that the thing is, is that your tastes change from a novice gamer to a veteran gamer or a hardcore gamer."
"When you first get in and play a type of game, everything is new and a challenge, but as you get experience you want different and greater challenges, which necessarily make a game hard to approach as a novice gamer."
Iwata's point had been that, having broadened the market for its consoles and their games, now was the time to bring the different groups within the audience together in a way that satisfies all of them.
SkillGround is to provide gaming content for Sportingbet.com's new Skill Gaming Channel.
Users will be able to compete for cash using SkillGround's titles including WarPath, Close Quarters Conflict, LA Street Racing and Kung Fu: Deadly Arts
"This partnership introduces SkillGround to a new and very large installed base," offered Michael Haines, MD of SkillGround.
"It confirms that the online gaming community is interested in playing skill-based games for cash. This agreement validates our position as a market leader in this exciting new segment of the industry," he added.
Titles coming later this year to SkillGround and Sportingbet.com include Ultimate Tour Golf and Codemasters' ToCA Race Driver 3.
In-game ad network IGA Worldwide has secured a further USD 25 million in Series B funding.
GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity and KTB Ventures led the round of funding, along with existing investors Easton Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, Intel Capital and DN Capital.
"This investment is an exceptional endorsement for the market and it will allow IGA for further expand its global in-game advertising footprint and ability to deliver the highest return on investment to advertisers and publishers alike," offered Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide.
A collaborative effort with the goal of providing increased game development opportunities for students has resulted in the creation of the Game Republic Academy. The University of Bradford has announced that it has teamed up with the University of Hull and Sheffield Hallam University in order to create this 'game academy'. The local developers supporting the project include Rockstar, Team 17 and Sumo Digital.
The Game Republic Academy will aid students interested in game development by providing financial sponsorship and summer employment at major game developers. In addition, the creation of the academy has allowed for the creation of new university programs, such as the University of Bradford's AI for Games Masters degree.
Jonathan Purdy, Director of Games Studies at the University of Hull, said: "We are very pleased to be involved in the Game Republic Academy and are particularly please[sic] to have the support and backing of the games industry.
"This collaboration should ensure that the brightest talent is given the training and resources required to pursue a career in the computer games industry.
We can all agree that graphically Gears of War looks mighty fine on the old Xbox 360, but you haven't seen anything yet until you've experienced Gears on an Etch-A-Sketch. The Etch-A-Sketch masterpiece you see above is the handy work of the etchasketchist (who's quite the talented fellow) and depicts a Gears of War battle from the first act. Nice Etch-A-Sketching etchasketchist and we hope you can one day afford a full sized etcher and retire your little travel sized one.
A 75 year old woman from Karlstad in central Sweden has been thrust into the IT history books - with the world's fastest internet connection.
Sigbritt Löthberg's home has been supplied with a blistering 40 Gigabits per second connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.
But Sigbritt, who had never had a computer until now, is no ordinary 75 year old. She is the mother of Swedish internet legend Peter Löthberg who, along with Karlstad Stadsnät, the local council's network arm, has arranged the connection.
"This is more than just a demonstration," said network boss Hafsteinn Jonsson.
"As a network owner we're trying to persuade internet operators to invest in faster connections. And Peter Löthberg wanted to show how you can build a low price, high capacity line over long distances," he told The Local.
Sigbritt will now be able to enjoy 1,500 high definition HDTV channels simultaneously. Or, if there is nothing worth watching there, she will be able to download a full high definition DVD in just two seconds.
The secret behind Sigbritt's ultra-fast connection is a new modulation technique which allows data to be transferred directly between two routers up to 2,000 kilometres apart, with no intermediary transponders.
According to Karlstad Stadsnät the distance is, in theory, unlimited - there is no data loss as long as the fibre is in place.
"I want to show that there are other methods than the old fashioned ways such as copper wires and radio, which lack the possibilities that fibre has," said Peter Löthberg, who now works at Cisco.
Cisco contributed to the project but the point, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, is that fibre technology makes such high speed connections technically and commercially viable.
"The most difficult part of the whole project was installing Windows on Sigbritt's PC," said Jonsson.
Disney Interactive has acquired Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios.
The developer will now work on new video game properties and also bring some of Disney's key franchises to next-gen consoles.
