EEG News

More Than Fun and Games

Variety has a feature about how Microsoft and Sony are using their consoles as a new means of distributing video entertainment.  The gaming aspect of the 360 and the upcoming PS3 serve as a foot in the door to get inside living rooms around the world.

People may buy the consoles to play -- or let their kids play -- the newest "Halo" sequel, but owners will find they have much broader capabilities. The PS3 and Xbox 360 play discs big enough to hold a movie, a game and more; have hard drives capable of holding dozens of movies or thousands of songs; create graphics almost as good as a CG animated movie; and feature an always-on Internet connection to a private network controlled by Microsoft (and, likely Sony as well).

In other words, the gaming capabilities of both consoles are, in large part, Trojan horses to get Microsoft and Sony devices into as many homes as possible.

Sony has been hoping to achieve an all-in-one entertainment center since the PS2 was announced to have a DVD player included.  They even launched an ill-fated PS2 with TiVo-like capabilities in Japan.  The Xbox touted its hard-drive as not only an innovation in console gaming but also a way to store video and music.  This generation, technology is going to let these two companies get their wish.  But will games suffer if the focus shifts from what the console can play to what the console can do?

MediaWise Gives Game Ratings an 'F'

Entertainment watchdog MediaWise has released its annual Video Game Report Card and it has some harsh words for the ESRB.  The criticism appears to be largely a result of the recent “hot coffee” mod controversy in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Every year we claim that video games continue to push the envelope on sex, violence and inappropriate language. This year, the 10th Anniversary of the Report Card, we are quantifying these changes. To illustrate the degree to which video games have become more violent, more sexual, and more crude we compared six M-rated games representative of those featured in report cards during the late 1990s to six M-rated games from 2004. The results couldn't paint a more clear picture of what we have said all along; the ratings aren't reflecting the changes in game content.

The news releases goes on to give the industry the following scores based on their research:

Ratings Education --------- C+
Retailers' Policies --------- B
Retailers' Enforcement --- D-
Ratings Accuracy --------- F
Arcade Survey ----------- B-

MediaWise also emphasized a connection between video game and real world violence in its annual report.

This year, every new study and all the latest research pointed to the same fact: video games are excellent teachers. Just as activity simulators can help train players for real-world tasks, violent video games coax players into actual aggression and antagonistic attitudes. If there was ever any doubt about the impact of video games on children it has finally been laid to rest. Everyone in the scientific community agrees, whether an ally of the industry or a critic of its practices - whether or not they realize they agree - because every bit of research we have seen has shown, in one way or another, that video games are powerful in potential and effect, for good and for ill. It is this fact that should compel parents, educators, and policy-makers to pay attention to video games.

As long as censorship does not become an issue in game development people should not have a problem with a stricter ratings system.  If a lot of parents are worried that their children can’t tell the difference between a joystick and a handgun then let’s give them some wiggle room.  Not everyone is going to be scientist when they grow up so let's let little-Jonny-future-career-frycook avoid any sort of overstimulation a mature game might provide. 

We run into trouble when people question the validity of video games as an artistic medium and thus opening it to a censorship chilling effect in the industry.  We can argue back and forth between these people about the connection between gaming and aggressive behavior until we are blue in the face.  The case isn’t going anywhere soon.  Hard evidence pointing either way is non-existent.  Solve the Bigfoot mystery first; at least they have hair samples.  Even the four studies they use in the release are iffy.  One even runs contrary to their claim.  The problem is a person can no sooner prove the connection then they can disprove it.  The brain is a tricky like that.   

Variety's King Kong Game Review

The game in question.

Variety has tackled the King Kong video game courtesy tech guru Ben Fritz. He informs me that this may or may not be the first vidgame review Variety has ever printed in its 100 years of entertainment biz coverage. I’m sure nobody wants to leaf through the archive to prove it so let's just call it a milestone.

Maybe I'm crazy but I'm seeing video games popping up more and more in the headlines of general entertainment publications.  A lot of places scramble to get some chucklehead who doesn't know a phoenix down from a 1-up mushroom already working inside to write about games and it shows.  But Ben knows his stuff.  I knew from the moment he told me he was excited to play We ♥ Katamari.  The man knows the territory.

Holographic Data Storage Shows Potential

And lo, HD DVD and Blu-ray begat HVD

HD DVD and Blu-ray are not the only formats stewing to become format de génération.  There’s a third player in town and though it's behind in the race, its prospects are tempting. It's holographic storage – a technology that not only yields data storage in the terabyte range, but also is also fun to say.  Any excuse to use the word holograms more often in daily life I say.  GameDaily.biz has a lovely feature on the subject.

A snippet:

Called Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD), this emerging technology has been in the works (at least conceptually) for about 20 years. It wasn't until the beginning of the 21st century that real advances were made, however. Holographic disk storage allows for much higher density than DVDs by storing data as light patterns throughout the volume of the polymer disc, or three dimensions. HVD can apparently store up to 60 times the data of a regular DVD and it can read and write data 10 times faster as well.

