EEG News

ABC Makes Programs for PSP

ABC announced that it would make its programming available to Playstation Portable (PSP) users, according to this Reuters/Hollywood Reporter report.

From the article:

"Today, 99% of people with PSPs are using it to play the fantastic games," said Bernie Gershon, ABC News digital media group senior vp and general manager. "But our view is that wherever there is a screen, there is a potential viewer of ABC News."

This is the most progressive thing I've heard from a television network. When I worked at Varsity Television last year, one of the first things I told the management team there was that screens were screens -- and if you limit yourself to one outlet, you've limited yourself to one outlet. Any bit -- and zero and one -- can be optimized for delivery for any screen. It's not always easy, but always worth the work.

Kudos to ABC. I know where I want my next job to be.

Toon in to This

I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday (because apparently Uncle Sam wants his money -- and he wants it now!), but there's a cute piece here on the history of animated characters.

It's only relevant here, I think, because we're quickly entering a time where "franchise" tags will define many of the big-named games that we play -- and it's fun to look back on where this all started.

I remember spending many a Saturday getting up to watch Dungeons & Dragons (not on the list) and Pac-Man. I recommend clicking slowly through each section, paying careful attention to the art.

As I may have mentioned before, my writing partner and I have been kicking around a book for several months on anime -- and seeing this once again reminds me that our world -- our entertainment world -- has shifted dramatically.

Cartoon Network, Midway Strike Deal

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to spend a week at the Cartoon Network for a book project (what a great job I have). It struck me how savvy the crew was -- from the creation of Toonami block on a desktop to the licensing of products from overseas.

One of the great aspects was that the boss, a great guy, let the younger folks (who were roughly my age), really forge their way into deals. The boss wasn't hung up, at least in my eyes, on doing things the traditional way.

Which leads me to today's post: The Cartoon Network has licensed its Adult Swim properties to Midway, which means we're going to be seeing a whole slew of cartoon-based video games on the way, according to this report.

So what does the introduction have to do with the payoff? Simply this -- the deal isn't a one-off. This is one giant license for an entire block of programming, which, of course, gives the game makers quite a bit of canvass upon which to paint. It will be interesting to see if there are some cross-show game deals (or if the games drive some story creation with the programming.)

Extended Reality Offers Viable Tivo-Killer

Slashdot Games has an interesting thread going about a Canadian television program, ReGenesis, which has created an Extended Reality web presence that allows it viewers to unearth clues and subplots on the Web.

As Slashdot points out, the ER gaming groups have given the trial a thumbs up in terms.

The characters of the game are the same characters on the show, for example. Halfway into the first hour, I got 3 email updates from various sources within the game. And I was definitely watching closely for in-game phone numbers & login codes (although upon first viewing, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary).

I don't want to jump to quickly on this, but it's certainly interesting to note that these tie-ins may be the Tivo-killer for which the television industry has been looking. With themed commercials making it onto the airwaves (such as the car commercials that preceded 24 this year), it's not out of the realm of possibility to believe that advertisers will soon be integrated into these Extended Reality games.

After all, if players are looking for clues to their online adventures and they know it can appear anywhere, they will be much less likely to skip the two minutes and thirty seconds of commercial breaks.

MTV, Game Industry Get Out the Vote

MTV and a dozen video game makers unveiled an animated video called Stand and Choose aimed at mobilizing young voters as part of the music network's presidential "Choose or Lose" campaign.

The vignette features 50 game characters encouraging the youth vote. The video is currently being shown at the PRElection section of MTV.com; however, starting on Oct. 12, it will be seen in rotation on MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV.com, Spike TV, The N, MTV’s video on demand on Comcast, and the network's wireless platform.

"Video games and MTV are both enormously popular with young adults of both genders, so using video game characters to encourage voting among this age group is a natural fit," Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, said in a written release. "Stand and Choose is a creative, non-partisan way to reach the generation that has grown up both wanting their MTV and playing computer and video games."

Trek Preps for Online Flight

Flagging franchise be damned. The Star Trek universe may once again be facing exile from both television (with Enterprise apparently headed out the door after this season) and film, but its life will be resurrected online, according to this BBC News story.

Perpetual Entertainment announced the development of a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game set to debut in 2007. The game, says the BBC, could attract millions of users.

Before Trekkers get too excited though, it's important to put this announcement in perspective.

Developing online games is a risky proposition, and, at least according to folks I've spoken with over the last few years, it's far more likely a long-term project like this would get cancelled than it is to see the light of day.

And, even if Star Trek hits the little screen, the million Trekker projection is also wildly optimistic – even taking into account the fact that in three years there will be more folks playing online. Star Wars, which arguably has as big a cult following as Trek, has generated far fewer than the million players many predicted for Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided.

PBS Debuts Game Documentary

In the coming week, the Public Broadcasting System debuts a documentary called The Video Game Revolution.

For all the knocks against it, PBS does a wonderful job combining its programming with interactive media. On the website, the show is broken down into four components: History of Gaming, Inside the Games, Impact of Gaming, and The Arcade. Each is a walk-through (I assume) of the coming documentary. There's even a section with behind-the-scenes footage featuring talks with the documentary producers and directors, along with game creators.

You can spend quite some time clicking through each section of the site, learning about the history of video games – although I understand that the timeline provided by PBS has given some techophiles reason to cringe.

MTV2 Launches Game Video Show

MTV2 is slated to debut a newVideo Mods special, which features video game characters are used in shorts that air to the backdrop of current music hits. The show launches on September 18, and includes Evanescence's "Everybody's Fool" video recreated with characters from Majesco's BloodRayne 2.

The BloodRayne franchise has gotten much ink lately as the game sequel closes in on its launch date, and casting for the movie continues to progress.

Game Technology Changing BBC Weather

It's no secret that video game technology – particularly the graphics technology – is changing how our digital world looks. For BBC watchers, the world of weather is about to get much clearer, according to this BBC News article.

The media company announced it would be integrating a 3-D software called Weatherscape XT, which was developed by New Zealand's Metra, in order to give viewers a richer experience while viewing the weather.

The application, according to the article, gives the local weather hacks the ability to fly-by anomalies and zoom in on specific targets. That's awesome news – if it ever gets to the U.S. – because those hours of watching the Weather Channel could use some improvement.

It's probably not too far off, either, to assume that people will begin to formulate their own weather reports, using interactive software controlled through the TV.

Games: Not Ready for Prime Time

GameSpy has an an interesting piece on whether American television audiences are ready for televised video game competition.

It's actually strange that we haven't gone down that road yet (although it would be surprising if the G4techTV network didn't begin devoting large chunks of its programming to competitions). Asian competitions – ranging from arcade to PC games – have been on the air for years.

At last year's QuakeCon (this year's just concluded and I couldn't make it to Dallas), the finals took place in a grand ball room with hundreds of eliminated teams watching two half-sized movie screens that hung from the rafters. The two teams, who sat facing away from each other on the main stage, blasted away at each other, while the action unfolded in great detail above them.

It was tense, and every so often (after a really good kill), the crowd's electric buzz would turn into yelping cheers.

I will admit, even as an ardent fan of games, I wasn't always able to keep up on the finer points of the game. (Actually, I wasn't able to tell which side was winning until one team stood up and started cheering.) However, that's nothing a good play-by-play team couldn't solve.