"Warren Spector's unique talents as a leading creative force in the world of video games, his knowledge and passion for Disney, and his legacy of story telling and character development adds a unique creative dimension to our portfolio," said Graham Hopper, general manager and executive vice president, Disney Interactive Studios.
"Our shared visions on creativity, innovation and storytelling will allow us to touch individual players in ways never before possible."
Junction Point Studios now joins Disney's other internal developers Avalanche Software, Fall Line Studio, Propaganda Games and Black Rock Studio.
"I believe that the creative talents of our two companies and our shared ambition to bring distinctive, compelling experiences to gamers make this an ideal alliance," commented Spector
"We look forward to bringing exciting, innovative and entertaining new experiences to gamers and Disney fans alike."
As the last Hogwarts book appears, the author's multi-millionaire agent will stay in the shadows
When midnight strikes on Saturday, there will be no missing the star of the show. JK Rowling, the world's most successful author, will be the centre of attention for 1,700 children at London's Natural History Museum as she signs copies of the seventh and final Harry Potter adventure.
Throughout the canny construction of 'Brand Potter' - books, films, video games, and now even stamps - one figure has been ever present, like a shadow glimpsed in the cloisters of Hogwarts school.
This enigmatic but utterly crucial influence is Christopher Little, literary agent, fierce protector of Rowling and, thanks to the boy wizard, now a millionaire many times over.
Little has masterminded Rowling's career, from the moment he spotted the potential of her first manuscript to this week's publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which guarantees him yet another jackpot. Amazon, the online retailer, has already sold a record 1.8 million advance copies.
Rowling's publisher, Bloomsbury, held a ballot for the launch at the Natural History Museum, which drew applications from 90,000 children. The first 500 names out of the hat will hear Rowling read from the new book at midnight - webcast live around the world - while a further 1,200 will receive signed copies. Simultaneously, 279 branches of Waterstone's will open their doors, and there will be numerous other launch parties at independent bookshops up and down the country. This week the Royal Mail is issuing a commemorative set of Harry Potter stamps.
Little, a 65-year-old grandfather, has been content to remain behind the scenes, rarely speaking in public and seldom photographed. But when he first signed up Rowling, he reportedly struck a deal under his usual terms: 15 per cent of gross earnings for the UK market and 20 per cent for merchandising rights, for film, for the US market and for translation deals. With the author's fortune now standing at more than £540m, Little's return has to be estimated as at least £50m.
'He was the luckiest agent ever - when something like that falls in your lap it is luck, but he made the most of it,' said Ed Victor, a leading literary agent. 'He has run the brand admirably. He had to build up an organisation to defend and promote and advance his author's rights and it's all been done very tastefully. He's a charming and affable fellow, but made of steel underneath.'
The son of a coroner who served as a First World War fighter pilot, Little grew up in Liversedge, West Yorkshire, and gained five O-levels at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield, only to leave during the sixth form to join his uncle's textile business in 1958. The fledgling entrepreneur had impressed his headteacher, EJ Baggaley, who wrote: 'My impression is that he is well suited for a business career - sales management, for instance.'
He spent most of the Sixties and Seventies in the shipping industry in Hong Kong before returning to London to set up a recruitment consultancy called City Boys. His switch to the literary world happened by accident in 1979. A schoolfriend and fellow Hong Kong trader, Philip Nicholson, had written a thriller and was seeking representation. Little agreed to take him on and the book, Man on Fire, was published under the pseudonym AJ Quinnell. It went on to sell 7.5 million copies worldwide and become a Hollywood film.
In his only press interview, in 2003, Little recalled: 'The literary agency was really a hobby which started through an accident. I was helping an old friend in his writing career. I had been running as a full-time business for about six years when Harry Potter arrived.'
The agency, run in 'cramped' and 'near-Dickensian' offices in Fulham, south-west London, was cash-strapped until touched by Potter's magic wand. Literary folklore has it that Rowling, then a penniless 29-year-old single mother, walked into a public library in Edinburgh, looked up a list of literary agents and settled on the name Christopher Little because it sounded like a character from a children's book.
Bryony Evens, his office manager at the time, has said that it went straight into the reject basket because 'Christopher felt that children's books did not make money'. But its unusual black binding caught her eye, prompting her to read the synopsis and show it to Little. He recalled: 'I wrote back to JK Rowling within four days of receiving the manuscript. I thought there was something really special there, although we could never have guessed what would happen to it.' He managed to sell it to Bloomsbury for £2,500, but later reaped huge rewards from international rights and has won a reputation as a brilliant deal-maker who puts Rowling first.