Meanwhile China want to avoid paying licensing fees by creating their own next generation format.  The Chinese-only disks will allegedly be based on the HD-format only with better storage and support a wider range of video formats.  A disk format that only works in one country?  What could possibly go wrong?

150 Budapest Symphony Teams With 'Hitman'

Jesper Kyd

Edios Interactive has announed a partnership with Jesper Kyd, award-winning composer, for the soundtrack for upcoming title Hitman: Blood Money.

The game will feature a cinematic score penned by Kyd and recorded with the 150-member Budapest Symphony and Hungarian Radio Choir. Kyd will also write several electronica tracks for the game.

"I'm very proud of this collaboration for Hitman: Blood Money," said Kyd. "We produced a dynamic and diverse score that closely follows the latest exploits of Agent 47. It was the most challenging score in the series yet and I firmly believe it will be the best sounding Hitman game to date."

Dead or Alive Movie Coming To US

Dimension Films has acquired the North American distribution rights to the pic based on the (high-kicking) series "Dead or Alive."  The pic, which was shot in China, will be released on this side of the pond next fall.  Story by Variety (subscription required.)

The film is headed by Corey Yuen, who also directed "The Transporter."  J.F. Lawton, Seth and Adam Gross and Granz Henmen wrote the adaptation.

Dimension along with Crystal Sky Pictures recently signed to produce a movie adaptation of the "Castlevania" series.

Moore Denies 360 Shortage Conspiracy

Xbox Executive Peter Moore told the Seattle Post-Inteligencer that buzz about the XBox 360 launch shortages being on done on purpose is hogwash.  Many gaming stores only expect to get around 10-40 of the consoles at launch despite the long list of preorders they may have.  Some believe Microsoft is shortchanging stores on purpose for publicity and to start a feeding frenzy among consumers.

From the article:

"I've seen all of the conspiracy theories. Somewhere in Roswell, New Mexico, we have a hangar where we're stockpiling it, creating false shortages. No," said Moore, a Microsoft corporate vice president. He called the theories "ridiculous" and said the company is "trying to get as many units to retail as we possibly can."

Initial shortages are common when video-game consoles are released, as manufacturing ramps up. In the past, however, the major console makers have lessened the effect by rolling out their machines worldwide over a period of many more months.

Purposeful or not, there are going to be a lot of sad campers outside of gaming stores on launch day.  Word on the street is that some stores are giving the consoles to people who have preordered the console along with the most 360 accessories – not on how long you have had your preorder. 

Activision ♥'s Dreamworks

Dreamworks and Activision sitting on a ...moon.

Activision and Dreamworks Animation have inked a deal which will give the game publisher rights to make games based on Dreamworks properties until 2010.  Ben Fritz at Variety has the lowdown:

New pact covers the already-in-production "Bee Movie" and "Kung Fu Panda," scheduled for late 2007 and early 2008, respectively, as well as late 2008's "Madagascar 2" and in-development "Rex Havoc" and "How to Train Your Dragon," which will probably see release in 2009 if greenlit. Activision will also have rights to make a game based on a fourth "Shrek," which is likely to come in 2010.

With the vidgame business moving toward a model closer to Hollywood's in which big franchises drive profits, publishers have been snapping up long-term rights to the most valuable licenses. Activision recently extended its deal with Marvel to make "Spider-Man" and "X-Men"  games through 2017. Electronic Arts this year signed long-term pacts for "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Simpsons," while THQ did the same for Pixar and Nickelodeon properties and Vivendi Universal Games acquired long-term rights to Robert Ludlum's spy books, including the "Bourne" franchise.

Parenting With Cold Hard Steel

Lookng for Sarah Connor.

A company called Woog Labs is now selling an 18-gauge stainless steel timer lock called the "PC Moderator" for parents who think their child is spending too much time in front of the computer. Parents set the timer and when it runs out the lock cuts off the connection between the computer and the monitor and leaves a child’s online persona SOL. This product is truly a testament to hands-off parenting. GamePolitics.com has the story.

How screwed up does the parent/child relationship have to be that the parents are worried the computer lock might be wrenched open with bolt cutters? Ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of parenting that doesn’t notice when the child’s room is full of swastikas and portraits of Hitler and wonders how their little angel could go on that killing spree.

Online games can be addicting. I have been in the icy grips of massive multiplayer online role playing game hypnosis. Too many times I have woken from a daze of level-grinding, emerging from a cocoon of crusty human excretions and instant food and walking shaky-legged and confused like a newborn fawn to the nearest clock and trying to work out how it could possibly be 5 o’clock now if I started playing at 5 o’clock.