According to those who know him, the 6ft 3in Little, divorced with two sons, is unchanged by his wealth and a breed apart from the flamboyant agents and literati who frequent West End restaurants. But he reportedly spent £250,000 on his 60th birthday party at the Chelsea Physic Garden and has admitted: 'I do love sailing, but I rent the boats when I want them - it does save a lot of hassle.'
Ian Chapman, chief executive of Simon & Schuster and a friend of Little for 20 years, said: 'He's very Yorkshire, very northern, very honest and ... still the same simple fellow he's always been.'
The Deathly Hallows: a sneak preview In a trailer for the forthcoming ITV documentary, A Year in the Life... J K Rowling, the camera lingers long enough on a printed manuscript of the novel, dated 23 October 2006, to make the opening visible to the eagle eyed. It reads:
'Chapter One. The Dark Lord Ascending. The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands pointing at each other's chests: then, recognising each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and set off, side by side, in the same direction.
The mother of Stuart Harling, the 18 year-old convicted of stabbing nurse Cheryl Moss to death, has claimed that his violent behaviour was triggered by playing videogames such as Manhunt.
Speaking to the News of the World Lorraine Harling said, "I knew he was playing the video games but we didn't really know what went on in them, how brutal and graphic they were.
"Stuart was 11 or 12 when I bought him the PlayStation. For a long time I didn't even realise games had age limits on them. We'd just buy him the game that all the other kids had. I didn't really know what they were about. I think most parents are the same."
Stuart Harling was recently given a life sentence for his random attack on Moss, who he stabbed 72 times - according to the NOTW, "Just like he'd PRACTISED on the PlayStation in his bedroom."
"Every night he would retreat into his darkened bedroom at home in Rainham, Essex, and enter a grisly virtual world that revelled in sadism, ritual blood-letting and death. Just like millions of other youngsters," the article reads.
"One of baby-faced Harling's favourite games was the notorious Manhunt, where players SLASH and SLICE their victims with meat CLEAVERS, cheese WIRE and CHAINSAWS, or suffocate them with plastic bags."
Harling's mother is quoted as saying, "I know these games are played by kids across the world, but some are truly horrific. And if they can cause a trigger to be pulled in someone's head they should be banned."
Developer and publisher PopCap Games announced that it has acquired SpinTop Games.
“We’re happy to be adding SpinTop’s strong roster of casual games, a Vancouver studio and a direct-to-consumer portal to our existing business,” said David Roberts, PopCap's CEO. “The acquisition provides new publishing opportunities for SpinTop’s games, and strengthens a distribution partnership we established with SpinTop last year.”
SpinTop will operate as an independent subsidiary of PopCap, with co-founders and executives Duncan Magee and Craig Hamilton overseeing operations out of the company's office in Vancouver, British Columbia. PopCap will publish future SpinTop titles worldwide through its multi-platform publishing organisation.
The combined PopCap and SpinTop network will be jointly presented to advertisers as a single network buy. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Blizzard Entertainment has described a top secret game it currently has in development as "totally awesome".
It's pretty widely known that the developer is currently working on more than the recently announced StarCraft II, Blizzard re-affirming that a brand new title is in production with Gamasutra.
A third team at the studio - handily named Team 3 - "is working on something really awesome. I can't give you any hints, but it's totally awesome", Blizzard founding member Frank Pearce enthused to the website.
It was confirmed that it's nothing to do with StarCraft: Ghost, the game put on indefinite hold that Blizzard recently revealed it hopes to return to in the future.
So is it a new Diablo game? That's the obvious choice, but we'll have to wait and see.
Blizzard also recently heavily hinted to CVG during E3 that we'll see a new World of Warcraft expansion announced soon.
Stuart Bishop
Future has released the first ABC Electronic audited figures for sites operating as part of the Computer and Video Games Network - which includes sites tied to the publisher's print magazines.
During the month of May more than 1.56 million unique users visited the sites, generating 11,472,341 page impressions.
The ABCE certificate states that this figure includes hits for computerandvideogames.com, edge-online.co.uk, xploder.net, oxm.co.uk and officialnintendomagazine.co.uk, plus the OXM and Official Nintendo forums.
According to ABCE, these sites account for "around 95 per cent" of the total figure. Neither ABCE or Future would name the sites which account for the remaining 5 per cent.
The certificate also states that the CVG Network hosts "magazine sites for all of Future Publishing's unofficial gaming magazines including PC Gamer, PC Zone, Xbox World 360, PlayStation World, PSM3 and NGamer". Future declined to offer further comment.
In a statement digital commercial director Daniel Ward-Lee said, "These are encouraging first-time ABCE figures for CVG and gives Future a solid base to build and develop our cross-media strategy allowing Future to provide reach and relevance to our clients' media campaigns as well as strengthen our traditional games print sector strength online.
"Combining the readers of our magazines, users of our web properties and supporters of our events, Future can offer a uniquely integrated multi-channel approach delivering real benefits to both consumers and advertisers as a result of cross-promotion and truly complementary content."
Electronic Arts' Steve Schnur will be one of the speakers at this year's GC Asia Conference, with the music exec set to discuss licensing and sound design.
Also joining Schnur for the event in Singapore will be Streamline Studios' Alexander Fernandez, Unreal Tournament II's Bob Bates and Anino Mobile's Peter Paul Gadi.
"We are confident that the GC Asia Conference will establish itself as the leading platform for the game development community in Asia," said Frank Sliwka, project director of GCDC.
"The program we put forward will provide attendees with the kind of practical knowledge and numerous networking opportunities for which GC development conferences are well known."
GC Asia Conference will take place in Singapore on September 6-7.
Oberon Media announced its intention to acquire PixelPlay, a creator and distributor of interactive television games.
“This acquisition advances Oberon Media’s triple-play strategy and positions us to reach players across three platforms, thereby increasing game service stickiness and subscriber retention,” said Ofer Leidner, Oberon's co-founder and head of business development. "This increases the appeal of Oberon’s white-label services to all our partners, from cable and satellite operators to telcos and game developers.”
Oberon recently acquired I-play, a casual mobile games company. Its portfolio comprises more than a thousand casual games titles, delivered by 350 wireless carriers and online providers including Microsoft, Comcast, BskyB, Sprint, AT&T, Yahoo Games, Verizon, Electronic Arts, AOL Games, France Telecom, and NHN.
Founded in 2002, PixelPlay delivers interactive games and entertainment to cable and satellite TV operators, with licensed properties such as Scrabble, Yahtzee, Monopoly, and World Poker Tour.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. PixelPlay's CEO, Ron Chaimowitz, will join Oberon Media and lead its interactive TV efforts.
Ubisoft has announced that it sold its 19 per cent share in Gameloft to Credit Agricole's corporate and investment bank, Calyon.
"The video game market offers numerous internal and external growth opportunities," said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer of Ubisoft. "We have therefore decided to sell our stake in Gameloft in order to focus on Ubisoft's expansion and strengthen our ability to seize all such growth opportunities."
Ubisoft sold 13,367,923 shares, representing 18.89 per cent of Gameloft's capital, at a share price of 6.08 Euro, based upon the closing price on July 12th.
Ubisoft entered into an equity swap agreement with Calyon under which Calyon has 24 months to sell the Gameloft shares on the market. Ubisoft will recognize the difference in value at the time that Calyon sells the shares. The investment has a balance sheet value of 34 million Euro, or an average of 2.54 Euro per share.
Guillemot indicated that Ubisoft and Gameloft would continue their collaboration, specifically concerning the utilization of Ubisoft's brands on mobile phones.
Konami has announced that visitors to this year's Leipzig Games Convention will be the first to get hands-on play with Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.
The game, which is due out this autumn and will include a new 'Teamvision' AI system, will be playable "on PC, Xbox 360 and more", according to a statement.
Other titles on show will include Silent Hill Origins for PSP, and developer William Oertel will be at Leipzig to demo the game. In addition, Koji 'IGA' Igarashi will present Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.
"We can promise visitors and gamers in Leipzig that Konami will play a major role in this year´s gaming year - delivering new games and additions to popular franchises, while producing exciting games for new systems and established formats," said Konami's Martin Schneider.
Konami will be in hall 4, booth B11 during the Leipzig Games Convention, which runs from August 23 - 26.
EA's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has spent its third week at number one in the UK all-formats charts, despite a drop in sales of 11 per cent.
Nintendo's More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima is at number two and Activision's Shrek the Third at three, with sales down 17 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively.