We live in an age where it isn’t a shock anymore to read news about the occasional baby starving to death because mommy was busy gallivanting around the lands of Azaroth as l33tfEaRz the wood elf. Or maybe Jimmy-the-slob’s arteries surrender to the Funions he’s been living off while gold farming in a cyber café that let him sleep on a cot in the corner. But this isn’t an epidemic. These stories are picked up because of the twist – videogames being the murder weapon. The only way to combat any kind of addiction is self-control and maybe talking to your kids instead of slapping on stainless steel enforcement.

M'Soft Releases 360 Backwards Compatibility List

Microsoft has released a list of more than 200 XBox titles that will be backwards compatible with the XBox 360 on its launch Nov. 22.  The list includes games such as the Grand Theft Auto Series, Ninja Gaiden and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

The new system will have limited compatibility with XBox games due to Nvidia and Intel making the processor for the XBox and ATI and IBM making the processor for the XBox 360 working with ATI and IBM.  Microsoft has an indepth explaination of how the 360's emulation works here.

Microsoft also announced their complete launch line-up of 18 Xbox 360 titles:

• Amped 3 (2K Sports)
• Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
• Condemned: Criminal Origins (Sega)
• FIFA Soccer 06 Road to 2006 FIFA World Cup (Electronic Arts)
• GUN (Activision)
• Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Game Studios and Rare)
• Madden NFL 06 (Electronic Arts)
• NBA 2K6 (2K Sports)
• NBA LIVE 06 (Electronic Arts)
• Need for Speed Most Wanted (Electronic Arts)
• NHL 2K6 (2K Sports)
• Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft Game Studios and Rare)
• Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (Ubisoft)
• Project Gotham Racing 3 (Microsoft Game Studios and Bizarre Creations)
• Quake 4 (id Software and Activision)
• Ridge Racer 6 (Namco)
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 06 (Electronic Arts)
• Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (Activision)

In addition to retail games, Microsoft will also have 12-15 mini-titles availible for download as a part of their XBox Live Arcade .

Microsoft Falls for Sony Price Bluff?

From the same Gameindustry.biz article:

Another un-named executive from Sony said that the company's Blu-Ray campaign would place the console on much more of an even keel against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and suggested a lower price point than that hinted at by Ken Kutaraga.

Could Kutaraga's scary statements about the price of the PS3 such as "it won't be marketed towards households" have been a bluff to get Microsoft comfortable setting the price of the Xbox 360 at $400? Pretty darn crafty if it's true...

Sony's HD Pearl Necklace

When Microsoft first pulled the curtain on the XBox 360, it was touted the console as the jewel on the crown of their "high definition" generation of products. At the Game Developers Conference Microsoft in March, exec J. Allard announced the beginning of "The HD Era" that began a campaign which would use the prefix "HD" with the same reckless abandon Smurfs use with the word "smurf."

The HDbuzz has HDfizzled as the 360 nears its launch date, but now Sony has picked up the torch.

From Gameindustry.biz:

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has revealed the company's plans to dominate the marketplace with a range of high definition products, including forthcoming next generation console the PS3.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Stringer discussed the product range at the heart of Sony's consumer electronics ambitions, confirming that its Cell microprocessor and HD technology would spearhead the next wave of devices.

"We have an HD value chain that no one else in the business has," Stringer said.

It starts with cameras and goes through projectors and television sets and ends up with the PS3. You can see an HD necklace with all the pearls connected."

H'Wood Cracks Belmont Whip

Castlevania

Movie rights to the Castlevania franchise have been bought by Crystal Sky Pictures.  Paul W.S. Anderson ("Alien vs. Predator") will adapt the script and direct.

Castlevania games follow the vampire hunting Belmont clan in their never-ending quest to stop Dracula. The pic will focus on the origins of the Drac and his first ties to the whip-wielding Belmonts. Production to slated to begin mid-2006.

A Castlevania movie has potential (think Van Helsing with a whip) but until I see a good videogame-to-movie adaptation I will forever remain skeptical that it can be done.

EA Nabs Next Generation 'Simpsons'

Simpsons' merchandise? Whodathunkit?

Electronic Arts has bought the right to create future games based on the enormously successful series  “The Simpsons” for next generation consoles. Previously, the license has been passed between a diversity of publishers for its various game incarnations -— most recently Vivendi Universal Interactive.

Ben Fritz at Variety has the scoop.

EA is already at work on the first game under the deal for next generation platforms. The license is expected to be more robust than previous deals, with the team behind the show having more creative control.

From Variety:

Three writers from the series will serve as consultants to EA in creating its story and bringing humor. Actors from the series are expected to lend their voices to the games. "We think this is a great vehicle to bring humor into games, which is something we don't do well," said Nick Earl, general manager of EA's Redwood Shores studio in northern California, where "Simpsons" games will be developed. "If we do it right, we hope there will be incredible equity with these characters in the videogame world."

A spokesman for game fans taken by surprise by the announcement of future “Simpsons” titles told EEG news, “Durrr durrrr durrrrrrrr!!!”