Wii Play has climbed two places to number four and Mario Party 8 debuts at number five despite the game being recalled from sale.
The original Dr Kawashima's Brain Training is at six, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is at seven and 2K Games' The Darkness is at number eight.
Rounding out the top ten are two format-exclusives, 505 Games' Cooking Mama for DS and Microsoft's Forza Motorsport 2 for the Xbox 360.
A Sunday afternoon of video game goodness turned deadly this past Sunday as a thirteen year-old boy fatally stabbed his sixteen year-old brother in the chest during an alleged dispute over who got next. The younger brother stabbed his sibling in the chest twice, puncturing his heart and a lung. A tragic situation like this could quickly turn into an anti-gaming media circus if handled incorrectly. Luckily Lansdowne has one of the more sensible Police Chiefs.
"I don't believe the actual game itself was the cause of it. I don't believe they were acting out in any way or mimicking anything in a video game. I believe it was actual use of the game and whose turn it was," said Lansdowne Police Chief Daniel Kortan.
It sounds like he phrased that response specifically to ward off a potential wave of violent video game outcry, doesn't it? It's nice to see that situations like this can be resolved without immediately tossing the blame on our favorite hobby.
Thirteen year-old Jahmir Ricks was arrested at the scene, tearfully confessing to police upon their arrival. He is being charged as an adult with murder in the first degree. Something failed in this situation that had absolutely nothing to do with video games. Normal people don't go from arguing over who gets to play a video game to murderous rage in the blink of an eye.
Microsoft loses a major face to the Xbox 360 team. Today, Peter Moore has resigned from Microsoft to join Electronic Arts as the President of EA Sports. Peter Moore is the now former Corporate Vice-President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division.
From Microsoft's press release: "Moore has decided to return with his family to Northern California, where they lived until he took the position at Microsoft. Moore will remain at Microsoft to assist in the transition through August and will then return to the San Francisco Bay area."
With the announcement of Peter Moore's departure came word of who will be filling his shoes, Don Mattrick, a former president at Electronic Arts Inc. (EA).
“While Peter will certainly be missed, we are delighted to have one of the industry’s most talented and passionate veterans on board to lead the business,” said Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “Don is well-known and respected throughout the industry for his deep knowledge, technical expertise and management savvy. Under Don’s leadership, the games team is looking forward to embarking on our biggest holiday ever, with a wide-ranging roster of some of the most highly anticipated titles.”
Surprising news, just after the E3 Media & Business Summit last week.
"NEW YORK (July 18) -- In the final days before the world learns whether Harry Potter lives or dies, spoilers - or those pretending to spoil - are spreading on the Internet.
On Tuesday, digital images of what may be the entire text of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," including 36 chapters and a seven-page epilogue, were circulating among Web users. The book was apparently photographed as it lay on a carpet speckled with green and red, a hand at the bottom holding down the pages.
A separate link, http://www.zendurl.com/h/hallows, also displayed a seven-page epilogue and a 36-chapter table of contents from "Deathly Hallows," coming out July 21 under ultra-tight security.
Meanwhile, a resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, has said that he downloaded hundreds of pages from the 784-page book and U.S. publisher Scholastic, Inc., has been busy ordering would-be spoilers to remove their information from the Internet.
"I'm guessing we're in the double digits," says Scholastic spokeswoman Kyle Good, who added that requiring material to be pulled down did not mean it was authentic.
"There's so much out there that it's confusing for fans. Our lawyers are trying to keep down the amount of spoiler traffic that's out there and clear it from places where fans might be reading."
Anxious about keeping a lock on publishing's ultimate mystery, Scholastic has refused all along to say whether a spoiler has the real book or not. According to Good, there is more than one version of the full Potter text on the Internet. She said the different versions all "looked convincing" and all had different content from each other.
Leaked copies of other highly anticipated works have appeared online in recent years, from O.J. Simpson's canceled tale of murder, "If I Did It," to "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," which could be downloaded before the film's release with the help of a file-sharing program, BitTorrent, an apparent source of the full Potter book.
Author J.K. Rowling, who has said two major characters will die, has begged the public not to give away the ending to her seventh and final Potter book. Fan sites such as http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/ and http://www.mugglenet.com have vowed to keep spoilers away.
"A lot or our tips about spoilers are coming from fans," Good says. "There's a groundswell from fans who find these links and send them to us, saying, `I'm not going to look at this, but somebody told me about it."'
"I just hope they find these people and punish them accordingly," said Leaky Cauldron Web master Melissa Anelli. "This is exceedingly wrong and mean-spirited. Let people enjoy their book, for Pete's sake."
Last month, a hacker who identified himself as "Gabriel" claimed to have broken into the computer system of British publisher Bloomsbury PLC and posted key plot points on http://seclists.org/misc/harrypotterspoilers.html.
Those plot points differ from what is revealed on http://www.zendurl.com/h/hallows/, which contradicts itself on the fate of Potter's buddy Ron.
"There is a lot of material on the Internet that claims to come from `Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' but anyone can post anything on the Internet and you can't believe everything you see online," Good says.
"We all have our theories on how the series will end, but the only way we'll know for sure is to read the book ourselves at 12:01 a.m. on July 21"
I have aquired this copy, and my verdict is: 100% real, and it's an awesome book (keep in mind, I bought it and it will be coming to my house this Saturday).
THQ has signed an agreement with Valve to offer its games for sale via the Steam digital distribution service.
Already available to download are wartime strategy title Company of Heroes (USD 24.95), fantasy game Titan Quest and recent expansion Immortal Throne (USD 17.95 each or USD 26.95 as a bundle).
Plus there's tactical shooter Full Spectrum Warrior and sequel Ten Hammers, priced at USD 8.95 each or USD 13.95 for both games.
Other THQ titles set to appear on Steam soon include Supreme Commander, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War.
More information is available from the Steam website.
The ESRB is continuing to step up its enforcement of Advertising Review Council guidelines, threatening developer 3D Realms with penalties if it fails to make changes to its website.
According to a Shacknews article, developer 3D Realms received a letter from the ESRB listing over 30 website violations and giving the company 10 days to comply before facing penalties. The penalties range from the temporary suspension of all ESRB ratings services for the company's products to fines of USD 10,000 for repeat infractions.
"I think they came off like a school yard bully, rather than an industry partner," 3D Realms co-founder Scott Miller told Shacknews. "Why all the threats right off the bat? If the ESRB people know what was being said about them in underground channels, so to speak, they'd see that their antics have caused them much loss of faith as an industry leader."
Most of 3D Realms' violations involved the use of old ratings icons and the lack of content descriptors.
Three weeks ago, GamesIndustry.biz reported that the ESRB had contacted D3 Publisher to remove trailers for Dark Sector which the board deemed to contain "excessive or offensive" content. The ESRB also told 2K Games that trailers for its M or AO-rated games had to be "appropriately age-gated."
Then, as now, the ESRB defended its enforcement actions in a written statement.
"The role of ESRB, as the industry's self-regulatory body, is to ensure that consumers have easy access to reliable information about the games they consider buying for their families, and that games are marketed appropriately and responsibly," said ESRB president Patricia Vance.
"ARC notices that are sent to publishers are merely a reflection of ESRB fulfilling its obligations to the industry to enforce the guidelines it has adopted," she explained.
Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai is set to open this year's Tokyo Game Show by delivering a keynote address about the future of PlayStation.
Last year's event was opened by then SCE president Ken Kutaragi. Hirai, who previously headed up Sony Computer Entertainment America, took on the role last November.
Hirai's speech, according to Nikkei BP, will be titled, 'The expanding PlayStation world, business strategy for new growth'.
The Tokyo Game Show will run from September 20 - 23 at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba City.
There's nothing like spending a little time in Japan for expanding your gaming collection, as reader Manuel learned firsthand. He told us he spent ten weeks there a couple of years back, and he found himself in gaming heaven -- loads of nifty, cheap items just itching to be smuggled away under cover of night. Okay, that part probably wasn't necessary (also, we made it up), but everyone needs a little excitement in their life, right?
It was the prices that enchanted Manuel as much as the availability, he says. The most expensive item in these pictures was a brand-new N64 for just ¥1980 [about £8] -- only sixteen dollars under current exchange rates -- and the cheapest were as low as ¥20, which translates to about seventeen cents. That's an irresistible bargain for even the most frugal gamer! No wonder he started piling things up!
NEW YORK - An underground steam pipe explosion tore through a Manhattan street near Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday, swallowing a tow truck and killing one person as hundreds of others ran for cover amid a towering geyser of steam and flying rubble.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said the explosion was not terrorism.
"There is no reason to believe whatsoever that this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference at the scene of the blast.
The mayor said a 24-inch steam pipe installed in 1924 broke, with the explosion most likely caused by the introduction of cold water into the pipe.
Eighteen people were taken to local hospitals, including the person who died, said spokesman Stephen Bohlen. He said two seriously injured patients were being treated in Bellevue Hospital's trauma unit. The remainder suffered minor injuries, he said.
Two people were in critical condition at New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center, said spokeswoman Emily Berlanstein.
Initial burst taller than Chrysler Building
A plume of steam and mud shot from the center of the blast, generating a tremendous roar. The initial burst of steam rose higher than the nearby 77-story Chrysler Building, one of Manhattan's tallest buildings. The air near the site was filled with debris.
Heiko H. Thieme, an investment banker, had mud splattered on his face, pants and shoes. He said the explosion was like a volcano. "Everybody was a bit confused, everybody obviously thought of 9/11."
Thousands of commuters evacuated the train terminal, some at a run, after workers yelled for people to get out of the building. A small school bus was abandoned just feet from the spot where the jet of steam spewed from the ground.
Large crowds of homeward-bound commuters milled in the streets around Grand Central Terminal, nervously sharing information. Inside the station, food vendors hurried to store their carts and yelled to commuters that they had been ordered to evacuate. Commuters pouring into the station began turning around to exit to the street.
For some time after the explosion, no uniformed police or emergency personnel could be seen at the northern Madison Avenue entrance to Grand Central, a major entry point to the station, according to NBC News' Mark Lukasiewicz. Commuters there relied on cell phones, passersby and Blackberries to decide whether it was safe to enter the station.
Debbie Tontodonato, 40, a manager for Clear Channel Outdoor, said she thought the rumble from the explosion was thunder.
"I looked out the window and I saw these huge chunks that I thought were hail," she said. "We panicked, I think everyone thought the worst. Thank God it wasn't. It was like a cattle drive going down the stairs, with everyone pushing. I almost fell down the stairs."
Streets, subways closed
Streets were closed in several blocks in all directions. Subway service in the area was suspended.
The steam cleared around 8 p.m., exposing a crater several feet wide in the street. A red tow truck lay at the bottom of the hole.
Con Edison spokesman Chris Olert said workers were still trying to determine what caused the blast.
There were also concerns about what was spewed into the air. Some of the pipes carrying steam through the city are wrapped in asbestos. Olert said asbestos testing was under way.
Police were wearing gas masks on the street.
Millions of pounds of steam are pumped beneath New York City streets every hour, heating and cooling thousands of buildings, including the Empire State Building.
The steam pipes are sometimes prone to rupture, however. In 1989, a gigantic steam explosion ripped through a street, killing three people and sending mud and debris several stories into the air.
That explosion was caused by a condition known as "water hammer," the result of condensation of water inside a steam pipe.
one of the members here at DCEmu, acn010, was at the explosion. He took pictures when he was there.
Developer Silicon Knights has filed a breach of contract lawsuit in North Carolina against Epic Games.
Epic's Mark Rein notified the media of the pending legal action this afternoon but declined to give specifics, saying only that "We believe the claims against us are unfounded and without merit and we intend to fully defend against them."
According to Gamasutra, the lawsuit alleges that Epic failed to provide Silicon Knights, a licensee of Epic's Unreal game engine, with a final development kit in a timely fashion. The lawsuit further alleges that Epic failed to provide Silicon Knights with support, instead concentrating on completing its own games, specifically Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 2007.
Silicon Knights had licensed the Unreal Engine 3 for use in its upcoming Xbox 360 title, Too Human. The game was notably absent from this year's E3.
According to the legal documents, Silicon Knights was forced to write its own game engine last year after the delay.
The wait is over for millions of you eager to get your hands on the 7th and final book in the Harry Potter Series. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has now been officially released Worldwide. The time has come to see who wins in the battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.
Dont sit here get to the shop and get yourself a copy
Take-Two's former chief accounting officer and former chief lawyer have pleaded guilty to falsifying business records.
Bloomberg reports that Patty Tay, the former chief accounting officer, and Kenneth Selterman, the former general counsel, entered guilty pleas yesterday as part of an employee stock options backdating investigation.
In February, the company's former CEO, Ryan Brant, pleaded guilty to falsifying business records and received a sentence of five years probation and a USD 7.26 million fine.
Take-Two installed a new management team this year following the options scandal and five quarters of losses.
Midway has been hit with multiple class action lawsuits this week stemming from the company's stock performance between 2005 and 2006.
Three separate class-action suits have been filed, but the complaints are similar in each. The lawsuits allege that Midway failed to disclose and misrepresented material adverse facts related to the company's performance, its intent to engage in a restructuring program, and its need to secure debt financing.
One of the class-action lawsuits further alleges that company insiders profited by selling nearly USD 14 million worth of shares to investors at "artificially inflated prices."
Following a series of financial disclosures, Midway's stock lost over 67 per cent of its value between December 2005 and May 2006.
The lawsuits were filed by Schiffrin Barroway Topaz and Kessler, Dreier LLP, and Schatz Nobel Izard P.C. Midway has not yet responded.
Reuters reports that Atari has received a delisting notice from NASDAQ because it failed to file its financial report for the fiscal year ended March 31.
Two weeks ago, Atari announced that it would report a wider-than-expected loss of USD 71.3 million for the fiscal year ended March 31.
Atari said it hasn't filed the report yet because it is still determining which accounting entries it needs to make, adding that it filed for a hearing with the NASDAQ's listing qualifications panel.
Last year, Atari received a similar delisting notice from NASDAQ when it could not maintain its share price over one dollar for ten consecutive days.
US rapper 50 Cent has filed a lawsuit against Internet advertising firm Traffix, claiming his image was illegally used in web game Shoot the Rapper.
According to the Associated Press the rapper - whose real name is Curtis Jackson - is seeking USD 1 million in damages.
He has also requested a permanent injunction which would prevent his likeness from being used in the game.
Shoot the Rapper sees players using their mouse to shoot a character who Jackson's suit alleges is meant to represent 50 Cent.
The rapper's name does not feature in the game but lawyer Peter Raymond argued, "It looks like him, and there's no doubt the character is intended to be him."
In-game advertising firm Double Fusion has inked a deal with British publisher Eidos to supply ads for ten titles currently in development.
The three-year deal will see a range of advertising featured in forthcoming games in various stages of development - although no specific titles have been named.
"This is an exciting and innovative opportunity for Eidos, we’re delighted to be working with Double Fusion and we fully believe that our titles will offer the perfect platform for the right media partners," commented Jane Cavanagh, chief executive of Eidos.
Forthcoming titles from Eidos include Pivotal Games' Crossfire and IO Interactive's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.
"The quality and breadth of Eidos’ portfolio of games represents an ideal opportunity for advertisers to reach many millions of consumers in an uncluttered and engaging environment," offered Frank Sagnier, Double Fusion's European MD.
"It further strengthens videogames as a primary medium of choice to reach the elusive 18-34 year old audience."
The NPD Group has reported that Canadian videogame retail sales have reached USD 498 million in 2007, a 61 per cent increase from last year.
This is the fifth consecutive mid-year time period in Canada that sales were higher than the previous year. Sales of videogame hardware have also risen 111 per cent over the prior year.
"The video game industry in Canada is strong and continues to perform extraordinarily well," said Darrel Ryce, the NPD Group's director of technology and entertainment.
Combined portable and console software sales reached USD 205.5 million, accounting for 46 per cent of Canada's total industry sales.
No Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 titles were ranked in the top ten Canadian software sales for 2007 to date. Four Wii titles made the chart, including Wii Play in the top position. The DS titles Pokemon: Diamond, Pokemon: Pearl, and New Super Mario Bros. also made the chart.
Ubisoft announced that it has been granted the videogame rights to James Cameron's upcoming Avatar film.
"Ubisoft is excited to partner with 20th Century Fox and James Cameron on this important project," said Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft's CEO. "Avatar's rich scenario, onscreen action and special effects will provide a wealth of inspiration to create a unique interactive experience."
Avatar marks the first movie directed by James Cameron since 1997's Titanic. The filmmaker also directed Aliens, The Abyss, True Lies, The Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Ubisoft was one of several videogame publishers vying for the Avatar rights.
In its first 24 hours on sale, Scholastic has announced that Deathly Hallows has sold 8.3 million copies in the United States. Half-Blood Prince had sold 6.9 million copies in its first day on sale back on July 16th, 2005.
Post your thoughts on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the comments of this post, so we can try to keep the discussion more relevant in other news posts!
